Teal didn't let Katie finish her sentence. Her anxiety caused her hands to shake as she spoke. "Katie, what the hell is going on? What do you mean Trent hasn't called me? He just left but twenty minutes ago." She glanced at the time on the phone, wondering if time had somehow gotten away from her.
Fear laced Katie’s words. "I just—I just don't want to piss Logan off."
"Katie." Teal waited until she felt she had Katie's undivided attention. "Fuck Logan. You’re about to piss me off." The added bite to her words gave way to silence. Teal knew that Logan wouldn’t hurt Katie, so she was unsure as to why she was acting like such a timid mouse. "Tell me what the hell is going on. I don't care if Logan gets pissed. It's obviously important, or you wouldn't have called me."
Katie's apprehension kept her silent a moment longer before she spoke. "Trent's shop was vandalized last night or rather early this morning, I think."
Teal closed her eyes. Biting out a silent curse she stood and paced the floor. "What do you mean? Did they steal anything? I just don't get it. Why the hell—”
"Did anything odd happen with you and Trent last night?"
To Teal, it seemed like Katie was fishing for info she already knew. “Girl, stop pussyfooting around, and tell me what you know, or so help me, when I see your skinny ass again . . .” Teal’s threats held no real heat. She loved Katie like a sister, but in this moment, she wished she could snatch her ass bald.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Katie chuckled. “Skinny? Not so much. I still have some baby weight to get rid of.”
Baby weight. Teal rolled her eyes. With a scoff, she sat back down. “You look like an hour glass. It’s the figure every woman wants. Now back to the issue you called about. Talk.”
“Keep in mind, I only heard Logan’s part of the conversation, as he was on the phone. But from what I gathered, Trent got to his shop this morning to find the walls covered with graffiti.”
Sure, the idea of some punks costing Trent time and money to clean their mess up pissed her off, but she didn’t understand why Katie sounded so upset by it. It wasn’t as if he’d been hurt or ended up in jail for beating the shit out of the punks.
“Also,” the reluctance was back in her voice, “Trent believes he knows who did it. Apparently, something happened on your date night? Logan asked if Jake, his old lawyer, had anything to do with it.”
Shocked, Teal sat forward. “That asshole was Logan’s lawyer?”
“Was being the operative word.” Katie’s voice held heat.
Teal caught herself and reined it back in. Her words about Logan in the past had hurt their friendship, and Teal wasn’t going down that road again. Especially since he’d been doing well dealing with his past race issues. Teal had learned a great deal about Logan’s past, and while at first, she’d found it hard to believe a white person could suffer such racial injustices, she now realized her beliefs didn’t change what actually happened to him growing up.
While Logan would never know how hard it was to be black in America, Teal had to understand her life was vastly different than Logan’s. They’d both suffered at the hands of the opposite race, and her race’s past and present social injustices couldn’t demean or belittle what Logan had gone through. It was a hard pill to swallow, but she was trying nonetheless.
With a sigh, she said, “I get it.” Past that subject, her mind honed in on Katie’s revelation. “What did Trent say when Logan asked him about Jake’s involvement?” Without thinking, Teal was up and headed to the bedroom.
“I don’t know.”
Teal balanced the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she shoved on a pair of shorts. “Well, what kind of spy are you? Shit!”
“The kind without super hearing, obviously.”
She made quick work of her shirt. “So, what does Logan think happened?” Teal could hear every bit of Katie’s frustration as she spoke.
“He told me to mind my own business.”
Teal laughed through her anger. “Ooh, honey!” Though she was pissed and worried, she wished she could have been a fly on the wall during that argument. “And what did little miss Katie say?” She shoved her feet in her shoes, then headed into the living room in search of the keys to Trent’s spare vehicle.
“You don’t want to know.” Katie huffed. “Why do you sound out of breath?”
Teal had made it to the living room and found the keys. Opening the front door she said, “I’m going to help Trent.”
Katie groaned. “Damn.”
“Sorry, I’m sure this will cause some friction with you and Logan, but you need to explain to him that you were concerned. I am sure he and Trent have a guy code, just as we have ours.” She headed into the garage and smiled at the old Challenger.
Trent would no doubt flip his lid when he saw her pulling up in his baby, but she needed to be with him. She needed to figure out what the hell was going on. And if she were honest with herself, as tough as she believed she was, she felt a bit unsafe in his house without a weapon.
What if those men had come to Trent’s home thinking he was at work? Trent had guns, she was sure of it, but where were they? And the men at the bar last night were huge ass bastards. What if one of those men had gotten into the house before she was able to get a weapon?
“Look,” her voice wobbled with the irrational fear that those men were coming for her, “I’ll call you later to let you know everything is okay.”
“Hey, are you okay?” The concern in Katie’s voice warmed her heart.
“Yeah.” Once inside the car, she locked the doors before starting the engine. “I am just about to take his baby out for a spin.” She cracked the joke to ease her distress.
Unconvinced, but seemingly not willing to push it further, Katie said, “Okay, call me when you can.”
Teal agreed and placed the phone on the passenger seat. Anger made its way past the fear as she stared at the phone. If Trent had thought those men messed with his shop, then why the hell hadn’t he called her? Shouldn’t he have at least called to ease her mind?
Okay, so he didn’t know she was distressed, but he had a damned clue on who was to blame for his shop. Then it dawned on her. This was Logan’s lawyer. The same man who had showed up on Katie’s doorstep, filling her head with lies about Logan. If he would find Katie’s home and show up there, there was nothing to say he wouldn’t do the same to Trent. With that thought, Teal started the car and backed out of the driveway.
After two internet searches, Trent learned the fastest and cheapest way to get rid of the spray paint on his wall was to do it himself. All he needed was an aerosol solvent, a paint scraper, and a bunch of other shit he didn’t have on hand. Trent glanced over at Hank as he boarded up one of the two broken windows. It was a nice gesture, even though Trent was able to call in a twenty-four-hour window guy to get them fixed up the same day.
Trent had tried to send his receptionist home, but Tori had refused to go. And like the amazing woman she was, she diligently started cleaning up the broken glass and arranging things back to their proper places.
The phone rang and Tori picked it up. “Reed and Caulfer’s shop, how can I help you?”
Trent listened as she explained his pricing tier for oil changes. Feeling anxious to get the ball rolling in cleaning up his shop and getting his men back to work again, he picked up Tori’s notepad. She inclined her head, acknowledging she knew to check it after she got off the phone with the customer. He jotted down the list of things he needed, pulled a fifty from his wallet and left it on the counter for her.
Heading back to his office, Trent thought back to Jake’s comments at the bar last night. Since he’d been outted for dating Teal, he’d had to fire two of his men for comments he was not about to deal with. However, that had been the extent of his problems on the matter. He’d stopped hanging out in certain crowds, and even that hadn’t added any drama to his life, until Teal arrived and they were seen together.
Now that he needed his past to be
put to bed, doing so was the one thing he didn’t have the power to do. Trent rested his head in his hands. For the first time in a long time, Trent felt worried about his ability to keep a woman—his woman.
“I’m headed out now.” Tori’s voice pulled Trent out of his thoughts. He lifted his head and watched as she entered the room. “And the glass man just pulled up,” she added, before disappearing down the hall.
Trent stood and followed behind her. Outside, the window guy was already out of his truck and assessing the damage. He looked up as Trent approached. “Howdy.” Reaching out to shake his hand. “James Haskins. Are you Trent Reed? You called about this mess?” He nodded over to the broken windows.
Trent took his hand and shook it. “Yeah, how soon you think you can have it fixed?”
The man surveyed the mess again. “I’ll measure now. It looks like these are the standard size.” Both men moved closer to the window in question. “So, I may have some glass already cut. If that’s the case, I’ll say two or three hours.” He turned to Trent. “Are these the only two?” When Trent nodded he added, “Okay, then. If they are a custom size, it’ll take five to six hours, maybe longer.”
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Trent leaned against the side of the building. “I just had these redone two years ago, they’re standard size.”
James nodded. “I’ll measure to make sure, but I have to say I agree.”
Pushing off the wall, Trent inclined his head. “Good. I’ll leave you to it then.” Heading back into the shop, Trent took a glance at the to-do list Tori made for the men, noting Hank had already marked off an oil change and a state inspection.
With a quick peek into the first bay, he saw Hank was finishing up the inspection job. There were two more jobs that needed to be finished by the end of the day. Trent headed into the second bay and got to work.
Five minutes later, the sound of one bad ass muscle car pulling up into his parking lot had Trent sliding from under the car and up to his feet. The sight that met his eyes had him hard as steel. Teal, stepping out of his cherry-red 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T coupe, in a tiny pair of gray shorts, and his White Snake T-shirt. His first inclination was to bend her bare ass over the plush leather seat and wear her hide out.
Absentmindedly, Trent rubbed the bulge in his jeans as he stared at his woman moving toward his business. When she stopped and her eyes widened, he could sense her anger and rage as she viewed the side of the building. Trent silently implored her to look at him. He hated that through all her anger and rage, he could also sense her fear, which had his dick deflating, and fast. Releasing himself, he headed out of the bay. Her eyes didn’t leave the side of the building until Trent was right up on her.
Without looking away from the phrase on the wall, Teal spoke. “Why didn’t you call me?” Her pain was obvious, and it was then he realized that he’d fucked up.
Calling Teal hadn’t crossed his mind. Not because he didn’t think about her, but because he was not used to having a woman in his life he could depend on when he was in need. Learning to confide in her was going to take some getting used to.
Wrapping her stiff body in his arms he turned her away from the shit on the wall. “I didn’t want to bring you into this.”
Teal yanked away from him, ire and pain in her dark gaze. “You didn’t want to bring me into this? Trent,” she motioned to the message painted on the wall, “did you not read that? I am in this. That’s about me!” Tears filled her eyes, yet refused to fall. She took a deep breath and gathered herself.
The pain in her eyes made his chest ache. His baby was no fragile minx, and that character trait was one of the many things that had attracted him to her. She needed to know she was not facing this alone, just as he now understood that she would stand by his side. He wanted her to trust him because he trusted her.
Pulling her back into the comfort of his embrace he spoke. "Look, I made a mistake. But this shit isn't just about you. Read that message, Teal." He turned her around to face the hate message on the wall. Trent hated what he was about to do, but he was not going to allow her to take this burden onto herself. He didn't mind bearing the weight of it, and would take every ounce of this burden if he could help it.
When Teal refused to cooperate, Trent took her jaw in his hand. Gently but forcefully made her view the message. "What does it say?" Her anger was a palpable force between them. Trying to move from his grasp, he tightened his grip and made her stay beside him. "Read the fucking words, Teal." Trent's heart nearly broke at the pain he saw in her eyes as she read the wall again.
Her voice broke as she spoke. "Nigger lover."
Quickly, he turned her to face him. "And where in that message am I absolved from this situation? Baby, you think you are the only one affected?" Trent closed his eyes. This was his fault—his past, his inaction had created this shit-storm. The fact he didn't know how to fix it made him feel inadequate, and fearful that Teal would never choose to move to Kentucky with him. He wanted to kill Jake. His hands desired to wrap themselves around the fucker’s neck and squeeze the hateful life from his body.
Teal’s body relaxed into him, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.
Her sweet lips turned into a pout. "You’re right, but you should have called me. When Katie called, I had to come out here." Wrapping her arms around Trent, she nestled her face into his chest.
Trent kissed the side of her lip. “Of course she called you.” His tone held neither judgment nor anger. Katie and Teal were just like him and Logan. Trent’s first thought was to call Logan about the shop. His past with Logan proved he was a sound friend and easy to depend on. And Katie was that same rock for his woman. "I should have been the one to call, not her." He admitted to himself more than to her. He’d never truly relied on anyone and especially not a woman he was dating.
Her voice sounded muffled from his chest. “Can I tell you something?” Her foreboding tone had his heart twisting in his chest.
Trent didn’t want to hear what she was about to say. His fear that she’d want to leave had him untangling himself from her arms and leading her to the front door. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat hearing the panic in his voice. “Come sit in my office, it’s hot as fuck out here.” With her fingers laced with his, she uncharacteristically followed him into his office quietly.
Seated on the threadbare, but clean, red plaid couch in his office, Trent pulled Teal’s bare legs over his knees. Rubbing her bare skin, he watched as Teal took in his office. Trent chanced a quick peek as well wondering what she thought of what he’d built from himself here. When her gaze met his, Trent leaned in and kissed her hoping to convey his need for her. Pushing her legs to the ground, Trent moved to his woman and covered her with his body.
With a squeal, Teal pushed at his chest. “Stop it. That guy will come in.”
Thinking about Hank seeing his woman’s naked body, Trent hopped up and trotted to the door. Clicking the lock in place he turned back to her. In seconds Trent had his overalls half way down his body. Teal’s eyes widened when Trent kicked off his boots and dropped his pants.
“No,” Teal’s hand shot out. “Every time something happens you want to get naked.”
Trent rolled his neck, the tension abating just a bit. “Not every time,” he denied, feeling like a fool with his pants around his legs.
Teal shook her head. “Yes, you do. How about we just sit here and talk?”
Trent’s groan sounded in the room. “About what happened out there?” He leaned down and pulled up his pants. “I’ve got it all handled.” He made his way over to her and sat down. “You want to help with the clean up?”
She scoffed. “Hell no, but I will.”
Trent leaned in and nuzzled the warm skin of her neck and sighed. “Okay, settled. We’ll clean up that shit out there and then call it a day. Hell, I’ll pay Hank the overtime he’s been begging for all week.” Teal nodded in his arms. Her warm body melded perfectly into his. “Then dinner with Poe and
his wife, and back home and in my bed.”
Teal giggled wickedly. “Now that sounds like a plan.”
Trent pulled on a blue Henley, then made his way to the living room for his boots—they had to be at Poe’s in a half an hour. Sitting down, he shoved his feet in and started lacing it up. The sound of the shower running let him know even though they needed to head out the door in twenty minutes, Teal was nowhere close to being ready.
At the thought, he headed back into his room and pulled Harper’s recent letter from an old file on his desk. It’d been weighing heavy on his mind. He hated lying to Teal, but he just couldn’t tell her yet. He couldn’t watch as he told her that he was the reason he would never see his son.
He remembered back to the trip he and Logan had made to her college, where he went to the registrar on campus and pretended to be Harper’s driver to get her phone number. Calling her, they’d met up at a coffee shop off campus. His temper had snapped at her haughty attitude.
Then he’d thought, how dare her?
He’d been the first inside her, the first to love her, and that bitch thought to look down her nose at him. Trent remembered it as if it’d happened yesterday. The visceral reaction he’d had shamed him to this day. Trent would never touch a woman to cause them pain, but Harper’s words had slain him, even after he’d believed he was past her.
Her ability to break his heart for a second time had transformed him into a monster. He’d called her a whore, a liar, and he even claimed that Markus wasn’t his kid. It was nothing he’d meant, but he wanted to hurt her. And the horrible fact was, the pain in her eyes had actually eased the pain in his own heart.
Looking back, he regretted every last thing he’d shouted at her that day. But there was nothing he could do to change the past. His young mind had no way of knowing what his words would mean for him twenty years later. Had he known that his actions would stop him from being a father, he would never have made the trip.
Indelible: Beneath His Ink (Teal and Trent Book 2) Page 8
