Page 10 of Executive Ink

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Jax wantedto throw his phone at the wall and watch it shatter, but not only did he not have the money for that, he knew it wouldn’t solve anything. Sammy had been texting him threats since the night before when Jax was with Ashlynn and hadn’t stopped. He’d thought he left all that behind in Atlanta, but he should have known Sammy would never let go.

Jax was well and truly fucked.

Sammy was still in Atlanta, thankfully, but he was hurting for money and threatening to hurt Jessica if Jax didn’t come back to the shop and work. It didn’t make any fucking sense; there were other tattoo artists in the damn city, but no one was stupid enough to work for Sammy anymore, and that meant Jax’s old boss was in deep shit with the mob.

The damn mob.

Jax didn’t know how his life had come to this, but he was done with it. He’d left his old home behind and had thought he’d start a new life out here, but the past kept coming back for him. It had even interrupted his time with Ashlynn, and he hated himself for it. He’d never forget the insecurity he saw on her face when he left. They hadn’t made any real promises to each other, but damn if he didn’t want to make them to her. He liked her, wanted her, and saw himself with her beyond a few short hours in bed.

He just hoped she saw the same in him. Yet with all the things he had going on in his life right now, he wasn’t sure he’d be good for her. He was just a tattoo artist with a crap past, and she was the brilliance behind a multimillion-dollar company with a future so bright it was almost startling.

They weren’t compatible on paper, yet Jax had felt something different when he was with her.

He just hoped she would call.

She had to call, damn it.

“Jax, do you have that other notebook you were using?” Austin asked from his station. “You wanted to show me that dragon, right?” The other man looked tired, but considering he’d had his own kids plus a few of his nieces and nephews over for the night so the rest of the adults could have a night out, Jax didn’t blame the guy for looking like he needed four cups of coffee.

Jax rolled his shoulders and looked down at the stack of books in front of him before cursing. “Must have left it in my car. I’ll go out and get it.” Austin didn’t need to double-check his work, but Jax had wanted the advice anyway since it wasn’t the easiest design.

“You doing okay today?” Sloane asked.

“Yeah, you’ve seemed in your own world this morning,” Derek added from Sloane’s side.

Jax shook his head. “Some shit from my old shop keeps coming back, but I’m ignoring it. Hopefully, it will go away.”

Austin raised a brow. “Think that’ll actually work?”

Jax shrugged. “Not sure what else to do so, yeah, it better work.” He grabbed his keys and lifted his chin towards the other guys. “I’ll be right back with that notebook.” Yeah, he was changing the subject, sue him. He didn’t know what to say anyway.

He’d just made it out of the back door and into the private parking lot for Montgomery Ink employees and family when large hands gripped his shoulders and slammed him into the brick wall of the tattoo shop.

“Shit,” he grunted, trying to fight off his attackers. His keys fell from his hands, and he kicked out, but he was no match for three large men who looked to be bruisers rather than mere muggers. “What the hell?”

“Sammy owes the boss money, asshole, and since he’s not paying, you will,” the biggest one growled. Though biggest was a bit of a misnomer since they were each huge. It wasn’t until Jax saw the glint of a knife in one of the man’s hands that he froze.

Jesus Christ, this couldn’t be happening.

“I don’t work for Sammy anymore,” Jax said calmly—or at least as calmly as he could considering he was being held at knifepoint by three goons.

“He says differently. He tells us that you’re moonlighting and not paying him so we can’t get our cut.”

That goddamn bastard. Jax didn’t say that aloud, but he screamed it in his head. He just prayed that these guys were only focusing on him, though, and not his family. Icy dread snaked down his spine at the thought of his mother or Jessica or Ash getting hurt because of his old boss.

“I don’t work for him anymore. If you want your money, then get it from him. He’s the one who works with y’all.” Jax never had, and never would.

“Maybe we should make an example of you anyway,” one of the guys whispered. “Teach Sammy a lesson.”

Jax swallowed hard, trying to keep cool. “Sammy doesn’t give a shit about me. You won’t be getting your money at all if you hurt me. Find Sammy and get what you’re owed. I’m not that man.” He’d never been, no matter how hard his old life had tried to make him be.

The main goon tilted his head and studied him. “You know…Sammy has been flapping his gums for a while now. Maybe we should pay him another visit.”

Shit.

“Is there a problem out here?” Austin asked from right outside the door, Sloane and Derek right beside him.

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