been so busy and stressed out, she hadn’t brought it up. She knew he was doing everything he could to find her boys, who had somehow disappeared, the ratbags. And he’d been setting up this meeting with Forrest in some abandoned warehouse. He’d gone off with Spike, who was a slightly terrifying, hugely built man of few words. She knew that as well as Spike there would be other guys hidden as back-up.
Please let nothing go wrong.
“Betsy, why don’t you try to eat something?” Duke coaxed.
Ink had been too busy to notice that she hadn’t eaten all day. But Duke seemed to be determined to get her to eat.
“I can’t eat when I’m stressed.” Which was basically all the time. She rubbed her tummy nervously.
“I brought some chocolate,” Sunny said.
“And where did you get that, little rebel?” Duke asked in a deep voice.
“From the shop,” Sunny replied cheekily.
“Brat.”
She was grateful to them both for waiting for her, but she wished that they wouldn’t be quite so sweet together. It was making her miss Ink even more.
“Betsy, if you sit down and have some chocolate, I’ll tell you some childhood stories about Ink.”
Okay, now that was tempting.
She stilled and turned. “Embarrassing stories?”
Duke grinned. “Oh yeah.”
Well then…
Ink didn’t bother to keep the look of disgust and hatred off his face as he stared over at Forrest Robins. This bastard had hurt his woman. Had held her prisoner. Used her.
He fucking hated him.
He’d just given him the ultimatum. Leave Betsy and her sons alone or they’d send everything they had to the FBI and to Forrest’s old man.
He’d noticed a reaction when he had mentioned showing Senior what they’d found on Forrest’s computer. Good. Let the asshole squirm.
Spike stood a few feet away on his left. Reyes was on his other side. Acting as bodyguards. Outside, Stone and Razor were all keeping watch. While Jason was hidden inside with his rifle. This old warehouse hadn’t been used in years, but it was filled with crates that Jason was using to hide himself.
Forrest had five armed guys with him. Obviously, he was feeling vulnerable. Ink wondered which one was his right-hand man, Kit. He wouldn’t mind a few minutes alone with either of them.
“And you think this is enough to make me leave Betsy alone? She betrayed me.”
“You were holding her prisoner,” Ink spat out. “You threatened her boys.”
“Ahh yes. I could release the evidence I have on Baron, couldn’t I?”
Ink crossed his arms over his chest. “Come after Betsy, release that evidence and we come after you. I have several back-ups of that information we found. Anything happens to me, Betsy or the boys and that gets sent to several reporters and cops. As well as your father. Think he’ll want that? When he tries so hard to pretend to be a respected businessman?”
Forrest smiled. It wasn’t pretty. “All this for Betsy, huh? Girl must have a gold fucking pussy.”
Ink snarled. He took a step forward, ready to wipe the smile off that smug bastard’s face.
“Ink,” Spike warned.
Damn, it was hard to hold back. He gritted his teeth.
“Maybe I should have sampled her for myself, while I had the chance. Fine, you have your deal.”
Ink didn’t bother demanding he hand over the evidence he had on Baron. He knew the other man wouldn’t just have one copy. They’d have to think of another way of getting their hands on it. For now, he just needed the boys and Betsy safe.
“Good,” Ink replied. It took all of his control not to attack the smug jerk. It killed him that he had to make a deal with him. It would be so easy to kill him. But Spike had warned him against rash actions before they came to this meet. They didn’t know how the old man would react or where the evidence on Baron was.
So the prick got to live for another day.
Ink turned to Spike and Reyes once Forrest and his men had left. Movement to his right caught his attention as Jason approached. His rifle was over his back.
“Prick. I fucking hate him,” Ink seethed.
Reyes lit up a cigarette. “Never would have guessed.”
Ink turned to him, looking for a fight. “It’s not enough, having an agreement with him. It’s not enough. Not after what he did to Betsy.”
“No, it’s not,” Reyes said calmly, cooling his ire. “He’s evil. He preys on the weak. What do you want to do then?”
“I want to fucking destroy him,” Ink growled.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
22
“That asshole.