Page 5 of Ink & Reina

Seeing water cut off notices, eviction notices, and coming home to the electric off was a regular occurrence as a kid.

And Mom wasn’t much better. She was usually too high to care about what was going on, and when she was sober, she and Dad usually fought. And their fights were never just words thrown back and forth. Their fights were bloody and dangerous.

Three years ago, Dad got carted off to prison when he killed my mom in one of his drunken rages and put me and Jordan in comas, almost killing us. But Jordan was grown then—eighteen.

I got thrown into the system. Granted, it was better than what I’d had, but it was still pretty fucking miserable considering my foster parents weren’t much better.

All my foster parents cared about was collecting that check from the state every month for me. And they wasted it on fucking alcohol. I didn’t know how many times I’d gone to the Savage Crows for some kind of side work so we could keep a roof over our heads. Sure, I could go to my social worker about it, but I was about to age out, and honestly, going to another home didn’t mean it’d somehow magically be better.

I’d applied for emancipation numerous times, but I got denied each time. If I was already basically supporting myself, I didn’t understand why the state couldn’t just let me the fuck go.

Blink, the Savage Crows MC president, was a decent enough guy, and he let me work in the garage to get rent money up. I knew he paid mewaymore than what he would anyone else, considering I shouldn’t be able to make six hundred in three fucking days, but that was how Blink operated. And I didn’t question it.

That was a rule: never question the prez.

I never asked questions when he handed me the money, and he never pushed for any kind of answers from me. He asked me what amount I needed. I told him. He handed it to me. That was it. And it was the way I preferred it to be.

It was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to prospect for the SCMC. I wanted to be part of that brotherhood. I wanted that sense of family—that structure.

Ineededit.

I turned the corner to go meet up with Reina at her locker like we’d done for the past couple of months and found someguy in her grade blocking her in. Tears were shimmering in her pretty eyes, and her face was pale. Too fucking pale.

Rage pulsed through me. I didn’t know who thefuckthis kid thought he was, but I was about to make it known thatno onefucked with Reina.

I’d do anything to protect this girl.

“Yo!” I barked, quickly striding towards them. Everyone parted for me like I was fucking Moses or some shit. The kid looked up at me, not moving away from her. “If you want to keep your fucking teeth in your mouth, I’d advise you to back the fuck up.”

His face paled when he realized who I was. I didn’t get in many fights at school, but when I did, the other guy was lucky if he didn’t get rushed to the hospital. I think I’d been inonefight where the guy didn’t, and that was only because I’d gotten dragged off of him by the cops before I could.

The kid quickly stepped back from her. For good measure—just to make sure I got my point across to him and everyone else—I swung my fist out, clocking him across the face, sending him toppling to the floor, blood spurting from his nose.

“That’s your only fucking warning, asshole,” I growled. “You fuck with her, you fuck with me, you hear?”

He quickly nodded and scrambled up from the floor, rushing off. I looked over at Reina. She was still leaning against her locker, her smaller form trembling. “You good, sweetheart?” I asked, my voice rough with anger. But I tried to control it—for her.

She swallowed thickly and nodded. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and led her back up the hall towards the front of the school so we could leave. “Johnny had some shit to take care of,” I told her when she looked around for him, not mentioning anything about me knocking that kid on his ass.

“Dad?” she guessed.

I nodded. She sighed. “They’ll butt heads for the rest of their lives,” she mumbled. I leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, hating it when she got upset because of the shit Johnny was going through with their dad.

I’d met the man once, and that was enough for me. He was a fucking asshole. I’d been the one to shove Johnny back from him. Johnny was ready to beat the fuck out of him, consequences be damned.

But Reina needed her brother here, not behind bars.

I never asked about their mom. I didn’t like people prying into my life, so I never pried into anyone else’s. Considering I never saw a woman around the house, I’d honestly begun to think that they were either divorced and had just been playing a married couple for the cameras, or she just didn’t give a shit about her kids.

“I need to swing by my place and drop my bag off,” I told her. “Then, we can go grab a bite to eat or something.”

She shook her head. “Can we just eat at my place?” she asked. “After that back there, I kind of don’t want to be around anyone.”

I flashed her a grin, wanting to ease her nerves. “Anyone ever told you that you’re easy as fuck to please?” I asked her as I pushed open the door, leading her outside.

She laughed. “I’m simple.”

I gently squeezed my arm around her shoulders. “That you are, sweet girl.”

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