Chapter One
~Jessie~
“Oi! Nik!” Jessie turned around, scanning the shop for the lumbering bugbear who was supposed to be bringing him tires for the monstrosity of a four door he was working on.
It came in needing the works. Oil change, front two tires changed, alignment, headlight restore, air filter change, the works.
That’s the problem with some customers; they wait till it’s all going wrong to bring it in.
He couldn’t fault them. Not all shops did the quality of work the Bonesaws did.
But it did put him in a bind when he was trying to get through the line of people in the waiting room.
“What the fuck…Oats! Where’s Nik?” He stomped across the ground, his hooves nearly carving the concrete.
“Huh? Oh! There was some tow that called in, he’s helping guide it in.
” The teenage elf looked up from the brake light fix he was working on.
It was harder for Nik or Jessie to do them in small cars, where the fiddly wires and all that were jammed in the trunk corner.
That’s where Oats came in; skinny guy like him fit in everything.
They once had to push him through a half-down window to unlock a vehicle because the customer broke off the key in the ignition but then made the horrible mistake of shutting the car door behind him.
Little weasel got in, popped some sticky slime on the key end, and wiggled all of it back out in no time.
Jessie’s ears perked up at the mention of the tow.
He’d forgotten he sent Rex and Kaci to go pick up their latest call.
Penny, their receptionist, called it out into the shop.
Normally it was Rex and whoever was available, which happened to be the ogre woman they’d hired fresh out of school.
She knew a whole bunch but had little physical experience.
Unlike Oats, who was caught breaking into vehicles in their graveyard and ‘rehabilitated’ at Jessie’s shop—the Bonesaw shop.
The rust-and-cream-colored minotaur turned from the open bays to see a truly fucked up car.
The tow truck backed in as to put the car in the dumpster fire spot.
It was where they put cars that likely weren’t getting back out of the lot.
It was a straight shot into Bay 3 from the parking lot and could be easily moved through the bay into the graveyard.
Which means Rex doesn’t think it’s going to make it.
“That’s not good,” he sighed, wiping his dirty mitts onto one of the many rags lying around his station. He stepped under the large rope that kept people from driving straight in and walked toward the mess. Rex hopped out of the tow truck and Kaci immediately gave him a face. That’s even worse.
Jessie jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “Hey Kaci, can you take over Bay 4? It needs the tires still.”
“Shit,” Nikolai hissed from where he was hidden at the backside of the truck.
“Nah, don’t worry big guy,” Jessie teased, waving the bugbear off. “This was more important.”
Nikolai grimaced as he helped ease the shattered hunk of junk off the back.
Rex, Jessie’s younger brother and another floppy haired minotaur, grunted as the vehicle made a suspicious clank sound.
Kaci bowed her head, ducking into the bays to pick up where Nik left off.
Jessie’s attention, however, focused instantly on the absolute goddess that stepped out of the tow truck…
and the tiny little fiend that waddled after her.
A fucking bombshell stood before him with long red hair that swayed down near her ass.
She was in a sensible pair of sneakers, leggings, and a tank-top, but all it did was show Jessie exactly how deadly her curves were.
At first, he opened his mouth to tease her about texting and driving.
Then he saw the tear streaks of mascara down her face and the bruise on her arm. Oh, that’s not good. “Oh, um, ma’am?”
“Yes?” She twisted fully to face him. Crimson lipstick was smeared like someone grabbed her by the face.
That’s not a lover’s passion, that’s roughing up.
Jessie knew two things very well in his line of work: when a car took a beating that doesn’t happen in traffic, and when a person is absolutely terrified.
Two for fucking two. It was in her eyes.
They were too big, too glassy. Her cheeks were splotchy and fingers wrapped around that little girl like she’d float away if she didn’t hang on.
“My name’s Jessie, I’m the owner here. Can I ask you what happened?
” He flashed her a big smile in hopes it came across as earnest. The last thing he needed was the pretty lady to have a panic attack in his parking lot.
If she had a medical emergency, there would be lights and sirens and all sorts crawling over his property.
That kind of attention was bad for business.
Bare Bones Cars & Repairs was a legitimate business. Most of the time. But that didn’t mean he wanted any noses where they didn’t belong. Pops always said the reason they lasted so long as Rule #1, keep under the radar.
“Oh, well, um…” She fluttered her lashes, trying to come up with a lie. She’s really bad at this. Her gaze shifted rapidly. Mouth flapping, she was searching for words, but he wasn’t sure why?
“Daddy hit it with a bat!” The tiny fiendish girl pouted.
“Oh!” Jessie’s eyebrows must have gone up to his horns because the woman let out a panicked laugh.
“It’s not—I mean, it was just…Can you fix it?” Her face scrunched together in worry.
Nikolai immediately perked up from behind the tow truck and gave Jessie a wide-eyed stare.
The business owner watched the dark charcoal and ash furred bugbear subtly shake his head.
Nikolai wasn’t a man of many words. Jessie knew him for close to twenty years now, and he didn’t need words to communicate.
The six-foot-five, fluffy like a wolf man, two large tusks, wet-nosed, floppy-eared wall of muscle was telling Jessie not to get his hopes up.
This car is toast. It must have shown on his face as the beautiful lady sighed.
“Daddy smash.” The little fiend nodded her head sullenly.
“Yeah, he did.” The taller woman ruffled her hair, brushing back the tendrils that had fallen in front of her face.
That exposed two tiny, cute ruby horns that struck out of the top of her head.
“Well, I guess, the question is how much can I get for it? The other guy said that you guys also buy lost causes?”
This time Nikolai nodded with interest, tapping at the front of the car.
Engine still works. The frame was fucked to oblivion and back, the windows were shattered, and the tires were deflating as they dropped it fully into the spot.
However, with a working engine, there were likely lots of bits they could salvage from the dumpster fire.
“We’ll have to take a look, but I can get you a better estimate once I have a bay to park it in.
The more on it that still works, the better for your pocketbook.
” He winked at her playfully before twisting to point at the waiting room for the shop.
“Go ahead and see Penny at the desk, she’ll get you set up. ”
“Mommy, beck-fest?” The little one pleaded.
“Yeah, Bella, as soon as—”
“Oh! That one I can help with,” Jessie grinned, jabbing a finger up to the sky. Both the sad-eyed babe and the little tot with a hopeful glimmer in her ruby eyes glanced up at him. “We’ve got all the fixings inside, come, let me show you.”
“You sure? I mean, I’m sure I can—eh, I dunno, walk to grab something.”
He glanced down at the little one who pouted immediately at the word walk. Pfft, yeah, okay? He shook his head. “Oh yeah, we’re an all-inclusive shop. Got big muffins, coffee, bags of chips, everything a little tot needs to fill a hungry belly. And, you know, make the wait not feel so long.”
The pretty lady grimaced. “How long?”
Nikolai let out a low whistle as he strode out from the back of the truck, shaking his head.
She sighed heavily, head hanging. “Awesome.”
“No school?” The little tike beamed up at her mom.
“No, baby, no school today.”
“And muffins?” The ferocious baby glanced up at Jessie expectantly.
“I’ve got chocolate chip, banana nut, blueberry, and cranberry orange.
” He beamed, nodding to the shop as he stepped away slowly.
The lady scooped up her young fiend and followed him with a defeated look.
Jessie wanted to say something to brighten her face.
A weakness for him, something he couldn’t let get the better of him…
but he was about to. Jessie knew he was a sucker for a sweet face and sad eyes.
He opened the waiting room doors and held it for the pair that stepped inside.
Not that I’m a gentleman. Definitely not with the way he took one last hungry mental snapshot of her backside before following her in.
But Ma would have my head if I didn’t hold open the door.
‘Mind your manners’, she often used to thwack him with a wooden spoon on the rear before speaking those words.
Hard to be a gentleman when one is the new head of the family business.
Bare Bones Cars & Repairs came with more managing than a regular shop.
Sure, most of the good money came from real car fixes.
They did actually do repairs and buy smashed vehicles to chop up for parts.
But under the pretty paperwork? That was what his father was really handing over.
The keys to the kingdom, so to speak. Titan Bonesaw was retiring from the game, and Jessie Bonesaw was stepping in.
Some people had opinions about that. Pops prepared him for a lot, but some things can’t be taught.
Elliot would never be able to do this. His older brother was tough. Elliot Bonesaw was reliable and sturdy. Yet, when it came down to it, he didn’t have what it took to run the shop. Jessie was going to show his father that he was the right choice.
Good thing he already got stabbed last summer.
That really put him on the map as a hard guy to take down.
Not that I’m above taking out kneecaps to prove a point.
Jessie wasn’t going anywhere, so if they wanted their goods, weapons, and cars, they needed to pay respect.
Something Big Bobby, the freeloader, was about to find out.
After work, that is, first he needed to assess the damage on the pretty lady with the ruby eyes’ car.