Page 11 of Keegan's Promise

I sit upright, my heart pounding as I read the words scrawled across it.

Thank you for being perfect. I’m so sorry.

She left me. She actually fucking left me.

I sit there for a long moment, staring blindly at the words on the page and the teardrop smearing the ink, my heart cracking in half at the sight of it. At the realization that she’s gone.

But that teardrop…I don’t think she went willingly.

She’s still running. From what? From who?

“Goddammit,” I whisper, my throat burning as my hand curls around her note. I should have asked, should have made her talk. Because now she’s fucking gone, little spots of blood on my skin and her note the only proof she even existed at all.

I’m not willing to accept that.

One way or another, I’m going to find her. I won’t stop looking until I do.

Chapter Three

Landry

OneYearLater

My hands shake as I sit outside the tattoo shop, too terrified to go inside. I think I’ve been out here for an hour already, just trying to work up the nerve to walk inside. Part of me wants to crank the engine and drive away, pretend I was never here.

But…I can’t do that.

Lily lets out a soft cry in my arms as if to remind me why that isn’t an option.

I immediately glance down at her, my expression softening when I see her staring up at me. She has his eyes, the same beautiful, not-quite-hazel, not-quite-green color that’s haunted me for the last year.

“It’s okay, angel,” I whisper, patting her tiny back gently. “Mama has you, and everything is okay.”

Maybe if I say it out loud long enough, I’ll believe it, too. But things haven’t been okay in a long time, so long that I don’t even remember what okay feels like. I’ve existed in survival mode, just trying to keep myself alive ever since Garrick found me in Colorado Springs.

My life with his MC has been hell for the last year.

Lily was the only bright spot, the one thing that kept me going. And now…well, now I have to walk in there and explain to Keegan that he needs to keep her safe because I can’t.

I inhale a deep breath, fighting back tears. I can’t afford to cry right now. If I do, I might not ever stop again. I’ll get swept away in a river of grief too vast to escape.

Instead, I do the only thing I know how to do. I keep moving. I grab her bag and then climb from the car. I put one foot in front of the other, all the way to the door of the shop.

My hand shakes so badly when I reach out to open it that there’s no hiding it. I’m terrified. Nervous. A million different worries ping through me at the same time.

Does he hate me now? Will he hate me when he knows the truth? Did he think about me at all or miss me the way I’ve missed him every single day since I slipped out of his room?

I’m afraid to have those answers. I’m afraid he did. I’m afraid he didn’t. Mostly…I’m afraid he’ll turn me away now, refuse to help me protect our daughter.

After the way I left, part of me wouldn’t blame him. But regardless of how he feels about me, Lily needs him right now. She’ll never be safe with me. Not when they–

I jerk my mind away, refusing to think about that right now.

The bell over the door jangles as I step through into the shop. For a long moment, I just stand there, looking all around. The shop is upscale, with expensive furniture neatly arranged into a seating area with a snack table set up beside it. Artwork covers the walls, with photos of clients scattered between intricate drawings and even more detailed paintings. It smells like ink and leather, likehim.

“Welcome to Bleaker Street!” A girl about my age waves from behind the counter, a bright smile on her face. She’s beautiful…covered in tattoos just like Keegan. I think maybe he did them. They’re delicate like the one he did for me, and just as gorgeous. So is she, with dark hair and beautiful hazel eyes.

“H-hi,” I whisper nervously.

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