Chapter 10
The buzz of my tattoo gun fills the space as I finish up the last tiny detail on the patchwork sleeve I’ve been doing on my regular client, Adam.
It’s taken almost two months and several hours of sessions to complete and the day is finally here that I can sit back and admire my work. I hate to blow my own trumpet, but I’m pretty fucking good at what I do, it’s why my diary is fully booked up for the next three and a half months.
Becoming a professional tattoo artist was never on my radar growing up, the idea never even crossed my mind given I had a full ride scholarship to play football at college until it all went to shit.
I fell into tattooing while I was prison, forced to use safety pins, needles, anything sharp enough to pierce the skin and apply the ink.
They weren’t perfect, but in lockup, the days dragged on and on, so it helped pass the time, and I enjoyed it.
I’ve always loved to draw since I was a kid, so it allowed me to showcase my talent.
It helped distract me from my surroundings—God knows I needed one.
Tattooing is a way to soothe my mind and quieten the riot of thoughts that make it impossible to switch off sometimes.
It’s my own form of therapy, because I’m certainly not one to talk about my feelings, so I tattoo them instead.
Channelling my thoughts, feelings and nightmares into my art so they don’t weigh so heavily on me.
I apply the last of the shading to the dove’s wing on Adam’s bicep, letting my eyes sweep over his inked skin, making sure I haven’t missed anything.
After a couple of final finishing touches, I switch off the gun, placing it on the table beside me before wiping away the excess ink and blood from his skin. “You’re all set.”
Adam slides off the chair and heads to the full-length mirror to inspect his arm, taking his time to look it over. “It’s fucking epic, dude. It’s better than I ever imagined. Thanks, man.”
It’s an intricate tattoo dedicated to his mother who recently passed away, the design centred around a pocket watch displaying the date and time she died.
Surrounding it are various flowers she loved, an image of the pearl necklace she never took off woven throughout the design.
And underneath the pocket watch, a dove that symbolises peace and purity.
Even I have to admit, it’s one of my best.
“It was my pleasure.” I smile. “If you need anything you know where to find me.”
“Appreciate it.”
I snap a quick photo of his tattoo, like I always do after I complete one and after I see Adam to the door, I retreat back into the studio.
My eyes catch on the empty stool on the other side of the room like they always do.
The same stool Jack used to use when he was tattooing clients.
You’d think I’d be used to seeing it empty by now, but a lump still forms in my throat when my eyes settle on it.
It never gets any easier and it never stops hurting.
Jack was my business partner, one of my best friends. One of my brothers.
A few months back when Allie was kidnapped by The Cobras, a fight broke out between our two clubs, and in the struggle, Jack was killed.
Not a single one of us was the same after that day. It was like losing a limb, at least that’s how it felt. An essential part of our existence was cut clean off leaving us broken. His death left a huge gaping hole in our club, one that will take a long time to heal.
Sometimes when I’m working late, and everything is quiet, I can hear the sound of his laughter echoing through the studio. It’s as if he’s still here.
I miss my friend.
Four more clients come and go after Adam leaves and before I know it, it’s almost eight o’clock and I’m in dire need of a drink.
After locking up the shop, I ride the short distance to the bar and back into the space beside Jett’s bike before switching off the engine.
Drew, Alex, his sister Shelley, and Jade are the first people I see when I enter the bar, sat in the corner booth just inside the door.
“Here’s trouble,” Drew sniggers.
“I’ll give you trouble, little Cobra.”
He glares at me.
My eyes find the girl next to him and I can’t help smiling. “Hey, sweetheart.” I lean in and place a kiss to Jade’s cheek. “You okay?”
She nods. “Just want this baby out now, I feel like a beached whale,” she says rubbing her huge belly soothingly.
Jade was Jack’s old lady, the two of them ready to settle down and start their family before he was taken from us. Every single one of us have vowed that Jade and her kid will never want for anything. They’re family, just as Jack was.
“She’ll come when she’s ready,” Shelley offers. “Gah, I can’t wait for all the cuddles!”
“Don’t forget the vomit and shitty diapers,” I add.
Jade giggles. “And you’ll be the first in line to learn how to change one, Uncle Kill.”
“Looking for to it, darlin’.” I press another kiss to her cheek. “I’m gonna get a drink, catch you guys later,” I announce before I turn for the bar.
“This’ll be interesting,” I hear Alex mutter behind me and I spin back around.
“What’ll be interesting?” I ask.
“Jett’s got himself a new waitress,” Drew says.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, you’ll never guess who.” Alex smirks, jutting out his chin as his eyes fall on something behind me.
I follow his eye line and I have to blink a few times to believe what I’m seeing.
What the fuck?
Kaia.
Kaia is here. And she’s working.
She’s busy wiping down an empty table with her back to me and my blood heats as my gaze drifts over her. Her skin tight blue jeans show off long, shapely legs and that luscious ass of hers. Her black top hugging every smooth curve of her body.
I want so badly to bend her over that table, rip her jeans down her legs and fuck her senseless, punish her for last night and maybe punish that smart mouth of hers by making her choke on my dick while I’m at it. The image alone makes my cock leak.
A smile tugs at my mouth at how easy it was to get under her skin last night.
It wasn’t planned, but she rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn’t help myself.
Granted, the fact that she clearly hates me puts a small kink in my plan to seduce her into bed with me, but the best rewards come to those who work for it.
She moves onto a table occupied by three men I’ve never seen in here before, clearing the empty bottles from their table.
Why the fuck would Jett hire her? I get the feeling there’s more to it than him just needing a new waitress, because why her? I know he wasn’t happy about my plan to use her against her father, and maybe this is his way of undermining it.
I’ll confront him later, right now, that’s not what angers me, it’s the wandering hand on Kaia’s lower back, slowly sliding south before coming to rest on her ass, giving it a squeeze.
Kaia’s body stiffens and she steps to the side out of his reach and his hand falls away from her. She leans over the table to reach for an empty bottle and the asshole’s eyes roam over her body, licking his lips before they settle on her ass.
His two friends exchange a glance and a smirk as he goes to grope her again and my feet are moving before my brain registers.
I snatch his hand away before he has the chance to touch her, bending his wrist to the point where a flick of my hand means his wrist will snap like a twig.
The fate of this prick’s left hand rests firmly in mine.
Kaia gasps beside me, one of the empty bottles slipping through her fingers, smashing on the floor at her feet.
“Touch her one more time you lose the left, I see you touch another woman without her consent again, you’ll lose the right. Understand?”
“Fuck, man. My hand!” The asshole cries out. His eyes go wide when they dip to my club’s patch stitched onto the left breast. “Fuck, I didn’t know, man. I’m so sorry, I didn’t know she was yours.”
She’s not. Yet. But I don’t bother to correct him.
After a long second, I release his hand and grip his jaw, bringing my face level with his. “You don’t touch her,” I growl before shoving his face away with a force that has him rocking backwards on his chair. “Now tip her and tell her you’re sorry for touching her.”
He pulls a stack of bills from his back pocket and places them on the table with a shaky hand. He doesn’t even bother to count them out as his eyes find Kaia. “I—I’m s—sorry I touched you, I was just having a little fun, ya know?”
A little fun? I want to smash my fist in this fucker’s face and show him what fun really is.
“Get out of my fucking sight,” I spit.
He shoots off his chair and scurries out of the bar with his tail between his legs like a little bitch while his two buddies sit there shell shocked.
“That means you too. Fuck off,” I tell them, and they disappear out the bar like their asses are on fire.
“I—I need to clean this up,” Kaia says, looking down at the broken shards of glass on the floor.
Before she can make her escape, I take her elbow in my grip, forcing her stop and look at me. “You good?”
She nods stiffly, averting her eyes. “Thank you.”
I release her arm and she hurries away like she can’t get away fast enough and I’m getting the feeling she’s a little embarrassed by the whole situation.
There was no motive in my actions other than to get rid of that asshole who dared to touch her without her consent, but it gives me an opportunity.
A way in.
A tiny crack in the walls she’s build around herself opening up enough for me to slip inside.
I drop to a crouch, collecting the bigger pieces of broken glass in my palm.
Kaia returns a minute later armed with a dustpan and brush. She drops to her knees beside me and begins sweeping up the glass. “What did he mean when he said I was yours?”
I shrug. “You’re Sof’s friend, and seeing as how you work here now, that makes you one of us.”
“I’m honoured.” I don’t miss the sarcastic undertones in her words, and it makes me smile.
I drop the pieces of glass I’ve picked up into the dustpan. “Seems you’re in my debt.”
She drops the dustpan and brush and faces me. “And I’m gonna hazard a guess that you want me to express my gratitude with sexual favours, right?”
“You know me so well,” I grin.
“And you clearly don’t know me at all. It takes more than a motorcycle and a pretty smile for me to drop my panties.”
A grin spreads across my face. “You think I’ve got a pretty smile? I’ll take that.”
“I wouldn’t read anything into it, it’s just an expression,” she says, returning to sweep up the glass.
“Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me, doesn’t it? I’m actually gonna have to work for this one.”
“I’ve been wondering if all of the rumours about you were true. Do women usually just fall into bed with you no effort required?”
“Usually.”
“Well, as I said last night, don’t bother. You’re not my type.”
“Babe, I’m everyone’s type.”
My dick twitches with the need to prove to this girl that I am very much her type.
I’ve seen her checking me out once or twice, the way her eyes sweep over me, drinking me in.
Whether she realises she’s doing it or not, it’s clear she definitely feels something, even if most of what she feels towards me is hatred.
I bet a million dollars if I was to slip a hand into her panties, my fingers would come out soaked.
“You know, if this is the famous panty-melting Killian Hunt charm I’ve heard so much about, it’s not surprising your women only last for one night.”
My eyes snag on the tiny silver butterfly hanging from her neck that sparkles in lights. Without thinking, I reach for it, hooking a finger under the chain. “Well, that’s just the way I like it, butterfly.”
“Don’t call me that,” she snaps, slapping my hand away.
“What? Just admiring your necklace.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” I don’t miss the tears swimming in her eyes as she rises from the floor and disappears behind the bar, leaving me crouching on the floor staring after her.
The necklace clearly means something to her and I have to wonder if I’ve ever owned something that means that much to me.
I get to my feet and stride over to the bar. Kaia must be somewhere in the back room because it’s just Jett out front.
He pours me a beer and sets it down in front of me. “Are you harassing my staff, brother?”
“Why the fuck is she working here?” I fume.
He shrugs. “She came in needing a job, I need a waitress.”
“Bullshit. What’s your game, man?”
“No game, just thought it might speed things up a little if she was around more.”
“So, it’s not about you trying to fuck her?” I don’t know why that thought has white hot rage flooding my veins.
“Oh, I definitely want to fuck her. But no, I think one brooding asshole is enough for one girl. Besides, I’m not gonna fight one of my brothers over a woman, that shit never ends well.”
“Just keep your hands to yourself and we’ll be fine,” I warn, suddenly feeling territorial because I know what Jett’s like.
He’s exactly like me when it comes to women, and that’s what has me worried with her working so closely with him.
“Oh, after the show you put on earlier, my hands will forever remain safely in my pockets,” he replies, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans for good measure.
“Dick,” I chuckle with a shake of my head before knocking back my beer.
At that moment, Kaia appears from the back room, her eyes immediately clashing with mine.
I give her a wink, exactly as I did that night I saw her while out riding my bike, only this time I’m met with a glare.
She rounds the bar and moves to one of the tables, talking with the young couple sat there.
“Got your hands full with that one, bro,” Jett says.
I drag my eyes away from Kaia and turn to Jett. “Don’t I know it.”
Breaking down this girl’s barriers is gonna be harder than I first thought and it does seem a pretty smile and a little light-hearted flirting is not gonna get her to drop those panties of hers for me anytime soon, but I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge.
The fire in her eyes. This push and pull between us, the hate and lust I see in her eyes every time I get her riled up, I see her control beginning to strain, the threads starting to fray.
It’s only a matter of time before it snaps.