Chapter Five – Star
I woke with a start, my eyes snapping open as I sat bolt upright. Shit! Where was I? I looked around, a grip of panic thudding through my system for a moment.
”Hey.”
As soon as I heard his voice, I breathed a sigh of relief. Oh, right, of course – I was in that little room above the tattoo shop, and Jaxon was standing at the door, arms crossed as he looked down at me.
”Hi,” I muttered.
”Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he remarked, as he came over towards me. ”You doing okay?”
”I think so,” I replied, my voice still a little croaky from sleep. ”What time is it?”
”Early morning,” he replied. ”About five.”
”Damn, I slept for a long time...”
”You must have needed it,” he remarked. I stifled a yawn. I felt like I could have slept for another hundred years. I hadn’t realized how badly I had been sleeping at the motel, tossing, and turning as I tried to trust that I was actually safe.
”Yeah, I guess so,” I agreed, looking up at him, and scanning his face. I still didn’t know if I could trust this guy. But if he had left me to sleep without trying to...well, without trying anything, then I figured I was safe with him. For now, at least.
”I’ve talked to my boss,” he explained, pulling up a chair next to the bed – the room was pretty bare, just a dresser and a chair next to a slightly grimy window, but it felt like paradise compared to the gritty motel I’d been in.
”And he said you can stay.”
”Why?” I replied, my eyes widening. ”I – I can’t give you any money, I spent the last of it on the tattoo-”
”Because you’re going through something,” he replied bluntly. ”And we’re not going to turn you out onto the street when you need help.”
I propped myself up on the bed, staring at him. I couldn’t figure this out. I felt as though...I felt as though there had to be a catch, had to be a reason behind this that I just wasn’t seeing.
”Who are you guys?” I whispered to him. I barely dared to ask. I doubted they were up to anything above board, living in this part of the city, but if they were my only option, I would take it.
He sighed and pushed a hand through his blonde hair. It fell into his face, obscuring his deep blue eyes for a moment, and I noticed some stubble on his jaw that hadn’t been there before, as though he hadn’t had time to shave. Worried about me? I didn’t know. Maybe I was too self-obsessed...
”The Dark Dogs,” he replied, scanning my face for some kind of reaction, like he thought I might know who that was. I stared back at him blankly.
”Is that meant to mean something to me?” I asked, and he snorted with amusement.
”Damn, I thought rich girls like you were meant to have manners,” he shot back, but then shrugged. ”We’re an... organization, let’s say. We do work around the city.”
”What kind of work?” I asked, ignoring his jibe. I’d often gotten crap from my family about speaking my mind too clearly, but it always annoyed me; my older brothers, Jason and Harry, never got told off for being open, and I knew it was a total double standard due to my gender.
”Nothing that your father would give a business award to, let’s say that,” he replied evasively. I shook my head.
”Criminal stuff?” I asked. ”Like Lombardi?”
He bristled.
”Not like Lombardi,” he replied. ”He’s into sex trafficking. People trafficking. That’s not our shit. We just get the stuff people need to them without a fuss, no matter what that happens to be.”
”Stuff like...?”
”Weapons,” he replied. ”Drugs. Nothing hard, just the low-level stuff. Keeps Atwood stocked.”
”So, what, is the tattoo shop a cover?” I quizzed him. I figured it wasn’t going to do him any harm to come out and tell me the truth, given that I wasn’t in a position to bargain right now – who was I going to go and spill this to, without giving myself away in the process?
”Sort of,” he replied. ”We don’t make a living off it. But we do use it to...process our money through. And we do a few tattoos for other people who work in a similar line of work, too.”
”And me, now,” I remarked, managing a small smile.
”And you,” he agreed. ”How’s your tattoo feeling?”
”It hurts like fucking hell,” I admitted, glancing down at it. I was still getting used to it there on my wrist – it felt like a surprise every time I saw it out of the corner of my eye, though I figured that would improve with time.
He chuckled.
”You’ve got quite a mouth of you,” he shot back. I felt my cheeks flush slightly.
”Sorry,” I muttered.
”No, it’s fine,” he assured me. ”I like it. I thought you would be...different, that’s all.”
”Different how?” I wondered. I guessed plenty of people in this city had some kind of view of me, due to me being part of the family of a prominent politician, but I didn’t get out and about enough to find out what that might have been.
”Snobby,” he replied. ”And I didn’t think you would curse as much.”
”I think that’s kind of new for me,” I confessed. ”I...my family didn’t like it when I cursed. Said it wasn’t ladylike.”
He snorted.
”Fuck that,” he replied. ”That’s some bullshit if I ever heard it. Sometimes a good curse word is the only way to respond to something, no matter if you’re a man or a woman.”
I giggled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
”Agreed,” I replied. I was starting to feel a little less tense in his presence, though there was something about the way he looked at me that made it slightly tricky to think straight.
”Can I ask you something?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. I knew I likely should have been keeping my mouth shut and worshipping the ground he walked on for helping me in my time of need, but there was so much on my mind, I hardly knew where to start. He lifted his chin.
”Shoot.”
”Why are you helping me?”
He stared back at me for a moment, like he hadn’t been ready for that question.
”What do you mean?”
”I mean, I don’t see...I don’t see what’s in it for you,” I continued, speaking quickly, before I had a chance to talk myself out of this. ”Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful, really grateful, but I just...I can’t figure out why you would want to do this. Are you getting paid for it? Don’t worry, you can tell me, I understand if you are, I just...I want to know so we’re on the same page...”
I trailed off as he stared at me. Something about being under that gaze made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and made me burble something awful. Slowly, he shook his head.
”I’m not doing this because I can make money off of it,” he replied, his voice dropping slightly, as though he was pissed I would even suggest.
”Then why?” I asked. ”You – you said it yourself; you already have a business to take care of-”
”Because it’s the right thing to do,” he replied, cutting me off. ”Not everything has to be about money or power. Though I guess that’s how your family raised you.”
I bit my lip, holding back a protest. He sighed, as though he could see how much that had stung.
”I didn’t mean it like that,” he muttered apologetically. ”I meant...I’ve been through some shit in my life, too, and if someone hadn’t stepped in to offer me help when I needed it, I don’t know where the fuck I would be.”
”You have?” I prompted him, eyes widening. I wanted to hear more. I needed to. I needed to know I wasn’t alone in this complete and utter mess.
”Yeah,” he replied, pulling his gaze from mine. I could tell this was a sore spot for him.
”What...what happened?” I asked softly, but he shook his head.
”Let me see your tattoo,” he told me, nodding towards my arm. I held it out to him. I had slept in the clothes I’d warn yesterday, nothing else in my backpack – everything else I had to my name was back at the motel, and I hadn’t dared go back there when I was sure those men would still be out looking for me. Even though the covers were still tucked around me, I felt exposed as I extended my arm, wrist up, toward him.
He drew it into his lap, resting my elbow on his knee, as he gently peeled back the clingfilm he’d put into place over the tattoo the day before. His touch was gentle, careful, and I stole a glance at him as he examined his work.
”It’s looking good so far,” he remarked, tracing his finger just below the site of the tattoo. ”You’ll need to get some lotion on it, keep the skin from cracking...”
”Right,” I breathed. I couldn’t exactly think straight right now, not with him this close to me. I knew I needed to pull myself together, but there was something about the way he was touching me, the soft, careful caress of his finger against my skin, that was making every inch of my body tingle. I wasn’t sure I had ever been this close to a grown man outside of my family before, let alone one who...
”You okay?” he murmured, glancing up to catch my gaze. He was still holding my wrist in his hand, his thumb grazing lightly across my skin. For a split second, I noticed his eyes flick down towards my mouth, and a jolt of electricity shot through me, from head to toe.
He seemed to sense it, too, and quickly pulled his hand away from me and got to his feet. I whipped my arm back into the bed, still able to feel the spot that he had been touching , as though it had burned itself into the memory of my body.
”Is this all you have?” he asked, grabbing my backpack and changing the subject. I shook my head.
”I have a few things back at the motel...”
”I’ll take you back and you can pick them up,” he replied. ”Don’t go by yourself. In fact, don’t leave this place without me. I’ll keep you safe.”
The way he said it, I could tell there was more to this than what he had told me – whatever he saw in me, it was some reflection of what he had been through, as well, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen to me. I didn’t know how I had gotten so lucky as to find someone like him, to stumble into his tattoo shop and find the help I needed, but God, I was thanking everything good and holy for it.
He got to his feet and headed for the door without saying another word. All at once, I hoped that he would stay a little longer – I didn’t want to be alone right now. But he headed out without looking over his shoulder, pulling the door shut behind him, and I closed my eyes and laid my head back on the pillow.
I truly didn’t know if I could trust him yet. But right now, these guys were the best option I had. The Dark Dogs – some kind of gang? I had seen a few motorcycles parked outside the tattoo shop, maybe they were a biker gang or something...
God, what had my life come to? I was the city councilman’s daughter, on the run and relying on some random bikers to get me out of a marriage that made me sick just to think about. I couldn’t believe I had ended up in this mess, but I knew it was better than facing whatever my parents had in store for me.
I closed my eyes, and soon, sleep rose up to take me again, my body and mind exhausted from the stress of this new life.