Page 46 of Ink's Devil

She startles and turns to me. “No, and he wouldn’t.”

“Why so certain, Beth? You said, you don’t know him now.”

“I know the boy that he was,” she insists.

I’d meant to ask Cad to check out both him and her dad, now I’ve got another reason to know. One thing I don’t like is coincidences. What was her dad’s name? Philip… Phil Foster. That was it. I make a mental note to ask our tech expert soon. See if I can find out what Phil and Connor are into, and what trouble it might bring to Beth and her mom’s door.

I can understand why she’d want to be at home. In my view, whatever Connor’s involved in, he’s a waste of space and they’re right not to give him the run of their home. He is also intimidating. I feel relieved she’s not leaving without good reason.

“Tomorrow morning, when I leave here, first I’ll go to the gym. It’s too icy to run at the moment, so I’ll train there instead.”

“We’ve got some shit here. I train with weights. What do you need?” I get a vision of her all sweaty, wearing skimpy shorts and working out alongside me.

“Elliptical trainer. Treadmill.”

Those we haven’t got. When I train, like everyone else, I just use a corner put aside in the basement. Maybe I’ll get the club to invest in getting our own gym facilities. Beef might be keen, Tucson had a fully kitted out one. I’d often considered utilising one of the large derelict outbuildings that used to be part of the mill. Now it’s lodged there, I can’t get the image of Beth and I training together out of my head.

Set up a gym so I can train with her?That’s starting to sound long-term. The idea doesn’t make me squirm. Beth, me, and a future?

In the meantime. “Which gym do you go to?”

She mentions one of the popular ones where I wouldn’t be seen dead. Not serious in my view, but good enough for citizens who want to keep fit. It’s not got a bad reputation, so at least she’ll be safe.

“How long will you be there?”

“A couple of hours.” She huffs a quick laugh. “I’ll have plenty of time. If he’s coming, Connor wouldn’t arrive until much later. My brother’s always been allergic to mornings.”

“You want me to come around to help deal with him?” I may have an ulterior motive. That would give us more time together.

But she shoots me down. “I can’t impose on you to do that. As long as I’m with Mom, he should behave.”

“You call me,” I tell her. “I’m just a couple of key presses away.” Then a thought occurs to me,Keep your friends close, your enemies closer. “Ever considered giving him a place to stay could mean you find out what he’s doing?”

“Mom and I have talked about it, of course. But she’s worried he might bring people back who we wouldn’t want to stay. Or, he might want a place to store stolen goods. Maybe Phil’s a fence, I don’t know.”

“You and your mom don’t think much of your brother, do you?”

She sits up fast. “I love my brother,” she says forcefully looking down at me. “It’s Phil I don’t trust. Connor’s a good man deep down inside, and if we’ve got a chance to bring that side of him back out, Mom and I will do everything we can to achieve that.”

“But you won’t let him stay in your house.”

“No. Not unless he breaks it off with Phil. That’s the bargain. We’ll let him back into our lives when he’s not in Phil’s clutches anymore.”

Will they be able to extract Connor from his life of crime? Pulling her back down, I let her head rest on my chest, while thinking I’m not sure. Easy money is hard to give up and exchange for a nine-to-five.

“If he gives you any trouble, you use my number. I mean it Beth. Hell, tell me if he turns up. I’ll come around anyway. I don’t like the idea of him losing his temper again.” I didn’t take to Connor, didn’t take to him one bit.

“You mean it, don’t you?”

“I couldn’t mean it more.” I nuzzle the top of her head as she yawns, then give her as much as I feel I can. “I care for you, babe. Don’t want you hurt.”

“You’ve worn me out Ink.”

“Go to sleep, babe.”

As she turns her back toward me, I pull her against my chest. Gradually her body goes limp, but I lie awake in a quandary, uncertain of what to do. Every time I see her, I just want her more. I already know it’s going to be hard to let her go in the morning, and not just because that asshole of a brother may turn up, but because I’m starting to think of giving her a place in my world.

What would it be like to have a woman of my own? Could I commit to just one pussy for the rest of my life? How did my brothers know when it was right to put their patch on a woman? Hmm, my patch. Seeing my name tattooed on her? Fucking amazing.

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