Barber Shop Ink - Book 2: Between a Hedge and a Hard Place

by Penny Blush

“Please don’t let me keep you from your cupcakes,” I smiled.

  Jax left, and Memphis and I resettled in the chair not wanting to go inside just yet. We had ordered Italian to be delivered at eight PM, so we decided to stay outside until the food arrived.

  “So that’s everything,” Memphis said. “We’re all ready to get married.”

  “Are you ready Mr Blue?” I asked looking into his loving eyes.

  “Impatiently ready Mrs Blue,” he smiled his eyes crinkling at the sides.

  I loved everything about this man and could not wait to tie my life to his now always and forever. We were all but married now, anyway.

  We lived together. He had signed over half of his business to me, which initially had made me cranky. I told him that the shop was his, and I didn’t want his money. But he explained that I was his partner in life and all things, so I should. “Shut up and sign the damn papers”. We were each other’s emergency contacts, I was his, and he was mine. We just needed to make it official.

  “You know there is one last thing that you need to do,” Memphis informed me.

  “No there’s not,” I said running through my mental checklist. “Dresses, suites, invites, cake, celebrant, reception, catering, booze, I haven’t missed anything.”

  “Yes, you have,” he smirked. “You have to tell me your real name before we get married.”

  Memphis still didn’t know. He refused to look at it on any of the paperwork from the shop or lawyers because he said that he was waiting for me to tell him. I laughed realising that it was almost two years, and I still hadn’t told him.

  “I don’t know if you have earned the right to my real name just yet,” I giggled using the words that I had given him, what seemed like a lifetime ago in Jaxon’s backyard.

  “Oh, really?” he raised a sexy eyebrow at me. “What do I have to do my Goddess to earn that right?”

  I turned on his chest so that I could see his handsome face.

  “Accept me.”

  “I do.”

  “Love me.”

  “I do.”

  “Marry me.”

  “I will.”

  Love filled my heart to the point of explosion as he said, ‘I Do’ in his deep rumbling voice. The vibration of the deep timber of his voice rolling through his chest cloaked me in a lust filled warmth that spread throughout my entire body, pooling between my legs.

  “It’s getting a bit cold out here,” I said shivering burrowing into his heat a little more.

  “Let’s go,” he said shifting forcing me to stand up reluctantly. “Inside with you Mrs Blue.”

  I don’t think I will ever get sick of hearing him call me that. I gathered up the blanket and empty beer bottles taking them back inside as Memphis set about putting out the fire. I walked back out to see him staring into the fire hypnotized by the flames. I walked up to him wrapping my arms around him from behind resting my cheek against his muscular back. I breathed in deeply. He smelt of smoke from the fire and the woodsy manly scent that was uniquely Memphis. I moved around to stand in between Memphis and the dying heat of the fire, reaching up I brought his face down to mine so that I could kiss him. He kissed me back our tongues exploring each other's mouths as we started to sway slowly dancing to music that only we could hear.

  There was a noise at the gate, the food was here.

  “Baby, I think the food is going to go cold,” I said brushing my lips to his in a gentle kiss.

  “Why is that fiancé of mine?” he asked against mine his beard tickling me.

  “Because I need you to take me upstairs and make love to me,” I said my tongue teasing his lips.

  “Your wish is my command,” he replied dancing with me for a few more steps. Reluctantly he pulled away from me, picking up the bucket of water that he had placed beside the fire pit and doused the last flames.

  “I’ll pay for the food, and then we can forget it until much, much later. But first you own me your name,” he smirked smacking me on the ass making me shiver.

  “Okay, Mr Blue,” I said walking backwards out of the shadows cast by the trees on the riverbank. “My name is…”

  “Morningstar,” a voice interrupted stopping both my feet and my heart.

  No, no, no, no, no! I stood frozen in shock. I slowly turned and stared at the figure that stepped out from the darkness of the balcony overhang.

  “Charlie,” I whispered.

  Chapter 26 Hedge

  “What? Baby Girl who the hell is this?” he asked his temper rising.

  “This … this is my Uncle Charlie,” I stammered.

  What the hell was he doing here? I haven’t had any contact with him since he put me beaten and broken on a plane to send me home after the ‘beat out’. That had been nearly seven years ago.

  “That fucking bastard,” Memphis roared charging forward.

  I quickly stepped in front of him, pushing on his chest getting him to stop. Uncle Charlie might be the only one visible, but you can be damn certain he was not alone.

  “Baby stop,” I begged, shaking my head. Looking him in the eye hoping that my eyes expressed my hunch.

  I turned, my back pressed against Memphis’s chest and addressed the man who I once loved and now, hated with a passion.

  “What are you doing here Charlie?” I demanded.

  “An Uncle is not allowed to visit his niece?” He asked his English accent grating on my nerves.

  “You haven’t made any attempts to contact me since you had me dumped in the cargo hold of that plane. So, no, you can’t just drop in. What do you want Charlie?” I demanded my anger rising.

  “I wish to speak with you, nothing more,” he made a point of looking over my shoulder at Memphis, “alone.”

  “Not going to happen,” Memphis said pointy.

  “This is between my niece and I. It does not concern you,” Charlie replied.

  “Charlie whatever you need to say you can say it in front of Memphis,” I said squaring my shoulders. “We don’t have any secrets,” well apart from my name, but that was beside the point.

  “Is that right, he knows of your past,” Charlie said smugly; like he was the keeper of a great secret.

  “She just told you we have no secrets. I know everything, including how you just stood by and let your thugs beat the shit out of her,” Memphis growled menacingly. “Now, say what you have to say, then get the fuck off my property.”

  “Memphis, my man, your grubs here bro,” Terry the kid who delivered for Little Italia, called bustling in with an insulation bag of food. “Sorry I’m late bro there have been heaps of deliveries tonight, I got caught up.”

  “It's fine Terry,” Memphis said pulling out his wallet to pay the kid and give him a generous tip. “You tell your old man to stop working you so hard yeah,” he said handing over the cash and taking the bag of food.

  “Memphis, this is too much,” Terry said trying to hand some of the money back. It was the same routine they went through every time we ordered takeout.

  “Terry, that’s your tip bud, you saved me from having to go out and get it.”

  “Are you sure?” Terry asked. “Thanks, bro,” he added when Memphis nodded, indicating that the money was his. “You guys have a great night.” Moments later the sound of Terry’s vesper buzzing off into the night could be heard.

  “Let’s move this inside,” Charlie suggested, “I would hate for your dinner to go cold.”

  “You can fuck right off,” Memphis barked.

  “Memphis,” I said getting his attention, and we walked back over to me, putting himself in between my uncle and me. “I have to talk to him. We have to talk to him,” I corrected as he growled at me.

  “I don’t want him anywhere near our home.”

  “Fine, the shop kitchen then,” I conceded.

  I didn’t want Charlie's evil presence to taint our home either. Memphis thought for a moment before nodding handing me the bag of takeout.

  “Fine but you take this upstairs, an
d I’ll wait with Charlie. I don’t want you alone with him.”

  Not wanting to argue I rushed the food upstairs, placing it in the fridge, not knowing how long we would be and run back downstairs. Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table in the shop staff room like he owned the place, with Memphis standing against the sink with his arms crossed looking like he was about to commit murder.

  “I see congratulations are in order,” Charlie said indicating to my engagement ring. “I guess my invitation got lost in the mail.”

  “Why are you here Charlie?” I asked again ignoring his comments.

  “I wish I were here with happier news, but I have something unpleasant to tell you,” I gravitated to Memphis who wrapped an arm around me. “Brian and Stella are dead.”

  His blunt words slammed into my heart breaking it.

  “What?” I asked not wanting to believe his words. “What happened?”

  “They were killed. Well, murdered would be more accurate,” Charlie said picking at an invisible piece of lint on his pants.

  A thousand questions ran through my head. Stella owned a hairdressing salon in London, Brian owned and ran a pub. Brian had been friends with Charlie since grade school, but he had nothing to do with any of Charlie’s businesses, legitimate or otherwise.

  He would occasionally turn a blind eye and let Charlie use the pub’s basement room for meetings, but he never had any involvement. He didn’t know and didn’t want to know what was going on. Who would want to hurt two beautiful people, who were well known and loved by their community? It didn’t make any sense.

  “What… what do you mean they were murdered? What happened? Who would want to hurt them and why? They were never involved in anything!”

  “From what we have been able to figure out it was done in retaliation.”

  “Retaliation for what, what did you do?” I demanded to know.

  What the hell had Charlie done to piss someone off so much that two innocent people were killed to send a message?

  “It would seem my dear niece that you have been a naughty girl and pissed someone off. You were supposed to be out that was our agreement. You left me and your life in London with the understanding that Morningstar no longer existed.”

  “That’s exactly, what happened. Morningstar was put in a box and locked away forever. I haven’t been Morningstar for almost seven years. I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  “Well, something you have done has come to the attention of Georgiou Marino.”

  “Shit,” I whispered.

  “Quite. Georgiou has … questions,” Charlie finished.

  Shit, shit, fuck, shit, fuck!

  This was all, my fault. I felt the colour drain out of my face when the realisation hit me. Brian and Stella were murdered because of me. The world tilted, and darkness invaded my vision. Memphis’s muffled voice was calling to me, but I couldn’t make out his words. I felt like I was falling down a dark hole and then strong, familiar, comforting arms wrapped around me.

  “Hedge, talk to me. What happened?” Memphis asked kneeling in front of the chair he sat me. “Sweetness look at me,” he demanded.

  I took big gulping breaths as my vision slowly returned.

  Thankfully the first thing I saw was Memphis’s handsome face, with loving concern in his eyes. If it had been my uncle, I probably would have thrown a punch.

  “This is my fault Memphis. They were killed because of me. I got my friends killed,” tears gathering in my eyes.

  “Baby Girl I don’t understand your need to talk to me.”

  “Georgiou Marino is the head of the Marino family. Italian Mafia,” Charlie supplied when I couldn’t speak.

  “What are you talking about?” Memphis asked confused. “Gianni Marino is the head of the family.”

  “Gianni is Georgiou’s son and the head of the family in this country only. Georgiou is the head of the entire family. The Don,” Charlie explained.

  “How, how did this get back to Georgiou?” I asked. “This should not even have been a blip on Gianni’s radar let alone shown up on Georgiou’s.”

  “Someone better start explaining shit,” Memphis demanded looking menacingly at Charlie.

  “Vex, Memphis. This all has to do with Vex,” I said softly.

  “Vex, what does that fucker have to do with anything?” Memphis asked frustrated at not knowing what was going on. “I haven’t even heard from him in months, not since the Molotov cocktail was thrown at the shop window.”

  I looked away sheepishly. I couldn’t look Memphis in the eye. On the one hand, I knew I shouldn’t have done anything. I knew it would lead to trouble but on the other; Vex, could not be allowed to continue to get away with the bullshit he was pulling. Not when I was able to stop it.

  Vex was fighting outside his weight class and needed reminding that he was anything but a lightweight. I knew Vex was a sniveling waste of space, who used intimidation to get things done and hid behind his henchmen. I thought he had more balls than this. He got put in his place and then went running to the boss, the big boss no less.

  “There’s a reason for that,” Charlie said knowingly. “Do you want to explain Morningstar or should I?”

  “Hedge?”

  That was all Memphis said, my name, but his tone said so much more. I hoped that Memphis would never find out what I had done. Stupid Fucking Vex. Fuck! I glared at Charlie hissing.

  “Stop calling me that. Morningstar is gone.”

  I turned to Memphis, but before I could get a word out his asked, “Hedge what did, you do?”

  “None of this makes any sense,” I said to no one in particular. I got up and started to pace. “Charlie, are you sure that it was because of Vex, because of me?”

  Charlie nodded. “Positive.”

  “But it doesn’t make any sense. All I did was talk to him.”

  “You did what!” Memphis roared.

  “Memphis calm down, all I did was talk to him.”

  “You should have stayed out of this Hedge. He’s a very dangerous man you could have gotten hurt,” his anger rising.

  “Son, you obviously have no concept of Morningstar’s reputation if you think that at any stage she was in danger,” Charlie laughed smugly. I hissed at him for using that name again.

  “Explain,” Memphis growled, “everything including the name.”

  I sighed tiredly, wishing we could go back in time to an hour ago when we were cuddled up in each other’s arms by the fire discussing our wedding.

  “I know you have heard of ‘Morningstar’, and I have told you some of the things I have done,” Memphis nodded. “Morningstar is another name for the devil, Lucifer Morningstar.”

  “Her reputation is such, that it has been said amongst certain circles that even the devil himself would fear the wrath of Morningstar,” Charlie said.

  “Great so she’s the female version of John Wick, she’s the freaking bogeyman. What does this have to do with Vex and the fact that you went to talk to him alone?”

  “I was smart Memphis, I knew what I was doing,” I started pacing again. “I confronted Vex in a crowded place. A church. I took a seat beside him and informed him in no uncertain terms that his bullshit extortion for money was over.”

  I walked into the packed church like I had every right to be there. I wanted to catch Vex when he was vulnerable. I wasn’t about to request a meeting and have him dictate the location. I wanted him off balance.

  Hedge and Morningstar are nothing alike in either looks or personality. If Hedge was the light, caring, and good side of my personality, then Morningstar is the dark. For Vex too fully understand the gravity of the situation that Sunday morning Morningstar went to church.

  Everything about Morningstar is different to Hedge. Her walk, her attitude, even her voice is different, deeper huskier. Dressed in Morningstar’s uniform of black leather pants that laced up the sides, thick-soled sinister looking biker boots and a blood red leather vest that was such a dark red it looked
almost black. Any resemblance to Hedge was removed with the aid of a cherry red wig, the lines of the concave bob were sharp, and laser cut. Dark chocolate contacts made my eyes look black, and with the heavy smoky eyeshadow, red eyeliner, and blood red lipstick, I looked every bit the female version of my namesake.

  I walked down the center aisle of the church, gasps and whispered mutters following in my wake. As I approached the pew where Vex sat, Henry stood offering his seat to me. Henry had assisted me in situations like this on many occasions, because he was your average Joe type he was a ghost, quickly forgotten. The only description people could ever give was that he was tall.

  “Here miss, please, take my seat. I’ll go stand down the back. I need to stretch my legs anyway," with no further acknowledgement of me Henry walked towards the back of the church.

  I sat down next to Vex. Noticing that a man was no longer sitting beside him Vex sat taller, sucking in his gut, widening his splayed legs further so that his leg brushed mine.

  “I’m sorry, these pews aren’t very roomy,” his chuckle dying on his lips as he looked up at me and realised who was sitting next to him.

  “Good morning Nicholas,” I said addressing him using his full first name, facing the front of the church, not looking at him.

  ‘I’m… I’m sorry, do… do I know you?” Vex stammered.

  “Oh, I believe you do,” I turned my head looking him in the eye enjoying the look of terror on his face. “Not personally, but by reputation, for certain.”

  “What… what are you doing here?”

  “Attending church, Nicholas. Isn’t that why you are here?” I replied.

  “You can’t be here,” he hissed.

  “I can’t be where? Here in church? Did you expect that I would burst into flames once I crossed the threshold? Did you think that God would smite me for stepping foot in his house?” I clucked my tongue at him in disappointment. “I may share my name with the devil, but I can assure you, Nicholas, that I am not evil.”

  Vex was getting more and more agitated at my calm steady voice and cold demeanor.

  The colour had drained from his face and beads of sweat, now dotted his forehead and he kept looking over his shoulder looking for his ever-present bodyguards. Not that he would find them. They were currently being distracted by a few wayward souls from the nearby strip club who were having car trouble.