Chapter 17
Shadow
“It’s your best work, Damon. Truly.” Trixy is standing behind Sienna, whose eyes are glued to the tattoo forever etched into her skin—a look of awe on her perfect face.
Even if she removed it, it would never truly be gone. Pieces of me would remain. That’s how I felt as the needle penetrated her skin over and over again, etching me in along with the ink, stitching pieces of me into every cell, every molecule—getting under her skin as she was under mine.
I knew it was happening, but it wasn’t until two hours and fifty-one minutes ago that I realized just how deeply ingrained she was.
As she unraveled around her own fingers, her orgasm unleashed mine, both of us shuddering at the force of the moment.
That’s when I saw it. In her eyes. Not only her feelings but a reflection of my own.
“I love you, Damon.”
The words she said last night to me when she was drunk. Ones she didn’t remember in the morning.
It bubbled up in a moment between us at the same time. Settling into consciousness with a loud fucking thud.
Exploding from the little point of light created by Sienna since meeting her in the blackened cavity of my heart.
Sienna loves me.
I love Sienna.
I have never loved anyone before. Not even my shitty fucking parents.
Sienna was my first.
I never intended to let her go, but now, it was impossible. She was mine. Forever.
Her eyes meet mine in the mirror's reflection, their depths filled with confusion. She is perplexed about how she loves me, afraid of her feelings toward me, and scared she will get hurt.
She may. But never intentionally. Not by me. And I would never fucking leave her. Only death would achieve that, and even then. I felt tethered to her in such a way that my soul would find hers, even in the afterlife.
“Time for yours,” Trixy says, pulling herself away from Sienna to join me by the tattoo table Sienna had been on just minutes before. Where she had come. Where I had watched her unfurl and release, the orgasm a cathartic experience for her, especially after The Reaping.
Sienna's gaze flits between looking at the tattoo and then at me, a flush creeping up her chest as she watches me remove my shirt.
Her eyes drag across my torso, and I can see its effect on her in the mirror's reflection.
Her nipples harden under the baby blue material of that sexy little two-piece she is wearing.
My cock stiffens, knowing how perfect the flesh feels in my hands—made for me like a fingerprint.
“You guys need to get a room. But first, let's get you branded. This is a big deal, Damon. I never thought I would see the day.”
Trixy’s words cause Sienna to break her gaze first as she grabs her T-shirt and pulls it over her head.
“What are you getting?” Sienna asks, her eyes landing on the only spot of skin available on my chest, purposefully left blank. I thought I would never find the perfect piece to sit over a heart so dark—until she, the final piece of a puzzle etched into the canvas of my skin, came along.
“Ohhh. Let's leave that as a surprise. Don’t you think, Damon?” Trixy’s voice is mischievous, and Sienna tilts her head to the side curiously before wandering over to the other tattoo bed and taking a seat in the swivel chair in front of it.
She isn’t ready to see her name on my body. She isn’t ready to tell me she loves me. Only then will she understand this.
I climb onto the bed, lying back and tilting my head to the side to watch my girl.
Trixy makes small talk with her while she works her magic on me, the pain from the needle piercing my skin almost immediately morphing into pleasure.
It is a fine line. But all addictions are.
Just like the one I am staring at right now.
My rainbow with red hair piled on the top of her head while some strands spill over her shoulders and green eyes locked on a tattoo on my bicep—a motorbike mounted by a skeleton.
A ghost rider bar the flames. A shrine to the only person I considered family. Nicolo Scarva.
Her eyes meet with mine, and I wait for her to ask.
“Does that tattoo have a special meaning?”
I consider what I should say. She wants to get to know me, and while I don’t think the past is relevant, it’s clear she does. The hurt look on her face earlier when I said as much was not missed. She thinks I don’t trust her when it’s not about that .
“It’s there to remind me of someone. He is dead.”
Sienna looks surprised, but she doesn’t regurgitate the usual ‘I’m sorry’ crap that I detest.
“I didn’t think there was anyone besides yourself that you cared for.”
Trixy laughs heartily. No one talks to me this way. Only Sienna.
“Wow. She is calling a spade a spade. How refreshing. You are definitely bringing her to my wedding on Saturday. And even if you don’t,” Trixy swivels to face her, “you are invited. I won’t take no for an answer. Anyone who can call this frosty giant out on his bullshit is my best friend.”
She swivels back around, continuing on the tattoo with a big smile. She is enjoying this.
“You’re getting married?” Sienna asks, somewhat surprised.
“Yes. Finally, some would say. Roger has been asking me to marry him for years. His persistence has paid off.” Trixy was marrying a hotshot lawyer who worked in a law firm in town.
They met when she was dragged into a huge court case where one of her tattoos was pivotal in convicting a serial killer the state had been trying to prosecute and put behind bars.
The unlikely pair formed an immediate attraction, their opposites in everything, making for some turbulent but very heated interactions.
Finally, when the case was closed, those feelings erupted in a rough and tumble in the very courthouse they had been in just days before.
I only know because she asked me to help her remove the footage.
Footage that would have had him disbarred.
That’s when I knew how much Trixy loved him.
She wouldn’t have asked and raised a future payable debt with me if she didn’t. Love makes people do strange things.
“Congratulations. Where is the wedding taking place?” Sienna's obvious excitement makes me wonder if she still wants that. Wedding. Marriage. Children. Vanilla. I couldn’t give her that in the traditional way.
Though my obsession would guarantee I would never leave her.
That I would kill anyone who ever hurt her or tried to hurt her.
But would that be enough? Or would that be too much?
“At Lola’s. We will be married out in the garden. It overlooks a large lake.” Trixy smiles, her face softening at the thought.
“Yes. It has a small chapel on the property. I remember it.”
“You’ve been there?” Trixy wipes the blood from the tattoo, which is near completion.
“I was married in that chapel.” This grabs Trixy's full attention, and I stiffen, something she notices as she dips her head in confusion.
I skimmed over the finer details in my file on Sienna's wedding to James. I should have paid more attention.
Sienna looks uncomfortable, her eyes moving between Trixy and mine.
“You’ve been married before?”
“Uhh, yes.” Sienna's voice betrays how uneasy she is with the direction of this conversation.
“I take it you’re no longer together. Damon doesn’t like sharing.” Trixy jokes, but Sienna doesn’t smile.
“Bad divorce?” Trixy continues with her line of questioning, not good at reading social cues. Or just not caring. She is nosy as fuck. No doubt prompted and fuelled by the branding now completed and etched into the skin over my heart.
“He died.”
Trixy stills, and Sienna looks away. Two little words pull those emotions up. And I hated it.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know when to stop.”
A minute ticks by, and then Sienna lifts her head, composed, her satin-soft skin glowing with a small, reassuring smile .
“It’s fine. It’s been a while, so…I’m actually okay.”
Trixy smiles at her apologetically and then tries to bring the atmosphere back to what it was before—using diversion as a strategy.
“Well, we are all done here. At least you have found love again.” Sienna's face blazes with unvoiced confirmation before sliding her gaze over to me, looking for a reaction.
I want to see this play out and say nothing, not giving my feelings away.
She wants to keep it a secret, but I know everything about her.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Sienna stammers, making Trixy laugh.
“This.” Trixy’s hand flies between us, the tension now thick in the air.
Sienna’s face gets redder the longer the silence continues until Trixy bursts out laughing.
While torturing Sienna is fun, the message that pings on my phone reminds me that I have work to do.
Jordan has pulled a small manufacturer's marking off one of the camera's internal components used to film Sienna at Lady Chatman's.
He traced it back to another company, Wesfy Incorporated, the only one in the country that manufactured and sold cameras using that part.
While the ones we were looking for were not on their site, they appeared to be dealing in illegal surveillance, with these micro surveillance cameras probably used on that side of the business.
They agreed to meet with me at Sin in an hour.
I wanted their black-market customer directory.
Whoever recorded Sienna was on that list.
“We need to leave.” Sienna visibly relaxes, grateful for the change in conversation.
“I need to go to the ladies before we go. I’ll be right back.”
Trixy’s laughter follows Sienna as she escapes this awkward situation.
After Trixy covers the tattoo, I pull my shirt back on, not bothering to check it out in the mirror before I do.