Ink's Second Chance - Carol Dawn Page 0,14

believe your words.”

I don’t look away. I want this man to know deep down in my soul how hard these words are.

“I want to hate you,” I admit. “I want to hold on to that grudge from all those years ago. But I fell in love with you when we were teenagers and that feeling never went away. Not really.”

Sammy leans forward and brushes more of the tears off my face.

“I think we both need time to really think about things,” I regretfully admit. “Please, go, Sammy. And don’t come back until you are one-hundred percent sure of what you want.”

He starts to say something, but I quickly lean forward and press my lips against the corner of his mouth.

I pull back before he has time to react.

“Twenty-four hours,” I say. “Think about what you want for twenty-four hours. Think about it hard. Until then, hold on to my broken heart. You can either bring it back to me fixed with the realization that you mean every word you said.

Or you can bring it back to me healed, knowing that I can finally leave the past where it is and move on to a new and different future. Without you.”

Sammy looks at me with such intensity that I fear he’s already made up his mind. But he simply stands, kisses my forehead, and leaves my apartment, shutting the door behind him.

I’m not sure how long I sit on the couch just watching the door. Do I want him to come back in or am I afraid that it’s the last time I’ll ever see him?

My own feelings confuse me.

I maneuver my way onto my chair and go to lock the door.

It’s then that I hear heavy footsteps walk away.

I roll my eyes and smile.

Caveman.

***Ink***

Arguing with Rachel would be useless. I’ve already made up my mind. I know what I want. She’s all I’ve thought about since the day she entered my shop.

“No Rachel again, today?” Laura asks when I settle down in the family room of the clubhouse.

“Stubborn woman,” I smile.

“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around you going after a single woman,” Brick smirks. “She must be something.”

“She is,” I agree. “And I think I’ve finally got her where I want her. She seems to think what I’m feeling is about the challenge. But what I’m feeling is an obsession I have never before felt. The only challenge I’m facing is getting her to understand that I mean every word I say to her.”

I look around at my brothers and their partners. I remember doing this same thing not long ago and rolling my eyes at how domesticated we’ve become. Now, all I can think about is Rachel by my side as we talk to our family.

“I’m happy for you, brother,” Chains says. “I’ve met Rachel a few times over at my sisters and I can honestly say that she’s an amazing person.”

I smile and clap Chains’ shoulder.

“Alright, let’s talk about Ink’s woman later,” Bear says with a grin. “Slim has some news. I won’t be calling church,” he amplifies his voice so everyone can hear. “Because like I always say, it’s best to have everyone informed of the danger so they know to look out for it.”

I watch as Rose and Bella gather all seven kids, including Laura’s, and take them out of the room.

“I contacted some friends of mine that were able to discretely run a DNA scan on the blood and tongue that was left at Laura’s place,” Slim starts. “I’m still waiting on a response to see if there was a hit with an ID, but I did learn what we all assumed. The blood is human.”

“How can that be?” Laura asks. “It was the same color and consistency as human blood, but it shouldn’t have been. Blood coagulates after a while. If that was human blood it shouldn’t have been so thin.”

“Unless it was less than a day old,” I say, gritting my teeth with the reminder of Rachel’s legs covered in the blood.

“Exactly,” Slim adds. “While we don’t know whose blood and tongue it was, we do know that the person died less than a day before the package was delivered to Laura.”

“This person was most likely a random kill meant to spook us,” Brick says, pulling Jessa tighter against his chest. “My guess is that it was someone homeless that no one will even notice is missing.”

I nod in agreement.

“Well, we do have one other clue,” Hawk says. “The note at