Ink
He’d fucked up—majorly—and was clueless how to make it better, how to even start fixing it, but he had to figure it out. His gut twisted at how hard he’d fought to get the club girls into the party, and how he’d deliberately never said a word to Naomi about it.
All because he was trying to avoid her and the feelings she stirred in him. He wanted to be himself again—the one who only slept with club girls because he had no plans for anything more. No strings. Categorize Naomi as nothing more than someone new and intriguing.
He was an idiot. During the party, he’d wondered where she was and what she was doing. When he finally went to the garage to see if she was working, he missed that she’d gone to the clubhouse.
“Naomi …” His heart clenched as she rocked Asher and avoided his gaze. “Please, sweetheart, let me fix this. I promise you’re safe here.”
She ignored him, humming softly and rubbing Asher’s back.
What the hell should he say? How would he fix this?
“Naomi, I’m so sorry. Kayla means nothing to me. She’s a club girl and—”
“She certainly seems to think you’re something, Ink,” she stated.
Her voice didn’t rise, but the cutting implication was unmistakable.
“That alone is what makes it so dangerous. I’m a woman in her way if she finds out who I am.
Right now, I’m just the woman who bumped into her, but if she finds out you’re here with me, she—”
“She won’t do shit.” His tone was final. “Baby, I promise she won’t do anything if she values her life. And I’ve already told her that she and I were never going to be anything. We fucked but—”
“You fucked her enough for her to think it meant something, Ink. Look, I don’t care who you sleep with.
That’s not my issue. You’re a single man, you’re good-looking, and women are willing to be at your disposal.
But now, I’m the troublemaker. I’m the one who got Rogue angry enough to cut her down in front of everyone.
I’m the one to have Savage say something to her as president of the MC.
Now, you’ve dashed her plans, showing she was nothing more to you than an easy lay. You all set up the perfect storm.”
Her lips thinned. “But I’m not blameless either. I should never have let Karissa and Glitch talk me into going in there. I should have figured that no one mentioning it to me all week was enough of a clue to stay away.”
“No, baby, you shouldn’t have. That was our fault. My fault. I should have said something to you.”
“I’m not your baby, Ink, or your sweetheart. There’s nothing between us, so keep your nicknames to yourself. Save them for the girls you sleep with but don’t want to remember their names.”
He flinched. Being hit in the gut with the truth wasn’t comfortable. He wasn’t an asshole, but he never slept with the same girl twice, except the club girls, so he didn’t need to remember their names. Even with the club girls, he tried not to stick to one girl for this exact reason.
Alright, so he was an asshole.
Naomi let out a small sigh. “Ink, I’m not saying this to be a bitch. As I said, you’re single, and who you sleep with is your business, but when it affects my son, I’m not going to sugarcoat things.”
“And you shouldn’t.” He let out a heavy sigh.
“I know you don’t want to hear it again, but I am sorry, Naomi.
None of us thought this would happen. We were so excited for Fury and Esme that we fell into a normal routine.
We always have a party to celebrate things, and part of that is having the club girls show up.
They know the rules—they’re not to come before nine, but sometimes, they like to push the boundaries, and we don’t always notice the time. ”
“And you thought I wasn’t going to the party.”
He tried not to flinch, but it didn’t work. They lapsed into a tense silence, so he racked his brain for anything he could say or do to fix this, coming up blank.
This was a giant clusterfuck, and they only had themselves to blame.
He could only imagine what the Devil’s Predators would think. Hopefully, Glitch and Karissa could do some damage control.
“Naomi, I—”
“Just stop, Ink. I don’t need you to try to make more excuses right now. Asher is my only priority, not easing your feelings or guilt.”
Well, wasn’t that straight to the point? He sighed, leaned his head back against the wall, and closed his eyes as defeat washed over him. That was that.
“Ink.” He opened his eyes to Rogue standing there, a cool expression on his face and Scarlett beside him. Ink jerked his head, and Scarlett gave him a small, reassuring smile.
I’ll try to talk to her Scarlett mouthed. Ink sighed and got to his feet. Glancing back at Naomi, he got ignored, and she closed her eyes and cradled the back of her son’s head like she was afraid to let him go.
He supposed she was with what she’d been through at Diego’s hands.
Following Rogue into the living room, they found Savage, Fury, and Ice standing there, all wearing grim expressions.
“Simba is threatening to skin us alive if we don’t figure out how to fix this,” Savage growled.
“And Taz has been blowing up Glitch’s and Karissa’s phones, trying to figure out what the hell is going on too.
With some creative threats and punishments thrown in there if they don’t fix this with Naomi. ”
“So they’re not coming?”
“They’ll be here in the next eighteen hours. They told her twenty-four to buy some time.”
“They still want her to stay here?” Ice asked, expression cool, gaze thoughtful.
“They think this is the safest place for her. They have a couple of safe houses, but they’re on back-to-back rescue missions, and those are full of other people while they sort them out.
But they’re going to take them if Naomi wants to go and really doesn’t want to stay here.
She’s too important to a lot of people to risk.
” Savage glanced back at the room. “I don’t know what the story is there, but I’m getting the sense there’s more going on than her just having a good fucking memory and knowing their business. ”
“What makes you say that?” Ink frowned, looking over his shoulder to the open door. Scarlett was murmuring, but he couldn’t hear what was actually being said.
“Simba said that Diego’s been looking hard for them and made it clear he wants her dead but nothing should happen to the boy.”
“Is Diego the boy’s father?” Fury asked, eyes narrowed.
“I asked Karissa and Glitch what they knew or whether the Devil’s Predators had said anything, but all they said was that Naomi said she didn’t know who his father was.”
The tension between them increased. Ink’s stomach sank, and his fists clenched at his sides. He shouldn’t be surprised, especially since the cartel was well known for its reputation, but the implication was still hard to swallow.
Now they’d scared the shit out of her, and she was terrified the cartel would find them.
“But if Diego might not be Asher’s father, why would he care about the boy?” Rogue asked, blue eyes sharp.
“Maybe he’s trying to sell him?” Savage suggested.
Ink’s gut recoiled. “Like fuck is that going to happen,” he spat.
“I think you’re right, there’s more going on there,” Fury agreed. “If Esme wasn’t so tired and didn’t have her hands full with Jett, I’d offer to let us talk to her.”
“We might not have a choice if we need to plan for the cartel sending men here again,” Rogue pointed out. “Not to mention, Esme will kick your ass, new baby or not, if you leave her out of something that could affect her and the kids.”
“The cartel doesn’t care about them,” Fury argued.
“Brother, you’ve got your head in the sand because you’re all loved up and have a new baby,” Ice said.
“The cartel isn’t going to let the daughter and grandson of one of their former leaders skate away.
They leave her alone because of who we are and our connections.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t watching. ”
Fury’s body stiffened and his expression hardened. “Let them try and come. We’ll obliterate them.”
“We’re getting off track here,” Rogue grumbled.
“Look, Esme and the kids are safe. The cartel might be watching them, but they know better than to touch them. But that also means that eventually they’ll start looking more closely here if we don’t figure out how to convince Naomi to stay and show that we’re not a threat.
” Then he looked at Ink. “And you’re going to keep it in your fucking pants while we sort this shit out.
The club girls are off the property until she’s gone.
You want to get your dick wet, go to a damn bar. ”
He glared at him, but not because he was pissed about that. The last thing he wanted was another woman.
“Let’s hope Scarlett can get through to her, and this will all be over.” Savage sighed, thrusting a hand through his hair. He glanced at the door. “I still can’t believe she fucking shot at me.”
“You’re lucky she missed,” Ice said. “You’re a big enough target, so I’m surprised.”
Savage flipped him off. “I’m still going to talk to Glitch about giving her the damn thing in the first place. At least she put a silencer on it so she didn’t wake the entire fucking club.”
“Glitch is going to ignore you. She probably already has another one ready for her.” Fury huffed. Then he smirked at Savage. “And just think, now you have another story to add to your collection to tell Royal about why people keep shooting at you.”
Savage glared at him.
“Look, we need to figure out a way to make her feel safer,” Rogue said, bringing the conversation back to the problem at hand. “So how are we going to do that?”
“Move her into the clubhouse?” Fury suggested. “Then she’s surrounded by everyone. Here, she’s alone unless someone is outside watching over the place.”
“You really think she’s going to want to be that close to any of us after this?” Ink muttered. He ran a hand through his hair.
“Move her in with Rogue and the girls,” Ice suggested. “Then she has help.”
“No,” Ink bit out. They all looked at him, brows arched. “She already mentioned that Rogue cut down Kayla in front of everyone, so she’s not going to trust that.”
They all groaned.
“Then we don’t do shit until she’s talked to Scarlett and the Devil’s Predators get here to talk some sense into her,” Rogue griped. “How the fuck are we going to convince her to trust us? She’s made up her mind, and women don’t just change those.”
“You’d know.” Ice chuckled. “You’ve got three of them to deal with.”
“Could be four or five if he and Scarlett have a couple more,” Fury agreed.
Rogue ignored them, looking back down the hall toward the murmuring voices. Ink didn’t miss the hungry look in Rogue’s eyes. He had a feeling that wasn’t an unpleasant idea for him.
“What if we move them out of this place and into another one? We have other places on the grounds we can put them,” Savage suggested.
“All the other places aren’t fit for kids, brother,” Fury argued. “There’s only one that might work, and Ink was using it for storage for some of his artwork and stuff.” He glanced back. “You still have shit all through there?”
Ink perked up at that. He had forgotten about that space. Hell, he hadn’t been in there for months. “I might, but I can pull it out. If she’s willing to stay there, I’ll get it fixed up for her.” It was the least he could do after all this shit.
“But it’s also farther from the clubhouse,” Rogue pointed out, frowning. “We’ll need patrols or someone to watch over it. Here, we can keep an eye on them.”
“The only way we’re going to convince her that she’s safe is if she has someone with her at all times.” Ink sighed.
“Then we’ll do a rotation until she does.” Savage gave a curt nod, as if that settled it. Ink didn’t have the heart to tell him she wasn’t going to be on board with any of them staying here, especially him.
“Hey, Ink,” Scarlett called, drawing his attention. He turned to her beckoning him down. He headed her way, ignoring Rogue’s scowl. “She fell asleep,” Scarlett whispered. “She’s worn out, and Asher is still asleep too. Should we leave her in there?”
Ink moved past her, peering into the closet.
She held Asher close, her head slumped against the wall, her breathing low and even.
He wanted to yank her out, to promise he’d fix this, but the smarter part of him prevailed.
Easing back, he murmured, “Leave them there. If we try to pull them out, she’ll get upset and so will Asher. ”
Scarlett nodded, worrying her lip between her teeth. Rogue moved to stand beside her, hauling her into him, offering comfort.
“She’s really scared, Ink,” she whispered. “Mad too, but scared is overriding it. She’s convinced Kayla’s going to out her and that we won’t be able to protect her or Asher. Mostly Asher, though.”
“Did she say anything else?”
Scarlett shrugged. “Just that she’s going to talk to Simba and Taz when they get here.”
Ink wanted to groan, but he held back. “Thanks, Scarlett. I’ll try to talk to her again when she wakes.”
“I don’t know if she’ll listen to you, Ink,” she warned, her expression grave. “She’s not buying that you and Kayla weren’t a thing.”
Yeah, he should have fucking gotten rid of her the first time she started hinting, but he wasn’t thinking with the correct head. Damn it.
“I’ll fix this,” he vowed. He wouldn’t allow any other option.
He’d prove to Naomi she could trust them, trust him, and that leaving wouldn’t solve her problems. It’d only make her more vulnerable.