Page 42 of Christmas with Four Tattoo Artists

My jaw clenched as I looked back at Julia, her eyes still wide and her face pale.

“Come on,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder and turning her away from the mess of gore. “Let’s go back into the office.”

Maddie hurried over. “I’ll deal with this crap,” she said.

“You sure?” I asked, my pulse still pounding.

“Totally sure.” Without a bit of apprehension, Maddie closed the box and picked it up. “Used to hunt with my old man back in Gainesville. Not the first gory mess I’ve seen.”

“Thanks, Mads.”

“You got it, boss.”

I walked over to the front and flipped the closed sign before returning my hand to Julia’s shoulder and leading her to the office.

"It's going to be okay," I said, my voice calm and reassuring even though my mind was anything but. "We're going to deal with this."

"How?" she whispered, her voice shaky. "What exactly is this, Kai?"

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to think clearly. "It's a threat, Julia. But we're not going to let it scare us. We've worked too hard to let that prick Klaus take it all away."

I knew that the bloody box was just the beginning. Klaus wouldn't stop. He would keep pushing, keep trying to intimidate us until we backed down. But we wouldn't. We couldn't.

I looked at Julia, her fear so palpable I could almost feel it myself. I took her hands in mine, squeezing them reassuringly. "We're going to pull some serious muscle into protecting this place. We won't let him win."

I knew that the road ahead was going to be tough, filled with uncertainty and danger. But we had come too far to give up now. We would stand strong and united, and we would fight back.

Klaus had just started a war. And we were going to finish it.

Chapter 17

James

It was late at night in the studio, the day's work done and the customers long gone. I found myself leaning back in my chair, my arms crossed, listening to the banter between Kai, Andrew, and Finn. There was a heaviness in the room, a tension that'd been building ever since that damn box had arrived.

We’d talked the matter to death. There was no doubt it was Klaus, no doubt it was a signal that he was escalating his designs on the studio.

Kai rose. “I need a fucking drink. You guys want anything?”

A little booze sounded like heaven. “Yeah, grab that Maker’s in the back.”

Kai gave me a thumbs-up as he stepped out of the meeting room, disappearing around the corner then returning moments later with the red-topped bottle and four glasses. He filled each glass with the smooth bourbon before passing them around. The room grew quiet, each of us taking slow, thoughtful sips as we considered the day’s events.

But it was only a matter of time until the issue we really wanted to discuss came up.

"So, we all like Julia more than we should, right?" Finn finally broke the ice, his eyes scanning our faces.

I chuckled. “And there it is. Was wondering when she was going to make it to the conversation.”

“Seriously, we’re all into her,” Finn said. “I don’t even need to ask the question.”

"Yeah," Andrew replied, his voice a little hesitant. "I mean, it's more than just fun. She’s different."

Kai nodded in agreement, his eyes thoughtful. "We’ve shared like this before, but with her, it feels like it’s something special. It seems natural."

I grumbled my agreement, my mind wandering to Julia's face, her smile, her laugh. It was more than just physical attraction. There was something about her that'd gotten under my skin, something that was pulling me in deeper than I’d ever intended.

"What about the future?" Kai asked, his voice serious. "Where do we go from here?"

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