Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rome
Inventory was bullshit.
That was my first thought at nine-thirty in the morning while I stood behind the counter at Bad Habit with a clipboard in one hand and a half-empty bottle of black ink in the other.
My second thought was that I should’ve hired someone years ago to do this part for me.
Tattooing, I loved.
Designing, I loved.
Running the shop, I could handle.
Counting bottles of ink, checking expiration dates, and making sure I had enough gloves, razors, stencil paper, and damn paper towels to keep the place moving? Bullshit.
I set the bottle of black ink down and marked it on the sheet.
The shop was quiet around me. The lights were on, the front door was locked, and the sign still said CLOSED. I didn’t have an appointment until six, which gave me plenty of time to get organized before the day went sideways.
I grabbed another bottle of ink and checked the label. Crimson. Low. I marked it down and tossed it into the reorder bin.
My phone rang and I looked at the screen. Skid. My stomach tightened before I answered. “Yeah.”
“We got a problem.”
I set the clipboard down slowly. “Talk.”
“We can’t find her.”
Everything in me went still.
Skid kept talking. “She’s not at her apartment. Not at the clubhouse. Not at Tasha’s. Not at Finn’s garage where she sometimes crashes. Cash checked the diner. Mack checked the motel on Route Nine. Nothing.”
My jaw clenched. “She knows you’re looking?”
“Maybe. Maybe she got spooked after Josie figured it out. We’re not exactly moving quietly.”
I stared out the front windows toward Scoop & Swirl. From where I stood, I could see the mint-green trim, the clean glass, the OPEN sign glowing bright.
“Where’s Prez?”
“On it. He said keep a close eye on Josie until we find Brandi. Club’ll handle her.”
I laughed, but there wasn’t anything funny about it. “I don’t need permission to handle her if she comes near Josie.”
“I know.”
“You hear me?”
“Rome,” Skid said, voice lower. “We know. Nobody’s telling you to stand down. I’m telling you to keep your woman close and let us know if Brandi shows.”
My woman.
Mine.
“Call me the second you find her.”
“You got it.”
I hung up and stood there with the phone in my hand.
Inventory could wait.
Everything could wait.
I grabbed my keys, shoved my phone into my pocket, and headed for the door. I checked to make sure the front sign said closed, killed the back lights, and locked up behind me.
Main Street was starting to wake up. Cars rolled past. A woman pushed a stroller down the opposite sidewalk. Two older guys stood outside the hardware store arguing about something that probably didn’t matter.
Normal.
I crossed the street, my boots hitting the pavement hard. A feeling of dread hit me when I opened the door to Scoop & Swirl. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, and when they did, my entire world stopped.
Brandi had Josie backed against the wall with the giant mural. She had a knife pressed to Josie’s throat and her back was to me.
My blood went cold.
Josie’s eyes snapped to mine and I saw pure terror.
Her hands were held out slightly, palms open, like she was trying not to move too fast. Her face had lost all color, and a thin red line marked the side of her neck where the blade had already nicked her.
I wanted to kill Brandi. The thought was immediate.
Clean. Simple.
But wanting it and doing it were two different things.
If I moved wrong, Josie paid for it.
So I shut everything down. The rage. The fear. The instinct to charge. I locked it all behind my teeth and made my voice calm. “Brandi.”
Her head jerked toward me.
The knife stayed at Josie’s throat and Josie flinched.
My hands curled into fists at my sides, but I didn’t move.
Brandi smiled. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t flirty. It was cracked. Like something inside her had snapped and whatever was left didn’t understand how bad this was. “Rome.”
“What are you doing?”
She laughed softly. “What does it look like?”
“It looks like you’re making a mistake.”
Her eyes flashed. “No. No, I already made the mistake. I waited too long. I let her get in your head.”
Josie swallowed and the blade moved with her. I saw the red mark deepen and my heart slammed against my ribs.
“Brandi,” I said, keeping my voice low. “Move the knife.”
“No.”
“Move it.”
“No!” she snapped and pressed the knife harder.
Josie’s eyes squeezed shut for half a second and I forced myself to breathe.
In.
Out.
No sudden moves.
No anger.
Brandi looked at Josie like she was something stuck to the bottom of her boot. “I was trying to warn her. I painted it nice and big so she’d understand, but she’s too stupid to get it.”
Josie’s face crumpled.
Just for a second.
I saw it, then she pulled herself back together. My brave fucking girl.
“Warn her about what?” I asked.
Brandi’s attention came back to me.
Good.
I needed to keep her eyes on me and keep her talking.
“About you. About us.” Her voice softened in a way that made my skin crawl. “She’s not right for you, Rome. Look at her.”
I didn’t look at Josie.
I couldn’t.
Not because Brandi was right, but because if I looked at Josie too long, I’d lose my control.
“She’s in the way,” Brandi whispered.
“Of what?”
“Us.”
I nodded slowly, like that made sense. Like she wasn’t holding a knife to the woman I loved. “Okay.”
Brandi blinked.
Josie’s eyes opened, and she looked at me, confused. I held her gaze for half a second and tried to tell her without words. Trust me.
Then I looked back at Brandi. “Okay,” I repeated.
Brandi’s grip loosened just a fraction. “What?”
“You heard me.”
I took one slow step inside.
She tensed and I stopped immediately.
“Easy,” I said. “I’m not coming closer if you don’t want me to.”
Her eyes darted between Josie and me. “You choose her.”
“I didn’t understand.” The lie tasted like acid, but I said it anyway because Josie breathing mattered more than my pride.
Brandi swallowed. “You didn’t?”
“No.” I made my voice softer. “You were trying to show me something. Trying to show me that you’re the one meant for me.”
“Yes.” Her eyes filled. “Yes, exactly. I knew you’d understand if kept showing you.”
Josie stared at me.
I didn’t look at her.
Couldn’t.
Because she had to believe I had this.
And I had to believe it too.
“Then let’s talk,” I said.
Brandi’s chin trembled. “You’ll talk to me?”
I took another slow step and nodded. “Of course. We used to talk.”
Brandi’s eyes narrowed, and I stopped again.
“Brandi, look at me.”
She did.
“Let Josie go.”
“No.”
“Then move away from her a little.”
“Why?”
“So I can see you.”
She blinked. “You can see me.”
“Not enough.” That hit where I needed it to.
Her face softened.
She wanted to be seen and that was the whole damn problem. She had turned being ignored into madness and aimed it at Josie because Josie had what she wanted.
Me.
“I missed you,” Brandi whispered.
“I know.”
“You stopped looking at me.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“Because of her.”
“Because I didn’t know what I wanted.”
Josie made the smallest sound. Pain. Not physical.
The other kind.
I wanted to go to her and tell her every word out of my mouth was a lie. Instead I kept my eyes on Brandi.
“She’s trash,” Brandi said.
My jaw flexed. I covered it by rubbing a hand over my beard. “You’re angry.”
“She doesn’t deserve you.”
“Maybe not.”
Brandi smiled.
Josie’s eyes filled. Fuck.
I took another step, then another.
I was halfway to them now, and Brandi didn’t notice. She was too busy hearing what she wanted.
“You know I was always better for you,” she said.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded quickly. “I know you. I know the club. I fit.”
“You do know the club.”
“I do,” she preened, turning toward me a bit more. The knife had shifted to where it wasn’t pressed to Josie’s neck anymore.
Josie was breathing shallowly, and I could see her hands trembling.
“Tell me what you want,” I said.
Brandi blinked. “You.”
“Then come here.”
She stared as I held out one hand with my palm up. Controlled. “Come here, Brandi.”
Josie’s eyes went wide.
I didn’t look at her.
Brandi hesitated. Her fingers tightened around the knife again. “I know what you’re doing.”
“I’m not doing anything,” I tried to reason.
“You’re trying to trick me.”
“I’m trying to get you away from her.” The truth slipped out before I could stop it.
Brandi’s face twisted, and all the progress I had made disappeared.
Shit.
I moved fast. Faster than Brandi.
Brandi screamed and jerked, but I was already there. My hand clamped around her wrist and shoved it up and away from Josie’s throat. At the same time, I stepped between them and used my body to force Josie sideways.
The knife clattered against the wall, and Brandi clawed at my arm with her free hand.
Josie stumbled, and I heard her hit the floor. That sound nearly broke me, but Brandi still had the knife.
I twisted her wrist hard enough to make her cry out and the knife dropped. I kicked it away, skidding under a table, but Brandi lunged toward Josie.
I caught her around the waist and hauled her back like she weighed nothing. “Don’t touch her.” My voice came out like gravel.
Brandi screamed again, kicking, scratching, sobbing. “You lied to me!”
“Yeah.” I dragged her away from Josie.
Brandi fought like hell, but panic made her sloppy. She grabbed at shelves, knocked over napkins, sent a container of spoons crashing to the floor.
Josie was on the ground by the wall, one hand pressed to her throat.
I had to get to her, but I had to take care of Brandi.
The freezer door was behind the counter and I headed toward it. Brandi dug her nails into my forearm. “You don’t love her!” she screamed.
I nearly laughed.
Wrong time.
Wrong fucking time.
“I do.”
The words came out before I thought.
Brandi went still for half a second. Then lost her mind all over again. “No!” She kicked backward, catching my shin. Pain shot up my leg. I grunted, tightened my hold, and yanked open the freezer door.
Cold air rushed out.
Brandi grabbed the doorframe.
I peeled her fingers away one by one.
She sobbed and cursed. Called Josie every name she knew. Each one made the monster in my chest grow bigger.