"Good girl", He turned on his heel and left the room. Emotions filled my throat the moment, he closed the door behind his back. I was seconds away from sobbing like a little child. I wished I had never met Alex Michaels those five long years ago when my life changed forever.
He had promised me a beautiful future that involved my dream of owning my own tattoo parlor. There were other more empty promises and he charmed me into falling in love with him. I had never claimed to be the smartest person in the world but I was feisty and didn't take shit from anyone. Well until when Alex Michaels walked into the restaurant I worked at five years ago.
I heard his truck start back up and a moment later he was driving away. Knowing that he had left, i grabbed my duffel bag and finished shoving my clothes into it before I zipped it up and tossed it into the bed. I spun and stared into the closet at the shoebox. Alex would kill me if he knew what I was about to do but he couldn't find me, he couldn't hurt me.
And after everything he has done to me, I think he deserved what I was about to take. I slowly made my way to the closet, grabbed the shoebox and opened the lid. I stared down at several wads of cash wrapped up in rubber bands and grabbed a few bundles for myself. I shoved them in my back pockets.
looking at all this cash in the box made me sick to my stomach. He had made me do less than honorable actions recently because we were desperate for money, desperate to keep this decrepit roof over our heads. I did all those horrible things all the while Alex had this cash all along.
Alex Michaels was dead to me.
I considered this back pay for the life he stole from me, for what he's made me do.
After putting the box back on the shelf, I went back to the grab my duffel bag and ran from the room across the living room and out of the back door.
I didn't want the neighbors to see me leaving through the front door. I took the safer route out of the back door. The tall privacy fence blocked the neighbors from seeing into the backyard so I pushed through the garage and slipped into my old trusted Toyota I have had since high school and backed out of the trickery garage.
As I drove down the alley, I watched the garage and fence disappear in my rearview mirror and kicked it down when I turned left on the highway, leaving El Paso, Texas and Alex Michaels in the dust.
With no destination in my mind, I drove East. I knew it that Alex will have a harder time finding me. The only solution I had was driving East until when I feel safe, wherever it will be. But before I actually picked up a destination in my head, I was going to ditch the car then take a bus the rest of the way.
I didn't want Alex to track me using my car or having someone to find me. I may not know everything about running away but the more cognitive l remained, the less likely he was going to find me.
~~~~~~~
BLAIR'S POV.
I was feeling overworked and irritated as hell. The project me and Blake were working on was going to be the death of me. We had one month to complete a full renovation on an old Victorian house in the heart of savannah and we hadn't even received the blue prints or final plans yet.
Without those, we had no idea where to start. My brother, Blake and l lived in Savannah since we arrived in America when we were both seventeen years old. Coming here from Ireland was a huge culture shock to both of us, but we were settling in nicely. After college, we started a home construction company from scratch and we were now the most wanted builders in town.
Both our skills and for lonely housewives to have some eye candy while we worked. We didn't complain since our bills were being paid and we derived from being the best builders to the two most handsome brothers. With nothing left to do for a day and Blake being gone, I shut up the door and headed for the night.
I was stressed to the max and instead of sitting at the bar, drinking my liver into submission, I headed for my favorite spot: Midnight ink.
There was nothing a new tattoo couldn't fix for me. My body was a testament to that as I consistently inked myself whenever I was stressed out, which was a lot lately. And Jackson knew my soul unlike any other person alive and drew up the best pieces, knowing exactly how I was feeling.
But when I stepped into Midnight ink and asked if Jackson had an opening, my mood even went darker when Reena, the shop owner told me Jackson no longer worked here.
"What do you mean Jackson doesn't work here anymore?. Where the hell did he go", I was even more irritated now and thinking the bar sounded pretty damn good right now. If Jackson was really gone, where am I going to go for my ink now?. I only ever let Jackson ink me and if he was gone, there wasn't anybody else I trusted with my work.
Reena sighed, pulling me out of my reverie. "He left a week ago, Blair, I'm sorry. His daughter was having a tough time so he headed North to be with her", she informed me.
"When is he coming back?", I ran my hand over my face and breathed out a steadying breath.
"It doesn't sound like it but I already hired someone to fill his spot who has an opening if you interested in meeting with her and tell her what you want", She spoke with her eyes on the appointment book.
"Does she have a portfolio I can look through, I want to see the kind of work she does"
"She currently doesn't have it right now but just know she is my cousin sister and so good in tattooing"
"Cousin or not am not going to let any chick near my skin without seeing some of her work", I hissed out. My irritation was bubbling to the surface and aimed at Reena. "I don't want to be some chick's doodle book that looks like an art project gone bad". I heard a snort come from behind and turned to find who had just snorted at me. But when I saw who was standing there, I froze. The woman who had just snorted was the most beautiful brunette I had ever seen. She had legs and hips that I wanted to grip with my hands as I pound into her. Yes that was the first thought to flow in my head.I also noticed the tattoos lining up each of her arms and disappeared beneath a skin tank top that revealed perfectly sized perky breasts. Her eyes were big, round and a mesmerizing blue that almost looked grey from this far back. I finally noticed that she had a small nose ring and when my eyes landed on her plump lips I felt my dick swell in my pants.Shit! I needed to pull myself together. She wasn'
"So what are you thinking?", Her face was emotionless and her words came out in a melancholy tone.I wasn't sure how to reply to her because I always let Jackson have open reign on me and he did an amazing job keeping everything flowing through each piece. I had a full sleeve on my left arm and a lots of work done on my back. I never did large pieces but rather had small pieces done here and there, resulting in large pieces when they were all done. It gave me more time in the chair when I got one small piece at a time."Honestly , i have no idea", I lastly replied. Karen sighed and leaned back in her chair while staring at me. "You came in for a tattoo but yet you have no idea what you want?",I shook my head at her words. "I usually let Jackson have free reign on me. Like I said, he knew what I wanted and he worked every piece together", I lifted my sleeve up and revealed the large piece on my arm. "It wasn't done at one time. This is probably thirty different sessions", I tried to e
"Done! what do you think?", Karen turned the easel towards me. My eyes instantly widened when they fall on it. She had drawn a skull that was cracked open on top and had smoke flowing out through the opening."You seem to have a hot head and ink put out the fire, am I right?", She asked. I didn't respond quickly. I was speechless. This girl nailed it. I had been sitting here for ten minutes with her and she knew exactly what i wanted."That's awesome", I beamed leaning forward and got a better glance at all the detailing she had put into it in such a short amount of time. "I think I have a perfect sport for it, Jackson never finished my back so there's a spot between my shoulder and blades", I stood up and pulled my shirt over my head with one hand and turned so she could see my back.When she didn't say or do anything, I looked back over my shoulder and saw how she was looking at me. It was clear that I was affecting her as much as she was affecting me. And my current hard-on became
"Hey wait up!", I immediately spun around when I heard her but then just as l did, she suddenly slammed into me chest to chest. As I stared into her gorgeous blue-ish grey eyes, her scent filled my nose. I felt her nipples harden against my chest and heard her suck in breath as she jumped back and held up my wallet."You forgot this", Her voice had changed. It was quiet and reserved, not at all the feistiness she had sported for the last hour and she looked away from me like a frightened puppy. I couldn't help but want to reach out and hold her, and protect her from whatever was bothering her. However I just grabbed my wallet and left the subject alone. "Thanks, I will see you tomorrow", I spoke studying her face but she gave me nothing but a small nod before she spun around and walked away from me. She went all the way to the bathroom and closed the door with a loud bang. What the hell was all that about?!!Shrugging my shoulders, I walked out of the room. I didn't know what the
After saying goodbye to Reena, I climbed the steps to my apartment, let myself in then slumped down on the thrift store couch , I bought a few days ago. Happily, I kicked my legs up to the coffee table. I didn't have much things in this apartment and I didn't need much. I didn't want to waste all the money I stolen. I had a feeling that time will reach where I will surely need it; for an emergency and just go to the essentials.I was thankful that the old woman who owned this building had her grandson come over the weekend and helped me carry my new furniture inside my room with no complaints. He hit on me of course but I shut him down as nicely i could. I was trying my best to stay away from men but now i was faced with yet a devilishly hot guy. But this guy was different. I couldn't get him out of my mind and he was making me feel things, I haven't felt in a pretty good time.Pushing the thoughts at the back of my mind, I stood up and made my way to open the only window in the roo
~KAREN'S POV~I knew it was him. It was noon but still I knew it was him. I wasn't surprised at all when I saw him walk towards me.The sight of him made my mouth water and my nipples hardened, pressing against the soft material of my shirt. He looked different than the last time I saw him. Today he was wearing sweats and a black cut off t-shirt with a hoodie. He honestly looked yummy and l stupidly wanted a taste of him..He smiled at me when he caught me looking at him across the shop. "Hey", His voice was gravely and it sent a wave of arousal over my crimson skin and straight between my legs. And when he got closer, he gave me a once over while his eyes burned with desire. That immediately caused me to lick my lips."Hey. You ready for round two, creeper?", I asked spinning on my chair towards my work station then began to prepare my tools for the session. "As ready as I will ever be", His voice was filled with humor and i couldn't help but smile. His Irish accent was so strong. W
He didn't answer right away and seemed to be battling something with himself before he took a deep breath. "I have been here since i was seventeen and yes Ireland" , His answers were short and to straight to the point.I couldn't help but wonder if he was affected by how turned on that encounter made or if he was kicking himself for letting thing get out of his hands. Either way I wanted to break the awkwardness between us.I wiped the last ink off and smeared the tattoo goo on him once again, taping him on the shoulder. "You're all set big boy", I moved away and tore my gloves off. I tossed them in the trash before I turned and watched him walk to the mirror to check out his new ink. "Wow", He breathed out, really looking at the new piece. "You amazing; really", I couldn't help but blush when I heard him say that. "Thanks", I smiled.He turned to me and pulled his wallet out, grabbed out several hundred dollar bills then handed them to me. "You pay Reena", I nodded my head towards t
"Brothers?", She asked.Blair nodded his head but I spoke before he could. "Fraternal not identical, although some people try to argue that fact", I stuck my hand out to her."Am Blake and you obviously know Blair. How is that again", My eyebrow lifted up as I cocked my head at Blair who was still staring at the brunette beauty in front of us. "I... I did ... his tattoo", She stuttered before shaking my hand but she kept her eyes on Blair. "What are you doing here?", She was now speaking to Blair."We working on the building for Melissa", I replied still answering her questions and not my brother. "We own McCarthy Home Remodeling and do a lot of work for her", I went on with talking. Karen nodded her head but she was still looking at Blair. She lastly looked at me but a look of confusion and bewilderment was on her face. "That's nice", She responded."How's that window in your apartment?", Deep down in my heart, I wanted my brother to know that I had been in her room when he clearly h