A tattoo.
My tattoo.
“Oh my God.”
~Becca~
I’d rarely been so scared before. Not in front of Nix’s father, not when I went under Lauren’s capable hands for this ink. Maybe when I waited for my mom’s surgery was the only thing scarier.
If he didn’t understand why I did it, then it was pointless. If he rejected me now, I’d see this moment in any reflective surface for the rest of my life.
He was on his knees in front of me. Like he was praying to me—or for me. I waited, letting my ink speak for me. And it spoke volumes.
He looked bigger. Harder. Like he’d been in prison. Maybe that was where he’d been. I touched my face. I felt a little dizzy, my heart was beating so fast.
“Don’t cover it, please.” He extended his hand to me.
I put my hand down. It felt like the ink ignited. He was riveted by it. Or maybe horrified. I didn’t know. I hated not knowing.
“What did your mother say?” He grabbed my hand.
“She hasn’t seen it.” I shrugged. I literally drew over her future plans for me. The hair, the leather, and the tattoos. I was exactly everything she had always dreaded. That battle was yet to come.
“She’s okay, though?” The tenderness in his eyes made my eyes water.
I nodded.
He stood and opened his arms to me. “I’m glad.”
I waited for a second. I didn’t want charity affection. I was tougher than all that now. Partly because of the deep pain from grieving the loss of him that I’d endured.
But it was too tempting, to feel that sense of home again. I stepped into his arms and he embraced me.
“Love.”
I pushed away from him and it felt like I was lifting myself out of cement. I wanted to stay.
“What did Animal tell you?” Touching him was like being a dam hit with a sledgehammer. It was weakening me in structural ways.
“I came because he told me to. He didn’t even mention your name.” He kept his arms open like he’d been saving my place against his chest all this time. “But I knew it was you. It had to be. Nothing else matters.”
The wind picked up, a light breeze that seemed to favor this hillside. It twisted until it had plucked some dandelions’ parachutes free and set them flying. Another upside down snowstorm.
“Why did you do it?” He ran his knuckles along my temple, to my cheekbone, and finally to my chin.
He was only touching my face, but my whole body felt the strokes.
The tattoo of a skull, of course.
“So you wouldn’t be alone. Even if I never got to be with you again, I didn’t want you to be alone.” I looked down at his beat-up motorcycle boots. “I’ve never wanted you to be alone.”
“I don’t deserve you for a second. Not for a fucking minute. This is so much. Too much.” I watched his Adam’s apple move up and down as he swallowed.
The dismissal. I did my best to hide the disappointment that rippled though me.
“No. No. Don’t shut down. Please, it’s the most…the incredible… I’m not qualified to pass judgment. This is. You are. Becca, I love you. That’s never changed. It’s an honor to share your ink.” He rubbed his thumb down my cheek again, wonder in his face. “How did you manage to make the most beautiful woman in the world somehow even more? Please. I would’ve never left—I didn’t think I could do it. But for your mother…”
It was starting to seep in. He was not rejecting me. He was respecting me.
“This is okay?” I pointed to my face.
“No, it’s never been okay. You’re magnificent.” He came closer. “Can I kiss…”
I nodded. Here. With Nix.
The dandelions were the fireworks and the fireflies were an absolution. His lips and his arms wrapped around me made me realize that my memory was faulty. It didn’t let me remember how intense his touch was. How his attention slayed me.
The skull on half of my face was a testament to this. To Nix’s embrace.
He stopped kissing my lips and kissed the side of my face that was inked. “For me. That you did this for me. Why did I ever leave? I knew this. I knew you.”
I hopped and he caught me. I was giddy, drunk on being intertwined with him. “Missing you almost killed me.”
“Oh God. I was just a goddamn ghost. Becca. I love you. I’m yours, even when I wasn’t here.”
I touched his tattoos and then put my thumbs on his bottom lip.
I told him, “If you can’t tell—I’m madly in love with you. And I’d rather be here than anywhere else. But, your father, I shot him…” How could I apologize for that? I knew it was in defense of us both. I knew it as clearly as I knew my name. But I made Nix an orphan. I squeezed him again. As I opened my eyes, I saw three SUVs in the distance at a quick clip. They were kicking up dust as they sped. “Nix, are those friends of yours?” I pointed in the distance.
I watched him go from open and loving to closed and mindful. “The SUV. Of course, they tracked it. Let’s go.”
Nix grabbed my hand and we started running down the hill. I wasn’t sure what we were running from, but as long as we were together, I was willing.
~Nix~
They weren’t taking her from me. Not now. I pulled her behind me. We jumped over the little valley that was for drainage. I opened the passenger door and climbed in first, starting the car as soon as I got my feet on the pedals. Becca slammed the passenger door behind her and we took off.
“Can you call Animal on my phone?” I dug into my pocket and handed it to her. She looked at the lock screen, waiting for the code. “0615. Your birthday.”
I watched the smile on her face, and my determination to keep her safe that was already pretty goddamn stern was even harder. Being with her was like having cold water poured on me. Like I had been burning alive, and then suddenly I was saved.
I reached over and pulled her closer. We kissed as we listened to the phone ring on Animal’s end.
“Baby, that was quick. We need to sign you up for some Viagra?” He started laughing, and for the first time in a year, I let myself feel the joy of it.
A gunshot ricocheted off the back window, forcing me to focus. “I’m coming out hot. Remember our least favorite guy?”
“Feybi?” Animal offered.
“Yeah, let’s just say my contract expired and they aren’t accepting my two weeks’ notice. I’m also driving one of their bulletproof vehicles.” I checked the rearview. All of these SUVs were bulletproof, but if I were them, I would’ve grabbed a few things that could pierce the armor. Trigger would think that quickly. He’d been learning from me.
“I hear you, sweetness. You get to the old warehouse, back from in the day, and I’ll be there with cover. But you got to bounce that GPS tracker around somehow.” Animal wished me luck and said he had to make a few calls, like we were having a weekly Sunday conversation.
I looked at Becca. “You’re gonna have to slide over here and take the wheel, hotness. Unless you know how to hack into the vehicle’s computer?”
I wasn’t taking any skills she might have gained while I was gone for granted. She shook her head.
Becca and I played a horrible game of gas pedal Twister while keeping the SUV on the road. To get to the old warehouse, we would have to cross two highways and go through some back streets.
She fixed the rearview mirror and settled in the driver’s seat. I didn’t feel any reduction in the speed. She looked at my face. “What? I don’t drive the speed limit. Sue me.”
Becca sure as shit knew where she was going—proving that she had a lead foot even when she wasn’t being chased by three SUVs full of murderers.
In the glove box I found a screwdriver and attacked the information panel. I told Becca what roads she needed to take, and she did a damn good job of getting the SUV headed in the right direction at a blindingly fast speed. As good as she was, the gunfire was nerve-racking. The metal was bulletproof, but the tires weren’t. Lu
ckily, it was really hard to hit tires.
She hit a merge ramp and I held the steering wheel with her to keep the vehicle upright.
“You’re doing great, love. Keep it up.” I was able to cut the accessories without eliminating the power to our essentials.
“Okay.” I could see the tenseness in her neck. I repeated the route to her and then tried to prepare her for what was next. “I’m going to crawl into the back and see if we have some weapons back there. I need you to open the sunroof. I think the controls are by the radio. And then, I’m going to open hellfire on the bastards behind us. You drive to that warehouse no matter what happens, okay?”
She nodded. “Shoot them so good we get there together, okay?”
I felt a smile hitch up on my lips. “Damn, Becky. You got some damn hot blood, huh?”
“Don’t call me Becky.” After she stuck her tongue out at me, she focused on the road and jabbed at the console with both hands.
Behind the seats there were a few sniper rifles. They would do. I climbed back toward the front and looked at the closed sunroof.
“I think you cut the power to this.” She pointed at the roof.
“Hang tight, it’s about to get loud.” I pointed the rifle toward the ceiling.
“Hey, not to interrupt, but didn’t you tell Animal these were bulletproof?” Becca looked at me in the rearview mirror. She had a point.
“When you’re right, you’re right.” I looked at the sunroof and saw a manual override, but before I could press it, our back left tire was blown out.
Becca fishtailed all over the road, but was able to compensate enough to keep us rolling.
I picked myself up from where I had been tossed and hit the sunroof button. Now I had to do some damage, because no matter how fast she could drive, their vehicles would be faster.
I double-checked that the first rifle was loaded and came out of the vehicle shooting. When I was able to brace my arms on the roof, I zoned in on the SUV leading the pack. First the grill, then toward the sunroof, and the last shot I hit the front tire. I knew how hard it was to accomplish because I was one of the few that knew how to do it correctly, at least in this business. The lead SUV rolled off the road. Becca was a better driver than that dipshit and it made me a little hard.
Becca. She was with me. She was tatted with a skull on her face. Even aiming a rifle at Feybi’s army, I had a big, silly smile on my face. I’d take this situation than being without her any damn day.
The second SUV had two shooters and I had to slip back into the car to collect myself.
Becca yelled when I went to pop back out, “Stay down!”
I looked out the front of the windshield and felt my stomach drop like we were on a roller coaster. She cut the wheel and threaded us through the guardrail and the front of the SUV dropped out from under us.
“Shiiiitttt!” I grabbed the seat belt and made sure the rifle was pointing down.
She’d lopped off a whole off-ramp that easily gave us a two-minute gain.
I was shocked the SUV was still rolling when she jammed the gas on the last road. Two more turns and then we would be in the warehouse—for whatever that meant. I would worry about that when we got there.
I watched our rear window. The second SUV was closer than I thought. They had cut their headlights, which was smart because it made it harder for me to aim.
Becca took a hard left and a hard right. “I know the warehouse, I think. And this is a shortcut.”
At this point, I had to just trust her. Becca weaved in and out of parking lots that I didn’t even know were connected. “I go this way to avoid the lights during rush hour.”
“You’re so damn smart. And Hot. And Sexy. I’ve missed you.” Now was not the time for declarations, but I saw a ghost of a smile on her face. We still had one tail, though they had to jump medians, not knowing Becca’s fancy maze-like path by heart like she did.
Two more hard turns and she was headed toward the open door of the warehouse. The rim was throwing up sparks and making horrible sounds.
I wasn’t sure if Animal was here yet, and then as soon as we were past the front doors, they were slid behind us.
We were in the dark. All I could hear was Becca’s hard breathing and my own heart beating. Animal knocked on the side of the vehicle in the way that we had. It was a holdover from our time at the home together. It’d been our special code then. “That’s Animal,” I offered to Becca.
“Okay.” I put out my hand to touch her shoulder. It was soft. How had I not remembered how soft her skin was? I replaced my hand with my lips and was rewarded with a groan. I was hard as a goddamn diamond.
The front door opened and Animal used his cell phone to shine a light for us. “Miss Becca, right this way. Your portion of this getaway is over for now.”
I got out on my own, now that I had some light to work with. “Where are our friends?”
Animal smiled. “A few people owe me favors. Let’s just say, these men won’t bother you again.”
Some interior lights clicked on. It was more than a few men. I saw people with guns lurking in all the shadows. Something was playing out in the parking lot that involved some gunshots.
“You’re back, baby. We’re good.” Animal clapped me hard on the back.
I gave the burly man a hug. “Thanks, man.”
He hustled us into his own SUV. “We’re moving out. Hope you aren’t fond of this place. It may not be standing when they’re done.”
I looked around the interior some more. There had to be thirty guys here. All of them in black. Like a guerilla army.
“Was this your family business?” I asked Animal as I got as close as I could to Becca. She put her head on my shoulder.
I caught Animal’s satisfied sparkle in the rearview mirror. “Some of it. You don’t know everything I got going on, Bones. I got people on Ember and Christina. We’re gonna figure all this out.”
Becca put her hand on the center of my chest. “Where are we going?”
Animal gave a deep laugh before answering, “Home.”
42
AND THEN
Fenix
She was everything. That I stayed away from her was a mistake. A horrible, mind-bending tear in reality. That was why I felt like such crap. Because without a connection to her, I wasn’t human anymore.
She saved me the day my mother died, and I left her when she freed me from my father. Animal obviously had some serious questions he needed answered but I could only look at her face.
Becca interrupted and asked if it was okay if she went to my room to let us talk. I didn’t want her to. She kissed my cheek and walked away.
Animal had to snap twice to get me to look at him.
“The alarms are set. The gate is closed. The situation back at the warehouse is handled. You with me here, sweetness?”
My chest tightened when I couldn’t see her. I had time to make up. I forced myself to look at Animal because what he was talking about was important for her safety.
“What about her place?” I leaned against the counter even though it felt like my whole body was humming.
“I’ve got two there.” He leaned against the opposite counter with his phone in front of him.
“How many you got?” It was sort of hitting me that Animal was pulling all kinds of people out of the woodwork.
“Enough, baby. While you were off beating the hell out of yourself with a hair shirt, I did business. For us.” He slid his phone into the pocket of his jeans.
“What I did today, that’s gonna have repercussions.”
Animal smiled. “I hope so.”
“I took out Feybi, and the fire I started at his compound might have taken a few more.” Animal insisted on hearing the details and then stopped me to commend me on how goddamn badass it was that I played the long game and then killed the guy with his favorite liquor.
“So, you’ve built an empire in a year?” I was referring to the men at the warehouse and the guys
he had sprinkled all over town.
“No, Bones. I’ve been recruiting since before we met. It’s about the connections and doing a few favors. All this damn time you’ve been saving people—I’ve been getting ready to defend us because I knew a time would come. And that time was tonight. We’ll talk all about it in the morning. You have a lady waiting for you.” He came in and pounded on my back.
I returned the hug. “Thanks, brother. You’re above and beyond. For sure. Hey, we got anyone on those old hookers? Debra and Helena?”
Animal stopped. “Wait—I thought you got them off the streets?”
“Yeah.” It was a combination of T and me that set up the girls with a blog where they told anonymous tales of their nighttime exploits from the past twenty years. But I didn’t want to leave anyone out to fend for themselves tonight, and those two ladies were low on our radar.
Animal pulled out his phone. T was with Helena and Debra.
“T working for you too?” I pounded Animal’s fist and we did our handshake from back in the day.
“Naw, she’s like work adjacent or something. She’s a lone wolf, but I trust her. If there’s a side she’s on, I’m pretty sure it’s ours.” He pretended to kick me in the ass. “Now get. Seriously. You’ve had blue balls for over a goddamn year.”
He pointed to the staircase. I smiled and did exactly as I was told.
Becca.
~Becca~
I was sitting on the edge of the bed that seemed designated for Nix. There was a huge skull painting on the largest wall. The things we did the last time we were in a bed seemed so long ago and were still vivid in my memory. I was getting anxious. Maybe the night wasn’t over. Though I wasn’t sure if what I’d just witnessed and done was ever over. I mean, Quinn would have lost his mind if he’d seen me driving like a lunatic.
There was a knock on the bedroom door and I wasn’t sure what to say. I went with, “I’m here.”
Nix opened the door. “You are. Thank God.”
He stepped into the room and shut the door. With my love for him literally marked on my face, I was surprised I still felt unsure.
Mercy Page 32