Barber Shop Ink - Book 3: Riverworth

by Penny Blush

  Chapter 17 Vex

  They all thought I was small time, especially that bitch Morningstar. Well I would show her, I would show them all that no one messes with Nicholas Vex.

  It was because of that stupid bitch I’m here, freezing my ass off in fucking London. Because of her, I was summoned by Georgiou Marino himself. The head of the Marino family, like a naughty school kid summoned to the principal’s office for picking on the little kid.

  Morningstar has been out of the world for so long she had forgotten how things work. It’s the men who hold the power in this business. Woman should be on their knees with their mouths open. That’s all they’re good for – a fuck toy and nothing more.

  Morningstar was a pet project for Charlie. He leased her out to Georgiou as a show of good faith that the two could play in the same sandpit and share their toys.

  Oh, I bet they shared.

  Morningstar was a slut, who would spread her legs for anyone. I reckon she would let Georgiou fuck her in the ass while she sucked Charlie off, so she wouldn’t have to look at his ancient face.

  It was her fault that my brother Darren is dead. He’d sent two of his boys to ‘Scarlet’ a tacky club owned by Charlie. Everything in the club was red, black and gold it looked like a red-carpet event threw up in there.

  Darren had sent his guys there to send Charlie a message he couldn’t double cross us and live. The boys were beaten to hell and killed. The beat down was pinned on Morningstar. It was all a ploy to build a legend and spread fear that Charlie had a killer broad on his hands.

  We all knew a woman couldn’t have done the amount of damage that was done to the bodies of those men. It was definitely a man, but it made for a better story to say it was a chick.

  With my brother dead, our family business fell apart. We might not have made the big time, but we were no slouch either.

  I had to bide my time and rebuild my reputation. I had an 'in' with Gianni and used it to my advantage. I got close to him and worked my way into his inner circle, until I no longer need him or his connections. I had made myself indispensable to him and made him dispensable.

  I have spent my life since Darren’s death building up to this point. The point where I can rid the world of Charlie, and the Marino family once and for all. That Morningstar had come out of hiding, well that was just the icing on the fucking cake.

  She might have thought she was all tough in leather, with her hooker red lipstick and knives strapped to her body. But, how tough was she really when she only had the guts to approach me in the middle of a packed church?

  Bitch couldn’t face me on her own cause she knew she would come off second best.

  That’s exactly what will happen tomorrow, I’ll come out on top and she’ll be on the bottom. The bottom of a construction site under a few hundred tons of rubble and concrete.

  They all think I’m small time, well I’ll show them when I take the whole damn operation right from underneath them.

  I plan on taking out Georgiou, Charlie and their fucking pet Morningstar. I’ll act all sad at their deaths, appear distraught over Gianni’s passing, act like I give a shit.

  Georgiou was too old and needed to get the hell out of the game. His thinking and way of doing things was so old school it was medieval. He wasn’t willing to change with the times, so it was time for him to go.

  Gianni is a lazy prick, taking the glory for another person’s work. I’ve been running the business for years under Gianni’s ‘direction’ what a load of crap. If the cash kept coming in he was happy, money is all he cares about.

  Gianni has been saying for years he’ll talk to his father about giving me my own territory; that I’ve earned it. I have earned it and I fucking well deserve it. I’m sick of being put off, being patted on the head and told what a good boy I am. I’m sick of waiting.

  I will take what I want, its mine and no one will stop me.

  Chapter 18 Memphis

  God, this, sucks. I would consider myself a patient man but with this I was anything but patient. I wanted her home – like yesterday.

  I had tried to keep myself busy, but my concentration was non-existent. The closer we got to the day of the meeting the more anxious I became. I ended up cancelling my clients and rescheduling them as I couldn’t concentrate, and I didn’t want my worry to impact my work. My clients deserved better.

  I tried everything to distract myself. The apartment and the shop were so fucking clean a forensic team could come through and find nothing. The yard at the back of the shop was landscaped, I replaced the side fence that had seen better days and built a new BBQ. I helped Jaxon build out the front porch and add a deck to the back of his place.

  Everyone was throwing jobs at me the bigger the better. By the time I got home I had just enough energy to shower and Skype with Jupiter before falling into the sweet oblivion of sleep.

  I sanded and resealed the upper and lower wrap-around verandas of Bear’s McMansion. I repainted Bishop’s flat. Davis’ asked me to tune his bike. Even Maria’s coffee shop enjoyed my need to keep busy with the floors waxed and polished and the stockroom cleaned out.

  I was at the gym trying to burn through my anxiety and worry. I ran ten kilometres on the treadmill. Climbed a hundred flights of stairs with a weight bag on my shoulders. Rowed flat out for twenty minutes and could still feel the churning energy burning in my system. I was a God damn machine. The burning in my lungs, the screaming of my muscles kept me going.

  Fuck leg day I was going for a full body attack.

  I found out when I was checking in, that Marcus who owned the gym was selling up. He was moving to the other side of the county to be closer to his kids. Marcus had a few people interested but no one made a substantial offer just yet. He wasn’t even sure if the potential new owners would keep it as a gym. Fucking great, some new age hipster would buy it and turn it into a stuck-up café that would only sell vegan food, raw muffins and smoothies the colour of grass.

  I had been laying into a heavy bag for the last fifteen minutes feeling the need to punch and kick the shit out of things. The speed bag had held my concentration for a while, but it did nothing to work out my frustration.

  “What did that bag ever do to you son?”

  I looked up to find Mitch, my old boss and owner of Soldier Ink standing off to the side.

  “Well I’m kinda pissed that it’s not fighting back,” I replied wiping the sweat off my face with my forearm. “What are you doing here?” I asked as Mitch moved behind the heavy bag holding it keeping it steady.

  “It would appear that it was time for reinforcements to be called in,” he chuckled.

  “Fucking Jax.”

  “The kid is just worried about you son. He’s concerned that you will snap any minute now.”

  “Did he tell you why?” I asked throwing punches at the bag.

  “Yes, he did.”

  “I guess you feel kinda like my parents did when I was on deployment. Worried, sick, helpless. Praying that the phone will ring but hoping like hell it won’t. If it’s anything other than her saying she’s coming home, you don’t want to know.”

  “Yeah, you could say it’s a little something like that.”

  “Okay son, I think you have tortured this bag and your body enough for one day. Hit the showers and I’ll let you buy me a beer.”

  Half an hour later we were sitting on the back deck of the local pub, staring out at the river on my second beer waiting for my burger to arrive. Mitch had been filling me in on his life since we last spoke trying to keep me distracted. He must have realised I was only half listening because he changed the subject.

  “When’s it all going down?” Mitch asked.

  I knew I could trust Mitch. He was Jaxon’s cousin’s commanding officer, he had been my boss and I knew he was a fucking vault. Anything I told him would be held in the strictest of confidence.

  “Tonight, or tomorrow morning I can’t work out the fucking time difference,” I replied dragging a han
d down my face.

  “From what Jaxon has told me, your girl can handle herself.”

  “She can. She shouldn’t have too but she can. I just have to try and keep my sanity intact until I have her back in my arms again.”

  My anxiety was building again. I would Skype with her tonight and then it would be radio silence until it was all over. That would be the worst part. The not knowing. Being left with my own thoughts and my imagination running wild on all the possibilities of what could go wrong would be a special kind of torture.

  “Boy, you need a distraction,” Mitch said as the waitress delivered our food.

  “That’s what I was doing. That’s what I have been doing but nothing seems to be working anymore.”

  I picked up my burger and took a bite. It wasn’t until the meaty burgery goodness hit my tongue I realised just how hungry I was. I was kinda glad that Mitch had convinced me to get a basket of onion rings to go with my works burger and fries. I’m sure I won’t have a problem getting through all of this and then smashing a large pizza all to myself for dinner.

  “How’s the wedding plans going?” Mitch asked his question catching me off guard.

  Mitch would officiate at our wedding so him asking about it was not all that unusual, but I wasn’t a touchy-feely guy.

  “Good,” I replied. “It’s all sorted all I need is for my bride to come home.”

  “Food and booze all sorted?”

  I nodded

  “Guest list all sorted?”

  “Yep.”

  “Who’s walking her down the aisle?”

  “Jax is,” I replied. “Her parents are both gone, and we don’t know where her brother is. He’s in some super-secret branch of the military. Jax and Jupe haven’t been able to contact him in a while. She doesn’t even know if her brother is still alive. So, she asked Jax. I wish we could find her brother though, it would mean so her to have her Davan at the wedding.”

  “I think I may have found your distraction.”

  Chapter 19 Hedge

  “Baby, I don’t think anyone has ever done anything this romantic for me in my life.”

  I was sitting at the dining room table in my London flat with the laptop in front of me looking at my fiancé with absolute wonder. Somehow, he had pulled off the world’s most romantic dinner.

  “Baby Girl, you are my world. I wanted to have a special romantic night with you, I would do anything for you.”

  Memphis had pulled off a minor miracle. He had wanted to do something special for me, so once we knew the date for the meeting he contacted Jax who contacted Kelly about arranging everything as per Memphis’s instructions.

  They only had a few days, but with their connections from their hotel in Greece where they would board the cruise, Kelly and Sam helped Memphis make me fall even more in love with him.

  That afternoon I received a text from Kelly which said:

  You will receive three deliveries by six PM.

  Follow the instructions.

  Don’t ask questions and enjoy!

  The three deliveries that arrived brought tears to my eyes, joy to my heart and butterflies to flight in my stomach. The first box was brimming with vanilla and lily scented candles and an instruction card.

  Take the candles into the dining room and scatter them around.

  Place your laptop on the dining table and ensure that The Best of Dean Martin is ready to play.

  Use the good linens and silver and set a place for yourself at the table.

  Don’t forget the crystal wine glass.

  “What the?” I said aloud turning the card over in my hand.

  The card was written in a handwriting I did not recognise. I send a text to Memphis, Jax and Kelly none of them responded. So, I messaged again and again until Kelly replied with:

  Do as you’re told and follow the instructions!

  Curious I decided to play along. I placed the candles and set the table and waited for my next delivery that arrived thirty minutes later. Another box with another instruction card.

  Put the wine on ice. Take time for yourself.

  Have a soak in the tub, pamper yourself and then get dressed in what was provided for you.

  Your next delivery will arrive at six PM.

  I opened the box to find it filled with other boxes. I found the bottle of wine – expensive wine – and as instructed put it on ice. In another box I found more candles and bath products. Another box revealed gorgeous gossamer thin lingerie in lavender. The fourth box held heels that sparkled when you turned them in the light, they changed from silver to blue to purple. A small rectangular box contained an exquisite jewellery set; earrings with a matching necklace. In the final box nestled in tissue paper was the most elegant gown I had ever seen. It was a strapless floor-length gown. The material was silky soft and had an ombre effect to it. The dress started in silver at the bust and transitioned to blue finishing in purple at the bottom.

  I stood in the bedroom staring in awe at the amazing gifts laid out on my bed. I don’t know how Memphis had managed this, it was insane. It was too much. It was so perfectly Memphis.

  I re-read the instruction card before looking at the clock on my bedside table. Four pm, the next delivery would be here in a little over two hours and if I was to follow the cards instructions, I needed to get my ass moving.

  An hour and a half later, I was nice and relaxed from my long soak in the tub surrounded by jasmine scented candles. Getting out of the bath that left my muscles feeling melty and my skin extra soft, I prepared for dinner. I put my hair up, so it wouldn’t detract from my stunning earrings and necklace. I took extra care with my hair and makeup wanting everything to be perfect.

  The doorbell rang, and I took delivery of the final package locking up the flat and resetting the alarm. I walked into the kitchen wearing my bathrobe and lingerie that was so delicate it felt like I was wearing nothing at all.

  The final box contained food. There was a thermos bag full of delicious smelling food that made my tummy rumble.

  The instruction card read:

  Please join me for dinner at 6.15pm

  Chapter 20 Memphis

  My laptop chimed letting me know I had an incoming Skype call. I was sitting at our dining table surrounded by candles as I knew she would be. Except, I had heavy blankets covering all the windows to make the room as dark as I could due to the time difference.

  I dressed in my suit, pulled by hair back and taken extra care grooming my beard. I wanted our last Skype call to be special. After tonight there would be no contact until it was all over. The radio silence would tear me up inside with worry. I will drown myself in alcohol trying to keep numb until I knew she was okay.

  But tonight, was all about making her feel special, loved and keeping her mind distracted for a few hours before Hedge, Jupiter disappeared, and Morningstar took over.

  I answered the Skype call, and the screen filled with my gorgeous girl.

  When I contacted Jaxon and told him what I wanted to do he said he would contact Kelly.

  “Jax I have very specific requirements for this dinner. Everything needs to be perfect,” I said not wanting to trust anyone else.

  “Memph, don’t worry Sam and Kelly will make sure she gets everything you want and more. Trust me it will be beyond perfect.”

  He was right.

  “Hey, Baby Girl. You look so beautiful,” I said smiling at my girl.

  “Memphis, I don’t even know what to say. This is, it’s beyond amazing. I wish you were here, so I could kiss you.”

  “I wish I could say: Answer your door Baby Girl I’m here but someone blocked my passport,” I said raising one eyebrow giving her a stern look.

  “I’m sorry Memphis but both you and I know that if I didn’t you would have followed me. I promise when everything has settled down I will bring you back and show you everything I love about London and the UK.”

  “I’ll hold you to that promise. Now, let me look at you,” I said making a
circle with my finger, I wanted her to stand and do a little spin for me.

  “Baby, I thought the dress you got me for my birthday was beautiful. But this one is stunning,” she said running her hands down her gorgeous curves emphasized by the dress.

  “It’s only stunning because you’re wearing it Baby Girl,” I said sincerely.

  Hedge could wear a potato sack and she would still look as hot as fuck. In the dress and accessories that Sam and Kelly helped me pick out she wouldn’t look out of place at a red-carpet event.

  “Memphis all you need to do is look at me and I feel more beautiful than I have in my life.”

  “That’s because I love you, Jupiter Blue with all I am. Now, let’s eat before I suggest we skip the meal and ask you to take that dress off,” I said smirking which made her giggle.

  “Not long now Baby and that will officially be my name,” she said lifting the cover on the first course.

  I had asked Jax what her all-time favourite – death row last request - meal would be. We hadn’t had that conversation, we hadn’t needed to. Anytime she tried something new she would declare that it was her new favourite so that left me with quite a large selection of food options.

  I removed the cover from my starter and the aroma drifting up from the plate made my mouth water. I tried as much as possible to make sure we were eating the same thing, which was a bit of a struggle since we were on two different continents.

  I looked back at the screen and watched as Hedge brought the fork to her mouth and let out an appreciative moan.

  I picked up my fork shovelling food into my mouth while watching Hedge enjoy her meal. I let out an audible moan of my own as the flavour of Coconut shrimp on a bed of wild rice hit my tongue.

  “Oh my God Memphis this tastes so good!”

  I loved that Hedge ate with appreciation and gusto. She wasn’t one of these women who would order a salad minus the dressing then push the lettuce leaves around the plate pretending to eat. My girl loved her food.

  We talked and laughed, expressed how much we loved each other as we ate. The main course was an absolute melt in your mouth steak fillet. There was no chewing required the meat just dissolved on your tongue, served with kaleidoscope mixed carrots, steamed baby broccoli and a red wine jus – whatever the fuck that was.