Ivy (Castle Ink Book 3) Read online

  Ivy

  Castle Ink

  Prologue

  Ivy

  My body tenses as I brace for the next punch, but it doesn’t come. The screams of my six-year-old son, Carter, stops the hit. I hate that he has to see me like this. I have tried for so long to protect him from witnessing what his father does to me.

  “Stop. Daddy, you are hurting Mummy. Stop it!” His high-pitched voice echoes around my bedroom. I push to my feet and step towards Tim as he looks down at Carter, tears streaming down his face, pounds on Tim’s thighs, gaining his attention. “Stop,” he sobs, and my heart breaks all over again.

  “Get off me, you little fuck. You are a pussy, just like your mother. Fucking worthless,” Tim shouts, saliva foaming at the edges of his mouth. His anger is normally always aimed at me, but I saw the change come over him when Carter stopped him from his nightly ritual.

  Before I can stop it from happening, Tim swings his arm around, and the back of his hand connects with Carter's face.

  A horrified scream leaves my sore throat as I see my baby boy fly backwards at the force, and his tiny body hits the side of my bed. Carter screams in pain, and that is the final snap in my tortured mind. The will to leave this man is now in full force. He has never hit our son before; raised his voice at him, yes, but never laid a finger on him. Until now. This will be the first and last time Tim touches my son—and the last time he ever lays a hand on me. I was stupid to stay this long, but his emotional abuse kept me here.

  I grit my teeth before a high-pitched sound leaves me.

  “GET OUT,” I scream at him. He looks a little stunned at my tone of voice. I have never answered back to him or stuck up for myself before. The look of shock doesn’t last long before the anger covers his monstrous face again.

  “The fuck you say?” he spits out.

  “Just leave, Tim. I need to calm him down. I mean—look at him; you bloody marked him. Just go.” I will say anything to him to get him to leave. I want him as far away from us as possible.

  “Fuck it. You aren’t worth my time or fucking space. Make sure he’s in bed before I come home.” I nod my head and cradle my crying son in my arms, shielding him from his father. I have done a piss-poor job up until now. My heart sinks at the thought. Even though Tim has never touched Carter, I have been a shitty mother for letting him hear what has been happening to me. But no more. We are out of here.

  Tim walks to the door but stops and smirks back at me.

  “Sleep in his room tonight. I might just bring some bird back with me. I need a good shag to forget about the shit lay you were this morning.” My stomach churns at his words. He always threatens to bring a girl back to our house and have sex with her while I’m in the other room. The door closes and both Carter and I relax.

  I know what you are thinking: Why hadn’t I left him already? Well, you see, I have no one; no friends, because Tim made me cut off all contact with the ones I used to have; and no family. Not since my mother passed away, just over a year ago, leaving me with a shocking secret she had kept from me my whole life. Tim has a pretty good job with a decent paycheck—not that I see any of it. He has always threatened to take Carter from me if I ever left him. I love my son with all my heart, and I could never risk Tim taking Carter from me

  . We are leaving and never looking back. We deserve more. I deserve more. The fear of being with Tim outweighs the risk of being without him. Now is the time for me to start stepping up and taking matters into my own hands.

  Chapter 1

  Ivy

  **Four weeks later**

  I look at the sign and sigh. This is the day. The day that marks a new journey for Carter and me. I hope. This is the secret my mother carried around with her for twenty-five years.

  I push open the door and see a large group of people standing around. A few kids, also. I grip Carter’s hand in mine and step inside. We stand there for a few seconds, taking in the group. The guy with a tattooed sleeve is looking at us with slightly narrowed eyes, but he doesn’t seem threatening. A girl with long, dark hair and tattoos steps forward.

  “Can I help you?” She smiles at me.

  “I’m looking for Dex and Jay Castle. I was told they own this tattoo shop.” Another man steps forward. He, too, is covered in tattoos and has dark hair like the other guy, who is still staring between Carter and me. They look like brothers, so I think I have found the right place.

  “I’m De—”

  “No. Fuck no. What the hell did you do, Dex?” The tattooed girl screams, at the guy with two tattooed sleeves, and I feel the blood drain from my face. Her anger and upset scares me. I just left a violent relationship; I have no intention of having Carter around more violence. Her anger towards the situation makes my heart rate pick up and I start to feel woozy. I sway on my feet, and just when I think my legs will no longer hold me, a man steps around the people gathered and wraps his huge arms around me, taking my weight and helping me to sit on the leather settee. He rubs my back and calls out to Carter.

  “Come here, kid. Mummy isn’t feeling well. Come and sit next to her.” His voice is deep with a hint of sexy. A good old-fashioned phone sex voice, as my mum used to say.

  Even in my shaking state, his voice clears the fog. Carter comes over to us, but he doesn’t climb into my lap, like usual. He climbs onto the beast’s lap. I can't take my eyes off the scene in front of me. Carter is so wary of men because of Tim, but he has no qualms about this man- a perfect stranger. I know they say that kids know a good person, but I’m shocked to see it actually happening.

  A pretty woman hands me a bottle of water and I open it and take little sips. I turn to my son and speak to him.

  “Mummy is fine, Carter. See, this nice man helped me, and now I’m feeling better.” I look at the two brothers before taking a deep breath and letting them know why I am here.

  “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, but I was told I could find you here.” I take more air into my lungs and explain further,“My name