Page 15 of Ink

“Um, we’re the only ones in here,” the redhead insisted.

“Yeah, and we’re having a private conversation,” the brunette added. Charlie held back her gasp.

Brooke took a beat before answering the woman, and when she did, Charlie almost wanted to leave the stall just to cheer for her friend. “You three need to leave,” Brooke insisted.

“Who are you to tell us what we need to do?” the third woman asked.

“I’m the club Prez’s Ol’lady,” Brooke spat, “and if you three don’t leave the bar now, I’ll have him and a few of the other guys throw you out. So, do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way?” Charlie could almost hear the women rolling their eyes at Brooke and when she asked them a second time what they planned on doing, they scoffed at her.

Brooke pulled her cell from her pocket and again threatened to get the guys involved, and Charlie had to admit she admired her. She hadn’t known Brooke long, but she seemed like the type of woman who didn’t take any shit from anyone—including her husband. “The hard way it is then,” she breathed.

“No,” the redhead hissed, “we’ll go. No need to call in the muscle.” She looked at the other two women and they seemed reluctant to follow her out, but they did. The door closed with a thud and Charlie wasn’t sure if she should continue to hide in the stall or go out.

“You in here?” Brooke asked.

“No,” Charlie called back. Brooke’s giggle filled the bathroom and Charlie rolled her eyes.

“I thought that you might be,” Brooke said, “and after I watched those three walk in here, I thought that you might need some backup. They are trouble and like to stir up shit in the club.”

“They said if Ink ever decides to dump me, they’d be waiting to take their turns,” Charlie said, leaving out the part about them talking about Ink being loaded. She wasn’t sure if she wanted toshare that bit with Brooke. What if she already knew it to be true and was helping Ink to keep it a secret from her?

“I’d like to see them try to take Ink from you. The guy is smitten, but don’t tell him that I said that. If he finds out that I actually used the word, ‘Smitten’ to describe him, he’d be pissed, and I’d never hear the end of it. You know how he is.” Charlie nodded, but she wasn’t sure if she knew Ink at all right now. What if those women were telling the truth? What if the rumors about Ink being rich were true and he never told her? They had been through so much together in such a short time, that she wasn’t sure if she really knew anything about Ink, but she planned on finding out. One way or another, she’d figure out if Ink had been lying to her, and if he had, she’d have to find a new place for her and Bethany to lay low because she couldn’t stay with a man who lied to her. Zeb had done that to her and so much more, and she wouldn’t ever go back to living that way again.

Charlie had used every spare second to sneak around Ink’s house, looking for any paperwork that would show that he had been keeping a secret from her. She honestly didn’t care if Ink had money. None of that ever mattered to her. He had kept her and Bethany safe from Zeb and for that, she’d always be grateful to him, but she wouldn’t be able to stay with him if he was keeping secrets from her. To Charlie, that was the same as lying and she couldn’t live like that—not again. But finding any evidence of his money had proven fruitless. She knew that he might be keeping all his important documents at the shop, but she hadn’t had an excuse to stop by there in the weeks since having the baby. Charlie planned on stopping by the shop withthe baby sometime later that week, and she’d find a way to go through his office. She felt bad about snooping, but after living with Zeb for years, she had learned to be really good at it—sad, but true.

For now, she had to get ready for her court case with her ex. Brooke and Mace had agreed to keep her while she and Ink were at court, and she was grateful. Ink was incredibly sweet and patient with her, but leaning on him while she was snooping around his house, felt wrong. Still, she took the comfort that he was offering because she had become used to it, for better or worse, she had fallen for Ink, and letting him go, if necessary, was going to break her heart. She’d do it though—not just for herself, but for her daughter too.

“Mace and Brooke are here,” he said, sticking his head into the bedroom. She was pumping breast milk for Bethany. “You almost done?”

She pasted on her best smile and nodded, “I’ll be down in a minute,” she agreed.

He crossed the room and gently kissed her lips. “Don’t worry, honey,” he said. “Everything will work out—you’ll see.” She nodded again, not able to talk past the lump in her throat. How could Ink be so confident? She wouldn’t believe that everything would be okay until the judge awarded her full custody of Bethany. Anything less would drive her mad and having to share her daughter with her abusive ex would be enough to send her over the edge.

“I’ll be downstairs,” he promised. “We need to leave in ten minutes. I’ll fill Brooke in on where everything is, and you come down as soon as you’re ready.”

“I will,” she promised. “Thank you, Ink,” she said as he walked out of their bedroom.

“For what?” he asked, stopping in the doorway.

“For having my back,” she said.

“Always, honey,” he promised. “You and Bethany are my priority, that will never change, Charlie.” Hearing him say those words to her gave her that damn hope again—hope that she shouldn’t be feeling, but it was still there.

By the time she checked on the baby, promising her daughter that they’d be home soon, they got to the courthouse just in time for the doors to close. She sat up front next to the lawyer that Ink had hired for her. He sat right behind her and even though she could feel Zeb’s eyes on her, she refused to look over in his direction. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing the fear and worry on her face or in her eyes. Charlie just needed to remember to stay strong for her daughter and she’d find a way to deal with everything else later.

“Just breathe,” Ink said from behind her. She smiled back at him and nodded.

“All rise,” the bailiff shouted as the judge made her way into the room. Her lawyer had explained how lucky she was that they had Judge Keller presiding over her case. Apparently, the judge was fair but also hated dealing with abusive assholes. Charlie was hoping that was true because she really needed a win today.

The judge called the court to order, and everyone sat down. She felt as though she was holding her breath waiting for Zeb’s lawyer to start talking and when he finally sat down after spouting more lies than she could count, her lawyer stood and presented her case. He showed the judge the photos that the police department took of her bruises and black eye when Ink took her down to file her restraining order against Zeb. He also shared video footage of Zeb’s tirade at the hospital when he broke the restraining order and was arrested. He argued that her ex wasn’t fit to be a father because of his abusive anger management issues. Charlie watched the judge, hoping that she’d give some inkling about how she might rule, but she wassitting on the bench as though she was made of stone. If she was swayed one way or another, Charlie couldn’t tell.

“I’m going to go back to my chambers and review the evidence and make my ruling in one hour,” the judge banged the gavel down on her desk and Charlie jumped.

“What does that mean?” she asked as the courtroom stood for the judge to leave the bench.

“It’s a good thing,” her lawyer assured. For some crazy reason, Charlie was having trouble believing him.

“He’s right, honey,” Ink assured. “How about you let me take you to lunch? It will help pass the time.” Her stomach did a little flip-flop at the mention of food. There was no way that she’d be able to keep anything down until she knew how the judge would rule.

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