by Jo Raven
Dakota’s aunts are wincing at my choice of words, but the boys are paying attention, and their eyes are bright.
“When I was a kid in foster care, I met a girl. Emma.” I take two steps to stand at their center. “She was a sister to me. She decided she was my family. When she turned eighteen, she got a job, rented an apartment, tracked me down and adopted me legally. She was…” I swallow hard. “She fought for me. She proved to me that DNA doesn’t matter. That becoming a family is a matter of choice. A matter of caring for someone.”
“What happened to her?” the blond boy, Sawyer, asks.
“She died,” I say and my heart thumps hard. “But she gave me a family. She showed me I wasn’t alone. Well, you aren’t alone. Remember that. We’re here, whatever you need, even if it’s just to talk.”
They’re quiet, but I think my words are slowly sinking in.
Then there’s an announcement that we can move to the tents where the tables are set for the wedding dinner.
It was about time. Weddings make me hungry, and I’ve got a speech to make.
***
We’re seated near the end of one of the long tables where the newlyweds are sitting, and it’s damn funny because we’re overtaken by small children. It’s like a daycare center, only with wedding gowns and suits and tiaras, and lots of wine on the table.
It’s a good sight. For instance, Lee is still stuck to Dakota’s nipple. I know how he feels.
Grinning, I stand up and clear my throat.
A hush falls over the tables. Poor people. Did anyone warn them I would be the one talking?
“Evening.” I let my glance pass over the many familiar faces. “I’ll be the one giving the speech tonight, so brace yourselves. I’m not good at this. In fact, I suck, so I hope you’re already drunk off your ass.”
Dakota breathes a horrified, “Zane!” from beside me, but then she laughs.
“Look, I already had the rings, and nobody else volunteered. So don’t blame me. Oh, did I mention I swear a lot? Better cover your children’s ears, because here we go.”
I raise my glass, shove my other hand in my pocket. “Here’s to my friends who got married today. I won’t be telling embarrassing stories from their childhood or more recent times. I’m gonna keep this brief. I just wanna wish them all the best, because they are the best and they deserve all the fucking happiness in the world.”
I take a sip and put the glass down.
“This is a small gathering. I look around and see friends and family. So I think it’s safe to say that I owe you all my life. This has been a fucking bad time of my life, but you never left my side. Never left me behind, never abandoned hope, not even when I did.”
I feel Dakota’s hand slip into mine and I wrap my fingers around hers.
“These past two years have changed our lives around. We were lost and found, we built a family that keeps growing—with the Brotherhood, the Damage Boyz, and now the Lost Boys. We found amazing girls who put up with us, we had beautiful babies. They’re fucking beautiful, guys. Look around you. We’re so damn lucky, all of us. That’s why I’m not gonna tell embarrassing stories about you. Because this isn’t about the past. This is about the future. So let’s eat and drink and have a damn good time. Celebrate all the good things in our lives.”
“Hear, hear!” Rafe calls out and a cheer goes up. “To Zane. Our friend. Our brother.”
I shake my head, a lump forming in my throat as the glasses go up and I see smiling faces and happy eyes all around me. “Not to me, fucker. To all of us. To a damn good ending.”
Yeah, I’ll drink to that.
The FUCKER Cocktail
Created especially for Zane of the Inked Brotherhood Series and his Fans By Lisa Anderson
25ml Tennessee honey jack Daniels
25ml Gold tequila
25 ml lime cordial
A squeeze of lemon
Top it up with soda
A slice of pineapple as a Mohawk decoration
So a guy walks into my bar. Not just any guy a gorgeous tattooed guy with a Mohawk in a riot of colours. He had the most amazing almond shaped eyes and his beautiful skin was a slight tone darker than the usual whitey. I hadn't even spoken to him but he had an unbelievable presence. Watching him on his phone at the end of the bar he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. How could someone so uniquely beautiful look so sad? I smiled to myself as I heard him swear down the phone. After a couple of hours and a quiet stint I decided to mix Mr. Sexy Mohawk man a drink to cheer him up. I wondered to myself what drink would represent him best. A shot of jack Daniels Tennessee honey to start, it was real smooth with a little burn going down, gold tequila was next, hot and strong just like him, honey goes with a squeeze of lemon and tequila goes with a squeeze of lime, and some lime cordial, top it all up with soda, give it a nice slow stir and slide it towards the foul mouthed hot dude at the end of the bar! Oh he's gone! Oh hell. I never got to try my cocktail out on him, I didn't even get his name! Oh well I think sipping the drink instead. Next day our new cocktail the fucker is in high demand. Especially with the ladies, it's real smooth but has a kick as it goes down, it's strong and the effects last all night!
~ Lisa Anderson
Acknowledgments
A huge shout-out goes to:
Sarah Robinson and JA Beard for the explanations about legal and police procedure
To my PA Tracy Comerford for reminding me to breathe and taking care of so many things to give me time to write and for proving to be such a great friend
To Kerry Fletcher for her friendship, her encouragement, and always for running my street team and readers group
To Michelle McGinty and Lainey Da Silva for all the love and sharing and awesomeness
To Kia Zi Shiru and Jade West for the long discussions about writing and publishing and for their friendship
To Lisa Anderson for her friendship and the funny chats and for creating a cocktail for Zane!!!
Extra special thanks go to the people who beta read Inked Babies and wrote to me with their comments and errors to fix: Hillary Becker, Courtney Jewell, Toya Garin, Cassie May, Lisa Anderson, Brandy Freeman, Gina Paulus, Kimberly Hadley Givan, Christine Indriolo and Cheryl Jarvis. Thank you for taking the time to help me out! Like always, any remaining errors are my fault.
Lots of love for my awesome Street Team for sharing the news about my releases and promotions. You guys rock!
My gratitude to my amazing Readers Team who give me opinions and cast their vote on everything from my covers, to titles, to names and story twists. Thank you for always telling me what you think, you’ve helped me more times than I can count.
As always, my gratitude to my amazing editor and to my formatter, 5 Times Chaos.
To all my readers, thank you so much for your constant support and encouragement. Your comments and messages make me smile and it’s a pleasure writing stories for you!
JO SAYS…
Inked Babies was a joy for me to write. I had started to miss the Inked Brotherhood people and giving them an ending, a happy ending at that, was a pleasure—even though I tortured Zane quite a lot in the process. Nevertheless, the loose ends of his past are finally tied and he has a real happy ending. See, I’d felt I’d left him hanging there, with his nightmares and no closure.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Then again I am an Evil Author. I believe in torturing characters before giving them hearts and roses and babies. I have to work hard to keep my title!
Now, is Inked Babies the end?
As you have probably guessed, there is the possibility of writing Lost Boys and follow everyone—Inked Brotherhood and Damage Boyz—into another cycle.
Would you like that?
I also would love to write an epilogue for Damage Control, among my many other projects.
So what next?
My next project is the sequel to Candy Boys, the MMF (ménage) romantic comedy I released recently.
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After that it’s time for an MM (gay) romance. Do you remember Jason and Raine (Ocean’s brother) from OCEAN (Damage Control 5)? Well, it’s their turn to tell their story.
Also I will be writing ROOK (Sex and Bullets 3) to wrap up my bad boy millionaire series.
In the plans for the next months are also sequels to RIOT (Bad Boy Escorts), an epilogue for the Damage Control series, and a sequel to Candy Boys (with a different trio this time).
And… these are my plans for now!
Any particular story you would like me to write? Let me know! Also, if you haven’t, join my readers group where we discuss and vote on projects, covers and generally have fun! ▶ http://on.fb.me/1K2LvzO.
AUTHOR BIO
Jo Raven is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, best known for her series Inked Brotherhood and Damage Control. She writes edgy, contemporary New Adult romance with sexy bad boys and strong-willed heroines. She writes about MMA fighters and tattoo artists, dark pasts that bleed into the present, loyalty and raw emotion.
Find all my books here ▶ http://joraven.com/books
Be the first to get your hands on my new releases & offers, giveaways, previews, and more by signing up here ▶ http://bit.ly/1CTNTHM
Meet me online—on Facebook ▶ https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJoRaven, chat with me on Twitter ▶ @AuthorJoRaven, and join my readers group for sneak previews of my covers and stories ▶ http://on.fb.me/1K2LvzO.
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Have you read the Inked Brotherhood series?
Five boys brought together by fate. Five young men trying to overcome their troubled pasts. Five tattoos marking them as a brotherhood built on tragedy. Will they find understanding and rise above the pain?
Five girls tied by friendship. Five young women fighting their own demons. Five lives laced with sorrow. Will they be strong enough to save the men they love and make them happy?
The series comprises five interconnected, stand-alone novels: Asher, Tyler, Zane, Dylan and Rafe.
GET IT HERE
After the Inked Brotherhood, comes DAMAGE CONTROL:
The Damage Control series is set in the same world as Inked Brotherhood. The boys of Damage Control were taken in by Zane Madden and Rafe Vestri and offered apprenticeship and work in the tattoo shop Damage Control.
The series comprises five interconnected, stand-alone novels: Micah, Jesse, Seth, Shane and Ocean.
GET IT HERE
Do you like romantic suspense and bad boy millionaires? How about giving my new series, SEX AND BULLETS, a try?
LINKS HERE
Do you like menage romance, boy-on-boy action and romantic comedies? How about checking out CANDY BOYS?
GET IT HERE