18
Grace
If I'm going to die, I'm at least having pizza and get my new tattoo first. Fuck 'em all!
We order a great big pizza and I play the stupid bitch role. Again.
"So... Mel. I haven't seen you in forever. How's life going?" I ask with a smile.
"Oh! It's good. I got into college. So I've been studying loads...." I knew I could count on her to keep the conversation going. That girl can out-talk an auctioneer.
"Grace, when is your tattoo appointment again?" Christian asks. Mother fucker.
"Um..." I check my phone. "Half an hour." Yay, half an hour of this.
"You're getting another tattoo?" Jai asks at the same time as Liam. Keep your fucking head, Grace!
"She is! She's getting it on her hip!" Kennedy informs them. I'm taking her out with me.
"Nice. What are you getting?" Alek asks.
"I don't know. My buddy needs a canvas and here I am. He does wicked work so I trust him." I shrug.
"Is this the guy who did your crow?" Jai asks. I'm going to kill The Heirs too. I'm going to take down everyone at this table with me, hell, throw in Ray to make a clean job of it .
"Yep," I say and catch Keir's raised eyebrow.
"How do you know about her crow?" Christian asks. Oh fuck.
"I know a lot about Grace." Jai taunts.
"Nope." I slam my hands down on the table. "We're not fucking doing this. I'm out." And I get up and leave. Kennedy, Mel, and Alek rush to follow me out.
"Grace, come on. It's fine." Kennedy pleads tugging me to face her.
"No, it's not. I can't do this shit. You invited all of them. They can't... I can't... we can't... this can't happen. You need to butt out of this. Please." I beg.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll stop, I was just trying to help. Are you okay?"
"Not at the moment," I admit. I am well aware I sound a bit manic but I feel like manic is the correct response to this shit show of a situation. A shituation if you will.
"I'll take care of her, you girls go inside," Alek assures them. They look at me and I nod and watch them walk away back to the restaurant.
"I'm going to die," I whisper.
"Honestly? I think you're the only one that's safe." He chuckles.
"This is not funny. What am I going to do?" I ask.
"Well, what's the whole situation? Maybe I can help." He offers. I take a deep breath and start explaining.
"I met Jai last weekend I didn't know who he was.
I thought he was just some cute guy so I took him to a party and we hooked up.
Then my parents died and I got sent to live with my uncle whose personal assistant is Christian who I've been turning down every time he asks me out.
I've been trying to steer clear of Liam and Keir too but The Heads keep calling Ace to help out.
And now Keir knows and everyone is here and now I am going to die. "
"Well shit. That is a conundrum." He admits. "Let me see what they're thinking. Go to your tattoo appointment and Keir and I will meet you there at the very least. Where are we heading?"
"Monaco Tattoos," I say.
"Okay. I'll send out the girls. Try to relax, okay?" He says giving me a very awkward hug. Back pats are important to men, I've found, and this one is full of them.
I watch him leave and my mind starts racing again.
What the fuck have I been doing? I need to shut all of this down.
Maybe I'll find some random guy to fuck.
No, that's a terrible idea. For both the random guy and my self-respect.
No, we're already in this situation. I need insurance, so I make a few calls before Kennedy and Mel wander out to find me.
"Hey, we good?" Kennedy asks nervously.
"Yeah. But only wing-woman for the willing next time.
" I scold. Mel chuckles as she wraps her arm around Kennedy's waist. We make our way down to Monaco Tattoos where Gabe is waiting for us.
Gabe is a short stocky guy that looks like he's always inches away from beating the tar out of someone but he's a sweetie and an amazing tattoo artist.
"Ah! My favourite customer! Come into de back!" He smiles his French-Canadian accent is thick.
"My favourite Frenchman!" I laugh and give him a big hug.
"And who are these lovely ladies?" He flirts.
"Not into you." I grin.
"Worth a shot!" He laughs making Kennedy and Mel laugh too. He leads us into the back and shows me the picture of my new tattoo.
"I'm so excited!" I squeal and pull off my jeans. I still have the pocket knives in my bra so I'll be fine with losing those three.
I lay down on the table and wait for Gabe to do his magic .
Keir
I watch my Grace leave the restaurant with her friends and mine while the men around me bicker.
When Alek returns, he looks pissed. He asks the girls to go with Grace before storming over to us.
"What the hell, you guys?" He hisses getting everyone's attention. "Get your shit together. The woman you all love has just stormed out on you."
"All?" McConnell asks making us all look at each other.
"This got worse, didn't it?" I ask.
"Oh fuck yeah. She's in the alley freaking out that she's going to die." He glares at us. Fuck. I'm not the only one to stand up to go after her. "Hold on. We need to talk this out. Now, I can't tell you guys everything but you all might want to band together for her."
That's... not a terrible idea.
"What do you mean?" Bianchi asks.
"We all like her. Let's all be there for her." I clarify.
"That will make her quite the target." Tanaka poses.
"I think she can handle that." Snorts Alek. I mean, I kind of agree but I don't want to make her a target. "I also want to clarify that she didn't know who you all were until quite recently and since then she's been trying to pump the brakes."
"Of course, she's not using us. But how does she know who we are?" Tanaka asks looking pale.
"Well, it's not like we're being too sneaky. We're using our legal names." I chuckle. Unlike Grace. They all nod.
"I assume we all know that Grace has seen some serious shit?" Bianchi asks. We all nod again. "If we're doing this, we need to be all in for her."
"I'm in," I swear .
"Me too." Tanaka nods.
"For her? Yeah." McConnell sighs.
"Okay. Let's go get our girl." Bianchi grins.
"About fucking time!" Laughs Alek. "She's getting her tattoo done at Monaco Tattoos." We all hustle to our cars and head to our girl.
Monaco Tattoos is a brightly lit shop smelling of antiseptic. The hum of tattoo guns fill the air. I see Kennedy's pink hair in the back so we head toward her.
I hear Grace chatting with the tattoo artist about how tacos are superior to quesadillas.
"I don't know what you're on Grace, but I want some. Quesadillas are better. Izza fact. You get zem all warm and gooey." He argues in a French accent.
"Bullshit good sir, and I'll tell you why! Because of the mother fucking crunch. You don't get that satisfying crunch with a stupid quesadilla." She snarks. God, she has a mouth on her. I hear a snort from behind me.
"Grace? Can we come in?" Alek asks pushing forward.
"Sure. Is it all of you?" She asks as we walk in and stop dead in our tracks. Her creamy scarred skin is on display and I can't concentrate on anything else.
There is a gorgeous tattoo forming on her hip of colourful magnolias with a black line work snake winding through them.
"Yeah, it's all of them. They're too busy staring at your ass." Alek laughs. "By the way, I think we got everything all figured out for now. You may want to talk about some other things, though." He hints.
"Yeah, that might be for the best." She nods. I agree. It might be the only thing to keep her safe. "I'll deal with it after this."
"The tattoo looks good," I say moving around to her face.
"Thanks. As I said, Gabe is the best." She smiles.
"That I am, babe. So, which one are you fucking?" He asks .
"Who are you fucking?" She counters before any of us volunteer for that position. Any position.
"No one." He pouts.
"Then keep focused on your own vagina and get your nose outta mine." She snipes with a laugh. We all burst out laughing and Gabe has to stop tattooing he's laughing so hard.
"Where is this Ray guy?" Kennedy asks after we all recover.
"He had to work so he's missing the party right now." She says clearly put out by it.
"That's okay. Another time." Kennedy smiles reassuringly.
"Yeah..." she sighs.
"You need a break, babe?" Gabe asks.
"No. I'm good." She smiles. "So what kind of snake am I getting?"
"I figured I would leave it just a hard black outline. Contrast it with the pretty delicate flowers. Just like you." He smiles. It's clear he likes her. Not romantically but just a genuine fondness. Kindred spirits which makes me think I need to watch him.
She lets out a laugh.
"Sappy bastard."
Jai
Grace knows who I am. No wonder she's been ghosting me.
I can't even blame her. But now there are four of us interested in her.
That would make her four times the target.
I can't do that to her. She deserves a good life even more so after I saw all her scars in the light of day. She has been through hell. I know it.
Chekhov's second seems to know her well and he said she would be able to handle it. She shouldn't have to though. She should be able to just enjoy her life without having to look over her shoulder all the time.
Even with the potential target, she would have our protection too. At least mine and my family's. I don't know about the others.
I'm not sure if I can protect her from three other mafias. Not without starting a war. As much as I want Grace, I won't start a war over her. She'd be safer that way anyway.
So I watch her beautiful scarred body and take what I can get.
After a few hours we leave the tattoo shop and I watch her grow cold.
One second she's smiling and laughing with Gabe and sending her pink-haired friend away with her date and then she is hard and cold as she turns to us.
This version of Grace is familiar. There's a niggling at the back of my brain that says I've seen her before but I know I haven't. Grace has always been tough but she has so much raw heart and emotions. She’s like an exposed nerve, feeling it all, and now it’s just off. Nothing.
"Alright, boys. Let's go talk." She walks over to Keir's hummer. "Keys." She commands and Keir obeys with a smug smile throwing her the keys. We all pile in, including Chekhov's second. What on earth is going on?