Brothers Ink Tattoo (Complete Box Set #1-4)

by Nicole James

“That’s some crazy chemistry those two have got going.” Ryan turned to Jameson. “I think we’ve got our cover models.”

  Jameson grinned. “I agree.”

  “Cover models?” Liam asked, turning his attention from the woman.

  “Liam, this is Ryan Kelly. He’s with Inked Up. They’re doing an article on the shop. We were just discussing what to put on the cover.”

  They shook hands.

  “And I recognize this lady,” Ryan said, smiling at Velvet. He shook her hand. “Velvet Jones. Nice to finally meet you.”

  “You, too.”

  “So you want us for the cover of Inked Up?” Liam asked, his eyes going between the reporter and Jameson.

  “You two have crazy hot chemistry. I think we could get some amazing shots.”

  Liam looked at Velvet. “Here’s that next modeling job you were waiting for, babe. You in?”

  “Only if I get to do all the shots with you.”

  “Done,” said Ryan.

  “How much does this gig pay?” Liam asked.

  “Three hundred for her. Nothing for you since your shop’s the subject of the article.”

  “I’ll do it,” Velvet said.

  Ryan pulled a business card out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Call me, and we’ll work out the details. We’re looking to shoot at the end of the month. That work for you?”

  “Whenever you want. I’ll make sure I’m available.”

  “Great. Nice to meet you, Ms. Jones.” He turned and shook Jameson’s hand. “I’ll be in touch.”

  “Safe travels, Ryan. Good to see you again.”

  ***

  When he’d left, Velvet turned to Liam, her mouth open. “They want us on the cover!”

  “Told you things would turn around. Maybe the photographer they send will be interested in shooting another calendar.”

  Her brows shot up. “That would be amazing.”

  Jameson stuck out his hand. “We haven’t officially met. I’m Liam’s older brother, Jameson.”

  “Nice to meet you. Of course with your reputation in the industry, I’ve heard so much about you.”

  “I heard you were going to be in LA, but unfortunately I couldn’t make the expo. So, you’re in Grand Junction permanently now?”

  “Well, I…” Her eyes shifted to Liam. “I’m not sure for how long, but I do like it here.”

  “Well, it’s nice to have you in town.” He looked at Liam. “You going to let Liam do some work on you?”

  “I am, yeah.” He held the sketch up. “Check out the photograph.”

  Velvet held up the camera, and he leaned in. “Wow. Great shot. This from up at Book Cliff?”

  Liam nodded. “We rode up there this morning.”

  “It was amazing,” Velvet added.

  “Well, I’ll let you get to it.” Jameson squeezed his brother’s shoulder. “Nice meeting you, Velvet.”

  When he left, Liam looked at her. “Do you know where you want it?”

  “Um…”

  “I have the perfect spot. Right between your shoulder blades, between the scrollwork that runs down both sides.” He dipped his head. “I’ll be able to see it every time I take you from behind.”

  She blushed, glancing to see if his brothers had overheard.

  Liam teased her. “Well, my, my… The brazen Velvet Jones can blush.”

  “Shut. Up.”

  He chuckled again. “So how about it?”

  She nodded.

  He patted his hand on the flat padded table. “Face down, baby girl.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Monday morning Velvet arrived at House of Ink an hour before opening time, unlocking the back door and heading toward the restroom. She paused when she heard voices coming from her brother’s office. He was still at the house, so who was here? She stood in the shadow of the hallway, listening at the crack in the door. Two men inside were talking. She could only see one of them, a bald man with an earring and tattoos running up his arm; the other man was out of sight. The one she could see had a laptop and was scrolling through social media sites, scanning information and jotting notes on a legal pad.

  “This scheme of Vano’s is brilliant,” said the one out of sight.

  “Yep.” The one jotting notes picked up a phone and dialed a number. “Is this Gerald Hempstead?” There was a pause. “I’m calling about your grandson, Thomas Hempstead. I'm the public defender from Grand Junction, Colorado. Your grandson is in jail. Yes, sir. He was involved in a car accident, and he’s been charged with a DUI offense. Well, sir, that means he’s been arrested on drunk driving charges. As you may or may not know he already has one DUI charge on his record. Yes, sir, I do. Well, the reason I’m calling is if… Yes, sir. Thomas gave me your number. Well, if he can get this bail paid by tomorrow he can be released. He’ll need $2400. Yes, sir, it is a lot of money. Let me let you talk to him.”

  Velvet peeked around the doorframe and saw the bald man hold out the phone, his palm covering the mouthpiece. She couldn’t see who the person taking the receiver was, just the sleeve of a blue flannel shirt.

  The bald man whispered to his co-conspirator, “Facebook says the boy calls him Poppy.”

  “Got it.” The other man cleared his throat, and then in a young sounding voice whispered and sniffled, “Poppy? I was in a b-bad a-accident. I knocked my h-head really b-bad and it hurts. Can you p-please send the money so I can get out of here? O-okay. Thank you, Poppy. I love you.” The phone was passed back again with a whispered, “He bought it.”

  “Mr. Hempstead? Yes, sir. The clerk’s office doesn’t take credit cards. No, sir. If you send a check, Thomas won’t be released until the check clears. No, it’s best to send cash. You can overnight it via FedEx to the address that I’m going to give you. Yes, sir, it’s the best way to get him released quickly. He seems to be quite upset. I’d hate to see him spend the weekend in lockup. I wouldn’t normally make a call like this, but I talked with your grandson, and he told me about being accepted to Yale University next fall. He seems like a good boy. Yes, sir. Here’s that address.”

  Velvet listened to the bald man give a PO box. Soon the call ended, and the two chuckled.

  “The old geezers fall for it every damn time.”

  “Because of the way you scripted it. Good work, man.”

  “Vano said you just have to target the right mark and do your research, Weasel. Make sure they’re seventy or older and have grandkids old enough to be getting into trouble. Make sure they’re good kids. Grandparents love their grandkids. They’ll help them. Works almost every time.”

  “Like taking candy from a baby. What’s your total for the day?”

  “Hmm. Looks like I’m just shy of ten-thousand, and that’s only my third call of the morning.”

  “Awesome!”

  “I’m gonna take a quick break.” A chair creaked, and Velvet darted down the hall into the women’s restroom. She closed the door silently and listened as footsteps passed by.

  She pressed her back to the door and covered her mouth. Oh, my God, this was so much worse than she’d imagined. Vano was unscrupulous, yes, and he’d learned every con there was from their father, but this? Targeting the elderly? Playing on their feelings, causing them all this heartache and pain? This was just too much.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  That night, Velvet retreated to her bedroom and tried to figure out what to do about Vano. She paced back and forth, turning over every option in her head. Her brother was raised in this life, and conning for money rather than earning it came natural for him. It was all he knew, but that didn’t excuse it. He was an adult now and able to choose for himself, same as she. He knew what he was doing was wrong, and if she didn’t put a stop to it, he’d suck her into his dirty dealings sooner or later. Besides, how could she live with herself if she didn’t stop him?

  But gypsies didn’t rat on each other.

  When she was younger, she’d had no choice in how her family had used her in thei
r cons, but things were different now. She knew better; perhaps she’d always known, even at the age of seven, that what her family did was wrong.

  She bit her lip. Her brother could be stern and vicious in his dealings, and he wouldn’t hesitate to use whatever method he needed to in order to get her under his thumb and go along with whatever he was doing. That was the way their family was and had always been.

  The men ruled the family, and whatever they said was law. Her mother had bowed in every way to their father until the day he died. It was only at his death that she took charge, and that only lasted until Vano took control when he turned twenty-one and could legally take over the finances.

  The front door opened, and voices carried down the hall, jolting her from her thoughts. She pressed her ear to the door, then slowly cracked it open.

  “You got anything to drink in this place?” a deep voice growled.

  Velvet glanced at the clock by the bed. 11:00 PM. Her brother must have closed the shop early tonight. Hell, they hadn’t had any customers all afternoon, which was why he let her leave.

  “There’s beer in the fridge. At least there better be. Velvet was supposed to pick some up.”

  “She here?”

  “Nah. Said she was goin’ out. She’s seein’ that guy from Brothers Ink.”

  The top popped on a can of beer. “Your sister’s a real looker.”

  “Don’t get any ideas, Skin.”

  “And if I do? Who’s gonna stop me? You?”

  “I’m just sayin’… I don’t want any problems.”

  “You just keep your mouth shut, Vano, and keep takin’ your cut of this deal and there won’t be any problems. Your sister and me… that’s gonna happen. Maybe not now, but I promise you she will be mine.”

  “Dude, that wasn’t part of the deal we made.”

  “I’m makin’ it part, and you ain’t gonna say shit about it. We know too much about you and your little schemes. Plus you owe us for takin’ care of you in prison, and that bill isn’t paid up until we clear a quarter million—that was the deal. This is makin’ you rich, too, so shut the hell up. Understand?”

  There was silence in the room, and Velvet trembled. She recognized those voices; they were the ones she’d overheard making those phone calls. She couldn’t believe her brother was letting them say those things or that he wasn’t throwing them out on their ass. God, what did they have on him?

  “I asked you a question.”

  “Fine.”

  A deep voice chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  “I don’t want her knowing anything about our deal,” Vano insisted.

  “She’s been takin’ walks down the back hall. She better not find out what we’ve got going on.”

  “She won’t, Skin.”

  “She does, you better get her on board.”

  “She won’t cause any problems,” Vano promised.

  “She does, I’m gonna break your legs and that’s just for starters.”

  Velvet eyed the window. Could she get it up without any noise? She wanted to run to Liam’s. She wanted to be wrapped in his arms and as far away from all of this as she could get.

  She crossed the room and yanked on the handles, but the window in the old house was painted shut. Damn it. She moved back to the door.

  “We’re almost square,” Vano said.

  “No we ain’t. You’re fifty grand in the hole.”

  “Bullshit, Skin. Not with the fifteen grand I gave you last month.”

  “You mean stole from that photographer,” the other man snickered.

  “Shut up, Weasel. I didn’t steal it. I took it.”

  Velvet’s mouth dropped open. Oh, my God. Vano took her money? She could only imagine how he must have intimidated Aaron to get him to hand over her hard earned cash. She grit her teeth. Vano, you son-of-a-bitch!

  The one he’d called Skin laughed. “Yeah, the only one here screwing over your sister is you, Vano.”

  “I needed that money. What does she need that kind of money for? Fucking chick would just blow it on something stupid. Anyway, she needs to get married. I’ll have to start looking for a husband to marry her off to. A rich one.”

  “You’re a piece of work. Still livin’ in the dark ages. Arranged marriages? That’s some bullshit,” Skin said. “I’d take her, but I’m not the marryin’ kind.”

  “I could be for that sweet ass,” the other man said.

  “Fuckin’ shut up, Weasel. You ain’t touchin’ her. I already called dibs.” There was a chuckle. “Sure wish she was here.”

  “Get your hand off your crotch, Skin.”

  Dibs? A chair creaked as someone stood, and she held her breath.

  “Maybe we wait long enough, she’ll come home. I’m gettin’ another beer; you want one?” Weasel asked.

  She was terrified that one or both of those men would decide to wander down the hall and check to make sure she wasn’t home. She had no intention of facing them without something to skew the odds in her favor. She slowly opened her door, making sure it didn’t squeak. Tiptoeing across the hall, she darted into her brother’s room and pulled out the drawer of his nightstand.

  “Thank you, God,” she whispered, grateful for the 9mm pistol her brother always kept by his bed. She picked up the heavy weapon and darted across the hall. Then she crawled soundlessly into the back of her closet, slid down the wall to sit on the floor, and braced the gun on her knees, aiming it at the louvered doors.

  She’d keep that position until morning if she had to.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The next morning, as she walked to work, Velvet took her phone out and dialed Aaron’s number. Predictably, he didn’t pick up, but unlike the last times, it went to voicemail so she left a message. “Aaron, I know it was Vano. Please call me.”

  Surprisingly, she didn’t have long to wait. Before she made it to the shop, her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, but she answered anyway. “Hello.”

  “Velvet. It’s me.”

  “Aaron.” She stopped dead in her tracks at the stoplight on the corner. She took in a slow breath, trying to hold onto her anger. “He came to see you, didn’t he? My brother.”

  Aaron let out a huff. “Yes. Him and his two thugs.”

  She froze, pressing the phone closer. “Thugs? He had someone with him?”

  “Scary dudes. They threatened me.”

  “Threatened you?”

  “Well, not in so many words, but I knew if I didn’t hand over the money they’d beat the shit outta me. There were three of them, Velvet. What could I do?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “He swore if I told you, they’d be back to deal with me. I’m sorry, Velvet, but your brother is a real asshole.”

  “I know. I’m sorry you got sucked into this.”

  “Look, I’ll give you the digital files and sign over the rights if you want to print up more, maybe do another expo. But I’m done with it. I’m sorry, but I don’t want anything to do with your brother. I don’t need that kind of trouble.”

  “I understand. Thank you, Aaron. It would mean a great deal to me. It would help me get away from him.”

  “And you won’t tell him I gave them to you?”

  “You don’t have to be afraid of him, Aaron. He won’t be coming after you. He already got what he was after.”

  “You mean the money?”

  “Partly, but that was just a means to an end. What he really wanted was to force me to come back here with him. He did it by taking away my other options.”

  “Are you okay, Velvet?”

  “I will be. At least now I know the truth.”

  “You take care of yourself, Velvet. I hope you find a way to get away from him for good.”

  ***

  Velvet stormed into the front door of the shop just after opening time.

  “You’re late,” Vano said, glancing up from some papers he was going through at the counter.

  “And you
’re an asshole!” she snapped back, so furious she felt like smashing something.

  He cocked a brow at her, his expression turning ice cold. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.”

  There was dead silence in the shop as both Cooter and Finn stopped what they were doing and watched, their eyes shifting from one to the other.

  Velvet glared at them. “You want popcorn with this show?”

  “Don’t be a bitch, Velvet,” Vano said. “If you want to throw a tirade, let’s go to my office.” He grabbed her by the upper arm and yanked her ahead of him.

  She jerked her arm free. “Don’t fucking touch me!” She stomped down the hall and into his office.

  He slammed the door and stuck a finger in her face. “Don’t ever do that again, you understand me?”

  She smacked his hand away. “No, you understand me. I know what you did, you son-of-a-bitch!”

  He moved around behind his desk; she supposed he thought it was safer to put space between them, like she was some kind of hysterical woman. “What’s the bug up your ass?”

  “I had a nice little conversation with Aaron. He told me you and your thugs took the money that belonged to me.”

  “Velvet, don’t overreact.”

  “Overreact? It was fifteen thousand dollars, Vano! It was my money! Not yours! You had no right to take it.”

  He leaned his fists on the desk. “I had every right to take it! I’m the head of this family. I decide how the money is spent.”

  She couldn’t believe his logic, but then she really should because she knew he’d had that crap drilled into his head since he was young. He was twisting it all to serve his purpose, though. “You owed a debt, and you used my money”—she slammed her chest with her palm—“to pay it off. Mine! That money belonged to me! I didn’t owe that debt, you did, Vano! I want my money back.”

  “Well, I don’t have it anymore. So, you’ll just have to wait.”

  “Wait? Wait for what?”

  “I’ve got a deal going through. I’ll make quite a haul. I can pay you then.”

  “No, Vano. I want it now.”