Free Ink Inspired-epub by Carrie Ann Ryan Page B

anyone other than my family, so don’t tell me I’m wrong. I fucking love you.”
    “You’re trying to tell me how I feel!”
    “Because you’re lying to yourself! You aren’t the person your family thinks you are, or should be, Shea. You aren’t who you think you are.”
    She sighed.
    He was getting closer.
    “I want you, Shea. I want everything. I want the woman I went with on those nights. I want the woman in the prim dress and fuck-me heels. I want everything.”
    “Shep.”
    “No, let me finish. I want you to get that tattoo. I want to mark your body with your soul then mark you with me. I want you to look down at yourself and know I love you.”
    The tears started falling.
    “Then, baby, I want your brand on my body. I want you to look at me and know I love you.”
    “Shep.”
    “I want everything, Shea.”
    She pulled away and tried to go around him. He wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling her close so her back rested against his front. He pressed his nose to her nose and inhaled.
    “Baby, tell me what’s wrong.”
    “I can’t.” Her voice shook, and he broke for her.
    “Baby, don’t be scared. I’ll be there to catch you, though you’re strong enough to catch yourself, too. You just have to believe it.”
    Silence, then a whispered, “I-I’m not strong enough. I’m a c-coward.” The tears fell in earnest now, and he turned her, crushing her to his body.
    He ran a hand down her back while murmuring his love and promises.
    “Baby, tell me what happened.”
    “My mother,” she whispered, her voice dead.
    His grip tightened. “Your mother?” What the fuck had the bitch done now?
    “She…” Shea stopped, took a deep breath, and tilted her chin until she met his gaze. “She told me that if I kept seeing you, she’d destroy you.”
    “Destroy me? What the fuck? Does she think this is some B movie or something?”
    Shea shook her head. “You don’t understand. My family has connections. No, not mob connections or anything.” She paused. “Actually, I don’t know if that’s true. But the thing is, they have money. Lots of money. Mother uses that money to get what she wants.”
    “And what she wants this time is to break us up.”
    Shea bit her lip. “That and more.”
    “Why do I not like the sound of more ?”
    “She wants me to leave my job and meet Richard tonight.”
    “Richard. Your ex-fiancé, Richard?”
    “That’s the one. She says she’s paid him to marry me. She sold me to gain more influence for the family.”
    He hugged her tighter. “Oh, baby. I love you, but I want to fucking kill your mom.”
    “You’ll have to stand in line,” she mumbled.
    “Tell me about what she has on you for you to even consider this, Shea. I know you, baby. You left the family once, and yet you’re going to go back to them?”
    “Like I said. She’s going to destroy you.”
    “How? Honey, she doesn’t even know me. How can she destroy me?”
    “She’s going to have Midnight Ink shut down and make it so you can’t work. Then she’s going to hurt your family up in Denver, Austin and everyone. Shep, she’s done things like this in the past. She had my third grade teacher fired and her license revoked because the woman stood up to her when Mother wanted me to do different work than the kids whose parents had less money than us.”
    “Jesus. What a fucking bitch. How the hell did she do that?”
    “I don’t know. Money solves a lot of problems for her. Shep, I don’t want you to lose everything. I can’t let that happen.”
    He kissed her. Hard.
    When he pulled back, she looked up at him, her eyes dark.
    “No. She doesn’t get to do this. Fuck that. She might know people, but the people at Midnight Ink are even craftier than her. Fuck her. My family has influence too, baby. Not the same as her, but enough that she can’t hurt us. I’ll find a way to keep us safe, baby. You don’t get to run from me in order to protect me. Got it?”
    “Shep. I won’t have her