Hidden Ink (Montgomery Ink #4.5)(28)

She would not cry.

Not now.

Maybe not ever.

If she cried, then she’d break; she’d show she’d given up. And she couldn’t do that. Not yet.

“Enough, though,” she whispered.

Autumn squeezed in between Austin and the front desk, her eyes wet. “No one’s really outside since it’s so cold, and no one in Taboo would have been able to see at that angle. So it was just us in the shop. The two clients were in their chairs so they couldn’t see either. They’re over at Taboo getting a much-needed food break.”

“It was just us, Hailey,” Callie said softly. “And we’re here for you.”

Hailey took a sip of the cocoa Callie must have made over at Taboo. Normally, Hailey didn’t allow those at Montgomery Ink to work behind the counter, but she didn’t have the energy to care about that right then.

“He’s an *, Hailey,” Maya said. “He’s an * for leaving like he did, but he’s our *. Just think about it, okay? He pushed you away for a reason.”

Hailey took another sip. “I know he left for a reason. I know he pushed me away for that same reason. He’s just kept that so close to the vest for all these years, it’s hard to break through it. I know I shouldn’t put him on the same timetable for revealing his secrets as I put myself, but when he does this? Maybe I should have pushed.”

Austin let out a breath then squeezed her knee. “Maybe you should have. Maybe we should have. Fuck. I’ve known Sloane for longer than you have, and I still don’t know about his past. I don’t know the reasons he sometimes takes a week or two off and needs to be alone. I tried to ask once, and he shut me down. I let him shut me down. Friends don’t do that shit. So you’re not alone in this, Hailey.”

But she felt alone. She couldn’t help it. He hadn’t pushed the others away as he had her. She loved him, and yet she hadn’t been enough to chase away the darkness. If that was even her job to begin with was another story altogether. In fact, she didn’t need to chase away all of it, but to function, she needed to know of it. That was the difference.

Resolved, she took a deep breath.

“I’m not going to let him go that easily,” she said simply. “I’m not that kind of person. Even if we weren’t dating, we’re friends. I…I can’t see him hurting and not want to do something.”

“We’re here if you need us,” Autumn said softly.

“And if you need us to hold him down for you, we can do that, too,” Maya added, bringing a smile to Hailey’s face.

“I might take you up on that.”

“Make sure you make him grovel, though,” Maya said with a sad smile. “I mean, after you talk and you’re on the right path, make him grovel. Because he hurt you. He might have done it for a reason, but you’re hurt and that’s not okay.”

Hailey pressed her lips together and nodded, tears once again threatening. “You can count on it,” she whispered.

Sloane was hers, and she’d be damned if anyone took him away from her.

Even him.





Chapter Eight



Sloane wanted a f*cking drink but wasn’t about to use that to cope. He’d done his best not to when he came home from the desert, and he’d be damned if he did it now. But it was tempting. Damn tempting.

He’d known it was going to hurt like hell when he finally let Hailey go, but he hadn’t known it would be this bad. It had only been a day, and yet the agonizing minutes had gone by way too slowly.

He was such a f*cking idiot, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He just prayed she’d be okay eventually, and hell, that he hadn’t lost his job at Montgomery Ink for leaving like he had.

Seeing Jason like that had ripped him open. He’d bled with that man and had almost died with him. Yet what right did Sloane have to be happier than him? Choices had brought him to the place where he was, but did that mean he deserved the outcome of those choices?

Hailey was far too good for him. She’d survived and thrived. He’d made it through his life, and that wasn’t the same. If she were with him, she’d know the truth.

That he was stained with the blood of his fallen men. That he’d killed to protect them, but hadn’t done a good enough job. He’d killed to protect himself and his men, yet how could he live with that? He hadn’t been enough for the others and yet somehow he’d lived.

He wasn’t going to end it—that wasn’t the kind of man he was—but he also couldn’t consciously bring another down with him.

Hailey deserved better than that. Deserved better than him.

The knock on the door surprised him, but it shouldn’t have. It was probably Austin here to kick his ass for leaving not only Hailey but also the shop. The big man could probably take him, and that was saying something.

Without bothering to look out the peephole, he opened the door and froze.

“Hailey,” he said, his voice a broken growl.

She had her hands folded over her chest and a glare on her face. She looked hot as hell and even madder.

“If you shut the door in my face, I’ll just keep knocking, so you better let me in.”

Caught off guard and a little turned on, he moved to the side so she could storm past. And storm she did. She let out a small growl and turned on her heel.