***
Alexis thought she loved her job. Seriously, it was why she put up with so much and willingly took any case handed to her. But after working at Cliff’s shop for a week, Alexis was beginning to reconsider her stance. The danger, the bullets, the criminals – they all were what made her wake each morning. Working as an office manager and receptionist of sorts wasn’t something she spent all her years at college to put on her resume. Regardless, spending time with a man who was so artistically brilliant, and sexy as all get-out, made her days much more enjoyable.
There was something about Cliff. She couldn’t place her finger on it or narrow it down, but he shifted something inside her. Something she never knew she needed or craved – affection.
When he carried her into the shop after she was wounded, he was so caring, so thoughtful to help keep her mind off the pain. Sure, any person with a heart would have done the same, Heath had the entire twenty-four-hour trip, but it was how Cliff did it. It was as if he had been trying to take all her pain into himself.
Wade walked into the reception area with a frown, though Alexis was beginning to wonder if that was how his face looked most of the time. When he first arrived, he had freaked her out a bit. His over-gelled black hair and black eyes gave him a sinister look. He also kept himself decked out in all black, even with the warm summers approaching. She wondered if it was a stage he just never grew out of.
“My appointment is running late. I’m going to the store,” he grunted as he stepped out of the shop and turned left down the sidewalk.
Not a man of many words.
Moving back toward Cliff’s booth, Alexis stopped at the entrance and watched as he leaned over the woman’s hip. Her skirt, which was already three inches too short, sat low enough on her pelvis that Alexis could make out her shaved lady region. Cliff wiped at the black ink with a towel in his hand and Alexis took a moment to interrupt.
“Hey,” she whispered and Cliff’s gaze immediately darted up to hers, followed by a smile. “Wade went to the store. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”
The woman lying on the table grunted at their exchange, obviously upset that Cliff was paying Alexis attention.
“Thanks, babe,” he replied and Alexis practically beamed from the top of her head to the tips of her sandal-clad feet.
She watched as he dipped the gun into a small cup of ink and moved back over the client to complete her piece. Alexis loved watching him work, the lines on his face deepened as he concentrated on the small lines.
She was jarred away from the display as the phone to the studio rang. Rushing toward the front of the store, she answered on the fourth ring.
“Carson Ink, how can I help you?” Alexis greeted.
At first, she heard nothing, just silence on the other end, which wasn’t unheard of when people called the shop. The town had older phone lines that sometimes took a few seconds to pick up.
“Hello? This is Carson Ink; can I help you?”
“Hello, Alexandra,” the gravelly voice replied.
Alexis had never felt fear like she did at the sound of the voice on the other line. Sure, when she was out on a mission, fear always ran through her veins, but it was usually mixed with adrenaline that gave her a heightened sense of power. But the terror she felt at this moment shocked her system – she was frozen in place.
“What. . .what do you want, Father?” Alexis whispered, her throat now as dry as the Sahara Desert.
“I need to ensure that you’re not going to be a problem. You know too much and that doesn’t sit well with me.”
“But, I’m your daughter? Why-” she began but was interrupted by his shout on the other end. “You were a goddamned mistake that your mother should have taken care of. All you were to me was a piece of property that had worn out her welcome.
“I don’t understand.”
“I never wanted you, that was your mother’s wish. I had a business to run and business that your damn existence was ruining. My whore of a daughter allowing a man she barely knows have his wicked way with her body.” Alexis gasped at his description of her. How could someone that cruel be of relation to her?
“What? You think I didn’t know what you’ve been doing while you’ve been in that Podunk little town? Yeah, they threw me off for a while, but I’m coming for you. I have eyes everywhere. And you will give yourself up willingly; otherwise everyone else will pay for your mistake.”
“What is wrong with you?” she asked. “Why are you doing this?” Flashes of her teammates falling to the ground during their ambush flickered across her mi
nd and she bit back a cry.
“Payment is due. I’m coming.” Her father ended the call before Alexis could fathom what just took place.
He knew everything. Somehow someway, he knew everything.
Alexis’ entire body shook as the dial tone sounded. She had rehearsed what she would ever say to her father if he contacted her, even practiced with Cliff, but when it actually happened, she froze on the spot. Instead of the strong independent woman she was, she turned into the scared seven-year-old, wondering why her family abandoned her.
The phone remained firmly gripped in her hand, pressed against her ear as if her father was still on the line. His words ran through her mind on repeat. Mistake. Whore. Payment. How could someone she once loved turn out to be so cruel? But his blood ran through her veins leaving her wondering if she could turn out to be just like her father.