Chapter Six – Abbey
I tried the door of the tattoo shop, but it was locked tight. I shook it a couple of times in the frame and pulled a face. Chuck had told me to come down here and meet him at the shop before we headed back to my place, but it looked like something might have gotten in the way.
I knocked on the window a couple of times, and a few seconds later, Star wandered out from the back and unlocked the door for me. She greeted me with a warm smile.
”You alright?” She asked me, and I nodded.
”Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied. ”Is Chuck here?”
”He’s in the back,” she replied, jerking her head towards the room behind her. ”Talking to some of the guys. There’s something going on with that...well, I guess I shouldn’t say.”
My interest was piqued at once. I knew she was right, she should probably keep go in there under wraps for the sake of the secrecy of the Dogs, but, as I’d started to get a little closer to Chuck, I’d been curious to find out more about what he did here, what kind of command he might have had over the men who worked for him.
I leaned on the counter, not sure whether I should go looking for him or keep my distance for the time being. He had been reluctant to let me get close enough to write a story about the Dogs, and I doubted that had changed, even as the two of us had gotten a little closer these last few weeks.
All at once, the door that led out into the tattoo shop opened, and Chuck passed through it, followed by a couple of guys in beat-up leather jackets. He nodded to me in greeting, and then turned back to the men who were following him.
”You have your orders,” he told them. ”You understand exactly what you have to do?”
”Got it, boss,” one of them replied. From the way he spoke, it was clear how much he respected Chuck. He would have done anything Chuck had asked him to.
”Lombardi’s not going to know what hit him,” the other one growled, real venom in his voice. Lombardi? My ears pricked up. I’d heard that name a couple of times, with regards to Star’s case, but I didn’t realize he was still causing trouble. Were they trying to take him down now to keep him from going after Star again, or was there something else on the table too?
Chuck watched as the two men walked out, and then he turned to me, shaking his head.
”Sorry about that,” he remarked, as he grabbed his jacket from a hook behind the counter.
”Is everything okay?” I asked him. He nodded at once, clearly not wanting to give away anything more than he already had.
”Its’ fine,” he replied. ”Nothing you need to worry about. You want to get something to eat?”
”Sure,” I agreed, and I noticed Star glancing between the two of us, her eyebrow cocked slightly. My shoulders hunched up towards my ears. Crap. I didn’t exactly want anyone else knowing what was going on between Chuck and I. If there was anything at all, to be honest. I knew that we’d been spending more time together recently, but he had offered to help me feel a bit more settled in my apartment after everything that had been going on. I didn’t want anyone reading anything into it...
Not until I had figured out how the hell I felt about it, anyway.
The tattoo shop was just a few blocks from my place, and there was this little cafe between the two that did really good pastries. I probably shouldn’t have been eating them quite as frequently as I had been, but hey, when they were that delicious, who could blame me?
”So what was going on back there?” I asked him, as we turned on to the street where the cafe was located. He shook his head.
”Just someone trying to push in to our territory,” he muttered. I could hear the anger in his voice, though he tried his best to hide it from me. There were times when I forgot that he was this big, scary biker gang boss, with how sweet he was with me and how gentle he was with Cinnamon. Whoever was causing them trouble, I wondered if they had any idea at all what they were dealing with.
”Lombardi?” I prompted him. ”The guy who...Star was going to be sold off to?”
He nodded, his jaw set tight.
”The very same,” he replied, as he sank into our usual seat outside the cafe. I noticed a few people shooting nervous looks at him as they went by, but he didn’t seem to clock it. He must have been used to looks like that, unbothered by people’s judgements of him.
”What kind of stuff is he into?” I asked, leaning forward with interest. ”You think there might be a story there?”
”I think you should keep your distance from him,” he replied, lifting his gaze to meet mine steadily. His voice wasn’t harsh, but I could tell this was a warning. He was making damn sure I knew that I would be in serious trouble if I went poking my nose into Lombardi’s business. A shiver ran down my spine. Even after all the shit I had been through with my ex, there were still men out there who scared me.
”I haven’t seen those guys around before,” I remarked, shifting the conversation to something new. ”Did they just join the club or something?”
”No,” he replied, shaking his head, the corners of his mouth quirking up for a moment. ”That’s Jake and Harry. They’ve been with us for years. Since they were teenagers. Started out trying to convince the guys at the Kennels to buy cigs for them, but we got them on the right track eventually.”
”Right track?” I replied, raising my eyebrows. It wasn’t that I didn’t respect what they did, of course I did, but being part of a gang like the Dark Dogs was far removed from what most people would have called a good thing.
”Yeah,” he replied, voice not wavering for a second. ”Kids like that, if they don’t get pulled in by someone who’s willing to give them work, they’ll end up bored. And being bored on these streets...that’s a recipe for disaster. Too many drugs out there. Too many people who are willing to give them the kind of work that they wouldn’t be able to handle.
He shook his head. I guessed I hadn’t thought of it like that, but he was right – it would have been all too easy for teenagers, with their lack of critical thinking skills and experiences, to get exploited by someone who had nothing but bad intentions for them. While the Dogs might have operated outside the law, it was clear Chuck took care of his own, and that had to count for something.
We ordered our usual pastries, and then started on the rest of the way back to my apartment. The sun, which had been blazing bright all day, had suddenly started to dip behind a cloud, and I shivered.
”You alright?” he asked me, glancing over at me with concern. I nodded, waving my hand.
”I’m fine, I’m fine,” I replied, but I could feel goosebumps appearing up and down my arms, contradicting my claims. He paused for a moment, eyeing me, and then pulled off his jacket. He held it out to me.
”Here,” he prompted me. ”Take this.”
I shook my head.
”No, I couldn’t-”
”What do you mean?” he chuckled. ”It’s a jacket. Of course you can.”
”No, that’s not...that’s not what I meant,” I replied, staring at the jacket. It wasn’t just any jacket, and he must have known that – shit, it was a jacket belonging to a member of the Dark Dogs; it wasn’t like I could just slip it on like it was nothing.
”It’s just to keep you warm until you get back to the apartment,” he reminded me, seeming to read my mind. ”It’s not like you have to sign up to the Dogs to wear it.”
”Okay,” I replied, finally, and he reached out and draped the jacket around my shoulders – it was heavy, supple, and smelled of him. The scent of it wafted around me as it settled on to me, and I slipped my arms through the sleeves.
”I’ve never really been much of a leather jacket girl,” I admitted. ”But I think I can see the appeal of this one...”
He chuckled.
”I’ll need it back eventually,” he warned me.
”No way,” I teased him. ”This is mine now. I’ve been turned to the way of leather jackets, you’re not getting this one back.”
”Guess I’ll have to sign you up to the Dogs, then,” he replied. His voice had taken on a playful tone, far removed from the way he had spoken to those guys before. I liked knowing that I could draw this out in him, this softness – I didn’t want him to feel as though he had to stress about anything when he was with me, I just wanted him to be able to relax.
We made our way back to my apartment, and, when I opened the door, Cinnamon darted to my ankles and started weaving around them.
”Hey, hey!” I protested, laughing. ”You’re going to make me fall, you little asshole.”
”He’s just pleased to see you,” Chuck remarked, and I shook my head.
”He’s pleased to see you,” I corrected him. ”You’re the one who gives him way too many treats, remember?”
”Oh, right,” he replied with a grin, crouching down to greet Cinnamon, who dashed over to rub his face against Chuck’s hand. I couldn’t help but smile, looking down at the two of them together like that.
I went to make us each a coffee, calling through to Chuck as I brewed the pot.
”So, how is Star getting on?” I asked him. I knew she was a full-fledged member of the Dogs now, and I had to admit, I was curious about what that looked like – she had come from such a fancy family, it was hard to believe that she could have just packed that all in to come and stay with them instead.
”She’s still getting used to all of it,” he called back. ”Going to be a while before she gets her old life totally out of her system. But Jaxon is helping with that.”
”Oh, right, of course,” I replied, as I brought his coffee through to him. I burst out laughing when I saw Cinnamon climbing up on to his shoulder.
”He’s never done that to me,” I pretended to grumble, as I handed him the cup. Our fingers touched for a brief moment as he took it from me, and I felt my toes curl in my shoes. I realized I was still wearing his jacket, and I quickly shrugged it off – the last thing I wanted was to let myself get too comfortable in his clothes. There was something a little too intimate about that...
More intimate than having him spend every evening in my house? Yeah, maybe.
”Here, have your damn jacket back,” I joked, as I handed it to him. ”Since it was so important to you.”
He took it from me, resting it over his arm – Cinnamon instantly began to pad against the leather, digging his claws into it happily.
”Oh, my God, Cinnamon, stop!” I exclaimed, trying to unhook his claws from the fabric before he tore it to pieces.
”It’s okay,” Chuck laughed. ”It’s seen a hell of a lot worse than a few cat scratches.”
”He has a scratching post,” I complained. ”I don’t know why the hell he can’t just use that...”
”Because he’s a cat,” he pointed out. ”And he’ll do whatever the hell he wants.”
”I thought you said you weren’t a cat person,” I replied, and he shrugged.
”I wasn’t,” he remarked, as though it should have been obvious. I grinned.
”Cinnamon changing your mind?”
”Something like that,” he agreed, and I watched the two
of them as I lifted the coffee to my lips. Seeing the two of them together like that, it had made me forget all about the pastries sitting on the counter.
All I could think about was the biker boss, playing with my cat on the living room floor – while the scent of his jacket still clung to my skin.