Ink's Second Chance - Carol Dawn Page 0,27

a light kiss to her perfect lips. I’m not sure when she’s going to be ready for me in all ways, but I’ll wait a lifetime if I have to.

For now, a small peck to show her that I care.

“I do love you,” I whisper against her lips. “I was a fool to let you go all those years ago. It’s never going to happen again.”

I kiss away the single tear under her eye and walk away before I completely embarrass myself in front of all of the ladies.

“Who’s the pansy now?” Chains says when I walk back into the meeting room.

“Fucker,” I smile. “Turns out, being a pansy isn’t all that bad.”

“How the hell are we going to find Hernández?” Bear asks.

“Well, we can mark off his father’s place,” Brick says.

“I want him found,” Bear growls. “That man thinks he owns my wife.”

“Do you think that he’ll come after her again?” Slim asks.

I nod my head. “Based off of the notes he left behind and what he told and done to Rachel, he’s planning on using the women against us.”

“You still believe that our partners make us weak?” Hawk asks.

I remember saying that. Hell, I remember thinking it. It feels like a lifetime ago, not just a couple of weeks.

“Not weak,” I admit. “Because knowing that my woman was attacked is making me feel anything but weak. I will destroy this whole fucking world to make her feel safe again.”

Everyone nods their understanding.

“Let’s start with the Hernández Cartel,” Trigger says. “And this time, no fucking cops.”

“Amen,” Slim says. “I’m with the bloodthirsty man this time around.”

“What? Don’t you miss Detective Dick?” Chains teases.

I smile, despite the anger rolling through me. If I never see Detective Dick again, I will die a happy man.

“Alright,” Slim says. “Let me do some digging. I might not be able to pinpoint where Roman is, but I might be able to locate his two cousins.”

“That’s a start,” Bear says. “As soon as you do, let us know. I know I want to get my hands on the fuckers who hurt one of our sisters.”

“Fuck yeah!”

I nod my gratitude at their acceptance and stand.

“I’m going to go take Rachel upstairs to bed,” I say. “Wake me up when it’s my turn on security.”

Without another word, I leave the room.

I’m fucking exhausted and can only imagine how my woman is feeling.

I find her right where I left her, only she’s in tears and hugging Rose.

“You’ve had such a horrible life,” Rachel says. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Rose tells her. “Because it led me to where I am today and that isn’t something that I ever want to be changed.”

“Life is so unfair sometimes,” Rachel says. She hasn’t noticed me yet, so I keep quiet. “But the bad things that happen to us only make us stronger. And I know that if I hadn’t been in the accident that lost me my legs, then I wouldn’t have the strength to go through what happened to me today.”

“You two are killing me,” Laura says, wiping her face.

Rose laughs and pats Laura’s knee.

“Look at us, crying like a bunch of women,” Rose jokes. “We’re sisters, and together, with our men, we’re strong. And nothing can break us.”

“That’s right, bitches,” Slim says, flopping down between Laura and Rose. “Just remember, if you get buried alive, don’t panic. It depletes your oxygen much faster. Lesson learned the hard way.”

“Wait, what?” Rachel asks, shocked.

“Well, you see…”

“Storytime over,” Hawk says. “Come on, sweet boy, let’s go get you something to eat before you glue yourself to that system of yours.”

“Fine, big guy,” Slim says. “Let’s pencil storytime in when this shit is over with.”

With a shake of my head, I walk over to Rachel.

“You sleepy, baby?” I ask.

“Exhausted,” she admits.

We tell everyone goodnight and make our way to the stairs.

“Small problem,” Rachel says. “My legs don’t appear to be working.”

I chuckle at her joke and lean down.

“You are something else,” I say. “Arms around my neck.”

I lift her and make our way to my room.

***Rachel***

Sammy sits me down on a full-sized bed. I start to scoot back towards the pillow when a thought occurs to me.

“Just how many women have you had sex with on this bed?” I ask.

Sammy cocks his eyebrow. “Do you really want to know the answer to that question?”

“Not really,” I admit softly.

I hate knowing that he’s slept with so many people. But that’s just something I’m going to have to work on. Well, if he still wants to