Dead Ink: A Karma World Romance (Karma Series Book 4) (13 page)

When Lars walked into his shop, Angus, Cutty, Bic and Fate were already there waiting for him.

“Where’s Faith?” Angus asked, looking behind him. Lars knew it was a precaution to make sure she wasn’t close behind, not that he wanted her there. This was a conversation strictly for the guys.

“Upstairs, sleeping,” Lars said.

“Yeah, more like sleeping it off,” Cutty added, speaking softly as if to himself. His comment didn’t go unnoticed, and the three not in the know all turned to him, waiting for further explanation.

Lars shot Cutty a look that told him to shut his mouth. He knew what he’d done had rattled Cutty but did he really have to turn into a blabbermouth now? Lars was fairly certain Cutty hadn’t meant to. His disapproval of Lars using the voice on her had just gotten the best of him and leaked out into nervous chatter.

Angus took a step toward Cutty when Lars failed to explain. “She got drunk?”

“Yeah, she looked drunk,” Cutty said, trying to cover up his slip of the tongue.

It was a good attempt but Lars knew it was too late. Faith hadn’t touched a drink since she’d met them, so the idea of her getting blasted in the middle of the afternoon didn’t ring true to anyone’s ears. He confirmed his thoughts with the skeptical looks he was getting. No choice left, he launched into damage control. “She was really tense after what happened. I helped her out a bit.”

“You helped her out?” Fate was instantly on his feet and getting in Lars’ face. “When Karma was having a near breakdown, you wouldn’t do shit to calm her. You were there, you saw what she was going through.”

Everyone considered Karma and Fate an item except Karma and Fate. And here Fate was again, proving that everyone else was correct.

Instead of getting right back in Fate’s face, like he would’ve normally done, Lars took a step back. He remembered exactly what Karma had gone through. This afternoon, when he’d seen Faith like that, if one of his guys could’ve helped and hadn’t, he’d have gotten just as angry.

“I’m…man, I don’t know what to say.” Lars knew there wasn’t anything that could take back how Fate had felt.

The room, which was already subdued, seemed to become more so. Normally, a confrontation like this would end up in a brawl and then a drink together afterward, but never an acknowledgment right out of the gate.

Fate, knowing him better than anyone, seemed slightly taken aback. His brow scrunched a bit as his head tilted. After a long pause, Fate said, “Shit happens. It’s okay.”

“If I had known at the time what it was like, I…” Lars put his hands up in bewilderment, not able to express any more on a moment that still felt sore to him.

“I get it. I…you know…” Fate shrugged and nodded. When he looked at Lars now, there was commiseration in his eyes. “So, it’s like that between you two?”

Lars shrugged back. “No, I don’t know. I just felt bad.”

“Yeah, man, I get it.” Fate let out a long sigh as if he understood all too well.

Cutty walked over to the two of them. “When you two are done braiding each other’s hair, can we get back to the matter at hand?”

Lars and Fate cleared their throats at the same time, while Cutty took the floor. “So, we’ve got a bloody ring, a note and a positive ID on Keith being the one who supplied said ring. Where do we go from here?”

Lars perched himself on the edge of one of the work counters that lined the walls of the shop. “He still wants her but he can’t get to her here and he knows it.”

Angus who had taken a seat on the tattoo bench spoke up. “You’re sure?”

“Positive. He crosses on to my territory and he’s dead. He can’t bust through my wards, which is why he sent that kid. Plus we all know he’s scared to get within fifty feet of me, just in case I might be able to escort him along to somewhere he doesn’t want to go.” Lars was the only one of the guys who was always avoided by Malokin and his men. Even Fate had gotten into range, but not Lars. Not Death himself; that was too risky. They must have suspected his full range of talents even if they had no proof.

“The problem I have is why does Keith want her so bad?” Fate asked. “I know all you guys have taken a liking to her,” Fate shot an awkward look at Lars as he said that, as if trying to apologize for throwing his girl under the bus, “but you can ask Karma, good people don’t get messed up and involved with these guys. Why is Keith infatuated with her? Lars, he came right up to your sidewalk. They’ve never gotten that close to you before. This isn’t sitting well with me. At all.”

Lars remained quiet. He couldn’t imagine Faith doing anyone wrong but he couldn’t trust his opinions anymore, not when it came to her.

He’d used the voice on her. What if he
really
wasn’t thinking clearly? No, he needed to sit out on this one. He couldn’t go to bat for her when he couldn’t trust his gut. This could jeopardize them all.

When no one disagreed, Cutty spoke up. “We only have a small sampling of who he’s gone for. Karma herself was one of his victims. What about that? Don’t tell me you think Karma is evil,” Cutty said, directing the question at Fate bit looking at Lars.

Lars knew what he wanted, back up defending Faith. Lars looked out the window instead. He couldn’t defend her, even though it was killing him. The more he thought about how he’d used the voice on her, the more he realized his judgment really might be impaired when it came to her.

“Karma was different. She had potential and also a skill set that made her appealing,” Fate shot back at Cutty.

Lars made the mistake of looking back at Cutty. He could read his thoughts so clearly. He looked at Fate and then to him, clearly saying,
See? He defends his woman.

“And how do we know that the same wasn’t the case with Faith?” Cutty asked, glaring angrily at Lars, rather than Fate, who he was arguing with.

“What skill set has she demonstrated?” Fate asked.

“I don’t know,” Cutty said. “But I trust her. Maybe that’s it? Maybe she instills faith? Hell, it is her name, after all.”

Fate let out a mocking laugh before voicing his disdainful reply. “Because that’s definitely something Malokin and Keith would find useful.”

“What do you think, Lars?” Cutty said, putting him on the spot.

“I think whatever the case is, that’s unlikely to be her calling,” Lars replied. Cutty was really starting to get his ire up. They barely knew the chick, and just because he might fuck her didn’t mean he was obligated to have her back in every instance. The guilt trip Cutty was trying to lay on him was a step too far and he was already in a bad way. “The bottom line is, none of us know her that well. We need to be cautious,” Lars shot back at Cutty.

“Lars is right. For now, I think we keep going as is.” Fate walked across the room. “She’s our guest as long as she doesn’t try and leave. At least for now.”

Lars felt guilty as he nodded but it was the only sane move. Everyone agreed, except for Cutty, who remained silent. Angus, Bic and Fate left but Cutty didn’t budge from his spot. Lars remained in his, knowing the two of them had unspoken business.

The door to the shop swung closed and Cutty didn’t wait long to get what was bothering him off his chest. “You can’t be on both sides of the line.”

“Man, what the fuck are you talking about?” Lars’ head was starting to spin and he didn’t need grief from one of his closest buddies.

Cutty stiffened. “You’re either on her team or you’re not.”

“Team? There is no team. You said it yourself, it was a good idea to bang her. That doesn’t make me and her a team. If that’s all it took, I’d be on a hell of a lot of teams.” Too many to count, and he didn’t understand why Cutty was getting all up in arms this time.

Cutty pointed his finger at him even though he maintained his distance. “If you aren’t going to have her back, don’t touch her.”

“Don’t tell me who to touch or how I have to treat them if I do. I didn’t ask for your advice on the subject, so stay out of it if you don’t like what I do.”

Cutty shook his head, clearly disgusted. “I don’t want you to use her.”

If it had been Fate, Lars would’ve punched him in the face already, just to shut him up. But it was Cutty, the guy that always covered his ass and had always taken his side—until now, that was. Still, he tried to reel back the anger he was feeling. “I might fuck her, not pledge my life to her. Why are you getting so out of whack about this?”

“You’re an idiot,” Cutty said, making Lars wonder why he’d bothered trying to discuss it at all.

“I don’t get what your problem is,” Lars said, feeling like he had to try one last time to smooth the waters between them.

“I just told you what my problem is. You’re. An. Idiot.” Cutty walked out of the shop and didn’t look back.

Lars was in the kitchen when Faith finally woke the next morning. Black shorts hung low on his hips and his torso naked, he looked sexy as hell cooking over the range. She could tell from the aroma he was making omelets. She took in a deep breath and noticed she could pick up the individual scents of pepper along with the dash of salt.

But as the sleep fled from her brain, everything that had gone down yesterday chased in behind it and drove out any joy she felt over her new discovery. Arthur was dead. Keith was still out there, and his obsession with her was stronger than ever. Then there was Lars, who’d talked to her in a strange way that had erased every care she had. Well, except for getting him into bed, that is.

Amidst all of it, she’d thrown herself at him and he hadn’t accepted the invite. Today, with a clear head, every negative emotion from humiliation to raging grief began eating away at her.

She saw Lars heading towards her with a mug in hand, and she forced herself to sit up and start a day she wished she could fast forward through.

“Here.”

“Thanks,” she said, taking the offering. She sipped it and wondered how he’d known exactly how she took it.

“Come get some eggs,” he said, walking back to the kitchen area.

She couldn’t sit idly by like a spectator anymore while things happened to her. Her situation had hit critical mass. She dragged herself out of bed, armed with only a couple of sips of caffeine to fuel her through the upcoming moments.

She took a seat at the table in front of the omelet Lars had placed there. She picked up the fork, spending more time shuffling the eggs than she did eating them, while she debated on the best approach. She finally came to terms with the fact that some conversations didn’t have a good entry point, they only had an emergency exit. “I want to thank you for trying to help me yesterday. I know you had good intentions. But whatever it was you did can’t happen again.”

She looked up at him now, out of necessity. He needed to understand she was serious.

He leaned back in the seat he’d taken opposite her. The muscles in his abdomen bunched as he relaxed against it, resting his arm along the back. His face was blank of expression.

She didn’t know how he’d take this and she wasn’t exactly in a position to dictate terms. This could very well get her kicked out but she needed to draw a line somewhere. She understood why he’d done it, but she needed to be in her right mind at all times. She didn’t have the luxury of leaning on someone else any more than she already was.

He finally nodded, seeming to be okay with the line she’d drawn for him. “You know I only did it because you were in rough shape.”

“I know.”

She looked down at her eggs, only a couple of bites eaten, and at the mention of her condition last night, she didn’t think she’d be eating anymore.

Arthur. It didn’t seem real. Maybe because she didn’t have a funeral to go to, or a body to ID, it was harder to believe. And the images she’d seen of his mangled body… They couldn’t have been him. Or maybe she was becoming numb; maybe she needed to if she wanted to survive this and keep any type of sanity.

The numbness didn’t want to expand to the last subject she had to address with him. “And I’m sorry about…” Faith’s words faltered with the embarrassment at having to utter the reason for the apology.

“What?”

She looked up at him and wondered if he was playing stupid. When she looked at him though, he really didn’t seem to know where she was heading with that statement. Then it dawned on her. He didn’t think anything of what happened last night. He probably had girls falling all over him on a regular basis.

“What?” he repeated, and she realized it was too late to back out of the apology.

She had to explain herself somehow. If she’d been a good liar, she would’ve thought of something to make up. But instead of lying, Faith said, “I’m sorry I came on to you. I don’t know what was wrong with me.” She swore to herself that she was going to start practicing lying later that very day.

***

Lars leaned back and took in her fidgeting, the way her eyes kept breaking contact with his. “That’s my fault,” he said. “It was a side effect of what I did to you.” She’d looked so uncomfortable that the lie had come out without even thinking about it. When had he started caring about a woman’s feelings?

She looked relieved that she had something to blame it on other than owning the fact that she wanted him, and he instantly regretted saying it. He didn’t have too much time to ponder it or let the irritation take hold before she hit him with another whammy.

“I really appreciate you letting me stay here but I think I need to get my own place. I don’t think it’s safe for anyone to get too close to me after what happened.”

“Trust me, we’d be happy to have Malokin get within reach. You’ve got nothing to worry about on that front.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to risk being responsible for something bad happening to anyone else.”

And that’s what he got for overpaying her. He’d known three thousand a week was too damn much but then the guys kept telling him it should be five thousand. He remembered how they carried on.
What? Do you want her to have to bargain shop for everything she buys? How can you make her live like that?

Even she’d insisted it was too much when he’d given her the money. He’d ignored her, feeling guilty because of what the guys had said, even though there weren’t any stores left open to shop in. Now look at the situation he was in. She had money to rent a place.

Faith was toying with her food again and he was happy she wasn’t looking at him. He grabbed his plate and took it over to the sink, trying to get his knee jerk reaction to arbitrarily tell her it was out of the question under control.

“Lars?”

He kept his back to her as he decided on what to do. Normally he was trying to get women out, not keep one in. He had no clue on how to handle this and the last time he’d blurted shit out, she’d gotten all unhappy. He didn’t know if he could even get a hold of the caterer guy today, so yelling probably wasn’t a good idea without a lunch spread to cajole her back into a good mood.

He’d have to go with logical roadblocks. He cleared his throat in preparation of throwing the first one out there. “You aren’t going to find a place to rent right now.”

“I saw a vacancy sign in a building a few blocks away from here when I was driving with Cutty.”

He knew exactly where she was talking about. Even if he was prepared to let her leave, he’d be damned if he’d let her go live there with the animal that owned that building.

He turned around and eyed up how prettily she was sitting and went with his gut. “I know the building. It’s got an infestation of rats.” Her face told him he’d nailed it. Time for the final blow. “Plus, how are you going to get a place when you don’t have an identity?”

“Cutty said he could help me get one.”

“He did?” Lars turned back to the sink before he silently cursed. What the hell was that dumbass doing lately? He was going to have a word with him.

“Yes. He didn’t say when but I think I need to do this. There must be other places. I can’t steal your bed forever.”

He heard the frustrated sigh in her voice and decided it probably wasn’t a good time to explain to her that he planned on them sharing it soon.

He couldn’t tell her what to do. Not if he didn’t want to deal with her bad mood and he didn’t have the caterer. “I’ll call Cutty right now and ask him how we get the ball rolling.” He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed the bastard’s number.

“Hey, buddy! Faith was just asking about the ID you said you could get her? She wants to start apartment shopping.” Lars smiled as he made his way towards the door that led downstairs, waving toward Faith that he’d be back in a few minutes.

“Lars? Is that you? Why do you sound so weird? Like cheerful and shit?” Cutty asked.

The door shut and when he was sure Faith couldn’t hear him, he let loose. “You. Fucking. Idiot. Why’d you tell her that shit about getting her an ID? Are you being stupid on purpose?”

“Ah, now here’s the Lars I know so well. It happened a few days ago, before our meeting. Why you so pissed? She was over here and looking all sorts of sad. I was trying to make her feel better,” Cutty said, every laid back and relaxed word coming from his mouth a tiny encouragement for Lars to get in his car and go punch his face in person.

“And now what are you going to do?” He walked the rest of the way downstairs and out into the back parking lot, needing the space.

“I don’t think it’s a horrible idea.”

“What do you mean? Keith tried to kidnap her from your house and killed her brother. It’s a horrible idea. You want to send her out there alone?”

“Why don’t we set her up in one of the buildings you own? You could easily secure it and we could still keep tabs on her.” Lars owned several apartment buildings scattered throughout the Carolinas, and every one of them was almost as safe as his place.

“No. They aren’t secure enough, and it takes time and energy to do that,” Lars said it with a force that surprised him. “Plus, the other guys would never feel comfortable with that. We all agreed last night,” he added for good measure.

“All of your buildings are protected, so don’t give me that shit. There’s no way you haven’t done that. We all know how you are with your shit, and we both know she’d be plenty safe.”

That’s what he got for being around Cutty so much. The guy knew him so well it was becoming impossible to lie. “We still don’t know what her connection to Keith really is. All we know it what she’s saying.”

“I think you guys are wrong. We should trust her. Just a gut feeling but I do.”

“No. No to all of it.”

“If she wants to leave, I don’t think we force her to stay.” Some frustration finally leaked into Cutty’s voice.

“We’re doing it for her own good.”

“What the hell is wrong with you guys lately? First Fate and now you? What are we becoming that we dictate people’s lives for them? I never wanted mine dictated to me and I won’t dictate hers.”

“It’s not about dictating. We don’t know if we can trust her,” Lars said.

“Lars, I know this chick is affecting you in some weird fucking way, but you’re crossing a lot of lines lately.”

“I’m not crossing a line and she’s not going anywhere.”

Was he crossing a line? No. He was right. There was a heavy silence on the phone while he waited to see how far he was going to have to push Cutty to get him to back off. He didn’t need Cutty getting Angus and Bic all worked up too.

“I don’t—”

Lars cut off whatever Cutty was planning on saying. “Cutty, I’m going to tell her that you’ll reach out to your contacts. Then in a few days, you’re going to tell her you couldn’t get in touch with them. Do you hear me? We can reassess in a few weeks’ time.”

There was a loud sigh. “Fine.”

“Good.” He hit end before Cutty could complain again and headed back up the stairs towards where Faith was. He had other pressing matters that needed to be handled.

***

Faith was still sitting at the table when Lars walked back in, his eyes narrowed and he was looking a little tenser than he had.

“What’s wrong?” she asked even though she didn’t want to know. She couldn’t handle any more bad news today, not after getting Arthur’s ring yesterday.

“Nothing at all. Cutty is going to get in touch with his connection that handles the IDs.”

“Oh good,” she said, even though she suspected something had gone wrong with that conversation. But if he didn’t want to talk about it, she wasn’t going to press.

She stood and went to get another cup of coffee, and he reached into the fridge and poured milk into her mug without her asking. She took a step back, even more sensitive to his proximity than normal after last night. It was probably only natural to feel self-conscious after she’d clung to him like stripes on a zebra. Or had he stepped closer to her?

He inched forward and she realized he was definitely invading her space, not the other way around, so close that she could feel his heat and see how perfect his skin was.

She backed away quickly and went to sit at the table again, afraid to linger after she’d thrown herself at him. She thought back to yesterday and remembered how he’d climbed in bed with her. He’d been trying to comfort her and she’d been trying to sleep with him. Even though he’d said it was part of the thing he’d done to her, she wasn’t completely sold on that, not with the way her fingers itched to touch him every time he was near.

“I’ve got to go meet up with someone over in Charleston today. Want to come along for the ride? Might be nice to get out, change of scene for a while?” he asked as he looked down at the screen of his phone like it wasn’t a big deal either way.

“I don’t know. I should probably get back to the shop finances. I really wanted to get them organized yesterday—” Her words died suddenly when she thought of what had interrupted her.

He walked over to where she was and stopped on the opposite side of the table, resting his palms on the surface as he leaned over. “It’ll be good for you to get out of here. Rick doesn’t need you to help him in the shop. Take a break. It’s safe. I’ll be with you the whole time.”