Dead Ink(Karma Series Book 4)(15)

She moved over to where he'd placed her bag. Once he stepped away she  had and idiotic desire to follow him and tell him that yes, she was  tasty. Instead, she focused herself on the much more sane desire of  crawling into a clean bed and getting some sleep.

Then she remembered her pajamas, covered in blood, were sitting in  Cutty's garbage. She shuffled through the contents of her things,  looking for anything that would work. She pulled out a pair of shorts  that didn't look too fitting for bed.

"Need something to sleep in?" he asked, from behind her but keeping his distance now.

"If you've got something you can lend me."

He nodded and walked over to a drawer, and then handed her a t-shirt.  She ducked into the bathroom and was relieved when it came down to her  mid-thighs.

When she came out several minutes later, she bee-lined it to the bed. It  was such an odd feeling, to be crawling under his blankets with him so  close by. She hadn't just slept in a room with a man since she was a  child and it didn't help dispel any of the tension she felt.

She tried to sleep but she kept peeking glances at him from behind her  eyelashes as he walked around the large room. He stopped and flipped  through some papers he had piled on the kitchen counter before he opened  the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. She wasn't sure if he was  trying to be quiet for her or if he was just naturally this silent.

He took another swig from the bottle before he walked toward the door  and looked at her, as if he knew she was not only awake but had been  watching him. "I've got to run down to the shop for a couple."

"Okay," she replied but then found herself clutching the covers.

He paused, looking like he thought he should say something more. Then he left without another word.

She watched the door close behind him and hoped he'd come back soon.  Whether she wanted to admit it or not, for some crazy reason she felt  better when he was around.





Chapter 12





The five guys sat in silence in the darkly lit shop. Bic, normally the  quietest of the five was the one who spoke first. "So, who wrote the  shit on the ceiling?"

"We aren't exactly sure," Cutty said. "But I've got a hunch it wasn't Malokin but somebody close to him."

"So was she this guy's girlfriend or some shit? Or did he just want her  to be his girlfriend?" He ran a hand over his shaved head. "Can someone  tell me what the status is?"

"So, we've got one of Malokin's guys' girlfriend?" Angus let out a low  whistle from where he leaned on the counter. "This shit just keeps  getting crazier and crazier."

Cutty, who had been leaning by the door, stepped forward. "I'm telling you guys, whatever went down, it wasn't of her choosing."

Lars put his boot on the bench in front of him and rested his forearms  on his raised leg, trying to appear calm about the whole matter. "But,  Cutty, by your own words, you don't know that for sure." Lars looked  around the room to the other guys. "Did she mention anyone besides  Malokin to any of you? Any hint of a personal relation with someone in  his employ?"                       
       
           



       

"No, but it's not like we actually asked, either," Angus explained.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Fate snapped. "You're hanging  out with her all day and night and you don't at some point slip in the  most obvious questions?" Fate leaned back in the chair he was seated on.  "She might still lie but at least we'd have something, which is more  than we have now." He let out a disgruntled sigh. "Either way, she  doesn't leave our sight. As long as they want her, she's with us. Fuck  those bastards."

Lars watched Fate as he tried to remain seated but then stood up, losing  the battle between remaining calm and embracing the aggravation. He  moved around the room, shoulders tensed.

Lars got it. He knew what Malokin had just put Karma through. How he'd  forced her to do things she didn't want to, to help him further his  objective. He'd dangled Kitty the Black Cat Lady's life over her head.  Malokin had monitored every aspect of her existence and fucked with her  in a way that was just plain old creepy. Fate would use any tool he  could to retaliate against him or his men at this point. And at this  moment in time it was keeping Faith under their control. Right or wrong,  Lars liked the idea of keeping her.

The thought of Faith leaving here to go be with one of Malokin's men  made his breath stop in his chest and his fingers clench into fists.

Maybe it was wrong to go along with it just because he didn't want  anyone else to have her but he didn't feel like he had a choice. The  idea of her with someone else was so repulsive it made him want to throw  the tattoo bench he was leaning on through his own window.

If Lars wasn't going to sleep with her, there was no way in hell he was  going to let anyone else do it. He thought of how close he'd come to  doing just that, a few minutes ago, upstairs. Her sudden unease finally  jarred him out of it but he'd almost grabbed her and thrown her on his  bed. And whether she realized it or not, she'd been as ready as he was.  He wasn't sure she knew the kind of heat she'd been throwing off.

"I agree with Fate. We keep her under wraps here until we know what we're dealing with," he said.

Between both Fate and now Lars putting it out there, no one else would  disagree. They were the de facto leaders. If they were in agreement, the  matter was basically closed, unless one of the other guys had a  seriously strong objection but it wasn't likely. The other three were  always the easier going of the bunch. It was decided. Faith wasn't going  anywhere. With a strange sense of relief, Lars straightened up.

"Where you going?" Angus asked, as Lars made a move towards the door.

"Upstairs."

"You going to wake her up to question her?" Fate asked. Lars shouldn't  have been surprised that the guys knew what he was about. They'd only  known him for close to forever.

It was burning Lars up to not put the question directly to her. He  should've just asked her before but the shock of the bloody message had  thrown him. Then he'd felt bad pressing her. But the idea was churning  up his insides, and he needed to hear her response before he lost his  shit completely. "She's still up. Her heartbeat was beating too quickly  to have fallen asleep yet."

Bic stood from where he'd been sitting on the counter. "I want to be there."

"Me too." Angus took a step toward the door. Fate and Cutty looked ready to come as well.

He'd wanted to do it in private but after how close he'd gotten to  sleeping with her, maybe having the guys around wasn't such a bad idea.





Chapter 13





Faith was awake when she heard Lars walk into the room. He kept coming  until he was standing over where she lay in bed. "The guys and I need to  talk to you."

She sat up, the only thing surprising to her was why they'd waited this  long. She'd been expecting the questions to start ever since she'd woken  to the message on the ceiling. She'd known her plan of pretending that  everything was fine was stupid. She was almost embarrassed of herself  for thinking she'd pulled it off.

"Where are they?" she asked.

"Waiting in the hall. I wanted to give you a minute," he said.

"Go get them. Let's get this over with," she said as she got out of bed.

He took a couple steps toward the door and then stopped. He walked over  to where jeans were laying folded on top of her bag and handed them to  her. "Here."

The t-shirt he'd given her fell just below mid-thigh but she didn't  argue and just took them. To her, the guys seeing a little leg wasn't a  pressing issue right now. But who knew, maybe the guy who used to be the  Evil Eye had become Amish or some shit.                       
       
           



       

Jeans on, Lars finally went to the door, giving a holler down. The guys piled in a minute later.

She didn't know what to expect, and she wasn't sure if she cared  anymore. After waking up as she had, earlier in the evening, at first  she'd felt like she was walking around in a state of disbelief. Horror  had followed close behind, with fear right on its heels, and a strong  instinct for self-preservation.

After Lars left, and she'd lain there alone in bed, something had  clicked inside of her. She'd been trying so hard to survive and come to  terms with what was left of her life that she realized she'd been  throwing away who she was all on her own.

She hadn't been herself since this had all begun and you could only be  someone else for so long before your natural inclinations came back to  the surface. Somehow, tonight had kicked her past fear into fuck it, if  I'm going to go down, I'm going down on my terms.