Page 137 of Ink's Devil

A few minutes later Ink pushes a door open. It’s a room laid out similar to Ink’s. There, sitting on the bed, is a man. A man who, as Demon said, barely resembles me at all. One eye is swollen shut, the other open a slit. There’s a big cut down the side of a nose that’s also twice the size it should be. Same with his lips. As he turns his head to check who’s entered, the whole of the upper half of his body moves with it, as though he’s stiff as a board.

One arm is in a sling.

“Oh, Connor!” Mom runs over, then stops. Yeah, how could she hug him so it doesn’t hurt? There doesn’t look like any part of him that’s unharmed.

“Dan.” He looks up. His expression doesn’t change, but I can hear some of the cockiness in his voice. “I’m Dan Forster. Nice to meet you.” His one working eye closes and opens again, so I reckon he’s tried a wink.

He looks past Mom and views me. “Beth, I’m so fuckin’ sorry.”

“Don’t apologise to me.” I can’t keep the ire out of my voice. “Apologise to Ink.” I gesture to the man behind me.

“No matter,” Ink tells him. “I think we’re even. I stitched you up and identified you as the one I took the drugs from that night. Fender Childs had already named you as who he’d been expecting, so I just confirmed it.”

“Fender gave me up?”

“Plea deal,” Ink explains. “Since you’re ‘dead’, the cops had nothing to go on.”

“Fender was one of Phil’s trusted men.”

“He was looking at thirty-plus years inside. You turned on Phil for less,” Ink reminds him.

“You really going to make a fresh start?” Mom asks.

Again, he does that full body turn. “When I went to live with Phil, I knew he was wheeling and dealing. But it was a buzz, you know? I couldn’t see what was wrong with what he was doing. But then it came about I could no longer turn a blind eye. He got me collecting loan repayments, and some of those people were addicts. I then found out that he was the one dealing to them or supplying the dealers to be exact. Then, worse…

“You found out about the trafficking,” Ink’s voice booms out.

Connor tries to shake his head and winces. “I can’t believe how stupid I was. Phil kept me out of the house when he was bringing women in and out. The basement was soundproofed, until someone went down and left the door ajar.” This time when his face twists, it’s not with physical pain. “I confronted him, he said he was branching out his business. When I got arrested, it was almost a relief.”

“You were going to give up Phil for a chance to start afresh?”

“Exactly.” Connor’s open eye meet’s Ink’s gratefully. Then he groans and holds a hand to his head.

“You need rest,” says Mom, getting up and going over to rearrange his pillows and settle him back. “Sleep, now. I’ll be here. I’ll spend all the time I can with you while I still have you.”

“And I,” Ink says, his tone unreadable, “need to have a talk with your sister.”

Going over to the bed I lean down and place the gentlest of kisses to my brother’s head. It’s hard to believe he’s come back to life only for me to lose him again.

“Patsy?”

“Yes, Ink?”

“Don’t forget you’ve got to arrange that funeral. It will be interesting to see who turns up.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Ink

As we exit the room leaving Connor and Patsy alone, I place my hand on the small of Beth’s back and guide her to my own. Opening the door, I gently push her inside.

Apart from the ride back from Denver which had allowed no conversation at all, this is the first time we’ve been alone together since before I was arrested. I’d let her know I never wanted to see her again, while conversely telling my brothers I was claiming her. The latter at first only to make sure my club kept her safe.

We’ve known each other less than three weeks, and many people would say it was far too soon to know I could commit to her forever. But the nineteen days since I’d met her had been packed full of more than in the majority of most other people’s whole time on earth. I’d lived through so much, things I wanted to experience forever, like how good it felt to be in her cunt, and shit I never wanted to go through again. When I thought I’d lost her for good, it had concreted my views. If I had another chance, this time, I’d keep her. I’d never met anyone like her before, I’d be a fool not to snap her up and tie her to me. People talk about finding the other half of their soul. Well, corny as it sounds, Beth is mine.

She’s taken a few steps into my room and slowly turns to face me. For a second our eyes meet, then she looks away.

“Ink…” she starts.

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