Grady shrugged his shoulders before looking back at where his wife and father were getting out of the car. Meeting Karson’s gaze, he said, “Because you make her happy, and I don’t want to lose my relationship with my sister.”

“That makes sense. Thanks,” he said, letting out a breath. “But your wife and Dad can kiss my ass.”

With that, he headed inside to find Lacey standing with his family with a huge grin on her face. Everyone was smiling, but when the door slammed behind him and Lacey met his gaze, her grin fell as a look of horror came across her face.

“Oh shit, did you kill my family?”

“Almost. We need to talk,” he demanded, coming toward her.

“Are you okay?” his mom asked but he shook his head.

“Not now, Ma,” he said taking Lacey’s arm in his hand. “Come on.”

But before he could even direct her into the other room, her father called out, “See how your husband treats us, Lacey? Makes us fend for ourselves.”

Karson gritted his teeth as Lacey said, “You obviously pissed him off. He’s shaking! What did you do?”

Karl took a step forward and jerked a thumb toward Nate. “This your father, Lacey sweetheart?”

She let out a breath. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I don’t know what is going on. Give me one second to find out and I’ll fix it. I’m so sorry.”

“No worries,” he said, and before Karson could even stop him, Karl’s fist connected with Nate’s nose.

“Oh shit!” JT called out. “Dude, your dad just decked your father-in-law!”

“Oh my God,” Lacey cried.

“Dad!” Kacey and Karson yelled.

“Karl!” his mother screamed before pulling him away.

“Oh my gosh, you barbarian! My Nate!” Sabrina cried, gathering him in her arms, but he pushed her away, standing up and glaring. Grady stood between him and Karl, holding his dad back.

“Not here, Dad. This is Lacey’s home,” he said, but obviously Karl King didn’t care that it was their home.

“He’s right. Jesus, Karl!” Regina yelled, smacking his arm. “Not here!”

“No, that asshole hurt my son, so it’s payback time,” he said, shaking out his hand. Looking at Karson, Karl said, “No one hurts my son or my new daughter-in-law and gets away with it.” Meeting Nate’s gaze, Karson was horrified as blood gushed out of his nose. Before he could even move though, Karl said, “That was damn near ten years coming, Nate Martin. Leave these kids alone. They love each other.”

“Burn in hell, you asshole,” Sabrina cried. “I’m not staying here!”

“How dare you surround us with these savages, Lacey Arielle?”

“You haven’t seen savage yet, dickwad,” Kacey warned. “That’s only one King who has it out for you. There are two more of us.”

“That’s enough!” Karson yelled, shaking his head.

“Great family to join, Lacey,” Sabrina scolded.

“Don’t make me pull those extensions out of your hair. We are a wonderful family. You guys are the ones with a stick up your ass,” Regina yelled, and this time, Karl was holding her back. “We love Lacey!”

“Well, you guys are nothing more than trash in my book,” Sabrina snapped with a dirty look on her face.

“Don’t talk to my momma like that, you bitch!”

“Man, this is better than Jerry Springer,” JT said, and Karson didn’t even know what to do.

“Shut up, JT,” Lacey yelled before throwing her arms up. “Everyone just shut the hell up!”

Lacey’s shoulders fell beside him, and Karson looked down at her. He was mad about the potential lie and really didn’t want to care about this, but he knew she was upset. This was a clusterfuck of bad. She covered her face, and he watched as her shoulders shook with sobs.

“This was such a bad idea,” she whispered, and no matter how mad he was, he couldn’t let her cry. Before he could wrap her up though, his father came to her and raised her face so he could look at her. Wiping away her tears, he smiled.

“I’m sorry, honey, but I protect my own, and you are part of that now,” he said, and before Lacey could say anything, he walked away with Kacey and Regina in his wake.

“Ah, man! It’s over?” JT complained, and Karson swore he was going to kill him. But before he could, Lacey looked up at him, her watering eyes begging him to do something, but he had no clue what to do.

So he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Happy Thanksgiving?”

“Really?” she asked and he could see that she was annoyed. Well, she was about to be even more annoyed.

“No, but it’s only about to get worse,” he muttered and then met her gaze. “Can I see you in our room? Now.”

And as he headed for the bedroom, her hand in his, pulling her with him, he knew that everything was a mess, and it would probably be better for him to wait. But he couldn’t wait.

He had to know why his wife lied to him.

Lacey couldn’t believe what was happening.

First JT was driving her up the damn wall, then she was entertaining Regina, Karl, and Kacey while trying to get JT from flirting with her sister-in-law, and then her husband walked in, pissed as hell, but that wasn’t even the kicker. Her father-in-law probably broke her dad’s nose, and now, Karson wanted to talk.

Happy-fucking-Thanksgiving, Lacey!