Ink (Hounds of Hellfire MC #6)

Chapter 3

3

ANNIKA

M atteo was sexier than any man deserved to be. Even after the shock I’d gotten during that phone call, I was having a hard time ignoring my attraction to him. Which I had a feeling most women would understand because of how hot he was.

He was tall with lean muscles and a butt that looked great in his jeans. His short hair was inky black and matched the chinstrap beard on his brutally masculine face. His bright-blue eyes had an intensity that made me want to squirm…but in a good way.

With the black tattoos on both of his arms and the leather vest that announced to the world that he was a member of the Hounds of Hellfire, there was no denying Matteo had a dangerous vibe. But he was a tattoo artist, not a lawyer or banker.

His offer was kind, but it didn’t make any more sense than what I’d just been told by the person from my college’s business office.

“How can you help? This has to be a glitch at the bank. There was no reason for my check to have bounced.”

I didn’t like talking about how much my parents had left me when they died. I would’ve gladly given it all back to just have a little more time with them, but they had ensured that I had more than enough to do anything I wanted with my life. If I wanted to skip college and tour the world, I could travel until I was old and gray…and there would still be money left for my retirement. Between my dad’s investments, my childhood home, and their rather large life insurance policies, I had more money than I knew what to do with.

“Do you use your bank’s app?”

“Yeah, but that’s not going to help solve this problem because my trust doesn’t show up there. Only my personal account, and the check for my tuition wasn’t written on it,” I explained, my brows drawing together. “It’s never been an issue before because my uncle just transferred over whatever I needed.”

Matteo crossed his arms over his chest, drawing my attention to the full tattoo sleeves on both of them. “Your uncle?”

My words came out in a rush as I tried to come up with a reason for the mix-up at the bank. “I only turned eighteen last month, so he handled everything for me as my guardian until now. The investment accounts, checking…everything related to the trust. He said it was gonna take a little while for all of the paperwork to transfer everything into my name, but I didn’t think there would be an issue with me writing a check for tuition since it was specified in my trust, and I’m listed on the account. Maybe it’s just because of the amount, and he still needs to sign off on it.”

“Could be,” he conceded, sounding unconvinced.

I shook my head. “No, that can’t be right because the woman from the college said it came back as insufficient funds.”

“Only one reason that happens, and it sounds like there’s only one person who can be responsible for it if your uncle has been managing the trust for you until you were old enough to take care of it yourself.”

My stomach was in knots. “My dad arranged all the details in his will. Down to Uncle Alec moving into our house so that I didn’t have to be uprooted in the middle of high school.”

“I hate to break it to you, dolcezza , but it shouldn’t take the bank an entire month to move shit into your name.” He interlaced our fingers and gave my hand a comforting squeeze.

“You think my uncle lied to me?” I asked.

He heaved a deep sigh and nodded. “Yeah, and if the money isn’t in that account, that’s probably why he’s been slow with the paperwork. Odds are good that he wanted to hide it from you as long as he could.”

My shoulders slumped, and I buried my face in my hands. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Are you and your uncle close?”

Glancing up at Matteo, I grimaced. “Not really. I always assumed he was awkward with me because he didn’t know what to do with the teenage girl, but maybe it was because he’s been robbing me blind this entire time.”

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. “We’re gonna find out what happened. No matter what your uncle pulled, you’re going to be okay.”

My voice was muffled as I mumbled, “Don’t make promises you can’t possibly keep. If Uncle Alec did what I’m starting to suspect, I will need a lawyer. And an accountant to see how much damage he did.”

He leaned back and pressed a finger under my chin. When our gazes met, he flashed me a cocky smirk. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I have a lawyer on speed dial.”

“You do?” I squeaked, wondering why a tattoo artist would need the services of an attorney so often.

Matteo chuckled. “Not for whatever reason just popped into your pretty little head. Ash is one of my club brothers.”

“Sorry.” I flashed him an apologetic smile.

“It’s okay, dolcezza . I understand why you’d be suspicious of everyone right now.”

“Maybe I’m jumping the gun, and this really all was a glitch.”

Instead of arguing with me, he jerked his chin toward my phone. “Call the bank and see what they say.”

Pulling up the nearest branch in my map app, I clicked on their phone number and waited for someone to answer. “Riverstone Bank, how may I help you?”

“Hello, this is Annika Lee. Could you look up a transaction for me and let me know why it didn’t clear?”

“Certainly, I’ll just need some information from you to verify your identity first.”

Glancing up at Matteo, I whispered, “Can you give me a second? She won’t tell me anything until I prove who I am.”

“Sure.”

After he stepped out of the tattoo booth, I gave her my birthdate, social security number, and address. Then she replied, “Okay, I’m pulling up the account now. Is this the check for $16,000 that we declined a few days ago?”

I opened the door so Matteo knew it was okay to come back inside. He gave a pointed look at the phone, so I put it in speaker mode as I said, “Yes, made payable to Cornerstone College.”

“I can confirm that it was rejected due to insufficient funds. You or the trustee listed on the account will need to deposit additional funds before we can approve this transaction.”

“I don’t understand. There should have been plenty of money in that account since there’s an annual disbursement from the trust’s investment portfolio on my birthday, which was only last month.”

“There would have been, except for the withdrawal of $50,000 last week.”

Her answer left me speechless. I knew that the bulk of my inheritance was in my brokerage account and the house—which I owned outright—but there was no reason for my uncle to have drawn down the balance on the trust’s checking account. And there was no reason for him to have pulled out that much money.

Matteo took the phone from my trembling fingers and demanded, “Print out statements for the past two years and have them waiting for Miss Lee. Someone will come in to pick them up for her today.”

He didn’t give the banker the chance to argue, jabbing his finger against the screen to end the call.

“We’re gonna get to the bottom of this,” he promised, grabbing his phone from the counter behind him.

I couldn’t hear what the other person said, but I assumed it was the guy he’d mentioned when he said, “Sorry to interrupt the festivities, but my girl needs a lawyer. You gotta come back on the earliest flight you can find.”

I was confused as to why he was calling me his girl but also impressed by the lengths his club brother would go to for him when he disconnected the call a moment later and said, “Ash will be here tomorrow at the latest. He and his new wife need to fly in from Vegas.”

“New wife?” I echoed, hoping he meant they got married sometime this year and were just enjoying a fun getaway together.

“Yeah, he got tired of dealing with his mother-in-law, so he and Nora eloped to Vegas without telling anyone.” He shook his head with a deep laugh. “I’m sure there’s gonna be hell to pay with her for that decision.”

My eyes widened. “And you’re making him come back early to face her?”

“Not making him do shit.” Tugging me to my feet, Matteo shrugged. “He could’ve told me to wait, but his nosy ass probably wants to get a look at you.”

“Me?” I asked, pointing at my chest.

“Who else would it be when I’ve never called anyone ‘my girl’ before you?”

“Yeah, I was kinda wondering about that part since we literally just met, but then you threw me with the fact that you called your friend during his elopement to tell him to come back and help me…and he’s doing it.” I blinked up at him, wondering how so many things could change in such a short amount of time. “I really don’t understand what’s happening right now.”

“That’s easy, dolcezza . I’m gonna take you to the compound to see another brother who can help figure out the banking shit while we wait for Ash to come back from Vegas.”

Although the situation with my uncle was awful, Rachel was going to have a field day over the fact that she’d been right about a sexy tattoo artist helping me—just through something a heck of a little bigger than the pain from being inked.