Page 9 of Ink Wars

The poor guy moves so fast he almost knocks Fay over. I place my hands on my hips and raise an eyebrow.

“What the fuck? We were having a conversation,” I say.

He gives a humorless laugh and folds his massive, tattooed arms. “You’re lucky I didn’t toss his ass out of the way. What the hell are you doing here, princess? Can’t come up with your own ideas so you need to steal mine?” he hisses.

I laugh looking around at the normally bright shop. Arya thought hanging string lights around set more of a club mood.

My focus slides back to Corbin and I smile. No matter how intimidating he tries to be, I will never let it get to me. Seeing how it drives him crazy makes it so easy.

“I don’t need to steal ideas, that’s you. You’re the one who stole my design idea and told J.R. it was yours. Or have you forgotten how juvenile and petty you can be?” I ask.

He can accuse me of copying but he’s the one who has stolen my ideas, my tattoo shop location, my clients, and my time. I have no remorse for doing something to help my friend.

“You’re not going to distract me with your bullshit lies. Private parties happen at Sabbath not at Inkify,” he says, leaning closer to me.

I don’t pull back like he expects, I lean closer and say, “Don’t be pissed I always win, Corbin. It’s not your fault I’m better at everything.” I wave my arm toward the crowd. “Private parties included.”

His rage-filled eyes narrow and he keeps them on me. “The only thing you win at is fucking your way to success. My accomplishments are all mine, princess.”

“You believe whatever the hell you want but just so we’re clear, dick doesn’t have the influence on me that you think it does,” I say, smiling.

“That tells me a lot, princess,” he says, smirking.

I laugh and move closer. “What’s it tell you, Corbin? That waving your dick around with your cocky attitude will never work on me?”

That overconfident smirk takes over his stupidly handsome face as he cocks an eyebrow. “Princess, I can promise you that if I was waving my dick around, you’d be dropping to your knees.”

“Get the hell out of my shop,” I hiss.

He tosses me a wink and grins. “Good come back.” I go to interrupt, and he steps closer, too close. I can smell his fresh, masculine scent. I can feel his body heat. It’s too much and I want to step away but I will never give him the satisfaction. “Shut it down, princess.”

He turns to walk away, and I tighten my hands into fists. This asshole isn’t going to tell me what to do.

“The party will continue and maybe instead of a one-time deal, it’ll be bi-monthly. That’s how you do it right?” I shout.

I don’t even want to continue doing these parties. He just pisses me off to a point I can’t control getting the last dig in.

He turns around and slowly walks backward with that confident smirk on his face. “You do what you want, princess, but remember there’s a consequence to every decision you make. You keep going and I will make sure that proper legal action takes place.”

With that, he turns away and walks out the door.

Fuck. He’s definitely got me there. I can’t continue to do this without risking getting shut down completely.

“He’s right, you know?” Fay says, squeezing my shoulder.

I stare at the closed door and nod. “I know but he just keeps pouring gasoline onto the fire.”

“You’re better than that, Leah. Just continue what you’re doing and ignore him,” she says.

I spin around and the anger that is burning inside me gets misplaced on her. “Ignore him? He comes into my shop, causes a scene, and threatens me but you want me to ignore him?”

She crosses her arms, shaking her head. “Leah, did you ever think maybe you get so fired up around him because you’re attracted to him?”

A bitter laugh leaves me as my muscles tighten. Of course, I’m attracted to him. Of course, my body reacts to his. Of course, I’d love to do exactly what he said and drop to my knees but fuck that. I’ll never give him or anyone else the satisfaction of knowing that.

“Be on my side, Fay,” I say, walking past her toward the front door.

I step outside and try to let the cool night wash over me. Corbin gets me worked up on so many different levels it’s ridiculous.

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