Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1 (11 page)

“Well your friends keep getting more
and more interesting,” he muttered.

“You have no idea,” I replied. He
patted the table in between us.

“You ready Mama?” he asked. Going behind the desk, I
grabbed my bag, inside were a black t shirt and a thong. Underwear really was
not an option. Jack was a professional, so I was not too worried.  After I
went into the bathroom to change, I came out, looking around me. Matt peeked
over at me and whistled. He got a glare from me and he just laughed. Jack
looked up as I trotted into his station and smiled.

“Nice thong”, he remarked. Climbing up on the table, I
stuck my tongue out at him.

“Sorry, I was just trying to cut the tension,” he
replied. He grabbed the drawing, which he had cut in half. He stood next to me
and moved the picture around over my left hip, to see what the right
positioning would be. He had my lie on my right side to better figure it out.

“I am going to go get all this taken care of. Hold
tight,” he said. I relaxed a bit. After ten minutes or so, he came back with a
pillow and a small sheet to cover me a bit. He put on gloves and walked over to
me. He moistened my skin with water and positioned the tattoo stencil on my
left hip area. Slowly and carefully, he pulled the stencil off of my skin. It
left a purple blue image of my tattoo. He turned around and began setting up
his tattoo gun. He pulled out small little cups that he poured black liquid
into. He turned on the gun. He dipped the needle in the ink and gripped my hip.

“I know you know how all of this happens, you have gotten
ink before. But listen to my little spiel and then we can start okay?” he
asked. I nodded.

“The majority of what I am going to do today is outline
the tattoo. I will try and do some shading too. We will have to see what your
comfort level is,” he stated. I nodded and he bent over. The needle felt like
someone was using a nail to draw on my skin and it did not hurt in the least. I
relaxed and Jack and I chatted for a bit. I had covered with head with the hood
of my sweat shirt, and I felt sleepy.

“What’s going on here guys?” asked Chloe. I looked up as
best as I could and gave her a smile.

“Part one of a killer hip tattoo,” he replied.

“Just lining it out tonight I take it?” asked Chloe.

“Yep,” replied Jack.  It was quiet.

So, when did you devious creatures set this up?” she
asked. Jack smirked.

“Um yesterday. Is that okay Mom?” I asked. She laughed.

“Can I watch? I don’t have another client until later,
last minute thing,” she explained.

 “Absolutely lady,” I replied. Chloe was quiet for a
minute, watching Jack work.

“Nice thong,” she said and giggled.

“Dude, that’s what I said,” replied Jack and he laughed.

Three hours later, Jack spread some ointment on my hip
and covered it with some cling wrap My hip hurt and so did my lower back, but
that was more from the position I had been lying in for three hours. Looking at
Jack, I hopped off of the table and winced at the brief soreness. Jack handed
me a pair of his sweatpants from his gym bag, which I gratefully took from him.

“Don’t worry, they are clean,” he said with a smile.

“Thanks! I did not think to bring some of my own,” I
replied softly. Shutting the bathroom door behind me, I slid the sweatpants on
and walked out again. He grabbed his bottle of soda, I grabbed my purse and we
walked up to the front.

“Sore?” he asked. The office was quiet and I went over to
the chair and sat down. I nodded. He put his hand on mine.

“What’s up?” he said.  Here we go. 

“I appreciate you letting me stay last night. So I guess
we are going to be roommates,” I stated slowly.  He looked at me.

“This was what you were so hesitant to talk to me about
all day???” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Really? You have been hopping around like a poodle on
crack all day whenever I came around. Like you are scared of me,” he replied.

“I am not scared of you Jack. I am scared of us,” I
admitted and looked down at my hands. He came closer to me and tilted my face
up with his hand, so that I was looking into his eyes.

“Why? Why does the idea of you and I scare you?”

  I don’t want to lose myself again. I don’t want to
hurt you with drama that inevitably comes along with me and I don’t want to
lose you,” I replied. He gave me a tight hug and kissed the top of my head. He
smelled so good.

“I am not going anywhere my dear. I promise. And drama?
Have you not met my mother??” he asked with a smirk.

“Okay. I warned you,” I whispered. He laughed.

“Feel better?” he asked.

“I do feel better now that I told you. Also, Abs tore me
a new one today at breakfast. It’s hard for me to open up like that. That was
another thing she yelled at me about. Being so closed off.
 
We are not really touchy feely people in my
family, you know.”

“Well I cannot promise that I won’t have days where I am
a total dick. But I would never hurt you intentionally,” he said softly.

 He got into his car and I followed him in my truck.
Walking into my new digs, I sat down on the couch and tossed my cell phone on
the coffee table. I was wicked sore and unbearably tired.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind,” he said,
coming to sit next to me, a beer in his hand.

 “Abs and I were talking this morning, and she
thinks I should go visit my Dad,” I said.

“Why?” he replied.

“Well growing up, my Dad, Aaron is his name, was a lot
like Axel. He worked with Uncle Tangler at the bike shop, he was at every Bike
Week, and he even rolled with an MC, the Diablo Demons. He is all tatted up and
is even taller than you. He is handsome and intimidating. My Mom on the other
hand, was a nurse in the ER, tiny, blonde hair, very soft spoken. She met my
Dad when he and Uncle Tangler came into the ER after getting into a fight. She
took care of him and things just happened from there,” I replied. He smiled.

“Axel is a lot like my father. But when I was growing up,
I was closer to my Dad than my brothers were. My oldest brother Beau was always
a loner, but always looked out for me. When Mom was murdered, he really
withdrew, crashed on friend’s couches, stuff like that. He never went to the
trial and left as soon as he turned 18.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Beau? God, it’s been forever. And I have no idea where
he is,” I replied.

“Abby thinks my Dad might be able to help me figure out
what is going on with Axel. I think she may be right. I miss my Dad. He was my
best friend,” I said softly.

“When are you planning on going?”

“Not sure. Maybe I can arrange to go there this weekend.
Nothing is set in stone yet. I have to make some calls tomorrow to the prison
and his probation officer,” I replied.

My Dad was on my mind this time when I tried to sleep.
Ugh, this had to stop. After punching the pillow, glaring at my alarm clock and
watching endless videos on YouTube, I got maybe an hour of sleep. Needless to
say, I was tired and grumpy when I went in to work the next morning.

“How’s the hip holding up?” asked Matt when I walked in
the back to grab some Windex. He was sporting some faded jeans and a black
button down polo. His hair was now red.

“Not bad. I am a little sore. Otherwise good,” I replied.
He nodded and gave me a smile. He was so quiet, but really nice. He was a
really talented artist as well.
 
He
reminded me of someone, but I could not put my finger on it. And I really did
not want to stare at him like a creeper.

“Can’t wait to see it when it’s all done,” he replied,
snapping me out of my trance.

“What you didn’t get a good enough look at her ass last
night?” asked Jack. We laughed and the guys both went to the drafting tables.
Matt had a tricky cover up to do for a client and Jack was just lounging
around.

“When can we do more work on my tattoo?” I asked Jack.

“I want to make sure your skin heals nicely. Sometime
next week should be alright. I can outline the other hip, but it’s up to you,”
he replied.

“I will let you know about the other hip,” I said. He
nodded and went to work.

It took me two weeks to get a chance to go visit my
father. Jack had outlined my other hip and did a five hour session on my left
one. We had also moved into Chloe’s place and Matt had moved in above the shop.
After our talk, I managed to relax a little and open up to Jack a little more
each day. Abby kept me company along with Chloe. I knew I had made the right
decision to move in with Jack and Chloe. And I finally was able to get some
sleep.  Jack was great and the three of us often did stuff together.

On Saturday, I woke up, had breakfast, took a shower and
Googled directions to the prison on my laptop. Shutting the door behind me, I
walked downstairs. I got into my newly fixed truck and took off.  It felt
good to be driving my baby again. Letting out a breath that I had no idea that
I was holding, I forced myself to concentrate on my drive. 

After parking, walking inside, getting a Visitor badge
and being wanded and frisked, I was led into a common room type of area where
the tables and chairs were seventies orange and bolted to the floor. The walls
were beige tiled and there were windows all around, with cages over them. A few
inmates visited with their families and a stern faced guard stood at the end of
the room next to the door. The door opened with a buzz, and my father stepped
out. Seeing me, he smiled. He was wearing an orange two piece jumpsuit that
resembled hospital scrubs and dark brown work boots. His somewhat long hair was
still wavy with a strand hanging over his eyebrow like Superman, but the black
was shot with gray streaks. His goatee had some gray in it as well. He sat down
and folded his tattooed hands. My name was tattooed on his right knuckles and
my mother’s nickname, Angel, was on his left. His arms were inked up from
shoulder to wrist, as was one side of his neck.

“Hey baby, how are you doing?” he asked in his deep,
gravelly voice. He covered my hand with his huge hand. He looked me over
hungrily and then smiled nervously.

“Good Daddy. But there is something wrong with Axel,” I
replied. His face clouded.

“Did he knock someone up?” he asked.

“No Daddy,” I said with a laugh.

“What the hell did he do?” he growled, his hands going
into fists. I placed my small hand over his and he relaxed a little.

“I moved down to be closer to him after Carl ditched me.
He was alright for a few days, and then this crazy chick is in his life and I
don’t know if she is calling the shots. But Axel is acting like a crazy person
and then
he
goes off on
me
. Leaves town, kicks me out and won’t
answer my calls or texts,” I blurted out. He is thoughtful for a minute.

“Doesn’t seem right,” he said.

“I know. Nothing adds up. It’s like this woman controls
him, like she has something over on him. I asked him about it and he told me to
butt out.”

“Baby, I don’t know. Everything about this is wrong. I
can’t ask him because the little bastard won’t talk to me.” He glared angrily
and then softened when he looked at my face.

“Sorry. Still haven’t learned to control the temper,” he
said, looking embarrassed.

“I am going to figure something out. Abby thought it
might be a good idea to talk to you, seeing as how Axel is a lot like you. Have
you heard anything from your lawyer?” I asked. He smiled.

“I am up before the parole board next month. July 5 is
the exact date that they gave me. Funny huh? The day after Independence Day,”
he said with a laugh.

“That’s good! You have definitely not done anything
wrong, they have to let you out,” I said, hugging him tightly.  He nodded.

“Aside from your dumb assed brother, how are you doing baby?”

“Well, after Axel kicked me out, I moved in with two
people who work at the shop.”

“You shacking up with a guy??” he growled at me.

“Daddy, I live with Chloe and Jack. I am not shacking up
with anyone,” I said quickly.

“Sorry I was worried baby girl, “he said.

“They are good people Daddy. When someone trashed my
truck, they were there for me, gave me rides to work, etc. Axel bailed. They
are like family now,” I said softly.

“I am going to kill Axel!” he replied, cracking his
knuckles.

“And you will get thrown back in here Daddy,” I replied
and he laughed.

“Wait…what happened with Carl?” he asked angrily. Oh boy.

On the drive home, I felt better, even if we didn’t
really solve anything. Dad calmed down after I told him with I had done to
Carl, he even laughed about it, a little. He laughed even louder and
longer when I told him about Blake and him setting his house on fire. Axel was
somewhere and I hoped he was alright. It was bad enough having one brother
AWOL, but now two was painful. Thank God for Chloe and Jack, but I did not want
to depend on them too much. As I pulled into the space in front of the shop, I
grabbed my phone and texted Abby.