Page 81 of Faithful

Through the back alley.

Rourke escorts us out and into the SUV and Kai makes a call to Bodhi the minute we start moving.

Apparently, his manager is also in charge of his late-night, last-minute tattoo appointments.

The place where we arrive twenty minutes later is off the Strip and we repeat the sneaking-through-the-back routine once more with Rourke on our heels.

There’s a long dark hallway and a door at the very end and then we’re in a room with large windows and blinds fully shut and only two people inside, a woman and a man. Both in all black with a generous amount of ink on their skin and an equally generous amount of piercings.

From what I understood on the way to this place, Kai had some work done here before and the session Bodhi booked him is private. The owner of the studio, who goes by KC, has quite a lot of celebrity clients whose names are, of course, to remain a secret for obvious reasons.

“Unless I see their ink up close,” Kai added while finishing up his second cigarette in a row earlier in the car. “You’ll understand what I mean in a bit.”

I do understand now that we’re here.

Some of the photos of the artist’s work that are up on the wall speak for themselves.

“I was wondering when you were gonna call.” The man addresses Kai with a familiarity that suggests they are good friends. “Saw your Double Down residency dates. Wife got a pair of tickets for next Friday.”

“Unless they try to cancel us again.” Kai snorts out a laugh and starts moving across the room to meet the host.

“They better not, buddy.”

“Hey, you know what? Text Bodhi tomorrow. I’ll have him upgrade your seats to VIP.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. It’s no biggie.”

“Thanks.”

Then KC offers his hand to both of us for a shake.

He’s got a good, firm, welcoming grip that’s topped off by a gorgeous smile and while most people would make me uncomfortable due to Kai standing a little too close, KC doesn’t.

“How you doin’? I’m KC. It’s nice to meet you.” He motions at the woman standing right behind him. “This is my sister Estrella.”

“How are you, boys?” Estrella waves a hand. “Would you like something to drink? Tea, coffee, water?”

“Water is fine,” I blurt out, then realize that perhaps Kai is in the mood for something else. My gaze slides over to meet his, but he simply nods, indicating that it’s fine with him too.

“Sorry, I didn’t get your name.” KC returns his attention to me as we are ushered across the studio and toward a small semicircle of chairs.

“Dylan.”

“You getting some ink too?”

I’m startled by the question. Honestly, I have thought about getting another tat, but the idea always just stayed at the back of my head. It’s not cheap and I suspect this guy, being a top-of-the-line artist, would bankrupt me.

“I wasn’t planning on it today.”

“If he wants to,” Kai says next to me. “Will it be alright?”

“Sure. We’ve got all night.” KC gestures at the coffee table. An iPad is sitting there, and I gather all the formalities need to be taken care of first.

“We’ll give you a couple of minutes and let you settle in.” KC retreats to a partitioned area in the corner.

Estrella is on a mission to get the refreshments going and Kai and I are alone in the main room. He picks up the iPad and scribbles his signature on the screen with his index finger.

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