CLUB DARK LACE: The complete Dark Lace series

by Measha Stone

  Garrick had the decency to keep his chuckle low as he dug out his phone. Swiping his screen his brows furrowed. “One sec.” He turned his back and put the phone to his ear.

  Checking his watch, Jamison reached for his phone. It was four o’clock. Only a few more hours until Carissa was done at the shelter and would meet him at his place. He wanted to text her, see how her day was going, but he didn’t. She’d be busy, and the sooner she finished her work, the sooner he’d get to see her.

  “What? No. Absolutely not. She got herself in there, she’ll have to get herself out.” Garrick’s firm voice caught his attention. “I will not, and neither will you. I’m serious, Jade, you are not to help. She will have to call Jamison.”

  Now, his attention was completely grabbed. He didn’t interrupt the call, instead watched his friend tense and pace the room.

  “If you do anything, it won’t be just a sore ass you’ll get. I’m not kidding.”

  A few more words were exchanged, and when Garrick finally hung up, Jamison had a good idea of what had happened.

  “She went to the protest and got herself in trouble,” Jamison stated flatly.

  “Arrested. The idiot got herself arrested with about half of the other women down there. It seems they were in front of your father’s building when he arrived. He demanded to see their permit. I guess the organizer wasn’t there yet, and he had them all arrested. He came with police, Jamison. He arrived with them right behind him.”

  “Of course, he did. And did the organizer ever show?”

  “She did, but they’d already arrested a few dozen women.” Garrick stuck his phone back in his pocket. “According to what the flower child told Jade; she’s being charged with unorderly conduct. Since the permit wasn’t on the premises at the time, they can go ahead and charge them.”

  Jamison looked at his watch again. “How long ago did all this happen? The protest was set for three.”

  “They showed up early. She was arrested about an hour and half ago.”

  He wasn’t sure where to put his anger. At his father for being such a greedy asshole or his girl for being so damn disobedient.

  Since the second was at least someplace where she couldn’t run off and hide, he decided to deal with the bigger fish first.

  No protesters were in sight when he crossed the street from the parking garage to his father’s building.

  Garrick had gone to pick up Jade. Mostly to keep her from going to Carissa’s aid. They would be heading to the police station to talk to who worked as a detective for that precinct. Carissa wouldn’t be getting out until Jamison got there, but he wanted to be sure she was treated respectfully and safely until then.

  “Father.” Jamison barged into the office, letting the door bang against the wall. “What the hell happened? Do you know you had Carissa arrested?”

  His father, who had been studying papers on his desk, looked up. The cool demeanor Jamison had recognized as a child, chilled even more.

  “Yes. I do. In fact, seeing my son’s girlfriend as one of the protesters only convinced me further I was doing the right thing.” He dropped his pen on the desk and stood up. “Do you really think she’s going to stick around with you after this whole thing? She was using you to get to me, Jamison. She wanted you to save her precious shelter.”

  Jamison’s hands clenched at his sides. “Neither of us knew about your damn hotel plans until after we were seeing each other.”

  “Well, if that’s true, then she is merely using you now.”

  “Why? Because it’s impossible to believe she’d want to be with me?” The vulnerability of his child-self surfaced.

  “No woman wants a man for himself. It’s always for what he brings to the table. In your case, wealth and power. I know she lives in that three flat on the north side. You think she doesn’t want to get out of that place and move into your condo? Instead of a back alley, her bedroom would overlook Lake Michigan.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Baron laughed. “I’ve had four wives; I’m well versed in the selfishness of women.”

  “Selfishness? Because they wanted you around? Because they didn’t like being married to man who thought because they dared to be female, they weren’t worthy of his time or effort?”

  “Every one of them used me. They wanted my name, my bank account, but when it came to following my rules, they wanted their own way!” His father’s nostrils flared; his eyes widened.

  “What rules? Let you sleep with any other woman you wanted? Never make you commit to being faithful to them?”

  “They got what they wanted out of the marriage.”

  “I’d say that’s wrong, considering every one of them left you.” The tension he usually felt when disagreeing with his father wasn’t there. Nothing remained but energy to push forward.

  “Don’t forget, Jamison, that one of them left you, too!” Baron pointed a finger at him.

  “Mother? Tell me again, what happened with Mother. How did you convince her to leave me behind? Never to return again?” Jamison hadn’t spoken with the Newton woman yet, but he had a good idea of what she would tell him when he pursued that avenue.

  “I did nothing. She simply walked out.” A red blotch formed on his father’s cheeks.

  “Really? Just left? You didn’t do anything?”

  “We’ve been over this! Your mother didn’t know how good she had things. Always asking for vacations, demanding time when I didn’t have any. And with you—she used you against me. So, when she wanted to leave, I let her. But she wasn’t taking you. She wasn’t going to have you to use against me anymore.”

  “Use me against you? How, by making you pay her child support, making you take a minute to spend with me?” A dam had burst. Words flew from him with little filtering.

  “Pay her child support? Do you know what it took to get her to leave you with me? One settlement check. I basically bought you from her. She sold you, Jamison. Your mother sold you.”

  Jamison took a step back, as though the words had morphed into physical hands and had smacked him hard.

  “You paid her to leave?”

  “Paid her to leave you. She was leaving me all on her own.” Baron rounded the desk and came to stand in front of Jamison, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Your mother was like the rest, Son. The highest bidder wins their hearts. She gave you up for money, and she left me for a man who was wealthier than myself.”

  “She left you for someone else?” He remembered his mother, the soft smiles, the easy singsong of her voice. He remembered her putting him to bed every night, spending all her free time with him. Why would she have left him so easily, and for what other man?

  “Just like Carissa will do to you. Mark my words, Son. I’ve seen her type. Whatever she needs for her cause. If you don’t succeed in getting this shelter under protection, she’ll walk too. And you won’t succeed.”

  Jamison shook his head and jerked his shoulder away from his father, taking several steps back to put much needed space between them.

  Carissa had had no idea the shelter would become a focus for his father until after they had started dating. And she wouldn’t use someone, not the way his father portrayed. She didn’t have it in her.

  “You don’t have to build that hotel there. You’re hurting the community. Not my girlfriend, but hundreds if not thousands of women who need a safe place for themselves and their children. That place makes a difference, you don’t—your hotel won’t. I’m asking you—as your son, I’m asking you to find another location.”

  His father stared at him. The deep disapproval he’d always seen lingering behind Baron’s eyes came forward now, blaring at him.

  “I have friends in this city, too, Father. I won’t let you take the shelter. And not only for Carissa, but because I need to do something that means something. Buying and selling real estate, owning shares in nightclubs—none of that means much.”

  “You’re going to go up against
me?” Baron laughed. “You’re as dumb as your mother if you think that will work.”

  Jamison clenched his fist. The idea to throw it into his father’s face struck him, but he managed to calm his anger. It wouldn’t solve anything, and his father would still be as much of an ass as when he arrived. “At last, the full truth of it comes out. So many years I’ve wasted balancing your disapproval with my life choices.”

  “My approval would be won easily enough if you’d simply follow me. Take over my business.”

  “If I took over your company, I’d break it off in pieces and sell it to the highest bidder. Your name would go down in ashes. That’s what I would do with your company. Father.” The words tasted sour, leaving a bitter nastiness behind.

  “Don’t be a fool, son!”

  Jamison was already at the door, walking through it and ignoring the demands his father yelled from his office.

  He had to get to the police station. Then he needed to call his attorney.

  Chapter 16

  Someone had urinated on the floor. Carissa could smell it. The holding cell housed a dozen women, most of whom had been picked up with her at the protest. She didn’t know why the others were there, and she didn’t care. She only wanted out and to go home.

  Where the hell was Jade? She’d called her almost an hour ago, but she still hadn’t shown up. About forty minutes ago a police officer—he wore plain clothes but had a badge on his belt—had come to the cell calling her name.

  She’d thought it was time and she was getting out, but once she got to the door, he looked her over and shook his head.

  “You’re Carissa McAlister?” he’d asked with little interest.

  “Yes, sir.” She nodded, giving her best submissive smile.

  “My name is Detective Grant Warner. If you have any trouble in here, you tell that guard over there you want to see me, and he’ll get me. Understand?”

  She had been given her own personal detective? For disorderly conduct?

  “I-I don’t understand. Am I not free to go? A friend was coming to post bail or whatever she needed to do.” Carissa had pressed her face against the bars, looking down the narrow hall hoping to see Jade walking toward her.

  “No one’s posting anything yet. You sit tight and, if you need me, you call for me.”

  Carissa didn’t get a chance to agree or ask any more questions. The detective left her standing there and went to the guard. Probably to give him the same instructions.

  She’d watched him walk back out toward the main room, whistling. He’d been whistling!

  And there she still sat. No Jade. No money. And no freedom.

  Jamison would be expecting her soon. It was nearing six, and she needed to get home, shower off the scum of the police station, and get to his condo.

  He’d probably heard about the protest already, that there had been arrests, but he wouldn’t know her involvement. As far as he knew, she was at the shelter, covering for the scheduled nurse who’d wanted to participate in the protest.

  Another twisting ache pulled at her stomach like it did every time she thought about Jamison that day. Lying to him hadn’t been easy, and she didn’t like doing it, but he wouldn’t see her side.

  He had said no the one time she brought it up, but they hadn’t talked about it again. Maybe she should have brought it up again. Maybe she could have convinced him.

  “Carissa McAllister?” A uniformed officer unlocked the door.

  She pushed through the other women in the room, recognizing most of them as she passed. They’d all called friends or family and were waiting to be picked up, too.

  “Yes. Here I am.”

  The officer eyed her and gestured for her to follow him. She was nearly skipping as she followed him down the narrow hallway and through another door.

  Her happiness was short lived, however.

  Jamison stood at a desk not five feet away from where the officer led her, glaring at her.

  Not a disappointed look, not even an irritated one like he normally cast her way when she’d gotten herself in hot water. He was angry.

  “Uh, maybe I should wait until my friend comes.” She took a step back, but the door had already shut.

  The officer gave her a disgruntled look. “He’s right there.” And with that, he turned on his heel and walked away.

  She didn’t move. She tried to, tried to run away actually, but instead she kept staring at him. The detective she’d talked with earlier was telling him something while jotting things down on a pad of paper, but Jamison didn’t seem to be listening.

  He crooked a finger at her, beckoning her to him.

  She swallowed hard but still didn’t move.

  He raised an eyebrow and bent his finger again.

  One foot moved then the other. Before she could convince herself it wasn’t a bad dream, she stood in front of him.

  “Jamison, I—”

  He held up a hand to stop her. “Not one single word. You stand right there until I’m done then I will take you home.”

  So, cold. His voice chilled the air.

  “I’ll get more information for you within a few days, but do you think you can do it?” Jamison addressed Detective Warren.

  The detective looked up, glancing at Carissa then at Jamison. “Yeah. I think I can. Might take some time though.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll call you tomorrow, Grant.”

  “Jamison—” she tried.

  “No.” He shook his head.

  “Talk to you later, Jamison. And good luck to you, Ms. McAllister.” The detective didn’t look very much like he wished her luck. In fact, Grant looked almost as stern as Jamison when he took her hand.

  “Let’s go.”

  She didn’t try to pull back from him.

  Carissa let him drag her to his car without a word of complaint. She’d known this would happen. Known he’d be pissed if he found out. Jade shouldn’t have called him!

  Once they were in the car, buckled and driving, she chanced a look at him. His knuckles were nearly transparent from the grip he had on the wheel, but it didn't compare to the fierceness of his expression. With intense focus, he stared at the road ahead of them with a clenched jaw.

  “Is something wrong? I mean, besides the obvious?” she asked.

  “When we get home, you’ll put on your bad-girl panties.” That was it? Nothing else?

  “Jamison, Daddy, I didn’t mean to get you so angry.”

  He shook his head. He wasn’t looking at her. Even at red lights, he continued to stare out the window. Something had happened. Something that had nothing to do with her.

  “But you did. You blatantly disobeyed me. You lied to me!” His voice rose. Daddy never raised his voice.

  “It was important.”

  He huffed. Not a real laugh, or a chuckle, more of a sound of annoyance.

  She left it alone until he parked outside her building. He didn’t unbuckle her. He didn’t tell her to stay put so he could open her door. He did open it, though, with a quick yank and a jerk of his thumb, telling her to get out.

  She swallowed hard. It didn’t feel the same as when she’d walked toward a punishment before. This, this was different. Permanent in some way. Like a heaviness pressed down on them, and she wasn’t sure a simple spanking would break it up and clear it away.

  Maybe she should tell him. Maybe if she didn’t make him wait the week to tell him she’d decided to ignore the expiration date, he’d lighten up. The cloud would dissipate, at least a little.

  She unlocked the door to her apartment.

  “Saw you on TV a few minutes ago. Got yourself into some trouble, huh?” Mr. Buschmann called over the railing.

  She closed her eyes and took a breath. He could not have picked a worse time to be his nosy self.

  “Yes, she did,” Jamison answered and pushed the door open.

  Before any other retort could be uttered, she was inside, the door closed and locked behind them.

  “Do you wa
nt something to drink?” She walked to the kitchen. He needed to calm down; he was too angry.

  “You knew all week you were going to go today, didn’t you?” He followed her into the kitchen.

  She paused at the dishwasher. “I—I had thought about it, yes. But I wasn’t sure, not really sure until yesterday.”

  “And you thought what, that if you went, I probably wouldn’t find out, so no big deal?” His voice was cold. Frozen, really.

  How could she even begin to explain herself when there was no acceptable explanation.

  “I know it sounds bad; it looks bad. It’s just, it was important to me, really important.”

  “And keeping you safe is important to me, but that didn’t matter to you, did it? Only what you wanted counted.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant.” It was coming out wrong; the whole day was happening wrong. Her throat closed up, but not because she was in trouble. No, the look on his face didn’t suggest a spanking was coming. It was worse. Darkness lurked there. She knew that expression, knew what feelings boiled beneath it.

  “I’m sorry.” She leaned against the counter, remembering what she wanted to tell him, remembering what she’d decided that morning. But when she looked at him and saw the distance, the gap she’d put between them, the words couldn’t form.

  “You’re sorry I found out. You’re sorry I had to bail your ass out of jail. You’re sorry about all of that, but that’s it. You had no intention of ever taking our relationship seriously.” His words cut her.

  “No, that’s not true!”

  He took a deep breath and looked around. She could sense him drifting away. He was still standing there, in her kitchen, but some decision had been made, some horrible, irreversible decision.

  “Daddy—”

  “No. I think maybe you were right. Maybe these relationships don’t last, they aren’t meant for people like you. Or me.”

  “What? No. I was wrong, no, Jamison. I fucked up—sorry, messed up—badly. I get that, but you can’t throw away everything because I was bad one time.”

  “You never had any hope for this to last. This has just been a month-long ride for you, and you were going to get off next week anyway. So, let’s cut through the bullshit and finish it now.”