Page 13 of Ink & Reina

Fuck; he’d done a damn good job of brainwashing her. I knew he had, but I didn’t think it wasthisbad. She was so blind to who he really was, and it was fucking eating me alive.

I wrapped her up in my arms, holding her tightly as she sobbed. I hated that I was consoling her over this, but I couldn’t let her suffer by herself. Every part of my being rebelled against leaving her alone.

“I gave him my virginity, and he left,” she cried. I tensed at that news, but I didn’t say a word about it. “I can’t believe he just left me a stupid note,” she cried.

He’d snuffed out her light, just as I knew he would. And it just made me hate him even fucking more.

The only explanation I had was that he’d been tipped off about the possible arrest; he knew something might happen, but the idea of pussy from underage girls was too good to pass up.Reina hadn’t been enough. I’d seen the news article, seen the charges he was hit with.

He was trying to keep a clean slate with Reina in case he got out in time and could woo Reina off her feet again. And judging by how much he’d already fucked her up, I knew he’d be able to.

I was just hoping that I had enough time to strengthen her against him. But it would take time—time I wasn’t sure I had—because not only did I need to be careful about how I went about things, I had to make sure I didn’t ruin our friendship along the way.

Talk about being between a rock and a hard fucking place.

I led Reina to the couch, and I held her for the longest fucking time. Even after her father came home from work, I continued to hold her. Her mother even made an appearance, but she only took one look at Reina, shook her head, and disappeared back into her room. It didn’t take a genius to know what happened.

The guy we all warned her against had finally broken her heart, and she refused to believe he went to prison for something he actually did.

This poor girl was starved for love and attention, and she took it from the first person who showed it to her.

It was a fucked up, sad situation.

And I was beginning to regret not making a move on her first. Maybe I could have saved her from this bullshit.

I was putting her to bed when Johnny finally came back home, looking marginally calmer. He leaned against the door frame to her room, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were bloodshot, a clear sign he was high. It was something new he’dstarted doing after his sister basically pulled away from him, shutting him out of her life.

“We’ve got to fix this,” he said quietly as I pulled the blankets over her.

I nodded in agreement, following him out of her room, quietly shutting her bedroom door behind me. “Gonna be hell to do it, though,” I warned him as we walked back into the living room.

Johnny sighed and dropped into the recliner that Reina normally sat in, leaning his head back. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. In a way, I guess he did. He’d always taken care of Reina—that much I had come to know. And now, he felt like he failed her. I knew he was thinking about all of the ‘what-ifs’. What if he’d forced Jordan to stay away instead of trying to talk sense to Reina? What if he’d never allowed me to his house in the first place so Jordan never knew she existed?

“Do whatever you’ve got to, Ink,” he told me, looking over at me. I steadily regarded him, waiting for the but that I could hear in that sentence, “but don’t make a move on her, you hear me?” Ah, there it was. “Your brother already fucked her up, came in here, and ripped her away from everyone—even Mom. I’m not running the risk that you accidentally fuck her up, too.”

I gritted my teeth, but I knew and understood where he was coming from, so I wasn’t all that pissed about it. I just hated that Jordan was once again fucking up another area of my life.

But I wouldn’t break the bro code, and I wouldn’t risk hurting Reina more than she already was.

“I’m going to help her,” I told him. “And I hope like hell that when he shows back up—because hewill—she’ll be strong enough to say no to him.”

Johnny nodded in agreement, but he didn’t look like he had much faith in his sister. I didn’t either—not right then—but I washoping that with time, I could help her stand on her own two feet.

But even as I hoped for that, I knew it was going to take a fucking miracle.

Chapter Eight

Reina

TWO YEARS LATER

“Are you fucking serious?!” I exploded at Mom, watching as she swallowed her morning antidepressants, though they didn’t do her a bit of good. I didn’t know why she even bothered with them. They weren’t fucking helping. “Why won’t you come to my graduation?”

“I can’t deal with the crowds,” she told me, looking down at her frail hands. I wanted to punch something—break something.

I was soangry.

Today was one of the biggest days of my life, and she wouldn’t eventryto be there. She woke up that morning and instantly decided she wasn’t coming to watch me walk across the stage after shepromisedme she wouldn’t back out. She’dpromisedshe would be there, even if it was just long enough for her to see me get my diploma.

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