Pretty in Ink (Voretti Family Book 3) (21 page)

“Or what?” CJ tightened his grip, his skinny fingers digging into the delicate skin at Liv’s wrist.
 

Rage burst through Caleb’s chest. CJ flew backward. Glasses shattered. Someone screamed.
 

Pain stung Caleb’s knuckles, and the knowledge hit him all at once. He’d punched CJ.

Satisfaction roared through his veins.
 

He stalked forward. CJ wouldn’t touch Liv again. Caleb would make sure—

“Hey!” Someone yanked his arms behind his back. “Don’t make me call the cops.”

“I
am
the cops.”

“And I’m a brain surgeon.”

He jerked away from his captor, but then Liv was in front of him. “Caleb,
please
. You have to calm down.”

He focused on her eyes—brimming with concern, but right there in front of him. She was all right.

“Okay.” Deep breath in. Deep breath out. “Okay.” He forced his muscles to relax. To walk toward the unmarked door the bouncer was trying to herd him through.

“You’re out for the night,” the guy said. “I see you again, I call the cops.”

The cool air brought him the rest of the way back to himself. He’d gotten thrown out of a club for fighting. And it had been so easy. Felt so good.

Shit.
Shit
.

“I’m sorry,” Caleb managed. “You won’t see me again.”
 

The door slammed shut, leaving him alone with Liv in the alley behind
Revel
.

She hurried to his side. “Are you all right? I can’t believe you did that!”

Even the dim lighting wasn’t enough to camouflage the reddish ring circling her wrist. Caleb cracked his knuckles, all too aware of the adrenaline still flooding his system. “He hurt you.”

“I’m fine.” She wrapped her arms around him. “See?”

He could feel her, strong and alive and right there with him, but it wasn’t enough. He needed to lay her on his bed and make sure every part of her was all right. With his eyes and hands and lips. With his whole body.

But it wasn’t only about making sure she was okay. It was all confused in his head, the need to protect her wrapped up with the desire for that reckless freedom he felt whenever they were together.

And—
shit
—that was exactly what had gotten him into trouble tonight. He was in too deep. How was he ever going to dig himself out when this was over?

He tore himself away from Liv. Took a step back and forced in a deep breath, even though the alley smelled like piss, vomit, and cigarettes.

She gave him a small smile. “I’ve never seen you punch anyone. Was that your first time?”

He tried to nod, but he couldn’t allow himself even a white lie right now. “No.”

“Really? Who was it? One of my brothers?”

“No.”

“That no neck guy from the football team who called everyone a cunt bucket?”

“It wasn’t anyone at school.” The aches and bruises that had been masked by adrenaline suddenly decided to make themselves known. He rubbed a sore spot on the back of his neck. “Drop it, okay?”

“Are you kidding me? I just learned Captain Integrity used his fists instead of his words, and you want me to drop it? Tell me who it was.”

He’d never told anyone. Never even considered it. But his protective barriers had been obliterated, and Liv was focused squarely on him, and he couldn’t stop the words from flowing. “My father. He punched me in the jaw. I hit him back.”

Liv’s eyes went wide. She laid a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
 

He swallowed. “It was only the one time. Generally he and my mom just ignored me.”

He’d meant that last part as a joke, but the mood went as dark as the night around them.

“Oh, Caleb.” She rubbed his arm absently, her entire focus on his eyes. “No wonder you’re so angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

“You hide it from everyone. Maybe even yourself. And you do a great job of it. I never would have questioned your Captain Integrity facade before last night, and I’ve known you for nineteen years. But when we’re close I feel it inside you, searching for a way out.”

His whole body tensed. Because he felt it too. He always felt it when he was around Liv, and it scared the hell out of him. “Don’t worry.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or her. “That thing with CJ… Nothing like that is going to happen again. I’m not like my father.”

For a second she stared at him, brow wrinkled. Then she hurled herself at him. Wrapped her arms so tight around him he could pretend she wasn’t ever going to let go. “Of course you’re not. You’re nothing like him.” Her heart beat strong against his chest. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not angry. God, Caleb—after what you’ve been though, anyone would be. You can’t keep it all inside or it’s going to explode. Because it’s not only anger you’re trying to bury. It’s your natural energy and spontaneity and fire. It’s you. You can’t hide who you are.”

He took a shuddering breath. Liv was right. He couldn’t keep going the way he was. And he definitely couldn’t bring a wife and kids into the mix, knowing what a fragile hold he had on his self-control.
 

It was time to stop pretending. To be the person he really was, even if it meant he’d live his life alone.

But, right now, he wasn’t alone. He was with Liv.

Let her go. Don’t drag her down with you.

He tried to push her away, but she was holding on too tight.

She was so soft. So close that every time he inhaled, he got a hit of that exotic-flower scent.

“It’s okay to let someone help you,” she whispered.

“I don’t want to mess up your life.”

“You won’t. I won’t let you.” She said it like it was that simple.

And maybe it was. Liv wasn’t a delicate flower he could crush with one misstep. She was the strongest woman he knew.
 

Maybe he didn’t have to do this alone.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

With her lips inches from his, no power on earth could have stopped him from giving her what she wanted. He brushed his lips against hers.
 

He couldn’t stop with one kiss. He could never stop with her.

He kissed her until she was arching against him, tearing a groan out of his throat.

“Let’s go home,” she whispered in his ear, her soft breath making him desperate.

He didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate. “Let’s go home.”

T
HE
S
OUTH
L
AKE
bowling alley smelled like popcorn, beer, and old shoes. But with Caleb at her side, Liv was exactly where she wanted to be.

Well, maybe not
exactly
where she wanted to be. She’d prefer a location with a bed. And a door she could shut, so her entire family wasn’t watching.

“How soon until we can get out of here?” She whispered the question in Caleb’s ear, so that her nosy brothers wouldn’t hear. And, once she was that close, her hand found his chest. Lingered there, so she could feel the vibrations as he spoke.

“We’re only on the second frame, honey. It’s gonna be a while.”

She sighed. She didn’t want to hurl some stupid ball at a bunch of pins. She wanted to rip off Caleb’s shirt and do a thorough examination of his chest without all that cotton in the way. Kind of like the way she’d done this morning. And last night.
 

They’d spent every night together since they’d left
Revel
three days ago. And though they hadn’t had the official are-you-my-boyfriend discussion, she could feel Caleb’s commitment in every word he spoke to her. Every glance. Every touch.

“You were the one who wanted to go bowling with your family,” he reminded her.

“I wouldn’t say I
wanted
to.” She directed her frustration at Rafe, who was strolling over with baby Becca in a front carrier strapped to his chest. “It was more like I was commanded to make an appearance.”

“Your turn, Livvy. Think you can tear yourself away from your boy toy for long enough to put some numbers on the board?”

She bristled. “He’s not a toy. He’s a person I’m in a relationship with.”

“Relax. It was a joke.” Rafe herded her away from Caleb and toward the ball return. But before she could retrieve the pink ball she was using, he was mid-lecture. “You know I love you. But Caleb is one of my best friends. And he’s into you. Bad.”

“Good. Because I’m into him.”

“For now.” Rafe’s gaze fell to the tattoo, easily visible thanks to the tank top she’d fashioned out of a vintage bowling shirt, and the problem became clear.
 

“You’ve been talking to Nonna Hazel.”

“No,” Rafe said, but his face went red. “Okay, yes. But you have to admit that Nonna has good instincts. What’s the longest you’ve been with a guy? Two months?”

“I was never with the right guy before.”

“You’ve never taken the time to see if you were with the right guy. You were too busy looking for an excuse to bail before things got serious. And this tattoo… Most guys would freak out if you tattooed their name onto your arm a few weeks into the relationship.”

“You don’t say,” Liv muttered.

“So I can’t help wondering if you were unconsciously trying to sabotage things with Caleb.”

“You’re being completely ridiculous.” She reached around him, retrieving her ball. “The tattoo was a whim. Not some crazy plot to break your bestie’s heart.”

“Wait.” He grabbed her shoulders, taking shameless advantage of the fact that she couldn’t knee him in the balls while he was holding her niece. “All I’m saying is, Caleb doesn’t do things just for fun the way you do. So if this is another one of your phases, you need to cut him loose. Before he falls any deeper.”
 

Unbelievable.

She looked away, but that didn’t help because Alex was watching her from his seat, his we-know-what’s-best-for-you gaze as good as proof that he was in on this too. Matt shrugged, like
maybe they have a point
. Even little Becca was drooling in a judgmental way.

“Maybe you don’t know Caleb as well as you think you do,” she said to Rafe.

“He’s been my best friend since kindergarten.”

“Did he ever tell you about his parents?”

“What? That they were assholes? He didn’t have to tell me. I saw it for myself.”

“No. About—” She caught a glimpse of Caleb out of the corner of her eye and cut herself off. He hadn’t told Rafe that his father had hit him. He hadn’t told anyone but her, and she wouldn’t betray his confidence. She didn’t need to prove anything to her brother. “Nothing. Never mind.”

Rafe sighed. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. That’s all.”

“You don’t have to worry. No one is going to get hurt.”

“Good.” He patted her on the arm—right over the tattoo. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

She picked up her ball and lined up her shot. Rafe went back to his seat, and she commanded herself to relax. He’d freaked out over nothing, and she’d set him straight. The end.

She drew her arm back, but before she could let the ball go, her mom stepped into the frame. The ball slipped out of Liv’s hands and rolled into the gutter.

“Well.” Mom moved in. “That didn’t work out the way you’d planned.”

“Whatever,” she said, trying to sound unconcerned. “It’s only a game.”

“Yes, but not everything in life is a game. You and Caleb—”

“For God’s sake! I’m not going to dump him and break his heart!”

Mom’s brow pinched into that familiar you’re-giving-me-a-stress-headache expression, and Liv felt about five years old. “Sorry. About the language.”

“This tattoo.” Her mom sighed. “Your Nonna is worried it will bring bad luck.”

“Nonna also thinks it’s bad luck to spill salt. And do you remember how bad she freaked out that one time you put a loaf of bread inside the refrigerator upside down?”

“Yes. But this time she has a point. You’re so impulsive, Livvy. How long had you and Caleb been dating when you got that tattoo?”

Her heart thudded in her chest, louder than the guy
 
in the lane next to her hitting the center of a full set of pins. “I…” She swallowed. “We hadn’t been dating long, but I’ve known him my entire life.”

“There’s a difference between knowing someone as a friend and knowing him as a man. A partner.”

She grabbed her ball from the ball return. “I know that.”

“I hope that’s true.”

She turned her back on Mom and stalked toward the lane. A red haze obscured her vision, making it impossible to line up her shot, and she knew it was off the second the ball left her hand. It skidded down the lane too fast, barely clipping the ten pin.

Mom nodded wisely as the sweep bar got rid of the rest of the pins, as if Liv’s crappy shot somehow proved her point.

Liv had to get away. She beat a hasty retreat toward Caleb, but before she could get there, the twins were blocking her path, Alex a man on a mission, Matt glancing back toward his seat longingly.
 

“Hey, Livvy—”

“No.”

“What?” Alex was all injured innocence. “We haven’t even—”

“No. Just, no.”
 

“But we—”

A loud ring sounded inside her pocket.
 

“I have to take this.” She grabbed her cell and accepted the video call without looking at the caller ID.

“Livvy!” The picture was blurry but the voice was, unmistakably, her perfect older sister. “I hear you have big news!”
 

Really?
Really?

“You too?” She hustled up the stairs, away from the curious ears of the rest of her family. She understood that they were concerned about Caleb, but calling Annabelle in the middle of her honeymoon to take part in the witch-hunt was a step too far. “I’m not going to dump Caleb and hurt his delicate feelings. I care about him. This isn’t some game to me, no matter what all of you seem to think.”

“I was talking about your store. Mamma and Papa told me they’re loaning you the money to start
Designs by Olivia
.”

“Oh.” The bar wasn’t opened yet, so she ducked under the worn velvet rope blocking the entrance, in search of some privacy. “That.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you forever, but you never call me back.”