Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
The last place I was expecting Molly to take me to was a tattoo parlor.
I’m obviously no stranger to tattoos. I have, however, inspected every inch of Molly’s flawless skin and she certainly does not have any ink.
I know better than to question her decision-making, though, especially since she seems like she’s in a really good mood.
Which is why I stand next to her, with her hand gripped in mine as she walks up to the counter.
“Little Molly Olive, what brings your finery into a lowlife place like this?” the guy behind the counter says. I’m about to open my mouth and educate him on how to speak to my fiancée when Molly beats me to it.
“One time, Jude. I said your shop was for lowlifes one time. Seven years ago. When are you going to let it go?” She tugs her hand free and walks around the counter. Then the two of them are hugging.
What the fuck?
“Never,” the guy I now have a name for—Jude—says. “But seriously, what are you doing here?”
“I want something,” Molly tells him.
“I figured it wasn’t a social call. Still haven’t learned to let your hair down and relax, Mol?” Jude asks her.
I clear my throat, getting Molly’s attention. I don’t like her being closer to another man than she is to me. Molly turns. “Sorry. Jude, this is my… fiancé, Alfie,” she explains.
“Fiancé? Well, shit, Mol. Guess you did learn to relax a little. Congrats,” Jude says.
“Jude and I were neighbors growing up,” she tells me.
“Neighbors? I would have said friends, but Mol here doesn’t like to admit to anyone that she spent time hanging out with people who, as she says, were going nowhere.” Jude laughs.
Molly squints her eyes at him. “I never said you were going nowhere. I said you needed to stop with the street graffiti and think about turning your art into a money-making machine. Which you have. So, you’re welcome, by the way.”
“We were fourteen, Molly.”
“It’s never too early to plan your future,” Molly hums. “Anyway, will you ink something on me or not?”
“I thought you’d never ask. What do you want?” Jude says.
I watch Molly’s face, wondering if she really wants to do this and what the hell she’s going to get.
“I want an engagement ring,” she announces while pointing to her ring finger. “Right here. Can you draw a band with a round solitaire diamond? Line-art style.”
“You want a tattooed ring? What happened? Did you lose all those billions already?”
“No, you idiot. I want something that I can never lose, and I want something permanent,” Molly says.
“Okay, come on back.” Jude walks through a door.
Following closely behind Molly, I scan the room. It looks clean. I’ve been in my share of tattoo shops, and as much as I’m not stupid enough to tell Molly she can’t do something, I was never going to let her get inked in a dodgy fucking studio.
“Nice place,” I say. “Did you draw all these?” The walls are painted with murals—really fucking good murals.
“Yeah. I guess the street graffiti kid in me never died. No matter how much Mol here told me I was wasting my talents.”
“She’s the smartest person I know. You made the right decision listening to her,” I say.
Molly beams up at me from the bed she’s perched herself on. “See? This is why I’m marrying you.”
“Because he thinks you’re smart? Everyone knows how smart you are, Mol.” Jude rolls his eyes as he draws something on an iPad. “Anything else you want on this ring?”
“Um… nope,” she says.
I look over his shoulder at the design. “You know, if you fuck up her finger, I will remove all ten of yours.”
“Alfie!” Molly shrieks. “He’s kidding, Jude.”
“No, he’s really not,” I grunt and move to sit next to Molly on the bed.
“Yeah, I figured,” Jude replies.
“Alfie, seriously, you cannot just go around threatening people,” Molly hisses at me.
“Why the fuck not? It’s worked for me my entire life.”
“Well, you just can’t,” she says.
“How’s your mom doing?” Jude asks, causing Molly to stiffen ever so slightly.
“She’s… Well… The doctors have said she has two months, tops. So I’ve been spending more time in Portland.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, Mol.” Jude looks at her with real empathy. “Anything I can do to help?”
“You can draw my engagement ring and you can make sure you don’t mess it up, otherwise I’ll get my fiancé to cut your fingers off.”
My lips tilt up. “Why are you allowed to threaten and I’m not?”
“Because I’m the rule maker, not the rule follower.” Molly laughs. “You gotta learn how to be a better leader if you’re planning on taking over from your father.”
“Our management styles might differ, Molly, but I get results just the same,” I remind her.
“Okay, ready.” Jude turns the iPad around and shows Molly the drawing.
“Perfect,” she says. “Is it going to hurt?”
I lean into her ear. “If you get off from another man causing you pain, I really will kill him, Molly.”
“It’s not going to hurt. You’re the toughest person I know.” Jude winks, and I want to knock the fucker off his seat.
Molly grips my hand as the hum of the needle cuts the silence. As soon as Jude starts the outline on her finger, she relaxes her hold. “That’s it?”
“That’s it,” I confirm.
“Oh, I thought it was going to be way worse.” She laughs.
My phone rings when Molly’s about halfway done. Seeing CJ’s name on the screen, I answer it. “Yeah?”
“We got him talking,” CJ tells me.
“What he say?”
“The guy you met in that room was the head. Gave us the location of the chemist, who had an unfortunate accident in his lab.”
“Any idea what was on that drive?” I ask.
“Nope. Whatever it was, it’s been burned. When are you coming home?”
“When I feel like it. Why? Can’t handle shit without me?”
“I can handle shit just fine. Sammie J was asking. Also, Imogen just got the all-clear. She’s officially in remission.”
“Thank fuck.” I sigh in relief. My little cousin has been sick for longer than I thought she would be. “You get an artist for that mural in the new club yet?”
Sammie J and CJ were looking to have an entire wall painted with poses of strippers in various stages of dance in the new strip club they’re opening.
“Not yet. Everyone we’ve looked at has been ass,” CJ says.
“I think I found someone.” I look at the paintings on the shop walls. This guy can draw. I wonder what it’ll take to get him to fly out to Vegas for a job. Everyone has a price.
“Okay, bring them in. When did you say you were coming home again?”
“I didn’t. I’m getting married in Portland, though. Two weeks.” I cut the call and message my mom, because if she hears that shit from my loudmouth cousin first, she will kill me.
Me:
Weekend after next, I need you and Dad to come to Portland. I’m getting married.
Molly is staring at me with wide eyes when I look up from my phone. “Two weeks? You’re delusional, Alfie.”
My mom’s name pops up on my phone. “Sorry, it’s my mom. I have to take this,” I tell Molly while pressing the answer button. “Hey, Mom.”
“Don’t Hey, Mom me. What the hell, Alfie? Two weeks? What kind of wedding can you possibly give Molly with only two weeks to plan it? Aunt Evie and I are flying out tomorrow. But also, congrats. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks. You really don’t need to fly out early. I’ll handle it.”
My mom chuckles. “I’ll see you tomorrow. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure everyone is there.”
“All I need is you, Dad, and Frankie.”
“I can hear you, asshole.” Hudson’s voice comes through the phone.
“You’re on speaker,” Mom says. “And stop tormenting your brother. You guys are getting too old for this.”
“It will never get old.” I laugh. “Hang on.” I turn to Molly. “Do you want Hudson at our wedding? Or not?”
“What?” She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
I mouth the words, “Say no.”
“He’s your brother, Alfie. Of course we want him there.”
“See? I knew she was a keeper the moment I met her,” Hudson says.
“Fine. I guess you can come too. I gotta go. Love you, Mom.” I cut the call and pocket my phone.
“You do know we’re not getting married in two weeks, right?” Molly grumbles.
“I know that I love you and I can’t wait for you to be my wife,” I tell her.
Jude is silent as he finishes up wiping over the fresh ink and applying cling wrap over top.
“Thank you. I love it.” Molly stands and looks at me. “What do you think?”
“I think I’m still buying you a huge fucking rock for this finger, but I love that it’s there forever,” I tell her honestly. “I love you.”
For words I never thought I’d tell a woman, I can’t say them enough to this one. It’s like it only took once to open the floodgates.
I pull a card out of my wallet and hand it to Jude. “I have a mural that needs doing in Vegas. If you’re interested, call me. Job pays well.”
“What kind of design you looking for?” he asks.
“Strippers, in stages of dance. For a club my cousins are opening,” I tell him.
“Boobs I can do. I’ve been drawing those since I was eight.”
“You should do it,” Molly tells him.
“Okay, I’ll call,” Jude agrees. “Congrats on the wedding.”
As soon as we walk out, Molly stops me on the street. “You really want to get married in two weeks?”
“I want you to be able to have your mother at our wedding, Molly. For that to happen, we need to do it soon,” I tell her.
Molly gets a sad look in her eyes. “She’s not going to know it’s me getting married. She will think she’s attending Maggie’s wedding.”
“But she will be there, and you know who she is. That’s all that matters.”
“What is the plan for after? Say we get married in two weeks? I need to stay in Portland for a little while, Alfie. I can’t come back to Vegas with you. My entire business is run out of Seattle.”
“We will figure it out. Besides, you have a new project to work on in Vegas. Those last two buildings, they’re yours. I’ve told the owners to sell to you.”
“You told them to, so they will?” She laughs.
“Yes. That’s how Vegas works. You wanted my throne? Well, I’m giving it to you on a silver platter.”
“I don’t want your throne, Alfie. I just want my buildings,” she clarifies. “And I also want you.”
“You have both.” I lean down and press my lips to hers.