Penalty Kill (Love on Thin Ice Book 4) Read online

  She hoped he was smart enough to realize women weren’t always focused on keeping their womb empty. She hadn’t thought about having kids in years. The baby she’d lost had been a surprise. It was stupid to think telling George would somehow change his mind, but she had, and she’d lost the baby because of his reaction.

  She remembered the anger in his eyes. The claims that the baby wasn’t his. It had been so long since they’d slept together, neither of them had spoken about the night he’d come home drunk and decided he wanted something. It could’ve been any woman in his state, evident in the fact he denied it ever happened. She’d tried to forget about it, but the puking began just like it was now.

  She needed to get a test to confirm what she already knew. Once she had confirmation, she could think about what to do. Being pregnant again with a baby the father would never want wasn’t something she’d ever imagined. That didn’t change the fact that there was no doubt she’d keep the baby. The father may not want him or her, but Lacey did.

  There were already two kids in her life she had to love for two parents. She had enough love for a third. She just had to figure out what she’d tell everyone else, and how to make sure she wouldn’t run into Vasily in the next eight or nine months.

  “Are you okay, Mommy?”

  Lacey jumped when she heard Rachel’s voice in her doorway. Her shirt fell down, and she hoped Rachel hadn’t noticed where her hand had been.

  “Yeah, sweetie. I was just cleaning up.”

  It’d been a few minutes since Lacey left her breakfast in the toilet, so the excuse was good enough. She still felt queasy. It would be easy to repeat the performance if Rachel needed a little reminder. The horrible noises had to carry through most of the house.

  “Are you sick?”

  The vomiting had only been going on for two days. When it started, Lacey had tried to say it was just something she ate. She hadn’t needed to expand that to the flu or something. With as unconvincing as she’d been to herself in the mirror, she wasn’t sure anyone would believe her.

  “I think I might be. Is your brother home, or did he disappear again?”

  Kevin’s attitude had seemed to improve over the last few weeks, but he’d also been spending little time at home. Between his buddy program and wanting to be out with his friends, he acted like he was for once enjoying being a kid. Lacey wondered if there was a particular buddy to thank for the change, but he claimed he hadn’t been matched with anyone and just sat around coloring with kids.

  It was hard to believe that had changed his outlook on life, so Lacey decided there had to be a girl in the program he had a crush on. He didn’t share that kind of stuff with her, though, so she had no idea what was really going on.

  Her mind had been a little preoccupied. She hadn’t expected to hear from Vasily after their night together. It wasn’t like they exchanged numbers or anything, but her recent revelation had her wishing she’d spent more time getting to know him to see if he’d want to know about the baby. Whether he wanted to be a father or not, he may want to know he was one.

  “He’s gone. Do you need me to get you some medicine?”

  Lacey needed to stop letting her mind drift. Every time she started thinking about one thing, Vasily would pop into her head. It was rather inconvenient.

  “No, honey. I’ll be okay. Since your brother is going to be out playing, what should we do? I think you’ve read all the books on the summer reading list already, so let’s do something fun.”

  At least until Lacey’s stomach decided she needed to run to the bathroom again. Rachel’s definition of fun tended to stick to her reading materials, which Lacey wouldn’t have been against in the moment. She hoped her daughter came up with something a little more exciting, though.

  Rachel tapped her finger against her lips as she tried to come up with something. Lacey tried to think of her own suggestions, but her mind was on how soon she could get to the store to buy a pregnancy test.

  “Do we have to stay here? Kevin said his new friend is taking him skating. Maybe we can go to.”

  Lacey narrowed her eyes at the mention of a new friend. It was the first she heard anything official along those lines. Was the new friend a girl, like Lacey assumed?

  “Which new friend? Is it a girl?”

  Looking down at her shirt, not technically pajamas, but something she wore to bed often, Lacey figured it was good enough for a trip to the arena. Since Kevin hated any skating that didn’t involve ice, she figured he’d be at the rink he had games and practice in the fall and winter. She didn’t figure they did a lot of business in the summer months, other than maybe birthday parties.

  Rachel’s snort drew her eyes away from seeing how much she’d embarrass her son if he was really with someone he hoped would be his girlfriend. If Rachel was willing to leave the house for an activity, there was no way Lacey could say no.

  “I’m pretty sure he’s not a girl, but you would know better. He’s the guy that you were using as a pillow a few weeks ago.”

  Lacey’s mind went completely blank as her mouth dropped open. The little snicker from her daughter didn’t help matters. Rachel was only ten, so her knowledge on what two people do in bed without clothes had to be limited. At least Lacey hoped they weren’t already teaching sex-ed. She hadn’t gotten any notes warning of kids coming home with questions.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Since she hadn’t heard anything about Vasily being caught at the house, or him spending time with Kevin, playing dumb seemed like the smartest option. Had her son really been hanging out with Vasily without her knowing about it? How was that possible? She knew they’d somehow met, but neither of them mentioned it was an ongoing thing.

  “Mom, don’t act like you don’t remember. The big guy Uncle Jake said he was going to kill. He picks Kevin up all the time for that buddy thing Kevin’s stuck doing.”

  Rachel might as well have walked across the room and smacked Lacey on the forehead. How in the hell had she missed the fact that Vasily was picking Kevin up? And why was this the first she heard about both Rachel and Jake knowing Vasily had been in the house.

  Her daughter may be too young to figure out what was going on in the bedroom, but Jake had to know all the details, and the man hadn’t said a thing. Of course, she hadn’t seen Jake since that night. Maybe he was hiding from her, embarrassed she’d fallen in to bed with yet another untrustworthy teammate.

  “You’ve met Vasily?”

  There were too many revelations happening at once. Her life was spinning out of control, much like her head. Lacey gripped the top of the sink in hopes of keeping her from falling.

  “Only the once, when I came in to tell him Uncle Jake wanted to talk to him. I haven’t actually seen him since, I’ve just heard Kevin talking about him to his friends.”

  Emotions warred inside Lacey. Minor relief bubbled up. If Rachel hadn’t seen Vasily again, Lacey hadn’t missed his car in the driveway on what sounded like multiple visits. It still meant she wouldn’t be receiving any “mom of the year” trophies anytime soon, but she could live with that.

  The biggest concern was whether Kevin was in any danger hanging out with Vasily. The man was an amazing lover. No one could deny him that designation. But, he’d said himself that kids weren’t for him. How much time had he spent with Kevin, and what in the world were they doing together?

  With more questions adding to her growing list, the fact that shy little Rachel had suggested they go find Vasily and Kevin couldn’t be ignored. She usually had to be dragged out of the house for any kind of activity. Was she being a matchmaker, or Heaven help Rachel, did the girl have a crush?

  Either way, Lacey was going to kill Vasily. It wouldn’t be the first time she wanted to kill the father of her kids.

  “I guess maybe your stomach isn’t up for it?”

  Rachel sounded disappointed, which was a rare tone for her. Lacey tried to clear her racing mind and focus on her daughter. She saw Rachel s
taring down, not at the floor, but to where Lacey’s hand had fallen to her stomach again.

  Oh, yeah. She was supposed to be sick.

  She quickly drew back her hand and pasted a smile on her face. If she really had the flu, hanging out at the arena would be the last thing she wanted to do. Since it was just a cover, she needed to work around it. There were a pair of guys she needed to have a little conversation with.

  Actually, she had three guys to talk to with Vasily, Kevin and Jake, but if two of them were together somewhere, she couldn’t miss the opportunity to ambush them. She almost wanted to make a list of questions to scream at them before she left, because she didn’t want to forget any of them.

  She was already going to look psycho enough. Coming with a list would only add premeditation to anything a court could later charge her for. At the moment, thrashing Vasily for sneaking around behind her back was all she pictured. That didn’t mean in the moment murder wasn’t possible.

  What to do about Kevin and his lies was a totally different matter. Was Vasily really the reason he’d stopped moping around? She’d even seen him smile recently. She could only imagine what Vasily was teaching him during their times together to make the sulking kid happy.

  Vasily’s background, other than his issues with the law, was a mystery. Searches on the internet brought up his court battles and pictures of him with dozens of women on his arms. There wasn’t a lot out there about him as a person.

  Was he teaching her son to make pipe bombs or something? With his recent attitude, she could see Kevin having a great time learning that kind of stuff. She hoped he wasn’t that far gone.

  “I think my stomach will make it.”

  The words lacked any real conviction, but Lacey hoped they were true. The usual queasiness was joined by butterflies playing havoc on her stomach at the thought of seeing Vasily. She had to do this but throwing up or showing any signs that would lead to him thinking she was pregnant couldn’t happen.

  Nothing in her research had shown he hit women, but George hadn’t shown a violent streak either. That wasn’t totally right. George liked to yell and hit things. It wasn’t until she’d told him they were going to have a third child that he’d gotten physical with her.

  She shook her head. She wasn’t going back to that day again. She had worked for weeks straight to pretend it and the night that led to her getting pregnant hadn’t happened. The thought of the baby possibly growing inside of her was trying to bring those days back, and she couldn’t let it.

  Lacey needed to see Vasily to gauge whether the idea his baby being in the world would send him into a rage. It wasn’t something she could just come out and ask, so seeing how he reacted to her finding out his little secret with Kevin would have to be her gauge.

  Her mind made up, she sighed and walked out of the bathroom. Rachel backed out of the way. The smile on her face was hard to read. She was clearly happy they were going skating, but what about Vasily being there was making her happy? Lacey couldn’t deal with a ten-year-old’s crush on someone like Vasily.

  She didn’t know that the alternative was any better. Rachel had never seen anyone other than her father in bed with Lacey. What in the world did she think it meant? And exactly how much had she seen?

  Killing Jake for that even being a question that needed answered was added to Lacey’s to-do list. How could he send a little girl in the bedroom when he had to know what the scene was?

  “Aren’t you going to change?” Rachel asked when they’d made it to the kitchen.

  Lacey was gathering the keys to the car and her purse. As far as she was concerned, the sooner they got this over with, the better.

  She looked down at the shirt she’d already questioned. It was something she’d worn to make quick runs to the grocery store, even if she fell asleep in it sometimes. For the mission, dressing up was the last thing on her mind. Vasily had enjoyed seeing her in her little black dress. It was time to see how he reacted to her in regular mom clothes.

  “No, sweetie. I think this is the perfect outfit for us to go skating in. Grab your skates and let’s go.”

  Chapter 12

  “I’m telling you, you should be shooting lefty,” Vasily said as he watched Kevin take a few right-hand shots at a net.

  He’d been watching the kid for weeks, giving out pointers and showing some tricks. As far as working off his community service, Vasily couldn’t have asked for a better scenario. They met every day at the Buddy Connection, since Vasily didn’t think picking him up at his house was a good idea. Then, they headed straight to the arena, where they spent four hours hanging out.

  It wasn’t only on the ice. They sat in the stands and talked sometimes. Vasily used those times to try to get more information about Lacey, but Kevin had been tight-lipped when it came to his mom. His dad, on the other hand, was a different story.

  Vasily didn’t want to learn more about George. Everything he heard just pissed him off more. He tried to hide it, but eventually Kevin was smart enough to change the subject whenever George came up in the conversation. That wasn’t a bad thing, but Vasily needed the reminder that Lacey already had one jackass in her life promising things and doing the opposite.

  As much as he wanted to spend more time getting to know Lacey, he knew staying away was the best option. Since their night together, he’d tried to forget how she felt around him, but couldn’t. He felt like a sad sap, not quite to the lost puppy dog stage, but it was bad enough.

  It was terrible actually. He hadn’t been out to his usual stomping grounds. Hadn’t been with another woman. Hadn’t spent a single minute without Lacey crossing his mind.

  Okay, so maybe he was at the lost puppy dog stage. How was he supposed to know, since he’d never felt anything like the connection with Lacey?

  But, Lacey Wilson deserved more than him.

  She needed someone to love her and her children and protect her from the world. After spending time with Kevin, Vasily kept telling himself he could do those things, but he wasn’t reliable enough to always do those things.

  “But my dad always said I should shoot right, like him.”

  Kevin straightened up from a shot and leaned against his stick. The stick, along with his skates were gifts from Vasily. All top of the line, and joined some new pads, a helmet and other gear they’d bought the day Vasily was chased out of Kevin’s house. As far as Vasily knew, Kevin still didn’t know he had intimate knowledge of the kid’s house.

  It was surprising that he continued to use the line about his dad. Kevin hated the man for what he’d done to his family, but he evidently respected his hockey sense. In his prime, George had been a thirty-goal scorer. That didn’t put him at the top of any lists, and it’d been a few years since he’d made that mark.

  “I hate to tell you this, kid, but your dad is a jackass.”

  A surprise gasp at Vasily’s words drew his eyes towards the bench. He’d rented the arena out, so seeing a brunette little girl standing there with wide eyes caused a slight shock. Seeing the girl’s mother standing next to her wiped his mind completely.

  Lacey.

  He didn’t say the word, which was convenient. Because, if he’d said the simple name, he wouldn’t have been able to keep the awe from his tone. Then, he’d have to admit he was a complete fool.

  The woman with her hair thrown up in a quick ponytail, no makeup and a loose-fitting t-shirt over blue jeans looked nothing like the vixen who’d been sitting at the bar a few weeks ago. Her eyes weren’t as wide as her daughter’s, but they looked big and bright, even from at least twenty feet away. Her head was shaking, as if the action would clear the view in front of her.

  “Mom, what are you doing here?”

  There was a whine in Kevin’s tone that Vasily had never heard. He understood where it came from. The kid was embarrassed his mom had shown up.

  Embarrassment wasn’t the emotion going through Vasily’s head. Lacey didn’t need makeup or a skin-tight dress to look beautiful. She
looked natural, and it was even more appealing.

  While her son had just asked her a question, she made no move to answer him. Her eyes were frozen on Vasily’s. As far as he was concerned, there was no one else in the arena.

  He was right to stay away. Seeing her made his body tighten, both in his groin and chest. What was it about this woman that turned his brain into goop?

  Kevin skated over and smacked Vasily on the back of his shin with his stick. Time had passed, but Vasily hoped it wasn’t the minutes it felt like. He didn’t take his eyes away from Lacey, even with the silent conversation he and Lacey were having interrupted.

  They hadn’t said anything more than they both still felt the heat between them, but Vasily tried to tell her that he was sorry for not calling. It was for the best he didn’t. He should’ve let her know he didn’t just slip away, though. He was dragged away and punched in the jaw for his stupidity.

  “I’m hoping she didn’t know you’d be here. She’s been happier since your little talk with her. I figure that means if she knew you were here, she would’ve put on something more than her pajamas.”

  It wasn’t quite scorn in his voice, but his mother showing up, and apparently not dressed to his liking was pushing the kid to his limits. Vasily had a very different attitude towards the idea of Lacey in her pajamas. The jeans clearly weren’t for bed, but he could easily picture her in nothing but the shirt that barely made it to her thighs.

  They hadn’t discussed what exactly Vasily said to Lacey, other then him saying he did indeed find her and talk to her. Kevin hadn’t mentioned she seemed happy, but he figured something had changed enough that he hadn’t reneged on their deal.

  The conversation Vasily imagined going on between him and Lacey came to an end when her initial deer in the headlight look soured and her eyes squinted. Oh, she knew he’d be there, and she was pissed. And angry Lacey was just as provocative as unsure Lacey.