Laces and Lace (Assassins #6) Read online

  Nerves coursed through her. Not only was she meeting his mom and dad, but he was also supposed to get word that day if he was going into the draft. Everyone believed it was a done deal, but at the same time, there was a chance that no one would want him. It was a 2% chance, but still, it was there. She had the confidence that he was going, and he would be a first-round pick. Everyone would gush about him, he’d get a great deal, and he’d rock the hell out of the league. That was the plan, and while he did all that, she’d get her degree and then open the best lingerie business in the country. Those were her dreams, and she knew that they were within reach.

  As long as she had Karson standing beside her.

  When the knock came at the door, she smiled because Karson was early. Reaching for the door, she pulled it open to find her delicious boyfriend on the other side. She was surprised that he was wearing jeans since they were going out to dinner at some ritzy restaurant, but she ignored it as she reached for him, placing a kiss on his sweet mouth.

  “Hey!” she gushed as she shut the door behind him. “You’re early. Give me a minute; I gotta fix my makeup. Did your dad find out if you are going into the draft? I’m so excited. I feel good about it.”

  When Karson didn’t answer, she looked back at him to find him watching her. “What?”

  “You look beautiful.”

  A grin pulled at her lips as she said, “Well, thank you, but really, are you going in?”

  Slowly, he nodded. She squealed before wrapping her arms tightly around him. “I’m so proud of you! You’re going to rock the big leagues!”

  When he didn’t hug her back, Lacey pulled back, surprised, and looked up into his face, immediately seeing that something was very wrong. His eyes were bloodshot, his face red, and she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from crying. But why would Karson cry? He was her big, burly boyfriend. He made other guys cry. “What’s wrong?”

  Closing his eyes, he undid her arms from around him and took a step back. “We need to talk.”

  Dread filled her chest as she looked up into his face. “About?”

  “About us.”

  Her heart picked up in speed as she continued to look at him. He was looking everywhere but at her, another sign that something was horribly wrong.

  “Lacey, we have to end things.”

  “What?”

  “With me going to the pros, I’m going to be so busy, traveling and training and shit, and it isn’t fair to drag you into all that.”

  “What are you talking about? We’ll be fine. That’s why I’m going with you, so we can see each other when you have downtime.”

  “No, you need to stay here. Go to school for free and be with your family.”

  Shaking her head, she said, “No, I need to go with you. I need to be with you. Everything else will fall into place as long as we are together.”

  Still not looking at her, he said, “Lacey, I can’t ask you to follow me across the damn world. You need to think of yourself, what is best for you, and that’s to stay in Chicago.”

  “Who are you to tell me what I need? We’ve been together for two months, and you’ve never told me what I need. Except for maybe you, and you were right, so stop and look at me! What is going on?”

  Slowly, Karson met her gaze and let out a long breath. “You’re right, we’ve only been together for two months. Maybe we are rushing into this. I’ve been having second thoughts, Lacey, and I can’t help but feel like I’m dragging you from everything you know. I don’t feel right about that. This is your life, and we don’t know what could happen. Your cancer could come back or I could flop when I hit the big leagues, and then what? How would I support you?”

  Not able to hold them in any longer, Lacey’s tears rushed down her face as she slowly shook her head. “As long as we have each other, everything else will fall into place.”

  She could see the pain in his eyes, but that still didn’t stop him from saying, “Love won’t put food on the table, or pay for your college, or start your business, Lacey. I’m sorry, but I have to end things.”

  A sob ripped from her as she looked away, gasping for breath. What changed? How did they go from promising to be together forever to him breaking up with her?

  She’d slept with him.

  Looking up at him through her tears, a sob was caught at the base of her throat as she cried, “Is this about my breasts? Are you breaking up with me because I have no boobs? I trusted you! I showed only you, and now you’re breaking up with me?”

  He was in front of her before she could even take in another breath. Squeezing her arms in his hands, he shook his head quickly, tears welling up in his eyes as he held her gaze. “God no, Lacey. Don’t you ever think that! I love you, I love your body, and I love every single thing about you, but I can’t do this. I can’t guarantee you the future when I have no clue what mine is. As much as I want to say we can get back together once I figure it all out, that isn’t fair to you. I want you to have the life you deserve, and I don’t think I’m the man to give it to you.”

  “But you are! Karson, if you love me, don’t break up with me,” she cried, holding on to his forearm. “You promised you would never break me, and that’s what you are doing by giving up on us and leaving me.”

  Looking down at the ground, he took in a deep breath. “I know, but I am doing it for you. I’m sorry, Lacey. I’m so fucking sorry, but don’t you ever think I don’t love you. I do, but I’m sorry, I have to end this.”

  Pressing his lips to hers, he kissed her hard, but she pushed him away. “No! You don’t get to kiss me or tell me you love me when you are breaking up with me! How is that fair? How is that even right? It’s a contradiction to everything because, even with you saying you’re doing it for me, it makes no sense! If you loved me, you would stay with me and love me for the rest of our lives, but you aren’t doing that, are you?”

  “I can’t. I love you too much. I have to let you go,” he said as tears slowly rolled down his perfectly chiseled face.

  “Why?”

  “Because I have to, so that you have the life you deserve,” he said with all the compassion in the world, but all it did was piss her the hell off.

  “Bullshit. Get the hell out,” she cried, hugging herself with her arms.

  “I love you, don’t forget that,” he whispered, but she ignored him as she crumpled onto her bed.

  “Leave me alone. You made me a promise, Karson, and you broke it! You have completely broken me, and do you even care? Are you going to be here to pick up the pieces? No, you’ll be in the damn big leagues, leaving me behind to figure out how to live my life without you! How can you live with yourself knowing that?”

  “I don’t know,” he whispered.

  She covered her face, her tears leaking all over her hands as her body shook with her sobs. The room was completely quiet and she thought he had left, but when she looked up, she found him still watching her from the doorway. “I’m sorry, Lacey. I really do love you.”

  And with that, he shut the door, completely shattering her heart. As Lacey lay there, tears rushing down her face as she choked on her own sobs, she had no clue what had just happened, or how she was going to put herself back together after that. Their love was all-consuming, and now she wasn’t going to have that. How did someone come back from that?

  She thought being diagnosed with cancer and having her breasts removed was the hardest thing she’d ever have to battle, but all the pain she felt then didn’t even come close to the pain she was feeling at the moment. She was a survivor though, and she knew that she would cope with losing the greatest love of her life. But, like everything else that happened in her life, she wished she didn’t have to.

  Karson stood in the back of the auditorium as the Catappellas sang their hearts out for the championship. His bags were in his car and all ready for the trek back home to Wisconsin before the draft. He wanted to be excited for the new life he was about to embark on, but it was hard when he knew that the g