“We’ll be there. You know we love the shop and you, honey.”
Sassy opened her mouth to speak but suddenly came up short.
“Sassy.” She heard the deep, achingly familiar voice coming from in front of her.
She blinked in complete disbelief at what she saw.
“Rafe.”
“Nothing for me then?” Another voice, just as familiar, came from just beside Rafe, and Sassy swallowed hard.
“Ian.” She shook her head. “What…what are you two doing here?”
She could have sworn everyone in the shop had stopped moving, stopped breathing. It was if they knew something was terribly wrong, and yet had no idea what to do about it.
She didn’t know what to do about it.
“We’re here for a tattoo,” Rafe answered.
“And you,” Ian put in.
With that, the phone dropped out her hand and her mind went completely blank.
Her past was back and standing right in front of her in all their sexy glory and determined faces. No matter what she did, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to wish Ian and Rafe away.
It hadn’t worked before.
It wouldn’t work this time either.
Oh shit.
Chapter Two
“Nothing to say, Sass?” Rafe Chavez asked, his words sounding much calmer than he felt right then.
He still couldn’t believe he was there standing next to the man who had left him and in front of the woman who had done the same. A decade had come and gone, but right then, in that shop, it felt like mere moments since he’d lain eyes on them.
They’d been different people back then, he was sure, but damn it, he was here now and ready to face whatever the hell he had to in order to make his plan work.
She blinked up at him with those big brown eyes he once lost himself with no hope of escape. His fingers ached to caress the chestnut tresses draped over her shoulders and curled under her breasts. It was so Sassy that she had a couple blue streaks within the mass of waves that seemed to shout she was special.
“You can’t be here,” she breathed and Rafe held back a curse.
She’d been smiling and laughing on the phone, but now looked pale and shaky. He and Ian had done that, yet Rafe knew he’d do it again if it meant moving forward with what the three of them needed. Even if two of the three of them didn’t realize they actually needed to do the same.
He didn’t break eye contact with Sassy even though he wanted to risk a glance at Ian. If he was doing what Rafe thought, then Ian was also staring at Sassy, at a loss for what to do. Rafe could just picture the man, only an inch or so taller than he, giving Sassy that unwavering look with his piercing blue eyes, chiseled features, and onyx black hair that he’d tied back with a leather strap.
Rafe would have liked to think more about the man by his side but knew this wasn’t the time or place. Now, it was all about Sassy. If they could get her to talk with them, maybe they had a chance for what Rafe wanted.
Since Sassy looked like she was about to bolt, he wasn’t putting much faith in round one of their plan.
Crap.
“Sassy?” Ian said, his voice a low rumble filled with the elegant edge that Rafe had always secretly loved.
She shook her head once more then rolled her shoulders back. Well, hell, as much as he liked it when she got all sexy and angry at the same time, he’d much rather have had her not yell…and that was what she was about to do.
“What the hell are you two doing here?” she yelled.
Yep. Got it in one.
Rafe tore his eyes from her face and risked a glance at the people coming up behind Sassy. Most of the dudes were bigger than even he and Ian, and that was saying something. Plus, their looks of impending death and doom didn’t bode well.
“Cariña, can we talk privately?” Rafe asked.
She narrowed her eyes at his name for her and curled her lip. “Don’t call me that. You have no right to call me that.”
While he understood her anger, which he knew he deserved, it took everything in his power not to remind her that she left him. That would be a discussion for a later time.
“I’m sorry.” He wasn’t. “We’re just here to talk and get ink. We weren’t lying about that.”
She snorted. “Of all the shops, in all of New Orleans, you had to walk into mine?”
He grinned at the reference to their favorite movie then held back a frown at her reaction. The way she’d paled a bit after she’d said it, he knew she’d done it by accident. He’d take it however since that meant somewhere inside her she was still thinking of him, of them.
“Is there something wrong, Sass?” one of the dudes from the back said as he walked up behind Sassy. He put his hand on her shoulder and Rafe had to keep from yelling at the guy to keep his hands off his woman. He thought of Ian. Their woman.
Another man, this one even bigger than the first came up on her other side. He crossed his beefy arms over his barrel of a chest and glared.
Well shit, he didn’t want to get in a fucking fight right there in the shop. He’d had enough of fighting as a teen and didn’t want to do it again. Plus he didn’t think Sassy would appreciate it.
“Need us to take care of these two for you?” the bigger man asked, his voice full of dangerous promises.
Sassy turned on her heel and put her fists on her waist. “Excuse me? Since when do I need the two of you to fight my battles? I’m not some damsel in distress who needs her white knight to slay the dragon. I’ll slay my own fucking dragons.” She glared over her shoulder at Rafe and Ian. “Or whatever the hell these two are.”
The first man who’d spoken smiled warmly at her. “Sass, hon, we’re just looking out for you. We all know you can take care of yourself. That doesn’t mean you should.”
Sassy let out a breath and Rafe sucked in one of his own, afraid of what she’d say. He knew the woman never liked to be perceived as vulnerable. He and Ian coming in like this and surprising her had been a bold move, and in retrospect, a not-so-smart one.
He just hadn’t known what else to do.
“I’m fine, Shep.” She patted his cheek then moved to the bigger man. “Thank you for defending my honor, Caliph. Now since I’ve made a scene where usually I only like to make my own on my own terms, I’m going to talk to these two…gentleman… away from here.”
Rafe held back a triumphant fist pump but met Ian’s gaze. The other man gave a small twitch of his lips, but otherwise didn’t react to Sassy’s words.
Well, it was better than nothing.
“If you’re sure, Sass,” Shep grumbled.
“I’m sure. They’re not going to hurt me.”
Rafe heard the odd note in her tone and knew what she was thinking. They’d hurt each other all those years ago but right then it was about overcoming all of that. It had to be.
“We really did come here for ink,” Rafe put in, trying to ease some of the tension.
Sassy turned toward them and raised a brow. “Oh, I have no doubt that was one of your intentions. Now we get to see what your other ones are.”
With that she moved around the desk, picked up her bag, and brushed passed them. That sexy wiggle in her step causing her hips to sway back and forth.
Damn, he’d missed watching her walk.
Ignoring the glares from Shep, Caliph, and the others in the shop, he turned to follow Sassy out the door. He heard Ian mutter something under his breath, then do the same.
“I don’t know who you two are, but if you hurt Sassy, we’ll hurt you,” Shep said from behind them and Rafe stopped.
He looked over his shoulder and gave a slight nod. “We don’t want to hurt her.”
“Then don’t be fucking idiots,” Caliph put in.
Rafe gave one last look at the men who protected Sassy, then followed the woman in question out of the door and onto the street. Midnight Ink was located right on Canal Street and since it was just getting dark outside, the early dinner
and cocktail hour crowd filled the streets. Since it was February, it was a bit chilly outside but nothing like what it would be back in New York where he’d lived for the past decade.
Sassy stopped in front of them and turned, her face expressionless. “I don’t know why you’re here and don’t tell me it’s for a tattoo. All three of us know that even though you might have wanted one, it was just a ruse to get me to talk to you. Well, now you’ve got me.” She cursed. “For this talk only. I don’t run away from my problems. Not anymore. So the three of us are going to go to my place and hash this out so I can go about my business. I don’t like airing out my dirty laundry at work or in a public place. And that’s what the two of y’all are. Dirty laundry.”
While most men would have taken a hit at her words, Rafe knew he and Ian wouldn’t. Sassy lashed out like a frightened kitten when she was cornered. Oh, he wouldn’t back down. This kitten had claws, but damn, he missed the way she yelled and ranted.
Yes, he was a lunatic, but he’d long since gotten over that fact.
Going to her home would be a sweet torture for him since all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and never let her go. He wasn’t an animal—barely—so he’d hold off doing something stupid like lie prostrate at her feet and beg for forgiveness.
However, that was the backup plan.
“That sounds like a reasonable plan,” Ian put in, his voice smooth as silk. The man was like frost—ice, cold, and uniquely alluring—to others, but Rafe knew the man would thaw to reveal the fiery passion he and Sassy had fallen in love with that smoldered beneath the ice.
Rafe not only had to mend the frayed fabric of what he and Sassy had, but piece together the connection he’d shared with Ian.
He’d lost so much ten years ago and he’d be damned if he’d walk away now.
“Of course it’s reasonable,” Sassy spat. “It’s my plan.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Rafe held himself back from offering to help with that. “I need to stop snapping. We’re adults and I’m sounding like a freaking teenager who lost her Edward doll.” She rolled her shoulders. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Did you drive here?” Rafe asked. Though Ian and he had enough money to have hired private investigators and could call up data on Sassy at the snap of their fingers, they hadn’t done so. They wanted to learn more about the woman in front of them on their own and be on equal footing.
Though where Sassy was concerned, she always had the upper hand; however, that was another matter.
She shook her head in response to Ian’s question. “I walked. I live close, and if it’s too late by the time I leave, one of the guys from the shop walks me home.”
Rafe ground his teeth. As much as he liked the fact Sassy wasn’t walking alone late at night, he didn’t like hearing about other men. She might not have been his for ten years, but that didn’t mean he appreciated hearing about any other men in Sassy’s life.
Damn it. He needed to stop acting like a Neanderthal.
Since they’d driven together in Ian’s car, Rafe let him decide what they were going to do.
“We’ll leave our car in the parking lot here, if that’s safe,” Ian said.
Sassy shrugged. “If you parked it behind Midnight in the gated area, you’ll be fine. I have keys and can get you back to your car if they close up by the time y’all leave.” She narrowed her eyes. “Though I don’t think we’ll be that long. Come on then. I’m right up this way.”
They walked the two blocks to her place in silence. The tension rose with each step but Rafe didn’t mind. Once they got over the first part, he’d be able to breathe again.
God, he’d missed them so much.
Not that he’d let anyone other than the two people near him know that. After all he was Rafe Chavez, badass mechanic and shop owner. He’d once been Rafe Chavez, badass high school dropout, but times had changed and so had he. Instead of boosting cars like he had in his youth, he repaired them and rebuilt classic ones on request. He was damn good at his job and everyone knew it. He now owned three shops, two in New York, and one right down here in New Orleans where he’d grown up.
He’d made something of himself.
In doing so, he’d lost what mattered.
Now he had a chance to rectify that. After all, he’d made himself who he was so he would take the chance and make his own future as well.
They finally made their way up to Sassy’s loft apartment. Considering where she’d grown up, this place was small in comparison, but it definitely suited the woman in front of him.
From what he could see from the entryway, there was a living area, a large kitchen and two bedrooms. Every single counter and shelf had something on it. Colors burst from fabric, rugs, and little glass bottles. It would have been overwhelming if the owner had been anyone other than Sassy. Plants littered the area and were alive and flourishing, many with colored blooms. Knickknacks covered the spaces in between and yet what Rafe noticed the most was the lack of personal photos.
Not a single one of her friends from the present or the past.
That was telling…and something to think about later.
She set her bag down and sank onto her couch. “My feet are sore, my muscles ache from hot yoga this morning, and I have growly man friends at the shop I’ll have to deal with later, so let’s get this over with.”
Rafe held back a grin at the word “friends”. Well, that was one point for him and Ian. Plus he had to block the image of Sassy doing hot yoga. Talking over serious things while he had a hard-on probably wasn’t the best idea.
“You look good, Sass,” Rafe said as he slid his hands into his jeans pockets. Ian might have worn his suit and tie, looking like the billionaire he was, but Rafe liked the feel of well-worn denim. Plus, it was what Sassy had always seen him in, so he wasn’t going to buck tradition and memories.
She smiled softly, even with the pain in her eyes. “You both look good, too.” Her hands came up to her face and she sighed into them. “Jesus, what are you doing here? What are we doing here?”
He gave a nod to Ian, who unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down on the couch next to her. He was ice and harnessed power where Rafe was fire and intense passion. Sassy was a blend of both with the manic energy necessary to handle the two of them.
That’s what he loved about the three of them and what he prayed they would be again.
Rafe sat on the coffee table in front of her. They were essentially boxing her in on two sides, yet leaving her an escape with the third.
“We’ve missed you, Sass. No, don’t yell. Please. Not yet. I’m speaking for Ian right now because I know he’s felt at least that, but baby, cariña, you have to know this. We’ve missed you these past ten years. Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about you and Ian.” He smiled at the man who’d haunted his dreams right along with the woman in front of him. “We left things off all those years ago in such a shit way that I never thought we’d have a chance to fix it, but Sassy, we can.”
She shook her head, those blue streaks in her hair waving wildly. “No. What we had? That was great when we were younger. Things like this, a triad, it only works when the stars are aligned and people don’t give a fuck about what others say.” She looked at Ian with a sad smile then at Rafe. “Y’all had so much to lose if we kept it up, and frankly, it didn’t work because sure, we tried, but it wasn’t enough. We were kids who wanted to have fun and now we’re older and need to move on.”
It hurt to hear the lies coming out of her mouth but he kept his face level. She was lying to herself just as much as to them. Sassy had to know they knew it as well.
“We’re older, sure, but that means we know what we want.” He nodded to Ian. “I’ll let Ian talk about his own feelings and I’ll talk about my own. We were kids, yeah. We were best friends from three walks of life and fell in love. Don’t lie to me about that. Yeah, we fucked, made love, and had best sex of my life, but we also loved each other. Whatever we do from
here on out, don’t take that away. It wouldn’t hurt so much now if it hadn’t meant everything back then.”
“Sassy, we’ve all made choices we regret,” Ian said. “My biggest one is that while I wasn’t the one to walk away physically first, I was the one who left emotionally.”
Rafe sucked in a breath, shocked as hell that Ian would admit that. The man who never showed weakness as a young man had grown up.
Thank God.
Sassy growled then shifted away so she could stand. “No. Don’t do this. I might’ve been the one to leave the two of you, but that was because y’all had already left me.”
Tears streamed down her face and Rafe stood, unable to hold himself back anymore. He brushed her cheeks, and she pulled away.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
“I never left, Sass. No matter what you think, I never left.” He’d deal with Ian in a moment, but right then, she had to know where he stood. He cupped her face and took his heart in his hands by lowering his head. His lips brushed hers ever so slightly as he fell into the memories of what they’d once been.
She tasted of sugar and spice, and he craved her more now than he ever had before. She pulled away again and sniffed.
“You have to leave. Both of you. I’m…I’m sorry I left the two of you before and broke everything, but I can’t do this. I’ve moved on, and I know the two of you must have as well. Please. Just let me live my life without the two of you. I’ve done it for ten years, I can do it again.”
Ian stood and moved to their side. “We’ll leave you alone tonight.” Rafe opened his mouth to speak and Ian shook his head. “No, we’ll leave, Rafe. Sassy’s been through enough tonight. It was a shock to see us. However, darling Sassy, we will be back. Or if you want to see us again before then, we’re in my old loft.”
Sassy’s jaw dropped. “You…you’re back?”
Ian smiled, but it wasn’t nice, more of a determined promise. “Rafe and I are both back in New Orleans for good. We might have stayed away for our own reasons and were apart from each other for even more, but now? We’re home now and we want you with us. Take your time. Think. But know that this isn’t over.”
Ink Reunited Page 2