Priceless Ink: A Small Town Romance

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “Why do you think?” he sighed. “Did you really think I was madly in love with you? Your father and my father want this deal to go through.”

  “But you told me you loved me,” I said, baffled by his excuse.

  “I said what I had to so you would marry me.”

  My eyes flicked up to his and I snorted slightly. “And you think I’ll still marry you now? After I just caught you fucking another woman in my parents’ house?”

  “Don’t be so crass,” he said angrily. “You will be my wife tomorrow and I’ll be faithful, as long as you do your wifely duties.”

  “You can’t honestly believe that I would sleep with you after this. She’s my bridesmaid.”

  “And she performed her duties, keeping the groom happy before the wedding. If you don’t want me to see her again, I won’t.”

  “And how many other women will you see if I don’t perform my wifely duties?”

  He paused for a moment, staring me down. “I suggest we come to an arrangement. We can both be discreet. It doesn’t have to be a marriage where we’re both stuck with someone we don’t want.”

  It was like he was stabbing me in the chest. I always knew this wasn’t a normal marriage, but to hear him speak about this, like we would just go our separate ways after we were married, what was the point?

  He stalked up to me, his fingers reaching out to snatch a curl that was dangling by the side of my face. “You’re a beautiful woman, Sofia. We could have a good marriage, but if we decide we don’t want this, you can have your men on the side and I can have my women. We’ll of course have to produce an heir at some point, but there’s no need to make life miserable for either of us.”

  He bent down and kissed me on the cheek, his touch disgusting and humiliating at the same time. I didn’t know what to say and he didn’t give me a chance to respond, pushing past me and walking out the door. I stood there, stunned by what just happened. My whole body felt cold, like ice was encasing me. I didn’t know what to do. My father would kill me if I backed out now and my mother would tell me this was part of marriage. Nothing about this marriage was for me.

  I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me and headed for my room. As I shut the door and sank down on my bed, I realized something even more mortifying than walking in on my fiancé fucking my bridesmaid. I had been turned on. I was actually going to come back here and touch myself to the sounds of them fucking. The whole thing disgusted me. And as I laid down and stared at the ceiling that night, I had a feeling that everything in my life was about to take a drastic turn. I just didn’t know if it was for better or worse.

  * * *

  “Girl, this dress is amazing. I can’t believe your dad paid for a Valentino.”

  I tuned out Addi’s voice and concentrated on breathing. The corset on this dress was killing me. But it wasn’t just the corset that was the problem. I was freaking out. It was my wedding day, and as happy as I should be, I was miserable. Everything about preparing for this wedding was a nightmare. It was nothing like a bride hopes for. I didn’t have any control over anything to do with the wedding. Even this damn dress was picked out for me.

  And now, staring in the mirror, all I could see was a woman that was about to marry a man that didn’t love her and never would. What the hell was I thinking? I should have run last night. I should have broken off the engagement and said to hell with everything. But there was no escape. I didn’t know how I would even get out of this right now. I was trapped with nowhere to run and no friends to help me along the way. I was screwed.

  “Of course he paid for it. She’s marrying an Abbott. She has to look perfect today,” Clarissa said snottily. “This is going to be in the society pages. She can’t be dressed in something off the rack.”

  The dress was amazing, despite the fact that I hadn’t chosen it. It was perfect in every way that mattered to Annalise, but that didn’t mean anything to my roiling stomach right now. And with six girls standing around me, practically petting me as they watched me get ready, it was hard to keep a smile on my face when all I wanted to do was puke and run from the room.

  “It’s a shame you weren’t able to lose those last five pounds,” Cheri said as she looked at me sympathetically in the mirror. I wanted to turn around and smack the bitch. She wouldn’t have been my ideal choice for a bridesmaid, but Graham had six groomsmen, so I had to come up with a sixth. Unfortunately, she was the best I could come up with.

  “Don’t be a bitch,” Lanie snapped. “You look gorgeous, Sofia. Graham won’t notice anything or anyone but you.”

  I took her hand in mind and gave a tight squeeze, mostly because I was terrified and I needed my best friend to ground me. Out of everyone, she was the most level-headed. But she was just like the rest of them. She thought this marriage was a good match. I hadn’t told anyone what Graham said to me last night. It was too embarrassing. But right now, I was tempted to tell her. I hoped that she would tell me this was insane and help me escape.

  “Ten minutes, ladies,” Mrs. Sutter said, clapping her hands as she walked into the room. My wedding planner, and the biggest pain in my ass. I hated her from the moment I met her, but Annalise didn’t care about that. She was the best, and Annalise always got the best.

  The girls all squealed around me, jumping up and down as gently as they could so they didn’t ruin their hair. I looked at myself in the mirror again, my hair in a fancy updo that wouldn’t move unless someone took a hammer to all the hairspray. My dress was beautiful, but so…old fashioned. The satin dress had appliqué rose colored flowers entwined with gold vines along the bodice and up around the neckline. The large ball gown skirt had gold vines embroidered across it, trailing down the cathedral train.

  Lanie stepped up behind me and placed the veil on my head, attaching it to the tiara currently wrapped in my hair to keep it in place. I looked like a princess and every girl would be so lucky to wear something so beautiful. But I hated it.

  I was ushered out into the hallway, my heart pounding the whole way. Could I really do this? Could I really marry a man just because he was everything my father hoped for in a son-in-law? My palms were sweaty and my armpits were sweating profusely. This was all wrong. This wasn’t how a bride should feel on her wedding day. Trapped. That was exactly what I was feeling right now.

  I snatched Lanie’s hand and held her back. She turned to me with a confused look, but when she saw the panic on my face, she turned back to the other ladies.

  “I have to fix Sofia’s makeup. She’s smudged. Go ahead and we’ll be right there.”

  “Such a princess,” Cheri grumbled as she turned away.

  I dragged Lanie back into the room and shut the door, lowering my voice to a whisper. “I can’t marry Graham.”

  “What?” Her eyes were wide as she stared at me. “Sofia, there are hundreds of people out there. Graham is waiting for you.”

  “Graham was fucking Cheri last night.” She gasped, holding her hand over her mouth. “Lanie, he said he didn’t love me. He said we could have an open marriage. I can’t do that.”

  “But what about all those people? What about your father? What will you say?”

  I paced the room, sweating through my dress. I didn’t know how to handle this, but I knew I couldn’t march down there and marry a man who treated our marriage so callously.

  “I need to get out of here.”

  “What?” Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Sofia, you really need to think about this. If you walk out of here, you have no idea the wrath you’ll bring down on yourself. Where would you even go?”

  “I don’t know. I just know that I can’t marry him. If I walk down that aisle, there’s no way I’ll get out. It has to be now.”

  “How? You can’t exactly just walk out of the church.”

  I chewed my lip as I thought about it. “I’ll have to slip out the back.”

  “Are you sure about this?”

  “Lanie, I didn’t even want to marry Graham. You
were there that night. I didn’t even say yes. I didn’t plan this wedding. I didn’t even get to choose my dress. Nothing about this was my choice.”

  She nodded firmly and moved to the door. “Okay, I’ll buy you a few minutes, but I can’t hold them off for long. You’re going to have to run for it. Do you have your cell phone?”

  I shook my head. “I can’t bring it. My father will track me with it and drag me back here. I just need to run.”

  “Where will you go?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll find a way out of here.”

  She leaned in and gave me a big squeeze. “Just take care and call me when you can.”

  “I will.”

  She opened the door and peeked into the hallway. We were on the lower level of the church, so I just had to slip out the back without anyone seeing me. And since the wedding was about to start, I could only hope that no one was back there. I ran down the hallway, my heels quiet on the soft carpet. I took two wrong turns, but finally made it to the back door and burst through into the sunshine.

  Holding my hand up to block the rays of the sun, I looked around for any way to escape, but I couldn’t see anything. I could run down the street and pray someone would have pity on me, but that would probably just make its way onto the news.

  And then I saw my escape. There across the street was a man sitting on a bike. I didn’t know if he would take pity on me or not, but I was willing to take that chance right now. I ran toward the street, tearing the veil and tiara from my head. I could feel my hair being pulled out along with it, but I didn’t care. I tossed it behind me and darted into the street, my veil floating to the ground behind me.

  “Hey!” I shouted, waving my hands in the air as I ran toward him. Car horns blared at me as I picked up my dress, tripping in my shoes and falling to the pavement. With the blaring of the horns, he turned and looked at me, confusion on his face. I picked myself up and ran as fast as I could, dodging vehicles as I ran. I waved at him again and dodged the last car, rushing over to his side.

  “I need a ride.”

  He chuckled and looked down at the dress. “Honey, if you get on my bike, you’re going to get us killed. That dress will get caught in the wheels.”

  “Sofia!” my father shouted as he rushed out of the church.

  Panicked, I turned my back to him, “Just cut it off.”

  “What?”

  “Just do it! Please!”

  I heard the snick of a knife and then felt the cool metal against the skin on my back. “Are you sure about this?”

  I took one last look at my father’s face and nodded. “Do it.”

  I felt the slice of the fabric and the dress started to slip down my body. The more he tore the fabric, the more it collapsed on the ground around me. I was left only in the white corset and my underwear, but I didn’t care. I kicked the dress off to the side and climbed on the back of the bike, wrapping my arms around the man.

  “Go, go, go!”

  He laughed and tore away from the sidewalk. The air was cooler on the back of the bike, but I didn’t care. I laughed hysterically as I made the most radical decision of my life and hurtled toward freedom. We drove for ten minutes before the man pulled over. Glancing around, we definitely weren’t in the nicest area, and now I was worried he was going to leave me here.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Hold on, sweetheart. I’m just giving you my jacket so you don’t freeze.”

  He got off the bike and turned around, giving me my first real look at the man in front of me. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at him. He looked like he was about thirty and he had sandy brown hair that was just long enough to run my fingers through, and he had that boyish smile mixed with danger. It was deceptive, leading me to think I was safe when I was sure I was anything but. He slowly took off his jacket, or maybe that was my mind slowing down the image of him removing his jacket so that I could watch it on slo-mo in my head. His biceps rippled and his chest appeared hard under his t-shirt. His arms were full of tattoos. I had never seen tattoos up close. That was considered bad taste in my father’s circle. When he wrapped the leather around me, the warmth and spicy scent of him enveloped me. He zipped the front and I shoved my nose into the collar.

  His hands were on my arms, holding me upright. With his scent wrapped around me, I almost felt dizzy. The only thing I could think in that moment was that I never looked at Graham the way I was looking at this man. His blue eyes stared down at me intently. His slightly wavy hair flopped just over his forehead and I had a strong desire to run my fingers through it.

  Slowly, his hands slid up my arms to the collar of the jacket. He tugged the collar higher, smirking slightly as he felt me shiver from his touch. There was something happening between us, but I wasn’t sure what. I leaned into him, wanting his warmth and his arms around me. I watched as he swallowed hard and took a step back.

  “Where are you headed?”

  “Um…I don’t really know. My only thought was getting out of there.”

  He nodded and climbed back on the bike, starting it up again. My legs were already sore from being on the bike this long, but if it meant getting away from that church and hiding out for a while, I was all for it. I climbed back on and wrapped my arms around his waist again. He patted my hands with one of his own and gave a gentle squeeze, then he revved the engine and we were off.

  We drove for about another forty-five minutes, getting further and further from the city. But then his bike started making weird noises and he slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

  “Why are we stopping?”

  “There’s something wrong with my bike.”

  He swung his leg over the bike and helped me off. I stood on the side of the road, surrounded by trees. We were in the middle of nowhere and there wasn’t a car in sight. What the hell had I done?

  Joe

  I checked out the bike, trying my damndest not to stare at her legs. They were long and so damn sexy. It was hell on my dick to ride with her wrapped up against me when I knew she was just in a corset and underwear beneath my jacket. And now my bike was down for the count. I knew I should have taken it to Josh the other day, but I got wrapped up in work and then I had to make this run to Chicago for the MC.

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  “Not sure. I need to have my brother tow it to his shop.”

  “You can’t fix it?” she screeched.

  I slowly looked up at the now hysterical woman in front of me. “I’m not a mechanic.”

  She pressed her hands to her head and started pacing in her four inch heels along the side of the road, practically hyperventilating. “I can’t believe this. I’m such an idiot! What was I thinking? I should have just married the bastard. At least then I wouldn’t be stuck on the side of the road in my freaking underwear!”

  “Are you alright?” I asked, standing slowly. It was like she was a wild animal about to bolt.

  “Oh, I’m just peachy,” she snapped. “I ran out of my wedding that cost more than my life. My parents are going to kill me, and my fiancé was fucking my bridesmaid. And now, I’m stuck on the side of the road with a sexy biker who probably planned to take me home and do unspeakable things to me. But sure, I’m wonderful.”

  My eyebrows shot up my forehead at her rant. “So, you think I’m sexy?”

  “That’s what you took out of that?”

  I shrugged. “Seemed to be the only thing relevant to me.”

  She screeched and slammed her foot down on the ground. “Why are men so infuriating?”

  “Because it’s in our DNA?” I asked, unsure of the answer I was supposed to give.

  “Do you think this is funny? I just ran out of my wedding. My very expensive wedding. I was going to be on page six!”

  “And that’s important?”

  “Are you kidding?” she shouted. “My wedding was going to be the highlight of the season.”

  “Summer?”

  She rolled her eye
s and groaned. “This is hell. That’s what this is. I’m in hell because I ran out of my wedding.”

  “But you said your fiancé was fucking your bridesmaid. Sounds like you got the better end of the stick when you ran.”

  “Oh, sure, of course you would think that. You don’t care about what anyone thinks. Just look at you.”

  I quirked an eyebrow at her and crossed my arms over my chest. “And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “Oh, don’t make me say it.”

  “I think I will. You seem to know exactly what kind of person I am. So, please, tell me what you think I am.”

  “Fine,” she snapped. “Your body is covered in tattoos. Do you know what your skin will look like in twenty years? Your hands are covered in grease-“

  “Because I was just looking at my bike…”

  “And your hair is floppy and…and…not styled. You wear a leather jacket and ripped jeans. Your whole personality screams that you don’t care what others think. I bet you don’t even have a job!”

  “And you do?” I asked, already pretty sure about the answer.

  “No,” she huffed. “But I’m not supposed to have a job. My job was to marry someone that would be good for my father’s business.”

  I nodded. “That sounds like an admirable job. I’m sure not everyone is cut out for that type of work.”

  “And just what is that supposed to mean? If you think I’m some kind of…of slut, then you’d be wrong.”

  “I never said you were a slut.”

  “You were implying it.”

  “No, what I was implying was that some people don’t mind marrying for money.”

  “And what would you have me do?”

  “Sweetheart, I’m just the guy that happened to be sitting on the side of the road. I didn’t ask you to jump on the back of my bike, and the last I checked, you were begging me to get you out of there.”

  “And look at where we are now! In the middle of nowhere, with no help in sight.”

  “That’s because we’re on the backroads.”