Page 18 of Ink

I am disappointed in my parent’s attitude and behavior towards Ink. It’s not his fault what happened to me. I get that it wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t involved with him but I don’t blame him after hearing that it didn’t happen to just me. Besides, after getting some rest I realize that I’m not going to live in fear and that I am going to trust Ink when he tells me over and over again that he will make sure nothing happens to Lucia and me ever again.

“I’m sorry that they are behaving so badly. They are very opinionated and have always been very protective of not only me but Lucia.”

He puts his arm around me and pulls me into his side. “I get being overprotective baby. Trust me. I will never forgive myself for leaving you last night when this could have been avoided. Believe me when I say, those men and that club will be dealt with.”

“Ink, promise me right now.” I all but whisper hiss at him so Lucia won’t notice. “Don’t do anything that could get you into jail again.”

He leans down and gives me a quick kiss. It isn’t till much later that I realize he never promised.

Ink

I hadn’t slept a wink. I had been going for over twenty-four hours and was dead tired but I still had enough adrenaline in my body to keep going. All I had to do was think about that mother fucker hitting Carmen and it shot through my veins enough to keep me amped up and going. I had been texting my brothers all night long, calling in all the favors I had with the club in the middle of all the drama.

When we rolled up to my house, Carmen driving my truck in front of me and me following behind them on my motorcycle, I knew what to expect in my house. Thankfully, Rider and Rayleighn had come over early and transformed my spare bedroom into a room for Lucia. I wanted it to be special for her and make my home feel like hers and Rider had assured me that Rayleighn could make that happen fast by coming over and fixing it up.

Prospect and Leon put my house in the lineup first after Prez’s to replace the door and get the security system upgraded. I was going to have to leave them for a little bit but knowing they were going to be at my house helped calm my nerves down a small fraction. Prez had called an emergency session of Church and I was due there in half an hour. We were going to take stock and see how the majority of the MC wanted to handle the conflict. If it was solely up to me, we would already be riding out to crush them but we needed to think smart about it and come up with a plan.

When I let Griz know that Carmen had been assaulted by none other than their Vice President, he lost any of the self-control that he had been holding on to. It only confirmed to him and me that the club’s officers were supporting the conduct of the members of their MC and for that, they would all be punished.

I help Carmen and her little lady out of her booster seat and walk them up the short steps to my house. I’m nervous about what it might look like inside. I’m usually a pretty clean guy but the last few days I’ve been working a lot and with the break in I can’t remember how unkempt I left a lot of my house. Too late now though. I bend down and pick up the small garden gnome and pull the hide-a-key out from where I was told it would be for the new door.

Once I’ve got the door open, I wave them in, and when I’ve got the door closed behind us I take in the same sight they see. My open floor plan allows us to take in my living room, kitchen, and dining room, all of which look immaculate and for sure not in the state of how I left them last night. I try to play it cool because I want them to feel welcome here. “As you can see this is where my living room is and my television. If you want you can watch some cartoons on there later.” Kids still watch cartoons, right?

“Let me show you the upstairs. Lucia, I’ve got a room just for you.”

She looks up at me beaming but then purses her lips. “Is it pink? I like pink. It’s my favorite color.”

I start to stutter, not wanting to disappoint her but I know for a fact all my walls in the house are an eggshell white. I’ve never had the time to paint them in the few short years that I’ve owned the house. Plus if I’m being honest with myself, I was hoping to find a good woman who could add her feminine touch so I’ve done very little aesthetically to it.

“We can get pink for you if that’s what you’d like.”

Her little brow furrows and her lips go flat and for someone so small she sure does know how to make a person feel like they're under an interrogation lamp. Carmen chuckles beside her. “She’s good at working that face but don’t let her fool you.” She directs her gaze back to Lucia. “Lucia say thank you for Ink letting us come visit him and be happy to have a roof over us. Many people don’t.”

She looks down at the hardwood floor. “Yes, mama.” She mumbles out a thank you. We head up the stairs with me leading the way. I point out the only bathroom, then come to a stop outside my spare bedroom. “Lucia we can put your backpack in here because this will be where you sleep.” I open the door and she flies past me to get inside. When I turn to look inside the room, I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Mommy! The bed is pink and it’s bigger than the one at abuelos.”

She starts jumping up and down on the bed and then she takes note of the small area of toys on the desk and hops down. As she goes through them, Carmen reaches out and puts her hand on my forearm. “I can’t believe you were able to do all this.”

I make a mental note to buy something nice for Rayleighn because this has her handiwork written all over it. I turn and give Carmen my full attention and her eyes are full of unshed tears. “Aw babe, don’t cry. I had a lot of help and I just wanted her to feel welcome and at home here. Same goes for you. My house is your house now and I want you to decorate and buy anything that you need. I’ve got to head out for a little bit for club business. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone but I’ll show you how the alarm works and I’ll keep my phone on me.”

“We’ll be fine. I’m going to call and reschedule all my clients for the afternoon and then tomorrow Lucia has school and so do I. I’ll have to figure something out for when I’m in class.”

“She’ll be fine here with me. We’ll make it work. Don’t stress out babe it’ll work out. Hopefully, your parents will come around and then they can be involved again.”

She gets a faraway look in her eyes. “Yeah.”

I pull her to me and give her a swift kiss. “I gotta go babe or I’m going to be late and this isn’t the time to be late.” With that, I give her ass a little squeeze because I just can’t not. Having her in my house is doing something to me and I’m feeling very possessive of her and Lucia. I wave bye to Lucia who’s engrossed in a coloring book that was on the desk amongst the toys and head out. I’ve got business to attend to and vengeance is about to be served.

When I get to the clubhouse, the gate is being monitored by our prospect. He spots me, opens it in record time, and waves me through. The parking lot is packed and I swear every brother is already here. No one is milling about outside and when I enter there are only a few brothers at the bar. I make my way back into the room we use for Church and it’s standing room only and that’s saying something because we have a ton of space in this room. Every active brother is here and even some of the old timers are here that only come to Church when called by the Prez.

I see a group of brothers that I’m closest with in the club and make my way over to them. Rider, Leon, Griz, and Hammer are all huddled together but when they see me approach, they cease their conversation. Their demeanor is subdued but Rider and Griz have waves of anger rolling off of them. A few beats pass and they start in with the questions which I figured would come. They ask how Carmen is doing and I try to reel in my own anger. “She’s doing better than I thought she would be. I’m a fucking grown man and can handle myself but even after hearing what she went through someone breaking into your house and pulling you from your bed and threatening your child would still scare the shit out of me.”

Rider nods. “Yeah, Rayleighn has been tore up about it. I’ve got her and Colton hanging out in the kitchen here. I’m not willing to let them out of my sight.”

Hammer makes a harrumphing noise which draws my eyes over to him. “What we need to do is right the wrong that’s been done to our women.”

I hear murmurs and nods of agreement from our small group and the brothers who have overheard Hammer’s deep baritone voice. He lowers his voice for only us to hear. “I just don’t know brother if I want us to get so deep we can’t get back out, you know what I’m saying.”

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