Текст книги "Tribal"
Автор книги: Brei Betzold
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Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 5 страниц)
Chapter 5
Ash
I woke up wrapped up in warm arms and smiled to myself. I loved waking up like this, with Cris surrounding me, making me feel safe. I looked over my shoulder to find his dark eyes watching me.
“You okay?” he murmured
I nodded, stretching and feeling the after effects of last night. I ached in places and my back was tender, but I loved it.
“I’m very okay,” I whispered back, “but are you?”
The smile he had melted and his eyes took on a haunted look then he lied to me. “Yeah, I’m good,” he said giving me a fake smile.
I pulled from his arms and went in search of my clothing. Ignoring him calling my name as I quickly dressed.
“Ash, what the hell is your problem?” he asked jerking on a pair of jeans.
“I don’t like being lied to,” I told him while yanking my tennis shoes on.
He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands then looked at me. “I didn’t lie. I just—” then he stopped and cursed.
I nodded. “I get it. I’m good enough to play with, but not good enough to be your girlfriend. Well, next time you need to play call one of your old girls and see if they’ll be more accommodating.”
“What the hell does that mean?” he growled.
“It means that I will not be your plaything, Cris. I am not willing to put my entire life in jeopardy for that. If you want me, you have to want this to be real, I won’t take anything less,” I told him then stomped out the door and climbed in my car. I made it halfway home before the tears started.
When I walked in the door, Devi looked at me once then started cursing men and their stupidity before wrapping her arms around me.
“What did that dumb fuck do this time?” she growled.
“Why can’t he trust me?” I sobbed into her shoulder. “Why is it that every time we start to get close he pulls away?”
“Because that man is an asshat,” she spat. “An asshat that’s about to have my foot up his ass.”
I took a step back and wiped my eyes. “No, I don’t want that, I never wanted us to cause problems.”
She snorted. “Yeah, well, when one of my friends gets hurt by an ass sniffing prick, I cause problems.”
Then she smiled at me, and I was scared by that smile. It was the smile Devi got when she had an idea that wasn’t safe for anyone involved. “Don’t worry about Cris.” Then she spun away and walked out the door.
Seth’s head popped around the corner and whispered, “Is it safe now?”
I giggled and nodded. “You’re such a wuss.”
“That woman has lost her fucking mind,” he said.
“I’ve noticed that lately,” I murmured looking at him. “Want to tell me why?”
“Nope.”
I nodded, I had my suspicions and if they were correct I may be one less boss here soon.
“I’m getting to work,” I told Seth and watched him skulk away hiding from his wife.
Cris
I walked into the shop using the back door hoping I could sneak in without anyone noticing I was here yet. I couldn’t deal with any more shit today. I knew I was fucking things up with Ash, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I went into my office and shut the door before I sat down in the chair behind my desk and put my head in my hands. I don’t know why I lied, but we both know I did. No, things weren’t okay. I was fucking suffocating, and I had managed to fuck up the one bright spot in my life.
I sighed running my fingers through my hair; I didn’t know how to fix this. I didn’t know how to fix any of this, the shop was safe now thanks to Devi. I hated the fact that she had to swoop in and fix everything. I hated that I had become that weak. It didn’t matter to me that she had always planned on buying into the shop, things are different now. When we had discussed that, it was before Seth. It was before I lost the one person I thought I loved, only now I realize I never really loved her. I love her, though not in the way I thought; more as my sister. Ash, though, I love her in a very non-platonic kind of way. I just didn’t know how to open up to her. I didn’t want her to look at me and think I was weak. Needing your best friend to come in and fix your financial problems and keep your business afloat is definitely not something I wanted to talk to her about.
I stood up, or attempted to stand up but the chair came with me pulling at the seat of my jeans. I set down the chair, banging it on the floor then stood up again. “That fucking bitch,” I muttered before yelling, “Devlin Shaye Taylor, get your fucking ass in here.”
I watched as Devi slowly opened the door and sauntered into the room and sat down on one of the guest chairs across the desk from me.
“You bellowed?” she asked so sweetly sugar wouldn’t have melted in her mouth.
“What. The. Fuck?” I growled, she didn’t even bat an eyelash.
She shrugged and looked me over. “Thought you might need some help getting your head out of your ass. Had lots of ideas on how to remedy that, but decided on gluing it to the chair, maybe when you get out of that your head will pop free.”
“You are fucking insane,” I seethed.
“That is a distinct possibility, but you, I know for a fact, are an idiot.”
I growled at her again and she just kept staring at me.
“You made her cry, Cris, and I will not fucking tolerate that,” she growled back. “I put up with a lot of your shit, but I will not sit back and watch you fucking hurt her.”
“I didn’t.”
“You. Are. Not. Allowed. To Speak. Only Listen.” She eyed me again. “You hurt her and I swear to god I will shove your balls so far up your ass you’ll be tasting your own cum, do you understand me?”
I nodded, I knew better than to fuck with Devi when she was like this.
“What I don’t understand is why you’re acting like this?” she murmured. “You two are good together. Hell, she puts up with your dumbass, you should be bowing at her feet. I do know if you don’t start trusting her, and I mean out of your bedroom and away from the whips and chains, you’ll lose her.”
I rubbed my hand over my face. “I don’t know why I can’t.”
She laughed at me. “And Cris, stop lying to her, to me, and most of all to yourself.”
With that, she got up and walked out the door while my ass was still glued to the chair. “Hey, you going to help me?” I called after her.
“Nope, I think you need a time out.” She shut the door behind her.
I ended up having to cut my jeans then rip them to get out of the fucking chair. I am sure that crazy woman threatened my staff to keep them from helping me. Though, that didn’t stop Max from coming in and laughing his ass off when he found me. When I finally made my way into the shop for my first appointment, I was passed pissed off and was borderline homicidal. I glared at Devi but kept my mouth shut out on the floor; I didn’t want to get into a fight with her in front of clients. She just stuck her tongue out at me and continued working.
“You are lucky I keep extra clothes here,” I growled when I walked past her, she just laughed at me. “How is it Seth hasn’t murdered you yet?”
“I give really good head,” she replied then ignored me.
I went to work on my only client of the day; it was a piece we had been working on for six months, and we were nearly finished with. I lost myself in my work, filling in pieces of the sleeve I had designed. When I was tapped on the shoulder by our new shop helper, I nearly jumped.
“Don’t do that,” I snapped at the girl.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.
I took a deep breath trying to calm my still raging temper. “What did you need?”
“Uhm, your appointment is here.”
I sighed. I had forgotten I had an interview today. “Tell them I’ll be there in a few.”
“Sway, you okay if we stop for the day?”
He nodded. “Fine with me, we’ve been at it for six hours.”
I nodded and went to work cleaning him up then wrapping his arm. “Any problems, call me,” I told him and left him with Jules at the front desk to take care of the rest. Then I went in search of my interviewee.
I walked around the desk into the waiting room and found Devi sitting with one of the people we were considering for a position as a body modification expert. I was still on the fence about even hiring someone for this, but we had been getting people calling the shop asking for it. It was worth looking into, Haven was highly recommended so I would talk to her and see how it went.
“Ah Cris,” Devi said looking up smiling at me.
“Devi,” I said curtly, still pissed off at her.
“Stop being a baby,” she admonished. “Haven, this is the shop owner, Crispin, Crispin, this is Haven.” She stood up and patted me on the shoulder. “Be nice,” she whispered to me then flounced off to the back room.
I stuck out my hand and Haven reached out, shaking hands I said, “Nice to meet you Haven.”
“You too, Cris.”
“You ready to do this?”
She nodded, reached down, and grabbed her portfolio then stood. I led her back to my office shutting the door and hoping that nothing else went wrong today.
Chapter 6
Ash
I walked into Pin’s Ink carrying Cait and keeping a tight grip of Jaks’s hand. He had a tendency of running away when we walked into the shop, and a rambunctious five year old in a tattoo shop wasn’t the best idea. I walked up to the desk where Jules and a new girl were standing. I could tell Jules was frustrated about something, but then again she’d been off for months now.
“Jules!” Jaks screeched and tried to pull out of the death grip I had on his hand.
Jules smiled down at Jaks. “Hey buddy.”
“Mommy and Daddy are taking us to see the big scary fucking mouse,” he proclaimed. I turned my head into Cait and giggled, those were Seth’s exact words this morning when he whined about taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese.
I heard Jules strangle a choke and knew she was trying hard not to laugh. “Really?” she finally managed.
“Yep,” Jaks said sounding solemn, “Daddy doesn’t want to go but Mommy told him if he didn’t she’d cut—”
“Okay,” I said interrupting Jaks, “let’s go find Mommy, huh?”
Jaks scrunched up his face at me. “But I was—”
“Oh I’m sure Jules knows exactly what you were going to tell her, don’t you, Jules?” I asked giving her a pleading look. I’d already had a delightful conversation with him earlier about what balls were, and why Mommy was going to cut Daddy’s off.
She took a deep breath trying to regain her composure. “Yeah sweetie, now why don’t you go on back into the drawing room, that’s where Mommy is.”
“Thank you,” I mouthed and headed back to where the office and other rooms were located, while sneaking glances around. I didn’t know if I wanted to see Cris or not at this point. After this morning, I was unsure about where we stood. I liked being with him, he was fun, caring, and sweet, at least to me. Only I wouldn’t be lied to, and I was no one’s toy. I’d already been there with an ex, and I wasn’t going back. I liked to play like any other person, but what Cris and I had wasn’t a one night thing in some play room. We were, I thought, building a relationship, and I would be treated as an equal.
“Mommy, Mommy,” Jaks screamed. “Let’s go see the big scary fucking mouse, come on.”
I walked around the corner trying to hide my amusement when I found Jaks tugging on Devi trying to get her out of the chair. Also amusing was the look of exasperation on Devi’s face, probably because of the colorful language Jaks was using. I’d tried to curb it, but when he hangs out with Seth, X, Cris, Drake, Devi, Mags, and many others it soon became a losing battle. Luckily at this point, he hadn’t cursed at school yet, at least that we knew of.
“Jaks, hold on, we have to wait for Daddy,” Devi told him.
“Awww,” he whined and sat down in the chair pouting.
“Has he been like this all day?” Devi asked.
“Pretty much,” I said. “He didn’t fare well in school today either.”
She nodded. “He always gets like this when Seth’s about to leave,” she mused.
“Well at least this will be the last time for a while,” I said handing over Cait who wanted her mommy.
“So,” I murmured glancing around.
She sighed. “He’s interviewing someone for the body mod job.”
I nodded.
“Haven, remember I told you about her, she’s the one who did my nipples.”
“Ah yes, she’s the one you want to hire?”
“Yeah, but it’s not my call.”
“I thought you bought in to the place?”
“I did, but I don’t want to run it. I just want to make sure my job is secure. I don’t want to look for a new shop to work out of. Plus Cris is good at running the place, the only reason he’s run into problems is because the economy sucks.”
I chewed on my lip. “I don’t think he shares that opinion?”
“On me wanting to run the place? Or that he does a damn good job of it?”
“Both,” I guess.
“I know that, but he won’t listen to me, and I am done fighting with him over it. I don’t have the time to dedicate to running a shop, nor have I ever wanted to. He’ll figure it out eventually. I just hope I don’t strangle him before then.”
“Daddy!” Jaks yells and I turn and see Seth standing in the door way.
“Hey buddy,” he says grabbing Jaks before he runs into him, “how was school?”
Jaks gets this scrunched up look on his face “I gots in trouble.”
“Oh?” Seth asks.
“I talked when I was supposed to be quiet.”
Seth nodded. “Well we’ll have to work on that.”
Jaks nodded solemnly. “Now can we go see the big scary fucking mouse? But Daddy, I don’t think he’s scary. I’ll hold your hand.”
“Thank you, buddy,” Seth says while choking back laughter. “I’ll hide behind you.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
I walked out of the room following Jaks and Seth to find Sam and X standing in the front, I smile and wave hoping I could get away with that. Only to have X grab me and pull me into a hug.
“Aw, it’s my favorite nanny.”
“I’m the only nanny you know.”
“No, you’re the only nanny who won’t sleep with me.”
“That’s because I’m smart.”
“Aw, you don’t have to be that way.”
I shake my head at him. “Hi Sam.”
“Hey Ash.” I watch as he dismisses me and follows Jules around with his eyes. I glance over at Devi and notice she’s watching too. I shrug, I have no idea what’s going on with those two if anything, and honestly, I have enough issues with my own personal life to get involved.
I turn to say my good byes at the same time I notice Cris’s door open and a gorgeous woman with white dreads walks out followed by Cris; I couldn’t get out of there soon enough.
Cris
I walked out of my office and swept my eyes around the shop stalling when I saw Ash standing there with X’s arms wrapped around her. I wanted to go over there and rip his arm off then beat him with it. I took a deep breath and pushed the feeling away. She had said this morning that we were through, apparently she’d moved on, quickly.
“This is where your room will be,” I pointed a room we had renovated for piercings, and other body modification work. I opened the door and showed Haven the dentist chair, along with the other equipment we had already purchased. “I didn’t want to buy more until I decided who I wanted to hire, then let them order what they wanted.”
“Is there decent ventilation in the room?”
I nodded. “Yeah we had one installed, a few of our candidates do branding.”
“Yeah, I can do branding, I’m just selective on who I will perform it on.”
“I don’t blame you there. That’s a long and painful process, from what I’ve heard.” The more I talked to Haven the more I had to agree with Devi, which in of itself pissed me off, but she seemed to be the perfect fit for our shop. She was well trained in multiple areas, as well as piercing.
“It is, and I want to make sure that they’re up to it, especially since I am burning their skin with electricity. I don’t think I can think of anything worse than starting a branding then them turning around five minutes later saying that they can’t handle it, or they don’t understand the commitment and healing it takes.”
“I’d prefer not to have branding in the shop, but if we do decide to, it will be a selective process.”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have a problem either way.”
We walked back into the shop where I noticed Cyn standing next to X and groaned. I wasn’t up for her shade of crazy today. I walked Haven back to the front letting her know that I’d contact her soon. I wanted to sit down one last time and talk to Devi about the applicants before making a final decision, but I had a feeling Haven would be it.
I turned around and found Ash glaring at me, standing beside a pissed off Devi and an equal mad Jules. I wasn’t sure what was going on but with the sly smile on Cyn’s face and those three glaring at me like I just ate the last chocolate bar in Dallas, I knew it wasn’t going to be good for me.
Chapter 7
Ash
I heard the tinkling of the bells at the front door and when I looked back, I had to bite off a groan. Cyn sauntered in as if she owned the place. I knew Devi put up with her because they were cousins, and everyone else did because of Eli, but it didn’t change the fact she was an uppity bitch most of the time. She walked up glaring daggers at me and I couldn’t figure out why, then I remembered X had his arm around my shoulder. For some reason X kept Cyn around. He said it was because she was always willing to help scratch his itch. Though when she looked at women like she was looking at me when he flirted with them—and X flirted with every woman—I don’t think she got the memo of his intentions.
I ducked out from under his arm and headed towards Sam; I didn’t want to be in the line of fire of her and X.
She walked up and ran her hand from his chest to his groin. “Hi X,” she simpered and I rolled my eyes.
“Hey Cyn,” he said then went back to talking to Sam and Seth, ignoring her. She ducked under his arm so it was around her shoulders then snuggled up to him.
“So Ash,” Cyn said glaring at me, “isn’t it weird dating a guy that at one time was engaged to your boss?”
I sucked in a breath. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh you didn’t know? I’m sorry. I just thought that he would have told you, I’m sorry.” Her tone sounded contrite but I could see it in her eyes, she’d meant to hurt me.
I looked around the group and all of them were staring at Cyn then at me, “Devi?” I asked quietly.
“We were never engaged,” she said between gritted teeth. “Before Seth came home, Cris did ask me to marry him; he wanted to help me take care of Jaks. I told him no and nothing was ever said about it again. Which Cyn fucking knows.”
I was pulled into a hug by X who was glaring at Cyn. “It was nothing,” he whispered in my ear. “It meant nothing. She’s just a backstabbing jealous bitch who’s trying to hurt you.”
I nodded my head slowly, but if that was the case, if it meant nothing, why didn’t he tell me? Why would he tell me he cared about me, then keep something that everyone else knew, and someone would have eventually told me? I would have made sure I told him something like this first so he wouldn’t be sucker punched later.
Cris walked up and I glared at him, I knew then after lying to me now this that he never looked at me as anything more than a plaything. I turned and smiled tightly at everyone. “I’m going to head out, night ya’ll.” Then I spun on my heel and marched out of his shop. I refused to let him know how badly he hurt me, humiliated me.
Cris
I walked up as Ash was slamming out the front door. I wanted to chase after her and find out what the hell was wrong but first I needed to know why she was so pissed off.
“You’re a fucking idiot, Crispin,” Devi said between gritted teeth then she spun looking at Cyn. “And that was a bitch move. I’m done; I don’t need this stress right now.” I watched as she pushed through everyone while carrying Cait and bulldozed out the front door with Seth and Jaks chasing her.
“Uhm…someone want to clue me in?”
X glared at me then turned and glared at Cyn before he shook his head at her in disbelief. Then he took off in the direction of Max’s station I was even more confused.
“Jules?”
“Prick,” she muttered then spun around and flounced off.
“Sam?”
“Well, you screwed up.”
“I got that, but how?”
“It might have been helpful if you’d told the girl you’re dating that at one point and time you’d asked her boss to marry you.”
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “How?”
“Cyn told her, in a not so nice way.”
My eyes snapped open just in time to see a pissed off Cyn walk out the door. I looked around and found X staring at Haven and sighed. Of course she wouldn’t be pissed or upset that she’d just fucked me up the ass sideways, no it’d be because X.
“I was going to tell her.”
“Shoulda, woulda, coulda, it’s all a little too late now,” Sam said.
I nodded knowing he was right. “How do I fix it?”
He snorted. “I have no fucking clue. I’ve got my own problems I can’t work out.”
I turned and nearly ran into Haven. “Uhm, sorry,” I mumbled then headed to my office quickly.
I grabbed my cell that was sitting on my desk and dialed Ash’s number, it went straight to voicemail. So I decided to text her instead.
CRIS: I’M SORRY YOU FOUND OUT THAT WAY I WAS GOING TO TELL YOU.
I waited for half an hour with no response. I let my head drop to my desk; I had really fucked this up.
