Pretty in Ink (Voretti Family Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

that cafone anymore.”
    Her hand clenched around the sandwich she’d forgotten about, and half the turkey fell onto her plate. “I already told you. CJ and I broke up—” She narrowly avoided disaster, stopping herself right before she admitted the real date of the breakup. “It’s been almost five months since I’ve seen him.” The lie sat, spiky and uncomfortable on her tongue, before she finally pushed the words out.
    She didn’t want to lie to her parents, but what was the point of upsetting them now? She wasn’t hooking up with CJ anymore. That was the important thing. So she’d lied to them five months ago, when she’d needed a little help with rent. That was the old Liv. The new Liv wouldn’t ever lie to her parents again.
    Her arm throbbed under her half-sleeved shirt even though the tattoo had healed months ago. You’re lying about this .
    But it wasn’t a lie. Not mentioning the tattoo was an omission, which was not the same thing.
    “Of course she’s not seeing him,” Mom said. “She swore it on Nonno Augusto’s grave. You remember.”
    “Yes. Of course.” Dad’s frown smoothed into a smile even as Liv’s forehead knit its way into a stress headache.
    Swearing on Nonno Augusto’s grave was the most sacred vow of the Voretti clan. Even her brother Matt had admitted to totaling Dad’s car when forced to swear on Nonno’s grave. But she—she had taken the sacred oath in vain.
    She took a deep breath. The lie was in the past. Present-day Liv was as honest as it got. The tattoo would serve as a constant reminder that she needed to act like an adult. From here on out, she was going to make good choices.
    *
    As a cop, it was Caleb’s job to be aware of his surroundings at all times. So he knew as soon as he crossed his best friend Rafe Voretti’s Welcome-to-the-home-of-Mr.-and-Mrs.-Awesome doormat that something was wrong.
    He scanned the deserted living room, trying to find the source of his unease. The place was too clean. The coffee table that was normally buried under a mountain of his six-month-old goddaughter Becca’s toys and board books held a vase of flowers. The lights were dim, there were candles everywhere, and the sheer number of voices coming from the kitchen told him this wasn’t the casual family dinner Rafe had invited him to.  
    Caleb breathed in the delicate floral scent coming from both the candles and the bouquet, and his instinct for self-preservation finally kicked in. He didn’t know what was up with this “dinner,” and he didn’t want to know. He was out of here.
    He was half way out the door when one of the voices rose above the rest—a happy lilt that froze him in his tracks. Liv.  
    He hadn’t seen her since that day in front of Permanent Ink . For the last three months, she’d been mysteriously absent from every Voretti family function that he’d made it to. But she was here. Which meant he’d finally be able to see with his own eyes that she was okay. Maybe then he could get her out of his head.
    He started toward the kitchen, but before he’d gone two steps, Rafe’s wife Jen intercepted him.  
    “You’re here!” She locked arms with him, binding him to her side as securely as if she’d used handcuffs. “I have someone I want to introduce you to.”
    He was so focused on Liv’s voice that it took him a second to process what Jen had said.  
    Ah, crap . Was that what the candles were about? “I don’t do setups.”
    “Then you should’ve been more proactive about finding yourself a date. You’ve been such a recluse lately, I was afraid you’d be alone for the next decade unless I took matters into my own hands.” She marched him toward the kitchen. “Joslyn is perfect for you. She loves children. She teaches preschool and volunteers with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.”  
    “That’s great. But—”
    “She even organizes her clothes by color, the same way you do.”
    “I don’t organize my clothes by