Page 14 of Ink

His laugh was mean and Charlie worried that she had pushed him too far. She found the nurse’s call button on the side of the bed and pushed it. Hopefully, a nurse would come into the room and be able to go get help.

“You can’t keep me from her, Charlie. You both belong to me, and you know that I’ll never let you go,” he threatened. She believed him when he said things like that to her. She had lived through enough of his abuse to know that he’d make good on every promise that he made.

The nurse walked into the room and Zeb turned around. “Everything okay?” the nurse asked, looking between the two of them.

“No, call the police, please. My ex-husband is an unwanted guest. I have a restraining order against him, but he refuses to leave.”

“She’s a liar,” Zeb shouted.

The nurse stepped out into the hallway and shouted for security. Within seconds, two guards were in her room and had Zeb in custody. They cuffed him while the nurse ran to call the police.

“You’ll never win, honey,” he shouted. “I won’t let you go, and no piece of paper will ever stop me from getting to you and our daughter.” She swiped at the tears that ran down her cheeks as Bethany softly cried from her bassinet. She hated showing any weakness around her ex, but she couldn’t help her tears.

Charlie watched as the two guards dragged him out of her hospital room, promising to come back for her statement when the cops got there. She thanked them both, trying to ignore Zeb’s tirade of insults and threats. The only thing she needed or wanted right now was Ink, and the sooner he got back, the better.

The nurse walked into her room and picked up Bethany, handing her to Charlie. “It will be okay,” the nurse promised. “They won’t let him back in here. The cops are on the way and your, um, boyfriend is on his way back. I took the liberty of calling him to let him know what happened. I hope that’s okay with you.”

“It’s more than okay, thank you for doing that,” Charlie said. She rocked her daughter, hoping that the nurse was right. She needed Ink by her side—the sooner the better.

She had just finished feeding Bethany when Ink came running into the room and tossed her bags to the floor. He walked to the side of the bed and almost looked afraid to touch her. He picked up Bethany from her arms and smiled down at the baby.

“Are you okay, honey?” Ink asked Charlie. He sat on the edge of the bed, cradling Bethany in his arms.

“I think so,” Charlie said. “Do you think that the cops will keep Zeb in custody?” she asked.

“I have no idea, but we’re not going to stick around to find out. I’ve hired an at-home nurse to take care of you both for the next few days,” he said.

“That has to be expensive, Ink. I can’t afford something like that,” she admitted. She hadn’t had a job since before she married Zeb. She got half of everything in their divorce settlement, and she planned on going back to work at some point, but then, she got pregnant.

“How about you let me worry about the costs and you just worry about getting stronger and taking care of Bethany,” he said.

“I can’t let you do that,” she insisted.

“Of course you can, honey,” he said. “Remember, you promised to be mine, and I plan on holding you to that promise, Charlie.” He was right, and all she wanted at the moment was to be able to go home. If Zeb came looking for her again, he wouldn’t be able to get to her, or Bethany—Ink would make sure of it.

“Okay,” she whispered. Ink kissed Bethany’s little head and then leaned in to gently brush his lips over Charlie's. He was so gentle with them both, that she wondered how he ever got the reputation as a big, bad biker. It was as though he had two sides, and she had to admit, she had fallen head over heels for both of them.

Charlie had been looking forward to her first night out since having Bethany. It had been almost a month since she had given birth, and even if her energy levels were still at a dismal low, she was excited to get out of the house and be with Ink and his friends. He even promised to get up with the baby so she could have a few beers and sleep in the next morning. She knew that Bethany was in good hands with Ink at the helm. Watching him with her daughter melted her heart and had her thinkingthat things might all just be all right. They hadn’t really talked about the future, agreeing to deal with things day by day, but she hoped that someday, Ink would want to be a part of her and Bethany’s family. First, she had to deal with Zeb and his bogus claim that he should have full custody of Bethany. Her court case was in just two days, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe every time she thought about it. Ink promised her that no judge in his or her right mind would ever give him the baby, but until the court case was over, she wouldn’t be able to think of her or Bethany’s futures.

“I’m running to the little girl’s room,” she said to Brooke and Ink. “Be right back.” She walked back to the ladies’ room and to the back stall. She was about to walk out of the stall when she overheard a few women walking into the bathroom, talking about her and Ink. She was able to peek out of the corner of the stall to see the three women who were talking about them. She didn’t recognize any of them or remember seeing them around the bar.

Charlie stood in the corner of the bathroom, hiding behind the stall doors. She was sure that the three women who were gossiping about Ink didn’t know that she was there, but maybe that knowledge wouldn’t have stopped them from gossiping.

“Did you hear that he’s loaded?” the redhead asked the two other women.

“You really think that’s true?” another woman asked. It was hard for Charlie to see her because she stood by the bathroom door.

“I do,” the brunette said. “He just moved to town not too long ago and he bought that big house and the building that his tattoo shop is in. I’d say that qualifies him as having money.” Charlie had never really thought about how big Ink’s house was or whether or not he owned the building that his tattoo shop was in, but maybe the gossipy women were right. The questionwas—why wouldn’t Ink tell her about having money? Was it a secret? Maybe he had come into money illegally or something, and didn’t want to tell her about it. One thing was for sure—she needed to figure out if the women were right or not because if Ink had lied to her this whole time, she was going to have to rethink everything about their relationship. Zeb had lied to her repeatedly, and she blindly let him. She wouldn’t play that fool again. She wouldn’t stick around to wait for another man to treat her the way that Zeb had.

“I heard that someone died and that he got the money that way,” the redhead insisted.

“Do you mean that he killed someone and took the money or someone he knew died and left him the money?” the other woman asked.

“No clue, all I know is that if the woman he’s with now ever gives him up, I’m moving in on him fast enough to make her head spin,” the brunette said. “He’s hot, has his own house and business, plus he’s rich. I mean that’s like winning the jackpot.” They all hummed their agreement, and she felt sick to her stomach. Would Ink find her to be so disposable as the women in the ladies’ room talking about him? She hoped not because she was falling for him. Maybe Ink wasn’t ready to hear that from her, but it was true. Since having Bethany, she imagined the three of them being a little family.

The bathroom door squeaked open, and Charlie quietly groaned. She was never going to get out of the stall and sooner or later, Ink would come looking for her. She wouldn’t put it past him to walk into the ladies’ room to find her.

“Charlie,” Brooke called, “are you still in here?” She didn’t answer, not wanting to give away the fact that she was hiding in the stall listening to their conversation about her and Ink.

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