Except now Ink was gone. She’d never see him again.
11
Ink was striding back and forth across his office as everyone arrived. He gave Duke a questioning look when he entered with Sunny.
“We were on our way home when I got your message,” Duke explained. “It seemed urgent enough to just turn round and bring her with me.”
“I can wait in the foyer,” Sunny offered.
He shook his head, still unable to form words without roaring his fury to the world.
“How come we’re meeting here?” Reyes asked in a deceptively calm voice.
Ink knew it would have pissed their president off to be basically summoned here. He liked to have the position of power. But then, it didn’t matter where the asshole was, he commanded pretty much any space.
“Because this place has better security than the club.”
Anger was a fire in his veins. Fury thrummed through him. Relentless. An itch had developed across his skin that he couldn’t seem to scratch.
He wished he could take care of this by himself. He didn’t want the rest of them knowing what a fucking idiot he was.
She’d taken him for a ride.
Made a fool of him.
He’d wanted her. She’d seemingly been everything he desired.
And it had all been a lie.
It wasn’t until he’d gotten home and was undressing, while trying to figure out how the night had turned into a clusterfuck, that he’d found the note she’d tucked into his pocket.
“Ink?” Sunny asked, moving from where Duke had her settled in his lap to walk over to him. She laid her hand on his arm. He saw Duke tense but the ass should know he’d never hurt Sunny. It was a well-known fact he cared about her.
Hell, he didn’t sit for a tea party with just anyone.
You did for Betsy.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the note. He handed it over to Reyes, knowing the other man would want to read it first.
He had more control issues than the rest of them put together.
The other man stared at it with a frown. “What the fuck is this?” Reyes snapped.
“What it looks like,” Ink snarled back.
“You gonna let the rest of the class know what’s going on?” Razor drawled, sitting back in his chair and giving them both a knowing look.
Reyes held up the note. “You’re being set up to take the fall for Senator Robins’ murder. There are eyes and ears everywhere. Be careful. Please don’t hate me. It wasn’t all a lie.”
Sunny sucked in a breath and Duke reached out, drawing her back into his arms.
“Who wrote this?” Reyes asked.
“Her name’s Betsy,” Ink said. This next part was gonna be hard. If there was one thing he hated, it was looking like a fool. “Met her at Fringe. I should have known the whole thing was a set-up. There’s no way Angus would ask me to mentor a new sub. I need to speak to him. Find out what he knows.”
“I don’t know,” Razor told him. “You’ve got a soft spot for women. You’re protective and gentle with them. He could do a lot worse than asking you.”
Ink ground his teeth together. “Appreciate the pep-talk, but obviously my soft-spot for women is a weakness that I need to work on.”