Priceless Ink: A Small Town Romance Read online

  I really hated this woman. I had always thought my mom was bad, but Graham’s mother was downright nasty, in the most polite way possible. She took my mother’s arm and they ran off to discuss the wedding, leaving me completely out of it. It wasn’t until a half hour later that Graham even pulled me away from the crowd.

  “I hope that wasn’t too much for you.”

  “Um…it was shocking.”

  “Well, that’s the way it’s supposed to be, right? It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if you knew ahead of time,” he said with a huge grin.

  “Graham, I didn’t even say yes.”

  He frowned at me and I could see the anger rising in his face. “You don’t want to marry me?”

  “I didn’t say that,” I replied calmly. “It’s just…everyone started clapping and then you kissed me, but I hadn’t even answered. You didn’t give me a chance to answer.”

  “And you would have said no? In front of all those people?”

  “So, you were trying to force me to say yes?”

  “Come on, Sofia, everyone knows you’re not the easiest person to deal with.”

  “Maybe I’m not, but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t have a say in whether or not I marry you.”

  He stared at me, his nostrils flaring. “Fine. Let’s go inside right now. We’ll tell them that we aren’t getting married. You can embarrass me in front of all my business associates and my friends and parents, but that’s okay, because at least you’ll have the chance to reject me properly, right?”

  God, I hated when he was like this. I should have broken up with him months ago, but our families were pushing us together.

  He leaned into me and brought my hands up to his lips, kissing them lightly. “I love you, Sofia. I want you to be my wife. Is it really so wrong of me to do whatever I have to so I can ensure you’ll be mine?”

  And then sometimes he said things that almost sounded sweet. And the thing was, I knew my mother would kill me if I backed out of this engagement. My father would be upset too, but for different reasons. To my mother, this was all about social climbing. To my father, it was about the business contacts that Graham’s family could provide. I was just the leverage in all of this. And even though I was pretty sure I didn’t love Graham, life with him wouldn’t be unpleasant. He was nice and a gentleman. He would always take care of me. What more could a girl ask for?

  I smiled at him, knowing that I couldn’t go inside and embarrass him like that. “Alright, let’s do this.”

  “Wow, a winning endorsement,” he teased.

  “Well, it’s not like we’ve ever had that kind of relationship.”

  We didn’t actually have any kind of relationship. We dated, always going to fancy restaurants and putting on a show for people, but we didn’t have a lot of privacy. We’d kissed and he’d tried to do more, but my mother’s words about purity and waiting for my husband kept ringing in my ears. It was ridiculous. I was a twenty-four year old virgin, waiting on my husband to guide me into my sexuality. Still, there were worse things in life than waiting on my husband to deflower me.

  * * *

  I knocked on my father’s study door and peeked inside. “Father?” I wasn’t allowed to call him something so basic as Dad. No, I had to be a proper lady, and my father was strict with his rules.

  He waved me in and motioned for me to take a seat. I did as he asked, making sure to cross my ankles like I was taught. My parents hated when things weren’t done right. You would think they were royalty, the way they spouted off about etiquette.

  “I want you to know how proud I am of you.”

  I beamed inside, but on the outside kept a very cool demeanor. No one in the Lancaster family ever showed too much emotion. I didn’t get compliments from my father very often, so I was thrilled to finally be praised for something. I just didn’t know what that was yet.

  “Getting Graham to propose to you will really help my contacts for the company. Now, once you marry him, I’ll expect you to be my eyes and ears on the inside. He may be marrying you, but that doesn’t mean that he’ll be forthcoming with information.”

  He prattled on as I sat there, disappointed that once again I meant absolutely nothing in the big scheme of things. I had known this from a young age, but I always hoped something would change. I was born for the sole purpose of marrying the right person. Of course, my father was disappointed when I wasn’t a boy. That was my first failure in life. He had no one to succeed him. But as time went on, he began to understand that a woman could be just as useful if she was married to the right person. So, that was me, the person that would push his business forward through my vagina.

  I nodded at all the appropriate times and gave the proper facial expressions. I was everything that a well-brought up woman should be. And as wonderful as my life was, filled with expensive things and servants to do everything for me, I just wished there was some purpose to my life. The only thing that really brought me any happiness were the charities that I supported. But again, I was just a pretty face to go with the money. It didn’t matter if I supported them or not. I was there to draw attention and nothing more.

  “Sofia, are you listening?”

  I shook my head slightly, ridding myself of those thoughts and plastered a smile on my face. “Of course. I understand completely.”

  He grinned mischievously at me. “Wonderful. Then I think we’re all set for the wedding in one month. Don’t let me down, Sofia.”

  The tone in his voice was soothing, but deceptive at the same time. It was a warning. If I messed this up for him, there would be hell to pay. I wasn’t exactly sure what he would do. He wasn’t a cruel man in the physical sense, but there were plenty of ways to make someone’s life miserable without ever laying a hand on them.

  Dismissed, I stood and walked out of his study, hoping for a small break before I had to go meet Graham’s mother. But as I checked my watch, I saw that I was out of time. My father’s meeting had lasted longer than I thought, and now I barely had time to check myself in the mirror before I left. My heels clicked against the marble floor as I made my way to the foyer. As usual, my mother was waiting to accompany me. God forbid I ever go anywhere on my own.

  “You’re late,” she said angrily.

  “I was in a meeting with Father.”

  She pursed her lips, but nodded. “Well, we need to leave now if we don’t want to be late.”

  “I’m not sure why I even need to be there. According to Annalise, it’s not necessary for my input on anything to do with the wedding.”

  “Don’t be such a child, Sofia. Annalise is just making sure that your wedding is not a total disaster.”

  “Yes, because I’ve been raised with such poor taste,” I retorted.

  “I don’t care for your tone, young lady. And if I hear you speaking like that in front of the Abbots, you can bet there will be consequences.”

  I snapped my mouth shut, knowing she would follow through. My mother was different from my father with her punishments. No food for days, being confined to my room until she felt it was suitable for me to reenter society…things like that. You would think a twenty-four year old would just be able to leave, but I had never held a job. I didn’t have any qualifications other than the ability to be someone’s wife. I wouldn’t even know where to go if I were to sneak out of the house. She had her spies everywhere, telling on me if I ever did anything she deemed inappropriate. I had thought many times of just running away, but I was always stopped when I realized that I had nowhere to go and I would be giving up all the finer things I grew up with. I wouldn’t even know how to acquire food if I was on my own. I’d never been to a restaurant without one of my parents or Graham. I had no credit cards and no access to bank accounts. I was essentially cut off from the world. And by marrying Graham, I was just trading one jailor for another.

  Joe

  Shadows bar was the official meeting place for the Shadows Motorcycle Club. Decker, the president of Shadows MC, had helped H
awk get the bar up and running. Now we all met up here whenever there was business to discuss. Decker had an office in the back that he shared with Hawk, but since we only met up about once a month, he didn’t actually use it that often.

  When I rolled into the lot, I could tell tonight was going to be a quick night. I was running late and there were only about ten bikes here. We weren’t the typical MC. Everyone assumed that we were dangerous and lived outside the law. I got a ton of shit from my brothers, because they assumed I was doing all kinds of illegal shit. When in fact, we were just guys that liked to help others out. I had gotten involved because Decker helped me get my tattoo parlor off the ground. He advised me on how to set up shop and helped me gain clients, despite being a tattoo artist himself. He was a great guy, but then again, so were the other guys in the MC.

  I walked inside and nodded to the bar where Hawk was talking with one of his bartenders. The place was a little dead tonight, but that was usually the case on a Tuesday night. Because of this, we always held our monthly meetings on a Tuesday. I headed into the back and saw that the only ones that made it tonight were Decker, Little John, Angel, Bender, Crow, Boomerang, Mace, and Ram. Hawk would join us when he finished up out front.

  “Look who finally decided to show up,” Mace jeered. “As the new guy, don’t you know that you’re supposed to be first here?”

  “Why, you need someone to hold your hand?” I shot back.

  “Real funny, fucker.”

  I ignored Mace as I flopped down in my seat. I had to get back to the shop, but I also knew that I couldn’t cut out on these meetings. It was because of Decker that I had my shop to begin with, so I wouldn’t disrespect him by not showing up to help others.

  “Alright, let’s get started,” Decker said, taking his place at the head of the table. “First up, there’s a new project that I’d like to get started on. Now, it’s not the type of thing we normally do, but it would help a lot of people out in the community.”

  He passed out folders to each of us, and I started thumbing through the pages. It was a relief fund set up for families in the area, covering anything from job loss to homes that burnt down.

  “Why a relief fund?” Crow asked. “Isn’t that what GoFundMe pages are for?”

  Decker nodded. “Yes, but not everyone raises the funds necessary to cover their needs. Plus, those can take days. Some can wait for the insurance to go through, but some families, especially ones that live paycheck to paycheck, can’t wait days when they’ve just lost everything in a fire. Unemployment isn’t always enough either. So, this fund would be sort of a collaborative deal. If someone has lost a job, they can get relief funds through our charity, but at the same time, we’ll help them find work to get back on their feet. If their house has burned down, they can have their basic needs covered until insurance kicks in. How many tornadoes have we seen sweep through here? Now, granted we don’t have it as bad as those living in tornado alley, but it still happens. And out here, it happens to a lot of farmers. Look, the point of all this isn’t to just hand out money left and right. It’s for people that really need a hand until they can get what they need or get back on their feet. We’re not just going to hand over a hundred thousand dollars to someone, but if a family is kicked out of their home because they can’t pay their rent or mortgage, they’re gonna need someplace to sleep, and a few good meals. We’ll work with people in a timely manner to make sure that the people in our community aren’t suffering.”

  “Man, I gotta tell you, I like where you’re going with this,” Boomerang sighed, “but this is a huge undertaking. We’ll need more than just support from businesses. There’s no way we can get this kind of funding to cover all the people in the area.”

  Decker nodded. “I’ve thought about that.” He held up a piece of paper and grinned. “I have a list of charitable organizations in Chicago. There are three here in particular that I would like to reach out to. If we can convince them to work with us, it would go a long way in getting this up and running. If you flip to the back of the folder, I have a business plan laid out, showing these organizations all the steps we would take to ensure that the money gets into the right hands, but that we’re also working with people to get them back on their feet.”

  “Aren’t there already government programs for this?” Ram asked.

  “Yeah, have you ever tried getting anything from the government?” Decker snorted. “I ordered new plates for my truck last year and they sent them to three different addresses before I received them. Can you imagine waiting that long if you were desperate?”

  I had to laugh at that. He was right. With all the paperwork that had to be submitted just to open my shop, I knew that it was a pain in the ass to deal with the government.

  “I like it.”

  Everyone turned to look at me, a grin splitting their lips.

  “What?”

  They were all looking at me like they knew something I didn’t. And then Decker stood up and casually walked over to me, slapping down a folder on top of my own. “Good, I was hoping you would say that.”

  “Why?” I was confused. Wasn’t this the point of the meetings?

  “You spoke up first,” Ram laughed.

  Little John banged his gavel on the table. “All in favor of Joe delivering the paperwork to the charities, say aye.”

  “Aye.”

  “Wait,” I said as they all turned back in their chairs. “When am I supposed to—“

  “It’s all in the packet, newbie.”

  My brows furrowed as I opened the folder. There was a schedule inside, with times and dates telling me precisely when these meetings would take place. “I have to meet with these people?”

  Decker’s booming laughter filled the air. “God, I love fucking with the newbies.”

  “What?” I still didn’t get it.

  Angel covered his face as he laughed, his shoulders shaking hard. “Whenever Decker comes up with one of these big ideas that involves collaboration with other charities, he always shoves it off on the first person to agree with him.”

  I glanced around the room at them, all of them laughing their asses off at me, and I flipped them off. “So, this was a joke.”

  “No, you really have to do that shit,” Decker laughed.

  “But I don’t have time.”

  “None of us have time,” Bender snorted. “But you were stupid enough to speak up first.”

  “I didn’t know the rules.”

  “They’re not so much rules as ways to fuck with people and have some fun,” Decker informed me. “Oh, and don’t forget to wear a tie.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. I’d deliver the damn paperwork and meet with the charities, but there was no fucking way I was wearing a tie.

  Sofia

  “Darling, you need to go to bed now,” my mother said at eight o’clock.

  There was no bachelorette party for me. No, that would ruin the idea she had of the perfect bride. The chance that it might get out of control and I might have fun was too much for her poor, tired heart. We had a small family gathering with Graham’s family. I thought it was supposed to be bad luck to see the groom the night before, but apparently, my father couldn’t resist getting one last chance to celebrate this union.

  I rolled my eyes in irritation, only realizing too late that my mother could see me. My cheeks flushed red when I caught her glare.

  “You’re lucky that it’s your wedding day tomorrow or you’d pay for that. I won’t tolerate this behavior and neither will Graham,” she hissed in my ear. “Now, go say goodnight to the groom and then make sure you get plenty of sleep. Makeup will only cover up so many flaws.”

  I hated my mother, but this wasn’t the time or the place for any kind of argument. I nodded to her and walked away in search of Graham. After searching the entire downstairs, I was baffled, having no idea where he was. Deciding it didn’t matter if I said goodnight to him, I headed upstairs, ready to go to bed, even though I wasn’t tired. Sitting i
n my room was better than staying one more night in my mother’s presence.

  Moaning and faint cries came from a room just down the hall. Moving to the door, I listened with my ear pressed to the door. It sounded so dirty and erotic. I had no experience with sex, but listening in on two people going at it had me wishing I wasn’t going into this marriage empty-handed.

  My body responded to the moans inside and I found myself getting wet just from listening in. I glanced down the hallway, checking to make sure no one was about to walk down the hall and catch me eavesdropping. The cries got erratic and the moans were getting louder. My heart thumped in my chest as I listened intently. My nipples were hard and I desperately wished I was alone so I could touch myself.

  “Fuck, that’s good.”

  I frowned, pressing my ear closer to the door. That voice sounded familiar.

  “Don’t marry her,” the woman panted. “You don’t even love her.”

  “Doesn’t matter. This is what my father wants.”

  I flinched back, recognizing that voice as Graham’s. He was in there fucking some other woman the night before our wedding? I flung the door open before I had a chance to think about it. Graham paused, his eyes not showing a hint of remorse when he saw me in the doorway. And the woman was one of my bridesmaids, Cheri. I knew she was a bitch. I just didn’t realize she was fucking Graham behind my back.

  “In my own house…”

  Graham pulled out of Cheri and had the decency to stuff his dick back in his pants and zip up. Cheri made a show of fixing herself, making herself presentable again to go back downstairs.

  “Cheri, why don’t you give me a minute with Sofia.”

  She smirked at me, wiping at the lipstick off his face before walking past me.

  I blinked back tears, unsure of why I was even crying. It’s not like I loved Graham, but he had told me he loved me. And I had been foolish enough to believe him.

  “Why?”