Inked in Lies (The Fallen Men, #5)

by Giana Darling

“Welcome to the club, Casanova.” And just like that, a kid who had never been lost in his whole fuckin’ life felt like he’d finally been found.

I scuffed my bare foot against the asphalt, took a deep breath, and said the truest thing I’d ever had to say, “I dreamed I’d be a Booth.”

“You are the fiercest, bravest, and kindest girl in the whole world. If someone chooses not to love you, they aren’t worthy of you. It’s really as simple as that.”

And that was it, the moment when I found the words for what that man was to me and what he would always mean to me. I loved him. Unintentionally, but irrevocably.

I didn’t want much out of life, not money, not power or prestige. All I wanted out of the life was the living.

He planted flowers all over my body, inside the cage of my ribs, in the fertile soil of my heart, yet he never noticed how they bloomed just for him.

“Are you serious?” “As a fuckin’ heart attack. You wanna play, Li? We’ll play, but I’m the kinda man that sets the rules and expects them to be followed through. I play rough. I play dirty. And I play hard. You think you can handle all that, be my guest and fuckin’ prove it to me,”

A tumble of flowers fell down her spine, stamped by my hand, glowin’ in the low light like treasure.

“See what you’re doin’ to me, Li?” I licked my dry lips. “I’m sure you see naked women in your chair all the time.” “Yeah,” he agreed easily, dropping onto his stool and rolling even closer. “None of them were you.”

You’re gorgeous, Lila, no doubt about it, but you also got my art inked into your skin, years of beauty you and me created together, stamped all over your tight, sweet curves. You think that doesn’t do somethin’ powerful to a man, you’re fuckin’ wrong.”

This was my god, my church, my religion all wrapped up in one man, and he had complete power over me, my body, and my heart.

“Now, be a good girl, Li, and hold still while I tattoo your ass red with my palm.”

The truth was, even though my heart was about twice as small as Li’s, I still wanted to give every inch of it to her, hopin’ beyond hope it’d be enough.

“You could tell me every dark thing you’ve ever done, every terrible thought you’ve ever had, and I’d still love you. The bad we’ve done doesn’t make us inherently bad people, Nova. It makes us human. It’s the good we’ve done that matters. And you? Everything good in my life was planted there by you. How could I not love you for that?”

“Whenever I think of home, it’s you,” I told him, plucking at the flowers in my heart, pulling up the grass and roots so he might see the beauty and depth of my love for him. “You’re my closest link to Dane, you’re a Booth and a Fallen man. But…it’s more than that. It’s like clean laundry and sleeping in our own bed after vacation. It’s like loving someone because you were born loving them, like your parents or siblings, but more. You’re more than my family, you’re more than my best friend. You’re the choice I want to make every single day, to live to the fullest and love the hardest.”

“He just looked at you like you were a flower that bloomed just for him.”