For his best friend, his partner, and the woman who would one day wear his ring and more of his ink.
Coming next…
Thea and Dimitri take a chance in RESTLESS LINK
And Mace’s sisters get their own series’s tarting with BREAKING WITHOUT YOU
A Note from Carrie Ann
Thank you so much for reading FALLEN INK. I do hope if you liked this story, that you would please leave a review! Reviews help authors and readers.
I’m so honored that your read this book and love the Montgomerys as much as I do! I’m so excited to write more Montgomerys and I cannot wait to dig into Thea’s and Roxie’s stories. Yes, Roxie is getting her story. Just wait. And in case you missed it, you can find their brother Shep’s romance in INK INSPIRED. Up next is RESTLESS INK and oh my, just wait until you see what Roxie and this new man Dimitri are up to!
And if you loved Mace’s sisters, don’t worry, they’re getting their own series with the Fractured Connections series, starting with BREAKING WITHOUT YOU!
And if you’re new to my books, you can start anywhere within the world and catch up!
Don’t miss out on the Montgomery Ink World!
•Montgomery Ink (The Denver Montgomerys)
•Montgomery Ink: Colorado Springs (The Colorado Springs Montgomery Cousins)
•Gallagher Brothers (Jake’s Brothers from Ink Enduring)
•Whiskey and Lies (Tabby’s Brothers from Ink Exposed)
•Fractured Connections (Mace’s sisters from Fallen Ink)
If you want to make sure you know what’s coming next from me, you can sign up for my newsletter at www.CarrieAnnRyan.com; follow me on twitter at @CarrieAnnRyan, or like my Facebook page. I also have a Facebook Fan Club where we have trivia, chats, and other goodies. You guys are the reason I get to do what I do and I thank you.
Make sure you’re signed up for my MAILING LIST so you can know when the next releases are available as well as find giveaways and FREE READS.
Happy Reading!
Montgomery Ink: Colorado Springs
Book 1: Fallen Ink
Book 2: Restless Ink
Book 2.5: Ashes to Ink
Book 3: Jagged Ink
Book 3.5: Ink by Numbers
Also from Carrie Ann Ryan
The Montgomery Ink: Boulder Series:
Book 1: Wrapped in Ink
Book 2: Sated in Ink
Book 3: Embraced in Ink
Book 3.5: Moments in Ink
Book 4: Seduced in Ink
Book 4.5: Captured in Ink
The Montgomery Ink: Fort Collins Series:
Book 1: Inked Persuasion
Book 2: Inked Obsession
The Promise Me Series:
Book 1: Forever Only Once
Book 2: From That Moment
Book 3: Far From Destined
Book 4: From Our First
The On My Own Series:
Book 1: My One Night
Book 2: My Rebound
Book 3: My Next Play
The Tattered Royals Series:
Book 1: Royal Line
The Ravenwood Coven Series:
Book 1: Dawn Unearthed
Montgomery Ink:
Book 0.5: Ink Inspired
Book 0.6: Ink Reunited
Book 1: Delicate Ink
Book 1.5: Forever Ink
Book 2: Tempting Boundaries
Book 3: Harder than Words
Book 4: Written in Ink
Book 4.5: Hidden Ink
Book 5: Ink Enduring
Book 6: Ink Exposed
Book 6.5: Adoring Ink
Book 6.6: Love, Honor, & Ink
Book 7: Inked Expressions
Book 7.3: Dropout
Book 7.5: Executive Ink
Book 8: Inked Memories
Book 8.5: Inked Nights
Book 8.7: Second Chance Ink
Montgomery Ink: Colorado Springs
Book 1: Fallen Ink
Book 2: Restless Ink
Book 2.5: Ashes to Ink
Book 3: Jagged Ink
Book 3.5: Ink by Numbers
The Gallagher Brothers Series:
Book 1: Love Restored
Book 2: Passion Restored
Book 3: Hope Restored
The Whiskey and Lies Series:
Book 1: Whiskey Secrets
Book 2: Whiskey Reveals
Book 3: Whiskey Undone
The Fractured Connections Series:
Book 1: Breaking Without You
Book 2: Shouldn’t Have You
Book 3: Falling With You
Book 4: Taken With You
The Less Than Series:
Book 1: Breathless With Her
Book 2: Reckless With You
Book 3: Shameless With Him
Redwood Pack Series:
Book 1: An Alpha’s Path
Book 2: A Taste for a Mate
Book 3: Trinity Bound
Book 3.5: A Night Away
Book 4: Enforcer’s Redemption
Book 4.5: Blurred Expectations
Book 4.7: Forgiveness
Book 5: Shattered Emotions
Book 6: Hidden Destiny
Book 6.5: A Beta’s Haven
Book 7: Fighting Fate
Book 7.5: Loving the Omega
Book 7.7: The Hunted Heart
Book 8: Wicked Wolf
The Talon Pack:
Book 1: Tattered Loyalties
Book 2: An Alpha’s Choice
Book 3: Mated in Mist
Book 4: Wolf Betrayed
Book 5: Fractured Silence
Book 6: Destiny Disgraced
Book 7: Eternal Mourning
Book 8: Strength Enduring
Book 9: Forever Broken
The Elements of Five Series:
Book 1: From Breath and Ruin
Book 2: From Flame and Ash
Book 3: From Spirit and Binding
Book 4: From Shadow and Silence
The Branded Pack Series:
(Written with Alexandra Ivy)
Book 1: Stolen and Forgiven
Book 2: Abandoned and Unseen
Book 3: Buried and Shadowed
Dante’s Circle Series:
Book 1: Dust of My Wings
Book 2: Her Warriors’ Three Wishes
Book 3: An Unlucky Moon
Book 3.5: His Choice
Book 4: Tangled Innocence
Book 5: Fierce Enchantment
Book 6: An Immortal’s Song
Book 7: Prowled Darkness
Book 8: Dante’s Circle Reborn
Holiday, Montana Series:
Book 1: Charmed Spirits
Book 2: Santa’s Executive
Book 3: Finding Abigail
Book 4: Her Lucky Love
Book 5: Dreams of Ivory
The Happy Ever After Series:
Flame and Ink
Ink Ever After
Single Title:
Finally Found You
Copyright © 2017 by Cora Kenborn
Cover design by Raven Designs
Editing by Gillian Leonard
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.
This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchase for your use only, then please return to your e-book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book revi
ew.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in the work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.
Never settle for what’s comfortable.
Go for what’s impossible.
You just might surprise yourself.
1
Laken
Present Day
Think back to your favorite rom com movie. Okay, now think about the turning point where the hero or heroine is broken, dejected, and thinks life can’t get any worse. Maybe they look like they’ve been thrown down a wood chipper, or maybe they’re pacing and mumbling to themselves, in need of a white jacket that ties in the back.
Good, now check me out. Yep, that’s me sprawled out on my old, ripped, brown leather couch in a shredded evening gown with mascara running down my face like some circus clown reject. Don’t judge until you’ve heard the whole story. I promise there’s a reason for all of this, and I’m fully justified for the fucktastrophe you’re currently witnessing.
My life is no rom com. I’m no heroine. I had it all in the palm of my hand and then my future went to shit, swirling down the proverbial toilet of life.
Overly dramatic? Stay with me.
Scooping an oversized spoonful of ice cream from the carton wedged between my knees, I shove it in my mouth and chase it with a few gulps of white wine straight out of the bottle. It has to be at least six a.m. on Sunday morning, and as I flip through the channels on the TV, those annoying rom coms I just spoke of mock me. Movies I used to devour, I now loathe and want to see die a slow death. Real life never wraps up in a pretty red bow at the end like they make you believe. No, it’s messy, brutal, and rips your heart out only to pulverize it.
Tilting the wine bottle up again, I kick off my heels and settle on the movie Titanic.
Oh, good. A happy ending type of romance.
That’s the way Shelby, my roommate, finds me as she swings the front door open to our tiny Bed-Stuy apartment in Brooklyn, staring at me as if I’ve been inhabited by some gluttonous alien. Shelby is a first-year medical intern with a crazy schedule and she’s used to coming home at odd hours. What she’s not used to is seeing me argue with a television screen.
“Holy shit!” Her hand flies to her mouth in a veiled attempt at hiding her shock. “Were you mugged? Oh God, did they follow you home? Do they know where we live? I have jewelry, you know.”
Giving her a side-eyed glare, I lick the dripping ice cream off the spoon while choking the life out of the wine bottle. “Nope.”
Walking farther into the room, she wrinkles her nose at my vices. “Then are you pregnant?”
“Piss off.”
“Okay,” she says, drawing the word out slowly. “Do you plan on going to work today, or are you just going to stay drunk until we’re homeless?”
Let me stop here and remind everyone that I’m neither drunk nor homeless. I’ve lost my shitty job, but the fact of the matter is, that it’s everything else I’ve lost that has caused this. And it’s my own fault. A catastrophe of my own doing, like those contestants on The Price Is Right who bid four hundred and twenty-five dollars on a brand-new dining room set just to get on stage. They look so smug until the asshole next to them bids four hundred and twenty-six.
Seriously? Didn’t they see that coming? The person next to them planned all along to make them feel secure in their win until it was time to turn the knife. Suddenly they’re blocked in. Stuck. Screwed by their own stupidity, because Maude from New Hampshire doesn’t give a shit about their feelings. Maude has an agenda and it’s to screw them out of a new life…and a dining room.
You get it, right?
I had everything. It was mine for the taking, and all I had to do was tell the truth. And I would’ve. I mean, I planned to…eventually.
Shelby stares at the hell hole I’ve turned our apartment into and kicks a discarded Ho-Ho wrapper out of her way with the toe of her white sneaker. “Clean this shit up, Laken, then get a shower. You smell like fermented ass.” Giving me one last eye roll, she stomps off to her bedroom and slams the door.
Taking another long swig from the bottle, I swish it around in my mouth before swallowing and calling out over my shoulder. “No, really, I’m fine. Just my life is ending, thanks for your concern.”
And this is where my story begins. As a reluctant nanny to one of the most powerful families in New York City, I’d waited for an opportunity like last night. All I needed was a chance to stick my foot in the corporate door. Once it fell into my lap, I latched on like a drowning woman on a life preserver. I met the executives I needed to meet, shook the hands I needed to shake, and integrated myself into a world I’d tried over two years to infiltrate. For once in my life, I almost had everything.
Like Leonardo DiCaprio, I was king of my own stupid world.
That’s the ironic thing about that movie, Titanic. Jack thought he had it all. He almost took a swan dive right over the bow of that boat like some lunatic while trying to save dumbass Rose. Not such a genius move. That should’ve been a clue to anyone watching that ol’ Jack wasn’t firing on all cylinders when it came to that red-haired chick, and things wouldn’t end well. You know what? They didn’t. Rose plopped her happy ass on that floating piece of wood while Jack’s balls became little nutcicles.
You think that shit would’ve happened in real life? Hell no. Jack would’ve told Rose to scoot the fuck over, or he would’ve dumped her ass right in the North Atlantic.
Only the strong survive. Eat or be eaten. It’s basic call of the wild, rule of the jungle protocol.
You probably think I’m the Jack in this story, right? That I’m at home pining away because I believed my soulmate loved me and didn’t want me to die cold and alone at the bottom of the sea. You’d be partly right. But here’s where you might not feel so sorry for me.
I’m also the Rose.
Yep, I duped my Jack into thinking I’d share the piece of wood with him too. I made him care about the fake me—the one who didn’t exist. All to get ahead in life. To get the prize I’ve always wanted. Until what I wanted was him.
I’m Laken Cavanaugh, and this is the story of how one unsupervised moment in Central Park started a chain of events that landed me at rock bottom, drinking six-dollar chardonnay straight from the bottle while stuffing my face full of chocolate ice cream.
Chocolate.
It’s funny. I’ve always been a vanilla girl until I met him. In so many more ways than one. Now, I’ve lost my job, my career, my future, but most importantly, I’ve lost him. And it’s all because of one little white lie. Well, a lie and the root of all evil. The bane of my existence. The reason why I’m one drink away from detox and a padded cell.
My boss.
2
Niall
Four Weeks Earlier
“I have no idea why the hell I’m here,” I grumble and swipe a donut from the breakfast tray while dragging a chair out from underneath the far end of the conference table. Taking a seat, I tug on the tie knotted at the base of my throat. With every person who slaps me on the back and takes their seat, it tightens by the second.
I hate corporate America. I hate meetings. But mostly, I hate the way the woman directly across from me licks her red painted lips every time I catch her eye.
Slumping into the chair next to me, Vince pops open his briefcase and yawns for the third time since walking through the door. “Stop being such an ungrateful prick. Look around, you’re the only photographer in this meeting. This could be big for your career. Besides,” he adds, smirking as he holds up a massive pastry. “Free eats.”
> Taking a bite of my donut, I shake my head and wonder how a guy like Vince, whose idea of getting ahead means literally getting head, managed to climb the corporate ladder at Trask and Payne and not get slapped with a sexual harassment lawsuit.
“You know, there’s more to life than food and sex.”
“Sure there is.” Inhaling half his pastry, Vince dismisses me with a wave of his hand. “I like a good nap in between a good fuck and a good meal.”
I stare at him, and against my better judgment, push the issue. “The Ravenhill Gala Planning Committee has been in the works for months.” I cast a quick glance around the table, taking in the faces of Trask and Payne’s middle and upper management, along with their dutiful note-taking secretaries and figurehead board members. “Everyone here has been in on this project from the get-go. Even your slack arse has made an appearance when you weren’t hungover or balls deep in some intern.”
“Damn, that’s harsh, Niall.” Vince manages to look offended for a full five seconds. “True, but harsh. Besides, I told you, at the last meeting, Gloria volunteered your Lucky Charms-eatin’ ass to photograph the whole event.”
“Do you hear yourself? That’s so politically incorrect, I don’t even know where to begin.”
He licks the icing off his lower lip and raises his coffee mug in the air. “Aye, she wants your shamrocks, man. She thinks they’re magically delicious.”
“Why do I hang out with you?”
“Because without me, you’d spend your weekends painting nails and playing pin the tail on the donkey, and I don’t mean the naked kind either.”
I roll my eyes, making the mistake of glancing across the table. Gloria’s stare is lethal as she enthusiastically licks the rim of her coffee mug for the second time in ten minutes. I have no idea what in the hell the woman hopes to accomplish. The move does nothing to entice me. In fact, with every swipe of her tongue, the coffee and donut I just scarfed down threaten to reappear all over the conference table.
Vote Then Read: Volume I Page 54