Ink Reunited by Carrie Ann Ryan Read Free Book Online

Ian
said.
    “I guess I should start
earlier. You both know where I came from.” God, she hated this part, but if she
didn’t start there, they wouldn’t understand. She barely understood. Her
men nodded. “I’m the Bordeaux princess. Or at least that’s what my dad told me
growing up.” She gave a soft sigh, but it wasn’t because of fond memories. Oh
no, there weren’t many good ones when it came to her father.
    “I had everything I could have
wanted, nice clothes, a nice house, fancy schools. We were old money.”
She spat the word and risked a glance at Ian. He too came from old money and
merely nodded in understanding. “I was supposed to finish high school and go to
college so I could have my degree to put on a pretty gold plaque on the wall of
my husband’s office like my mother had. I was supposed to marry the man my
father chose for me who would have furthered his business and political plans.
Then I would have two perfect children who would be raised by nannies, and I
would lunch with other women of my ilk and never smile at the wrong person and
never entertain an inappropriate thought.”
    “That wouldn’t have been our
Sassy,” Rafe interrupted and Sassy smiled.
    “Damn straight.” She ran a
hand through her hair and looked at a particular bright red streak. “Can you
see this up in a bun or me wearing pearls?”
    Ian cleared his throat. “I can
picture the pearls.”
    Her pussy throbbed and she
held back a moan. “Don’t change the subject.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind for
later then.”
    Damn the man.
    “Anyway, I didn’t want all of
that. I’d known it since I was ten, and yet I stayed there under my father’s
thumb for another five years.” She closed her eyes, trying to fight off the
memories. “God, I hated him. I don’t know if I do anymore since he doesn’t mean
anything to me now, but I hated him then. Don’t get me wrong, he never hit me, but
he would have if he thought it would’ve worked.”
    “I’d have killed him if he
did,” Rafe’s voice held a dangerous edge.
    Sassy smiled. “You know I can
handle my own battles, sugar.”
    Ian ran his finger down her
arm but she didn’t pull away, liking the touch too much. “You left when you
were fifteen. I remember you saying that and thinking you were too young, but
now? You were way too fucking young to have to deal with any of that shit.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Yes. I
was stupid. I was this entitled rich kid who wanted to make my own choices, so
what did I do? I ran away and had to learn the hard way that my issues weren’t all
that much in the grand scheme of things.”
    Ian gripped her wrist and
tugged her so her body was flush against his. She could feel his half-hard cock
against her belly, but it was his eyes that held her.  The ice and
determination nearly brought her to her knees in submission.
    That was something she wasn’t
ready for, and she wasn’t sure she would ever be ready for it.
    “Never say your problems don’t
matter. Just because someone might have gone through something much worse than
you, doesn’t diminish your own past. It’s not a competition, Sassy. It never
had to be.”
    She closed her eyes, needing
to break the connection from his gaze so she wouldn’t melt at his feet. She
rested her head against his chest and inhaled his musky scent.
    “I met good people on the
street, and they took pity on me. I learned the hard way how to take care of
myself.” She pushed away her memories of the cold and hungry nights she
couldn’t forget. They were part of what made her The Sassy. Without that
edge, that pain, she didn’t want to think about who she might have become.
    Sassy turned in Ian’s arms to
face Rafe. “Then your momma found me,” she said with a smile. “I was only
eighteen and living in a commune-type thing doing odd jobs to make a living and
your momma took me in.”
    Rafe came to her side and
cupped her cheek. “I remember. You were all fire and anger and I knew