Dead Ink

by Donna Augustine

  She looked up at him now, out of necessity. He needed to understand she was serious.

  He leaned back in the seat he’d taken opposite her. The muscles in his abdomen bunched as he relaxed against it, resting his arm along the back. His face was blank of expression.

  She didn’t know how he’d take this and she wasn’t exactly in a position to dictate terms. This could very well get her kicked out but she needed to draw a line somewhere. She understood why he’d done it, but she needed to be in her right mind at all times. She didn’t have the luxury of leaning on someone else any more than she already was.

  He finally nodded, seeming to be okay with the line she’d drawn for him. “You know I only did it because you were in rough shape.”

  “I know.”

  She looked down at her eggs, only a couple of bites eaten, and at the mention of her condition last night, she didn’t think she’d be eating anymore.

  Arthur. It didn’t seem real. Maybe because she didn’t have a funeral to go to, or a body to ID, it was harder to believe. And the images she’d seen of his mangled body… They couldn’t have been him. Or maybe she was becoming numb; maybe she needed to if she wanted to survive this and keep any type of sanity.

  The numbness didn’t want to expand to the last subject she had to address with him. “And I’m sorry about…” Faith’s words faltered with the embarrassment at having to utter the reason for the apology.

  “What?”

  She looked up at him and wondered if he was playing stupid. When she looked at him though, he really didn’t seem to know where she was heading with that statement. Then it dawned on her. He didn’t think anything of what happened last night. He probably had girls falling all over him on a regular basis.

  “What?” he repeated, and she realized it was too late to back out of the apology.

  She had to explain herself somehow. If she’d been a good liar, she would’ve thought of something to make up. But instead of lying, Faith said, “I’m sorry I came on to you. I don’t know what was wrong with me.” She swore to herself that she was going to start practicing lying later that very day.

  ***

  Lars leaned back and took in her fidgeting, the way her eyes kept breaking contact with his. “That’s my fault,” he said. “It was a side effect of what I did to you.” She’d looked so uncomfortable that the lie had come out without even thinking about it. When had he started caring about a woman’s feelings?

  She looked relieved that she had something to blame it on other than owning the fact that she wanted him, and he instantly regretted saying it. He didn’t have too much time to ponder it or let the irritation take hold before she hit him with another whammy.

  “I really appreciate you letting me stay here but I think I need to get my own place. I don’t think it’s safe for anyone to get too close to me after what happened.”

  “Trust me, we’d be happy to have Malokin get within reach. You’ve got nothing to worry about on that front.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to risk being responsible for something bad happening to anyone else.”

  And that’s what he got for overpaying her. He’d known three thousand a week was too damn much but then the guys kept telling him it should be five thousand. He remembered how they carried on. What? Do you want her to have to bargain shop for everything she buys? How can you make her live like that?

  Even she’d insisted it was too much when he’d given her the money. He’d ignored her, feeling guilty because of what the guys had said, even though there weren’t any stores left open to shop in. Now look at the situation he was in. She had money to rent a place.

  Faith was toying with her food again and he was happy she wasn’t looking at him. He grabbed his plate and took it over to the sink, trying to get his knee jerk reaction to arbitrarily tell her it was out of the question under control.

  “Lars?”

  He kept his back to her as he decided on what to do. Normally he was trying to get women out, not keep one in. He had no clue on how to handle this and the last time he’d blurted shit out, she’d gotten all unhappy. He didn’t know if he could even get a hold of the caterer guy today, so yelling probably wasn’t a good idea without a lunch spread to cajole her back into a good mood.

  He’d have to go with logical roadblocks. He cleared his throat in preparation of throwing the first one out there. “You aren’t going to find a place to rent right now.”

  “I saw a vacancy sign in a building a few blocks away from here when I was driving with Cutty.”

  He knew exactly where she was talking about. Even if he was prepared to let her leave, he’d be damned if he’d let her go live there with the animal that owned that building.

  He turned around and eyed up how prettily she was sitting and went with his gut. “I know the building. It’s got an infestation of rats.” Her face told him he’d nailed it. Time for the final blow. “Plus, how are you going to get a place when you don’t have an identity?”

  “Cutty said he could help me get one.”

  “He did?” Lars turned back to the sink before he silently cursed. What the hell was that dumbass doing lately? He was going to have a word with him.

  “Yes. He didn’t say when but I think I need to do this. There must be other places. I can’t steal your bed forever.”

  He heard the frustrated sigh in her voice and decided it probably wasn’t a good time to explain to her that he planned on them sharing it soon.

  He couldn’t tell her what to do. Not if he didn’t want to deal with her bad mood and he didn’t have the caterer. “I’ll call Cutty right now and ask him how we get the ball rolling.” He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed the bastard’s number.

  “Hey, buddy! Faith was just asking about the ID you said you could get her? She wants to start apartment shopping.” Lars smiled as he made his way towards the door that led downstairs, waving toward Faith that he’d be back in a few minutes.

  “Lars? Is that you? Why do you sound so weird? Like cheerful and shit?” Cutty asked.

  The door shut and when he was sure Faith couldn’t hear him, he let loose. “You. Fucking. Idiot. Why’d you tell her that shit about getting her an ID? Are you being stupid on purpose?”

  “Ah, now here’s the Lars I know so well. It happened a few days ago, before our meeting. Why you so pissed? She was over here and looking all sorts of sad. I was trying to make her feel better,” Cutty said, every laid back and relaxed word coming from his mouth a tiny encouragement for Lars to get in his car and go punch his face in person.

  “And now what are you going to do?” He walked the rest of the way downstairs and out into the back parking lot, needing the space.

  “I don’t think it’s a horrible idea.”

  “What do you mean? Keith tried to kidnap her from your house and killed her brother. It’s a horrible idea. You want to send her out there alone?”

  “Why don’t we set her up in one of the buildings you own? You could easily secure it and we could still keep tabs on her.” Lars owned several apartment buildings scattered throughout the Carolinas, and every one of them was almost as safe as his place.

  “No. They aren’t secure enough, and it takes time and energy to do that,” Lars said it with a force that surprised him. “Plus, the other guys would never feel comfortable with that. We all agreed last night,” he added for good measure.

  “All of your buildings are protected, so don’t give me that shit. There’s no way you haven’t done that. We all know how you are with your shit, and we both know she’d be plenty safe.”

  That’s what he got for being around Cutty so much. The guy knew him so well it was becoming impossible to lie. “We still don’t know what her connection to Keith really is. All we know it what she’s saying.”

  “I think you guys are wrong. We should trust her. Just a gut feeling but I do.”

  “No. No to all of it.”

  “If she wants to leave, I don’t think we fo
rce her to stay.” Some frustration finally leaked into Cutty’s voice.

  “We’re doing it for her own good.”

  “What the hell is wrong with you guys lately? First Fate and now you? What are we becoming that we dictate people’s lives for them? I never wanted mine dictated to me and I won’t dictate hers.”

  “It’s not about dictating. We don’t know if we can trust her,” Lars said.

  “Lars, I know this chick is affecting you in some weird fucking way, but you’re crossing a lot of lines lately.”

  “I’m not crossing a line and she’s not going anywhere.”

  Was he crossing a line? No. He was right. There was a heavy silence on the phone while he waited to see how far he was going to have to push Cutty to get him to back off. He didn’t need Cutty getting Angus and Bic all worked up too.

  “I don’t—”

  Lars cut off whatever Cutty was planning on saying. “Cutty, I’m going to tell her that you’ll reach out to your contacts. Then in a few days, you’re going to tell her you couldn’t get in touch with them. Do you hear me? We can reassess in a few weeks’ time.”

  There was a loud sigh. “Fine.”

  “Good.” He hit end before Cutty could complain again and headed back up the stairs towards where Faith was. He had other pressing matters that needed to be handled.

  ***

  Faith was still sitting at the table when Lars walked back in, his eyes narrowed and he was looking a little tenser than he had.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked even though she didn’t want to know. She couldn’t handle any more bad news today, not after getting Arthur’s ring yesterday.

  “Nothing at all. Cutty is going to get in touch with his connection that handles the IDs.”

  “Oh good,” she said, even though she suspected something had gone wrong with that conversation. But if he didn’t want to talk about it, she wasn’t going to press.

  She stood and went to get another cup of coffee, and he reached into the fridge and poured milk into her mug without her asking. She took a step back, even more sensitive to his proximity than normal after last night. It was probably only natural to feel self-conscious after she’d clung to him like stripes on a zebra. Or had he stepped closer to her?

  He inched forward and she realized he was definitely invading her space, not the other way around, so close that she could feel his heat and see how perfect his skin was.

  She backed away quickly and went to sit at the table again, afraid to linger after she’d thrown herself at him. She thought back to yesterday and remembered how he’d climbed in bed with her. He’d been trying to comfort her and she’d been trying to sleep with him. Even though he’d said it was part of the thing he’d done to her, she wasn’t completely sold on that, not with the way her fingers itched to touch him every time he was near.

  “I’ve got to go meet up with someone over in Charleston today. Want to come along for the ride? Might be nice to get out, change of scene for a while?” he asked as he looked down at the screen of his phone like it wasn’t a big deal either way.

  “I don’t know. I should probably get back to the shop finances. I really wanted to get them organized yesterday—” Her words died suddenly when she thought of what had interrupted her.

  He walked over to where she was and stopped on the opposite side of the table, resting his palms on the surface as he leaned over. “It’ll be good for you to get out of here. Rick doesn’t need you to help him in the shop. Take a break. It’s safe. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

  He had that slight smile on his face that was so unbelievably charming and made her insides turn to mush. He was dangerous, and not just to people he didn’t like. She was fairly certain he could inflict a lot of physical damage if he wanted but she was more concerned about her psyche at the moment.

  She knew she wasn’t the only woman he affected. She’d seen them around him. The way they got all giggly and flirtatious. He had an effect on them that was almost uncomfortable to be a bystander to, or at least she found it distasteful. They threw themselves at him and he barely noticed, as if it were so common he’d become immune.

  But oh man, did she want to get out of here for a while, especially after yesterday. She felt claustrophobic knowing Keith had eyes on this place. It was getting to the point she didn’t feel comfortable taking a step past the door alone. The idea of getting out of this place, and miles and miles away was too much temptation.

  “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

  Chapter 23

  They’d driven most of the way in silence and he didn’t press her to talk. He knew she was coming to terms with her loss. He also knew there were no words found in spoken language that could soothe some hurts.

  He glanced over at her, as he had done every so often on the drive. She’d hung Arthur’s ring, free of blood, onto a string around her neck. He watched as her fingers toyed with it, but she’d be okay. She was tough, more so than she even realized. More than he’d realized when he’d met her. There was this sheer force of will he felt in her, like she’d never truly give up on life, no matter what happened.

  She finally spoke as they were driving through Charleston. “What did you have to do here? I don’t think you ever told me.”

  “The ink I use for the special tattoos, it needs a specific base or it won’t work.”

  “You don’t make it yourself?” she asked him.

  “I have but I prefer not to. It’s a bit messy.” He looked over at her briefly. “You really don’t want to know,” he added, before she thought to ask. To be honest, he wished he didn’t know. He’d made it once and that had been plenty.

  “You get it here?” She pointed to the grand old mansion on the waterfront he was slowing down in front of.

  “It’s an old family business,” he said as they pulled into the drive. He got out of the car and stood looking at the place that made so many memories rush back.

  This was where it had all started for him and the beginning of going rogue from the Universe. A fling with a girl who said she was a witch. It had been the first person outside the agency who he’d told the truth to.

  Normally, hell would open up if he divulged those kinds of details to someone not like them, a person not in the employ of the agency. The consequences were steep for giving out that information. The person told would die, memory erased, and be shipped off to a new life.

  This girl who called herself a witch said she wanted to know about him. He’d told her the risks and she said she still wanted to know. That she wasn’t afraid. He told her, fully expecting her to die. He hadn’t really cared. She’d been warned. It was her decision. Then nothing happened.

  That’s when the experimenting started. He’d thought that he was the one keeping all the secrets but the black hole of knowledge this woman possessed was staggering. He’d learned most of what he knew of the arts from her. It’s what had led to him being able to quit the agency completely but quitting hadn’t freed him the way he’d hoped it would. The urges had persisted.

  “Should I come in with you?” Faith asked, walking over to his side.

  When Lars had invited her, it had been a knee-jerk decision. He hadn’t thought out the possibilities. Larissa, the witch who helped him and also one of the only women he’d slept with more than a handful of times, might not be keen on meeting a female who was staying with him. Then again, she’d have no way of knowing that. He’d introduce Faith as the shop manager, which she was, and it would go fine. Why wouldn’t it?

  It would have to, because even though Keith had no way of knowing where they were, the thought of leaving Faith out here alone made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Decision made. She was coming in. “Yeah, come on.”

  He took another look at Faith as she walked beside him to the house. Did she have to wear that white lacy top today though?

  Hell, it didn’t really matter. She looked good in anything she put on, but Lars’ unease grew steadily as he knocked
on the door.

  The unease exploded into dread the second Larissa stood there on the threshold. She looked as youthful as always but the face that was frozen in age didn’t have a problem expressing displeasure the second she saw Faith. It probably didn’t help that on at least half the trips he made here, he usually did more than just pick up ink. Why did he always forget how possessive women could get? He shifted gears immediately into damage control.

  “Larissa, this is my shop manager. I thought it would be a good idea if you met her in case she needed to do a run by herself at some point.” There, problem solved.

  Larissa’s gaze shot instantly to him, eyebrows raised, letting him know his last minute excuse ranked in the epic fail category. Faith looked at him with an expression that silently asked him why he’d even brought her here. How did they both know so damn quickly?

  Faith held out a hand. “Keys. I’m going to wait in the car.”

  Lars grabbed Faith’s arm and dragged her back several feet from the door, while Larissa leaned on the jamb, still looking quite put out at the unexpected addition to their normal afternoon.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “Your girlfriend looks a little territorial. I’m not going into someone’s house where I’m clearly unwelcome. I have more pride than that. I’d prefer to sit out in the car.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend.”

  “She thinks so. Keys?”

  “No. Not a good idea.”

  “Yes.” One hand shot to her hip and the other one shot out toward him, palm up. “It is.”

  Why the hell was she pissed?

  “No. You aren’t staying out here,” he said, ignoring her demand.