Precious Obsession (The Lawson Legacy #2)

Chapter 1

Addy is safe, this time.

Carter, Kat’s crazy ex that she left behind when she moved here, is still out there.

He shouldn’t have been an issue. According to Kat, she’d found him cheating, which is why they weren’t together anymore after being together since high school.

But I know his type all too well; I grew up around them.

Men who grew up without rules, able to do whatever they want and buy their way out of anything with mom and dad's pocketbook.

I’d bet he was shocked when she left, thought she would stay for anything just to keep him. Most women do.

Natasha was a great example of that. I think at one point she might have had genuine feelings for them, but greed twisted those feelings, and in the end, she was willing to do anything to stay with them.

To get the Lawson last name and a piece of the proverbial pie. Even though she couldn’t stand me.

I disgusted her; she told me so herself.

Carter was wrong, though.

Kat left him and came here to build a new life on her own, and from what I saw, she was doing a damn good job, even beyond my family's infatuation with her.

If Carter was already upset that she left, I’m sure her success wasn’t helping.

Desmond, Father, and Vince had the pleasure of meeting him last month when they visited him regarding his stalking tendencies. Apparently, his cheating had been a blessing in disguise, and not just for them.

Kat deserved better than him, a misogynistic, materialistic, rich boy who never really worked for a damn thing he has. He’d expected her to come running back, but she didn’t need him, and now that she has them, she never will again.

“What ya thinkin’ ‘bout?” Desmond jumps over the back of the couch and lands on the cushion beside me. I only just manage to keep hold of my book because of years of dealing with his antics.

“Nothing,” I say and cringe, knowing I answered too fast.

“I’ll take curvy waist and red hair for 500.”

Who needs brothers when your cousin is annoying enough to be three all on his own?

“Just because you have a one-track mind doesn’t mean I do. Not all of us are constantly thinking about Katherine, Des.” I realize my mistake a second too late when his lips curl up, and I see the way his eyes light up.

He pushes up, and I wait because I know this isn’t the end of it; it never is with him.

“I never said I was talking about Kat, but if the shoe fits.” Even with his back to me, I can hear the smile on his face. I grip the book hard enough to crinkle the page, but it's that, or I’m going to throw it at his head.

I knew he was taunting me, even before he sat down, and still I played into it.

I sit alone for the next hour with my book open, unable to read a single word as thoughts of Kat and everything else swirl around in my head like a tornado stealing every bit of my concentration.

It’s not until Addy comes running into the room, her laughter ringing around the room and pulling a smile to my lips despite the spiral I was just in a moment ago.

“Oli! Oli, help me!” She runs and jumps into my arms. I toss my book aside and catch her, but only just.

“What’s wrong, Addy?” I ask, panic gripping me as she looks back over her shoulder, as if afraid someone is after her. She’s breathing hard as if she just ran a marathon and seems in a hurry.

It feels like it takes forever for her to answer, but when she does, it takes all the panic out of me.

“Mommy’s coming! I’m supposed to be hiding, but she always finds me.” She pouts, crossing her arms, and I can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of me.

She’d had me in a panic. It’s silly, really. In our own home, we’re very secure—much more so than at some random children's museum. Anyone who came here in an attempt to harm Addy wouldn’t have any hope of surviving. If Ruby didn’t tear them apart, Vince or one of his guys would handle them.

It’s not like it’s never happened before.

With as much money as our company makes, and the fact that we built it from the ground up. We’ve had targets on our backs for a while now, but we try to keep it off of Addy.

I guess we should have known it couldn’t last forever. We just need to do better and deal with this asshole before he becomes a bigger problem.

They can always be a bigger problem.

I stand, wrapping an arm tight around Addy so that she doesn’t fall since she’s busy pouting, and walk across the room.

We’re in the far left of the house, in one of the few sitting rooms with couches and a few books on the wall.

The entire house is furnished, yet not all of it sees the same level of use.

This room in particular hardly ever sees people unless it’s me quietly reading or someone walking through from the backyard.

Like most of the backside of the house, the walls are floor-to-ceiling glass with a sliding door, which is also why it’s great to read in.

It’s fancy, a place meant to host guests, and while occasional business takes place here, most happens away from the house, at the office, restaurant, or the club, ever since Addy was born.

Hide-and-seek, not so much.

Thankfully, I have one place in mind. Whether or not it works, I do not know. All I can do is hope to throw her off long enough so that Addy isn’t upset that I got her caught.

Maybe I should just tell her to go find Des? He’s always been better at this kind of thing.

“Ready or not, here I come!” Kat’s voice is distant, letting me know she’s probably still upstairs, but if I can hear her, she can’t be too far.

Looks like Des is out of the question.

There are glass displays built into the walls, trophies from mine and Des’s childhoods, and a few other memories. The opposite side of the stairs has the same storage but was converted into a bar, so anyone who doesn’t know the house might not look here.

Hopefully.

I pull one of the cabinets below open and smile when I find it mostly empty, with only a few magazines and a set of coasters that I bet no one even realizes is here.

Addy doesn’t need an explanation. The second she sees the space, she all but flings herself from my arms and scurries into the small space. Thankfully, she’s small; nevertheless, it’s a tight fit, and I worry about closing her in.

“Hurry, close it before Mommy comes,” she hisses, trying to be quiet and failing miserably.

Making sure her fingers are clear, I close the door before quickly moving back toward the couch with the magazines and coasters in hand.

I just make it to the table when Kat walks into the room, a smile on her face as she looks around, no doubt searching for a tiny girl and not me. Yet still I can’t help but stand straight, dusting off my pants and straightening my shirt.

Not that I need to impress her or anything.

I watch as she looks around the room, and her smile dims a bit at seeing me.

I shouldn’t care; it shouldn’t bother me, but it does. What's even worse is I have no one to blame but myself.

Kat is uncomfortable around me because of me.

That had been my intention when I first saw her here because I was upset. I’d thought she was just like all the other women who sleep with the infamous Lawson men in an attempt to get a leg up, but I was wrong.

Well, kind of. She had, in fact, slept with Desmond and my Father, just not in an effort to get something from them. She’d been the one to leave them wanting so much so that even months later they were still hung up on her… and I can see why.

Kat’s beautiful, smart, funny, caring, kind, and loyal. She’s perfect to raise Addy, everything anyone would want in a mother or wife.

I’d known that after just one meeting at the school, the day I had to pick Addy up when Des had been unavailable.

It’s why I’d been so mad when I found her here. I thought she was different; I thought I knew everything, but I didn’t.

I fucked it all up because I made an assumption and thought she was like Natasha.

She’s not; I see that now, but I also know the danger she could bring with her, even if it isn’t her fault.

Life isn’t fair, and despite how good she might be for Addy, she might be just as bad. And there's no telling what she will be like in a year or two. Will she still be like this, or will she be sick of us? Will power and money corrupt her, too?

“Have you seen Addison?” Her question pulls me from my thoughts, and I realize I’ve been staring.

Good job.

I’m half turned toward the stairs when I remember the reason she’s asking and freeze.

What is the point of helping her hide if I planned to give up her spot in less than ten seconds?

“Um, no.” It’s the least convincing thing I’ve ever said in my whole life. I don’t need to look at Kat to know she doesn’t believe me, but I do anyway.

It’s like I can’t help myself. I look her over from head to toe, telling myself I’m simply ensuring she’s okay after all she’s been through, but even I don’t believe myself.

I’ll take curvy waist and red hair for 500. Des’s stupid comment plays in my head, and I feel like a pervert for noticing just how curvy she is.

“I’m just going to...” She gestures into the room before walking in and looking around.

I might be good with numbers and tech, but suddenly, I’m thrilled we have Vince for everything else.

I would no doubt give us away in less than thirty seconds if ever questioned about anything less than legal, we might be a part of because it’s taking every ounce of self-control to keep myself from looking at the cabinet I know Addy is currently in.

“Are you okay?”

Her question feels loud in the otherwise silent room. I squeeze my eyes closed and take a deep breath before opening my eyes again and turning to face her.

She’s closer than I expected; usually, she gives me a wide berth, again my fault. But I guess with her looking for Addy, that isn’t her focus right now, considering she’s currently on the ground near the couch, where I assume she just searched for Addy.

Kat peers up at me, those bright green eyes looking so intense that I have to fight the urge to look away.

If I look anywhere else right now, I know it’s going to be the damn cabinet!

“Fine,” I manage to clip out, sounding colder than I intended, and I watch her lips pull down in a frown.

I need to leave before I make this any more awkward, because while it feels impossible, I’m sure I’ll find a way. The only problem is I don’t exactly want to leave Addy alone in there.

What if Kat doesn’t stumble upon her and goes to check somewhere else?

How long would Addy sit in there and wait? It’s not as if the house is small.

No, I’ll just read some more for now.

I move to the other couch that sits across from the one Kat is searching beneath and gather up my book before taking the same seat I’d been in a moment ago.

I just need to keep myself busy, but even as I look at the page and focus hard enough to burn a hole through it, it doesn’t stop me from feeling the weight of her gaze.

Sure enough, I look up to find her looking right at me, her brows pinched together, making her nose wrinkle adorably…

No.

I open my mouth to say something, hoping to free myself from her focus, but she beats me to it.

“Are you sure you're okay?”

Ugh, why does she have to be so caring and in tune with everything? It makes it incredibly hard to hide anything from her, and I hate lying to her.

Thankfully, I don’t have to. Before I can answer, something catches her eye. She pushes off the ground and moves around the table to look at the stack of magazines I placed there only a few moments ago.

The longer she looks, the more nervous I get, which is ridiculous because, for one, this is a child's game, and for two, there should be no reason for her to connect that stack of magazines with me helping Addison hide.

I watch as she looks up at me before spinning around to look over the rest of the room, spinning in place before stopping, once again facing me.

Instead of the confusion from a moment ago, her face is lit with a smile so full of joy it’s hard to look at her.

She’s so beautiful.

“You’ve helped her.”

It’s not a question, but she doesn’t push; instead, she moves right toward the cabinets where Addy is.

If I were a good big brother, I would stop her, cause a distraction, or something, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

I sit watching her long enough to see her crouch down in front of the cabinet and hear Addy’s squeal of surprised joy when she yanks it open before I all but bolt from the room.