Epilogue
Six Months Later…
M y head lifts from a sketch I’ve been working on for the past eight weeks when a set of knuckles rap on the wooden door of my office. Diesel props his shoulder onto the wall before locking his hazel eyes with me. “We have a client out front requesting to speak to the manager,” he advises, his tone gruff.
I arch my brow and glare into his eyes.
“Don’t even fucking ask,” he mutters to my questioning expression.
I push back from my desk and stand from my chair. After gesturing to Diesel to lead the way, I shadow him down the corridor of Inked. Charity smiles a greeting before gesturing her head to the gang-related tattoo she’s placing on some young punk’s rake-thin bicep. I run my fingers over the top of my scalp and shake my head. Although we haven’t had any more incidents occur at Inked the past six months, we’ve noticed an increase in gang-related tattoos.
Doing our bit for society, my crew inks the tattoo as requested by the client, takes a copy of the design, then sends the client on their merry way. What our customers don’t know is that once they sit in a chair at Inked, they relinquish the rights to their tattoo design.
Any tattoo we believe to be gang-related is uploaded to a private server Hunter created specifically for Inked. If a gang-related crime occurs within the vicinity of Ravenshoe, we can scan the tattoo references into our database. If a compelling match is found, our information is handed to the Ravenshoe Police Department.
Although it may seem deceitful to our clients, I don’t give a flying fuck. Women like Clara should be able to enter a back alley without fear of being jumped. Until that happens, I will continue my endeavor to clean up the streets of Ravenshoe.
When I enter the foyer of Inked, I swing my eyes around the room. A broad grin stretches across my face when my eyes lock in on a feisty blonde going toe-to-toe with another attractive female.
My cock jumps, spurred on by Clara’s strong stance.
I’ve always loved a woman who gives a bit of lip, let alone a fiery-tongued princess.
Things between Clara and I have been staggering this past six months. Although Cormack kept his word by giving Clara back her silver spoon, nothing between Clara and me changed in the slightest. She still lives with me in my loft apartment, she still works at Inked, and she still continues to shock me every single day. The only thing that has changed is that I’m no longer falling in love with Clara. I love her. No doubts. No limits. One hundred percent fucking gone.
So does my grandma .
Although if she keeps nagging Clara for grandbabies, she may see a side to Clara she has not yet had the pleasure of witnessing.
I’ve not yet found Clara’s necklace, but I won’t give up until I do. I keep in regular contact with the pawnbrokers servicing the Ravenshoe area, and I called in a few favors so I have ears close to the ground throughout the entire state. When it surfaces, I have no doubt I’ll be the first to hear about it.
Ryan’s recovery, although rocky, is complete. His relationship with his brother… well, that’s a whole other story. Unfortunately, Sophia’s recovery is still a slow process. She continues to make advancements, but it doesn’t appear that her level of care will be changing anytime in the future.
After giving myself a few minutes to absorb the beauty of Clara in her element, I make my way across the room. Her rich floral scent stirs my cock when I stop to stand next to her. “I heard someone needed to speak to the manager.”
The petite blonde with a pixie-style haircut and piercing blue eyes shifts her gaze to me. “Yes. Becau?—”
Clara shoves her hand in front of the blonde’s face, stopping her midsentence. “We don’t need the manager. We just need someone to give this idiot a hearing test. No matter how many times I tell her she will not be served at Inked this evening, this moron doesn’t seem to understand what I’m telling her.”
I sling my arms around Clara’s waist, being cautious not to touch the newly inked skin on her hip and pull her in close to my side. “What have I told you about insulting the customers?”
Clara’s icy-blue eyes blaze into mine. “I wouldn’t need to insult her if she weren’t stupid ,” she says loud enough to ensure the blonde can hear.
The unnamed blonde’s mouth hangs open. Shock is all over her face. My cock firms when Clara maintains her ground, not the slightest bit intimidated by the vicious snarl the blonde has bestowed upon her. Keeping her eyes locked with me, Clara hands me a sheet of paper. “If you tell me this isn’t a design only a stupid person would have inked on their skin, I’ll apologize.”
I drop my eyes to the sheet of paper. A grin curls on my lips when the reasoning for Clara’s fighting stance becomes apparent. Not only is this tattoo hideous and overly floral, but it also has a name in thick red ink smack bang in the middle of it.
“I’ve explained on numerous occasions the repercussion of having a person’s name inked on your skin, but no matter how many times I spell it out to her, she isn’t listening,” Clara advises me. “There’s no cure for idiocy.”
She spent four hours earlier this week in my tattoo chair having her princess tattoo covered with a new tat I designed for her. I had been working on the design from the day she stormed out of Inked rambling that she would sue me for every penny I had. Although the design was finished before she started working at Inked, I never showed it to her, worried I was exposing my hand too early, but in all honesty, even if I had shown her the tattoo, it wouldn’t have changed a thing. Clara has had me over a barrel from the day I met her. She knew it and so did my cock. It just took me a little longer to submit to the idea.
It was my tattoo design that brought us back together. It was the sole reason Clara was waiting for me at my apartment the night Ryan was shot. After nursing me through my shock by using only her body, Clara admitted she found it while packing her belongings through a haze of tears. I’ve never been more grateful for my inability to leave work at work as I was that night.
I give Clara a cocky wink before turning my eyes to the unnamed blonde. “Is this your father’s name?”
The blonde places her tiny hands on her even smaller hips before shaking her head.
“Your grandfather? Brother? Deceased uncle? Any type of male relation?” I query while staring into her squinted eyes. When she once again shakes her head, I say, “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I can’t do your tattoo.”
“Oh, come on. Not even for a family member?”
I chuckle a hearty laugh. “Nice try, but I don’t have any siblings.”
The blonde scrunches her brows together. “Not your sibling. Hers.” She hooks her thumb to Clara.
I drift my eyes between Clara and the unnamed blonde. Now that I’ve managed to drag my eyes away from Clara’s mouthwatering curves, I can notice a lot of similarities between them. Same wintry-blue eyes, platinum-blonde hair, and flawless skin. The only difference is their personalities. This blonde is a little firecracker about to explode at any moment, whereas Clara is full of class and elegance, even when she’s dishing out insults like they’re grenades.
“Cate-with-a-C McGregor,” the blonde introduces, holding her hand out in offering. “This ice queen’s baby sister.”
Clara rolls her eyes at Cate’s snide comment but surprisingly, doesn’t react to her taunt.
I accept her handshake. “Brax.”
“So you’re the famous Brax I’ve been hearing about. The man who thawed Clara’s heart. What do you have? A magic heart-thawing penis?” Cate replies while indecently raking her eyes over my body.
This time, Clara reacts. If I hadn’t tightened my grip on her waist, I have no doubt she would have leaped over the counter and strangled her sister.
My cock hardens more. Fiery Clara is beautiful, but jealous Clara… she’s downright out-of-this-mother-fucking-universe beautiful.
Since I have a firm hold on Clara’s waist, she issues her retaliation in another form. “I think you should do her tattoo, Brax.” Her tone is sugary sweet, a huge contradiction to her earlier one.
I gawk at her, shocked and confused.
Clara playfully winks before turning her eyes to Cate. “If you’re willing to make a few changes to your tattoo design, I think I can convince Brax to do it.”
Cate eagerly nods. “Sure. I’m happy to make any changes necessary.” She connects her lively eyes with mine. “Do anything you need to make this happen.”
“Great,” Clara exclaims excitedly as she yanks a tattoo contract out of the top drawer in front of her. I bite the inside of my cheek, fighting my hardest battle to hold in my smile when Clara slaps the contract onto the glass counter, hands Cate a pen, then says, “Just sign here, here, and here.”
The next book in the Enigma Series is about Enrique Popov, son of Vladimir Popov and brother of Isabelle. I Married a Mob Boss is already published.