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has political ambitions. With you by his side, our family will be in the hallowed halls for generations.
We will be remembered. Eternal.
The woman had to be crazy.
Certifiably insane.
If you don t leave him, I ll take it all from him, Shea. You have until tonight.
With that, her mother turned on her expensive heels and left Shea standing alone in her office.
Broken.
Shea staggered back, her feet barely working as she bumped into her desk. A stack of papers fell
to the floor, but she ignored them.
What was she going to do?
This couldn t be happening. Her mother couldn t just come into her life and try to regain the
control she d had for so long.
Shea closed her eyes, the tears she hadn t noticed before falling harder.
She d lose Shep.
To ensure his life remained as he knew it, to ensure his happiness, she d lose him.
Her arms went numb, her chest tingling.
God.
She couldn t lose him. She d just found him.
She d finally stood up to her mother with her chin held high, and it was for naught. Her mother
always had the upper hand, the ace up her sleeve, and now she had what would guarantee the end of
the life Shea wanted to build with a man she loved.
No matter how much she thought she could fight it, her mother would fight harder to punish Shea
for the faults and wrongdoings she d never actually committed.
That was the type of woman her mother was.
Shea didn t know how to fight against it.
Oh, she might have learned to fight for herself and would fight to the ends of the earth for Shep,
but to risking hurting Shep beyond measure fighting against her mother when she knew she couldn t
win?
No.
She couldn t do that.
She d have to in order to make sure he could live without her.
She d marry Richard and break completely in the process.
She d do anything for Shep.
Even leave him.
She cleaned up the stack of papers she d dropped and put them on top of the other stack of papers
that she d leave to the other accountants.
Hell. She was really giving up.
This was the person her mother had made her, the person she d fought so hard not to be.
She hated it.
Shea? I brought coffee.
The sound of Shep s voice startled her, and she dropped the papers in her hand on the floor. She
cursed again inwardly reminding herself she d have to stop that when she married Richard and
bent to pick them up.
Oh, I m sorry, baby, for scaring you. Here, let me help with that.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shep put down two coffee cups and a bag of something and
walk toward her.
She had to turn away.
It hurt too much to face him.
She would just have to slink away like the coward she was.
I ve got it. I m actually kind of busy right now. You ve caught me at a bad time. Her voice was
ice, just like it had been before she d walked into Midnight Ink the first time and clapped eyes on the
man she d fallen in love with.
Hey, what s up? What s wrong? He put his hand on her elbow, turning her toward him. She
lowered her head, unable to meet his gaze. Talk to me.
You need to go, Shep. The words were torn from her, bile rising in her throat yet again.
He lifted her head with a finger on her chin. Why, Shea? Why do I need to go?
You& you have to leave. This has been fun. It really has, but I need to go back to my life. I ve
changed my mind about the tattoo. I don t want it anymore. I don t want you anymore.
She held back the tears, the agony unbearable.
Pain flashed across Shep s face before his expression went carefully blank. What?
I& I can t be with you anymore. We re different people. You re so& you. So vibrant. So&
Midnight Ink. I am ice. I ve always been ice, and I will always be ice. You need to go, Shep.
What the fuck are you talking about, Shea?
You need to go, Shep. We can t see each other anymore. It s over.
He looked down at her, wearing that same expression he d worn when she d first asked for her
tattoo at Midnight Ink.
No.
Chapter Seven
No, Shep repeated, keeping the anger the anguish at bay. No. You don t get to do this.
No? Why do you keep saying that? You can t just say no and get what you want. Her chin
wobbled, and Shep clenched his jaw. Something was going on here, something more than fear of
commitment or whatever he thought it might have been at first.
No, this was something much worse.
Shea was scared about something, and he d be damned if he let her end it now because of it.
I said no in the shop because you had no fucking clue what you wanted inked on your body, Shea.
It s permanent. It s not a fucking dress or some shit like that.
Her head snapped back as though he d slapped her, and he took a breath through his nose. Shit. He
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