Page 17 of Ink

“M’kay,” she whispered, her eyelids already drooping.

Steeling myself against the onslaught of temptation I was about to be hit with, I bent over and kissed her on the forehead. Then I grabbed my cut and hot-footed out of there before her delicious scent broke my control.

Once I was in the hallway, I had to take a minute and get myself under control. The last thing I needed right then was shit from my brothers because I was hobbling around due to the steel pipe between my legs.

My phone beeped, and I yanked it out of my pocket, expecting to see Annika’s number, but it was Blaze.

There’d been a hiccup with our current job, and he needed me to fix it.

It wasn’t well known—for good fucking reason—that the MC’s main source of income revolved around making people disappear. Not like mercenaries or assassins, we didn’t kill anyone without cause. But we would end their life in another way, for a healthy fee.

If someone could afford it, we’d erase their identity and help them establish a new life. The MC had kind of fallen into the work after helping out a few people as a favor. King had realized that making people disappear into a new life could be a very lucrative income stream, and several of the patches had abilities that were perfect for operations like this.

King’s specialty was forging documents. Wizard was our computer genius. My gift as an artist came in handy outside the tattoo shop. We also taught the new patch skills that could help if they didn’t come in with any talent, so we never lacked in the necessary areas to complete a job.

It certainly didn't hurt that I had connections with people who were some of the best smugglers in the world. The only reason I’d been willing to use that connection was because King had made it one hundred percent clear that it wasn’t a condition to patch with the Hounds. Even though my being a member made them an ally to the boss, my cousin in New York, King always left the choice of involving The Family up to me. It was just another reason he had my complete trust and loyalty.

Our current job was a less common instance, though. One where we didn’t require a fee because of the circumstances. Sometimes, we jumped in to simply help someone who desperately needed saving. But those situations were a well-guarded secret so we didn’t get a fuck ton of sob stories from people who were trying to screw us over.

After sending Blaze a text that I was on my way, I headed to my studio in the clubhouse. They’d repurposed an office so that we could set up a room that had everything I needed to create whatever was required for each operation. One of the things that made me a unique artist was that my talents crossed over to mixed media. I was every bit as good at digital art as I was at drawing, painting, or tattooing. I could also sculpt and work with metal.

With all of my know-how, if I’d ever wanted to, I would have made incredible counterfeiting plates. It had been one of the reasons The Family had been so loath to let me out of their clutches. Thankfully, Nic wasn’t interested in forcing people to work for him, and family came first to him…without the capital F.

Blaze and Cross were waiting for me when I arrived. “Got the car cleaned,” Cross grunted as I opened the door to my studio. He was the club brother who managed our garage and was seriously fucking talented at scrubbing and chopping vehicles. “King was just finishing up some paperwork before delivering it all to the client.”

“One of his tools busted,” Blaze muttered. “We need you to hand draw it with your heated foil pen.”

I stopped in my tracks and flipped around. “Are you fucking serious? With a foil pen? Do you have any fucking idea how stupid that idea is?” I was shouting by the time I finished.

Blaze winced. “Wow, I owe King a hundred bucks. He nailed your response verbatim.”

Scowling, I ignored his comment and proceeded to explain exactly why this idea was ludicrous. “If I hesitate for even a single second, the machines will catch it as counterfeit. If by some miracle, I managed to finish the design without a hesitation mark, it would have to be perfect. No hesitation and not one mistake? And should the gods of fake identities be with us and those two things actually happened, it wouldn’t matter because I don’t have the right material.”

Cross handed me a bag. “King said this should work.”

I frowned as I opened the bag and took out the contents to examine it. Itcouldwork, but damn.

With narrowed eyes, I studied my brothers. “Why isn’t he here asking me himself? Not like him to hide.”

“Cadell is sick,” Blaze explained.

Damn, that meant I couldn’t be pissed that King wasn’t there to yell at. This was one situation where I knew he’d allow me to let him have it because he knew, in the end, I’d give in and try.

“Fine, but tell him he owes me, so the next time I mouth off, it’ll be a freebie.”

Blaze pressed his lips together, clearly trying to hide a grin, tempting me to wring his neck. “Will do,” he muttered. “What do you need to get this done?”

“Get the fuck out of my studio and don’t let anyone disturb me unless it’s Annika, Ash, or someone who has anything useful to tell me about her situation.”

Cross saluted me, and I punched him in the solar plexus. Watching him struggle to breathe made me feel better, so I went about gathering my shit, forgetting all about them.

The only good thing about the situation was that it would take my mind off the gorgeous temptation sleeping in my bed, wearing nothing but my shirt.

Apparently, the angels were on my side because I managed to complete the project on my third attempt.

I sent Blaze a text, hoping it would wake him since it was the middle of the fucking night. Then I decided to grab a snack.

Wizard’s office door was open, so instead of walking by, I paused and glanced inside. He was intensely focused on his computer, but the second I stood in the doorway, he looked over at me.

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