Selfish Desires

Six

Jamie paced outside of Marta's Bridal Shop. He was loathe to enter the building again. The last time he'd been here, he'd been trying to find Lacey, and Marta had all but thrown him out and knowing now that she knew where Lacey had been the entire time, rubbed him the wrong way.

After Ben told him that Lacey had come back to New York yesterday, he'd divided his time between working and drinking. For the past week, he'd been running on sheer willpower alone, and he yearned for the dark where he could slide into oblivion. But during the daylight hours, he was forced to engage with the world, which brought him here, to Marta's Bridal Shop.

He normally had a clean look, his hair pulled back into a bun with the sides short. He hadn't bothered to tie his hair up today as the sides needed trimming. He scratched his jaw and decided the rough stubble was probably closer in description to a beard. Clara had been quick to point that out when she'd visited him last night. Apparently, if she had wanted to marry a Nordic Viking, she'd buy a time machine and get one.

This was his ex-wife's fault. If only she'd stayed away. Instead, she'd returned bearing another man's name. And to add insult to injury, last night her stepmother had cornered him at a public ceremony he'd had no choice but to attend. She'd smiled at him in what he imagined she thought was seductive, tempting. He'd looked down on her with disgust and was pleased to see her confidence wither before him. He had nothing but contempt for her and his bitter heart sang when her voice stuttered. She obviously recognized him from his engagement announcement and thought to profit from her weak connection to him. That bitch thought she could blackmail him.

The first time he'd met Lacey's parents, Dean and Shayna, they definitely hadn't been expecting their darling girl to introduce her husband. They had been full of smiles, and loving touches as she stood in the doorway until he'd appeared next to her. At the time he considered himself lucky he'd married her before he had been introduced because there was no doubt in his mind that they would have forced Lacey to ditch him.

Shayna had wrapped her long, bony fingers, with gaudy acrylic nails around Lacey's slender wrist and pulled her away from him, her voice grating on his nerves as she questioned her harshly about acting out. He'd seen her for what she was back then, a greedy, covetous woman. The same vile kind that had circled his entire privileged life hoping to be brought into the fold. There was no benefit to her through Lacey's marriage to Jamie, although he knew her tune would change if she had recognized who he really was.

He had studied her father, unable to read him as easily. He saw surprise and anger, but he didn't have that same level of disgust. He'd believed her dad would come around once he saw his little girl was loved, but he'd never got the chance to know.

Since their separation, Lacey had followed the binding of their contract. He could take care of his ex-mother-in-law easily, but he wanted to know how deep the rot was first. Lacey hadn't come back to him or asked for any money, but the thought she might have changed seduced his resentful heart. If she were just as wretched as her stepmother, he could cut her out of his life, and his heart, and fulfill his obligations to his fiancée. He planned on confronting Lacey, and if she was involved, he would bury them all so deeply they'd never crawl their way back to daylight again.

Ben had talked him down from the edge when he'd been ready to fly to Grand Rapids. It wasn't that far away and yet he'd never been. He was curious to know what her life looked like there. He hadn't mentioned that to Ben when he'd talked of visiting his dear sweet ex-wife.

Ben didn't believe she'd changed, but she had this ability to glamour and bewitch men. It had only taken that first meeting between them for his lifelong friend to switch allegiances with this ridiculous need to protect her from him.