Tattooed Envy (Sinful Knights #4)

CHAPTER 1 KIERAN

KIERAN

“Do that again, and you’re done here, Kieran.”

“He was a homophobic cunt.”

“Regardless, you don’t stop in the middle of doing someone’s tattoo and refuse to finish.”

“And what if he said something derogatory about one of your sisters?”

Jez threw his hands up in the air, clearly exasperated with Kieran. His boss had the whole brooding, grumpy, daddy vibe going on. Not that Kieran would fuck his boss. He had some limitations. What he didn’t appreciate was his boss not backing him up.

“So, I’m supposed to just smile and carry on when he says it’s sad that AIDS didn’t kill us all off?”

“You should have come and spoken to me. Not screamed abuse at him, so he left with an outline tattooed on his arm that looks like a massive dick.”

Kieran snorted.

“It’s not funny, Kieran. Look, I get it. The guy was a prick, but we have a way of handling things like this. We don’t cause a scene in front of other customers. We had a walk-in who turned and left as soon as they heard you.”

“I had to say something.”

“Again, you need to come and talk to me. This is the third time you’ve told a customer to get fucked and kicked them out because you didn’t agree with their views.”

“It was a bit more than that.”

“This time, perhaps. But what about that woman who asked you to personalise her tattoo, and you told her to get fucked?”

“She asked me to put ‘Tory for Life’ under a portrait of her dead cat.”

Jez chuckled. “What am I gonna do with you, Kieran?”

“I think we should keep our relationship professional, boss.”

Jez rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he was smiling.

Kieran knew how to charm him. Jez might look like a criminal thug, and could come across as a grumpy arsehole, but Kieran had always made him laugh.

He regarded it as one of his superpowers: make people laugh and they won’t look too closely at how fucked up you are.

“Do you have any more clients today?” asked Jez.

“No. That was my last appointment, but I’m still on the rota for another two hours. I was going to cover walk-ins.”

“Just go home early. I’ll pay you for the rest of your shift.”

Kieran wanted to protest and argue because that’s who he was, but the glare from his boss told him not to push it.

Kieran knew he was an excellent tattooist, but that only got you so far.

Most of his clients would follow him if he left, which is probably why he hadn’t been booted out the door already.

He caused a lot of drama, but he couldn’t help it.

If anyone was spewing hatred of any kind, he felt compelled to call it out, but he could never control his emotions about how he did it.

With homophobia, it made his blood boil.

Having experienced it from his own mother and done nothing about it, he vowed never to let that shit slide ever again.

He knew many people were too scared or didn’t have the confidence to speak up and call things out. Kieran didn’t have that problem, so he had no issues leading the charge. Besides, it was easier to fight other people’s battles than deal with his own shit.

Kieran’s mood hadn’t improved by the time he got home.

He shared a flat in Camden with Hassan and Sarah.

They’d all met in med school. The other two were now successful doctors, but Kieran had flunked the first year and never gone back.

He had no regrets. A lot had happened in his first year in London, but he now knew that medicine was no longer the path for him.

“What’s happened?” asked Hassan. The guy knew him better than anyone else.

“Told a customer to get fucked. Jez balled me out and sent me home early.”

Hassan snorted. “What did they say?”

“You know. The usual. The gays should have all died of AIDS. I was mid-tattoo when I booted him out.”

“Ouch. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how many lives I’ve got left in that place, though.”

“Your clients would follow you.”

“I know, but to where? I don’t think another place would take me.”

“Come here,” said Hassan, holding his arms open.

Kieran welcomed the hug from his best friend.

He gave the best hugs. Not something he’d experienced much as a child.

He wasn’t sure what he’d do without Hassan in his life.

Kieran was grateful the man was married to his job and had no interest in romance.

He still had fun, though. They’d even fucked a few times in their first year, but they were better off as friends, which was a view they thankfully shared.

It would be awkward if one of them were harbouring a secret yearning for the other.

“Do you want to go out for a drink or something?” asked Hassan, still hugging Kieran.

“Nah.”

“Takeaway?”

“Go on, then!”

They both laughed as they broke the hug.

Hassan smiled at him, and Kieran wiped his eyes.

How lucky it was they’d found each other in that first week of uni and bonded over their shit families.

They both had siblings they weren’t allowed to see, and although it had been a decade since he’d left home and never gone back, it still hurt when he thought about it.

His sister would be twenty now. She might even be at university.

He wondered why she’d never tried to contact him.

Kelly had doted on Kieran as her older brother, but who knew what toxic crap his mum had put in her head.

“How about pizza?” asked Hassan.

“Fine, but let’s share one, because I want sides, and not all of us burn off thousands of calories a day just from doing our job.”

Hassan was an A&E doctor, so he was on his feet for twelve hours a shift, plus he worked in urgent care at a private hospital.

How he had the time and energy for all that was a mystery.

Kieran sat on his arse all day, tattooing people.

Thankfully, he had decent definition on his chest and arms from the gym, but his stomach was softer than he’d like.

“The usual?” asked Hassan.

“Yeah. Just all the carbs, and some chicken wings as protein.”

Hassan smiled and pulled out his phone to order.

Kieran was supposed to have been working until eight o’clock tonight, so was happy to be home early.

Hassan did shift work, as did Sarah, so it was unusual for all three of them to be home at the same time.

Kieran worked from ten until eight four days a week, but it varied each week.

The only day he always had off was a Sunday, as they didn’t open.

He was lucky he’d found this job, and he’d been there a year now.

The shop was opposite the cheese grater building on Leadenhall.

They got a lot of city types, who were suited and booted when they walked in, but as soon as that shirt came off they were covered in ink.

Many of the guys were hot, but they weren’t what did it for Kieran.

He had a particular type, and he knew it was pretty messed up, which is why he kept the reasons to himself.

Hassan just thought he liked older guys who gave off daddy vibes.

No need to unpack all that, though. Some things were better kept to himself!

Kieran used the time while they were waiting for their food to be delivered to have a shower.

His body was almost fully covered in ink now, and it had taken him ten years to get it looking the way he wanted it to.

Some of his earliest work he’d tattooed himself, but those had since been covered up with better designs.

His first tattoo had been a way to take back control of his choices, and since then, he’d not been able to go a month without getting inked.

Kieran had always been artistic, so it was a natural career for him.

He’d never really wanted to be a doctor, but it’s what his mum had wanted, so he’d done as he was told.

At least he’d gotten Hassan out of the experience.

The rest he was happy to leave in the past.

They only had one bathroom in this flat, whereas they’d had two in the last one. But there had been four of them then, and all gay guys. One bathroom would have been a disaster.

Milo and Liam had lived with Kieran and Hassan for six years, after a queer company that matched potential flatmates had connected them.

But in the last six months, they’d both found love.

Milo had caused a scandal by shacking up with the deputy prime minister, and Liam had moved back home after his mum died and ended up with a lumber snack, which was very much his friend’s type.

Their tenancy had been up at the end of April, so they’d parted ways.

Two-bedroom flats were not much less expensive to rent than a three-bed, so it made sense to bring in a third.

Luckily, they already knew Sarah and she’d stayed a friend since uni, so they didn’t have to bring in a stranger.

She was more of a workaholic than Hassan and had a wild side too.

They’d gone out the weekend they’d all moved in, and she’d drunk them both under the table several times.

Dinner had been delicious, but then you couldn’t go wrong with pizza.

It was hard to mess it up, and they’d lived in Camden for years so knew all the best places to order from.

Hassan had gone to bed, as he was heading into a double shift tomorrow, which was twenty-four hours.

Kieran wanted to fall asleep just hearing about it. The guy was a machine.

It was ten o’clock, but Kieran was feeling restless.

His brain was too wired to sleep, so he opened one of the apps to see who was about.

Kieran had a few fuck buddies who scratched different itches, and a couple of them were online, but he was more in the mood for the unknown rather than something familiar.

Within ten minutes, he was getting into a cab and heading to Tufnell Park. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far away, but Kieran didn’t walk for dick. He just needed to cum so he could sleep, and his right hand wouldn’t do it for him tonight. He needed to be degraded and bossed around by an older man.