Page 3 of Ink

Someone banged on the front door of the shop and Charlie nearly jumped out of her skin. “Oh, God,” she whispered. “What if he’s found me?” It was very possible that Zeb had tracked her down. He always seemed to find her—why should now be any different?

“If he’s found you, I’ll send him away. Just stay back here in my office,” he ordered. “I’ll get rid of whoever is out there. I’m going to cancel my last client for today and you’re going to come home with me,” he insisted.

“What—I can’t do that,” she said.

The person outside banged on the door again and she almost wanted to hide under Ink’s desk. Zeb had beaten her so badly, two days ago, that she thought he might actually kill her this time. She woke up bloody and sore as hell, and that’s when she grabbed her stuff and left in the middle of the night. If he was at the door, she’d have no choice but to go with him—unless she took Ink up on his offer.

“Stay here,” he said again. She nodded and watched as he left the office, shutting the door behind himself. Charlie walked across the tiny office and pressed her ear to the door, holding her breath to hear any part of the conversation that was going on at the front door. She heard Ink explaining that his shop was closed for the rest of the day due to a family emergency and she was pretty sure that she heard Zeb thanking him for his time, but she couldn’t be sure. The voices were gargled and honestly, all she could hear was her own heartbeat thumping in her chest.

She heard Ink shut the front door again and his footsteps heading to the back of the shop. Charlie stood away from thedoor as he walked in looking very pissed off. “What happened?” she asked.

“Hold on,” he ordered. Ink sat on the other side of his desk and opened his laptop. “Is this your ex?” he asked, pointing to the screen. He showed her the camera feed from his security system and when Zeb appeared on the screen, she felt sick.

Her gasp filled the small space, and she nodded. “That’s him,” she said. “He’s determined to find me,” she sobbed. Ink stood and rounded his desk, pulling her in for a bear hug.

“Is this okay?” he asked. “I don’t usually hug crying women. Honestly, I have no idea what to do with a crying woman, but you seemed to need a hug.”

“Thank you,” she whispered against his neck. “I did need a hug.” They stood like that for what felt like an eternity, Ink just holding her until she was all cried out.

“He’s not going to get to you, Charlie,” he whispered into her ear. “I won’t let him.” She wanted to believe the pretty promises that Ink was telling her, but Charlie knew from experience that men just couldn’t be trusted. At some point, they always disappointed her. A part of Charlie hoped that she was wrong about Ink, but she worried that she wasn’t. For now, she’d go home with him until she could figure out another way to escape from her abusive ex-husband, because one way or another, she was going to break the cycle—if not for herself, then for her unborn daughter. She had to stay strong for her and find a way to keep her daughter away from her father because there was no way that Charlie would ever let Zeb touch her baby.

Ink

Ink had grabbed his design work for Mace’s tat, and packed it up to go home with him. He was going to have to make up some time on his work at home, even if it meant working late into the night.

“Are you sure that you’re okay with this?” she asked. “You can still back out. My car is just across the street and I’m sure that I’ll be able to find a place to hide for a while.”

“And then what?” he asked. “You said yourself that you find a place to hide, your ex finds you, and then you go back to him. When will you break that cycle if he can find you wherever you go?”

“You’re right,” she whispered, “and I have to break the cycle for my daughter,” she said, rubbing her tummy. He looked her over and realized that she had been hiding a baby bump under her clothing. How the hell did he miss that?

“You’re pregnant?” he asked.

“Yes, and I wasn’t trying to keep that from you. We only just met, Ink and well, I was a bit hysterical,” she admitted.

“Yeah, I picked up on that,” he teased, turning out the overhead lights and heading for the back door. “I’m parked outin the back alley. We’ll be able to get out of here without your ex noticing—I hope.”

“I know that it’s a lot to take on. I cry all the time and seem to make horrible decisions when it comes to my ex. But my baby didn’t do anything to deserve to have an asshole father like Zeb.” She was right. Neither she nor her baby deserved to be beat up by an ass like her ex and he was going to take it upon himself to make sure that it didn’t happen again.

“One thing that you need to know about me, Charlie, is that I never back down from a challenge. I can help you lay low while you decide what to do about your ex. I also have a few friends on the police force who might be able to help you get a restraining order against Zeb,” Ink offered.

“Do you really think that a piece of paper will help keep me safe from him?” she asked. He wasn’t sure if it would or not, but it was worth a shot.

“If not, we’ll come up with a plan B,” he offered.

“I haven’t ever had a plan A, so that sounds good to me,” she whispered.

“You ready to get out of here?” he asked, holding his hand out to her. When Charlie hesitated, he worried that she had changed her mind, and why wouldn’t she? He was a stranger offering her his place to crash at, and most women would run the other way. But when Charlie took his hand, he let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. Why was it suddenly so important to him that he help this woman? Maybe it was the fact that she was pregnant and there was an innocent life involved. Or maybe a secret part of him thought that Charlie was hot—not that he'd ever tell her that. Admitting that would definitely have her running for the hills.

“Ready,” she said, wrapping her small hand around his. He led the way to the back room and quickly checked thesurveillance cameras on his phone to make sure that no one was in the back alley.

“We’re clear,” he assured. He pulled the door open and turned back to lock up behind himself. He didn’t miss the way that Charlie kept looking around, as though she expected her ex to pop up from behind the dumpster or something.

“Hey,” he whispered, “you’re safe.” She nodded and got into the passenger side as Ink held the door open for her. He quickly rounded his truck and got in on the driver’s side, trying to give her a smile to put her at ease, but from the frown on her face, he was failing miserably.

“How far away do you live?” she asked.

“About ten minutes,” he said. “I bought this place because it was close to my house and my MC,” he admitted.

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