Breathless (Steel Brothers Saga #10)(36)

Could negate…

I slammed the book shut. This was stupid. Completely stupid. A tattoo wasn’t some magic charm that could fix my life.

Maybe it was time to talk to someone. Really talk to someone. I put the book back on the table and walked out. As I opened the door, I met a familiar gaze.

A gaze that was only familiar to me because of my father.

Colin Morse.

His hair had grown out from the shaved head my father had given him. I cleared my throat. “Excuse me.”

Colin cringed but held his ground.

Just what I didn’t need. Another reminder of how much I resembled that psychopath who’d sired me.

What to do? Escape? Or say hello? Or say I’m sorry my father put you through hell?

Nothing seemed right. This innocent young man not yet three decades old had been brutalized beyond my imagination.

At the hands of my father.

He said nothing, just froze, the door still open, staring at me. Did he know his father had contacted me? Did he know what it could be about? I wanted to ask him all these things, but the words lodged in my throat.

“Hey!” the girl behind the counter yelled. “Shut the door, will you? It’s freaking cold outside.”

The weather was actually nice for early February, but Haley—as her nametag said—was wearing a black camisole crop top, no doubt to show off the triple piercing in her belly button.

I stepped back in and allowed Colin to pass. “Sorry,” I said to Haley. Then, to Colin, because I felt like a fool not acknowledging him, “Getting a tattoo?”

He nodded.

“You Colin?” Haley asked.

He nodded again.

“Come on in. Trevor’s ready for you. You’re a virgin, right?”

I swung my head around and stared at Haley.

“Yeah,” Colin said.

“A virgin?” I couldn’t help asking.

“Virgin skin. Never tatted,” Haley explained.

“Oh.” I nodded. “I guess I’m a virgin too.”

“Did you see anything you liked?” she asked.

“Not really. Nothing stood out to me.”

“Well, you think about it.” She nodded to Colin. “Follow me.”

I should leave. I should walk right out that door. But I couldn’t. Everything in me forced my body to immobility.

I wanted to know what Colin was having tattooed on his body. Where he was having it tattooed on his body. And why he was doing it here, in Snow Creek, the home of his brutalizer.

Once Colin had disappeared into the back, Haley returned. “You still here?”

“Yeah.”

She lifted her brow. “And…why?”

“Curious,” I said.

“About what?”

“About which tattoo Colin is getting.”

“You a friend of his? Because he didn’t say one word to you.”

“Not a friend, exactly. An acquaintance.”

“Then what do you care?”

I didn’t have a lot of money to spare, but I pulled out a twenty-dollar bill from my wallet and pushed it toward Haley. “Just tell me what he’s getting.”

She took the money and slipped it beneath her crop top. “Sure. It’s not like we have a tattoo artist and client confidentiality thing. You didn’t need to pay me.”

Fuck. But I didn’t ask for the money back. “So?”

“It’s something he designed himself. Pretty artistic, actually.” She pulled out a piece of paper and slid it over to me.

I held back a gasp.

It was a skull. A skull missing the entire left side of the cranium. All in black except for the eyes of a snake slithering out from the break. I’d seen similar images, but the snake usually had red eyes.

Not this one.

Blue eyes.

Like my father’s.

Like mine.

Underneath were words in block letters.

Save Yourself.





Chapter Twenty–Three





Marjorie





I found Talon in his office, on the phone. He motioned me in, so I sat down across from his desk. The chair was warm.

Was this where Bryce had sat earlier?

Maybe, but the warmth had nothing to do with that. It had been hours ago. God, I was being so ridiculous.

Talon ended his call. “Is Jade okay?”

I nodded. “The boys are with her, so I left. I need to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Did you tell Jade about Colin?”

“No. Crap. Did you?”

“No. I wanted to ask you first.”

“Good. I don’t want anything upsetting her right now. She’s still freaked out about possibly losing the baby.” He sighed. “Frankly, so am I.”

“You won’t lose the baby.”

“There are no guarantees, Sis, and she’s had a tough time.”

“I know. It doesn’t help that Brooke has been in her face, telling her what an easy pregnancy she had.”

Talon ruffled his fingers through his hair. “That dumb bitch! Sorry. I know she’s my mother-in-law, but damn.”

“She’s a piece of work,” I agreed. “Jade is trying so hard to have a relationship with her, but Brooke just has no clue how to be a parent.”