“What the hell, why?” Mike asked and I elbowed him.
“Seriously, look at their faces, they are goners for her. But quit asking shit, ‘cause she is my sister and some stuff I just don’t want to know. When I see her, she is happy and that is all I care about. I don’t need details.” Tony and Fin grinned, the others laughed. Fuck, never give the O’Malleys shit on you. Ever.
“Blame Michael and Kink for us giving into whatever she wants,” Fin said as he pointed at Mike and laughed. Bastard.
“Yeah, we can be telling her something and if it isn’t something she likes, the little brat pulls her top off and when we see the intertwined roses on her side that Kink and Michael inked on her with Roark and O’Malley scripted down the stem—well, let’s just say we forget what we were telling her and give her anything she asks for,” Tony said and I pulled out the inner child, covered my ears and begged them to stop, all to the robust burst of laughter from the group of men.
“Christ, don’t put that damn picture in my head. For God’s sake she’s my sister and there are places a brother never wants to go with that. And if you don’t stop, you will make me change the topic over to Mia,” when I said it, I knew I had them. All six O’Malley brothers stopped laughing and glared at me, which caused Tony and I to chuckle. Mia, being the baby sister, had learned early on that when she became of age to date, if she was going to have a life, she needed to keep it as far away from her brothers’ knowledge or she would end up being a nun. Which her brothers would probably have welcomed since they ran off the boyfriends she had if they didn’t like them or think them good enough. I admit I was bad with Brook too but only to myself.
“Pincushion, you didn’t need to go there to get us to stop,” Mike said and I inwardly cringed as he used the name they’d called me when I’d gotten my first piercing. I’d never been into tattoos like the rest of them and until recently, I hadn’t had any.
“I’d forgot about calling you that when you got the prince albert. I do remember grabbing my crotch after you told us about getting it while you were in college,” Fin said.
“Then the next time you came home you had the nipple rings. We figured by the time you got finished with college you would be a walking advertisement for piercings,” Tony said.
“Hey, the ladies love them, it enhances the sexual experience and if the chick has her clit pierced, it brings it to a whole other level,” Falon said and all eyes turned to him.
“Motherfucker, you got pierced,” Bry was the first to speak while the rest of us just waited for Falon to continue.
“Duh, man whore, not ashamed to admit it,” then he stuck out his tongue and even I who had the prince albert, the jacob’s ladder, and both my nipples done, I’d never done the tongue. Only because I wore a suit every day and what I did have, couldn’t be seen.
“How the fuck did we not notice you had your tongue pierced?” Sean, who’d been sitting quietly, asked.
“I don’t know. And don’t care, bro. Only ones that know are the lucky ladies who have had and enjoyed the experience of it.” Damn, now I was going to have to have my tongue pierced too. Maybe pincushion wasn’t so bad, if the ladies enjoyed the results. Fuck, now she was back in my mind. Ms. Marshall. That is one woman I would love to try it out on.
“Jesus, has Ma seen that?” Cal asked.
“Yeah, the day I had it done, her and Dad stopped by and my tongue was a little swollen, which made talking a little hard. She took it pretty well,” Falon paused and then grinned, “after she asked Dad where she had gone wrong with me, then said a prayer, then told Dad it was all his fault, then back to looking at the ceiling and saying was it not enough that her sons were covered in tattoos, now metal had to be involved. So, yeah, she took it well.”
We all laughed, me especially, because when my mom had seen the nipple rings, she’d tried to be ‘hip’ as she called, but she couldn’t understand the reason behind sticking extra holes in your body. After that discussion, no way was I touching where I had other piercings. She didn’t ask and I didn’t tell. I think there are some things mothers really don’t want to know about their sons.
“Reese is no longer a tattoo virgin. He had his KO Ink tat done last week,” Mike informed the others.
Everyone who worked at Slinging Ink, Security Specialists, and O’Malley’s Gym had one. The improved version that Mike had perfected was what found my sister as fast as we did when she was taken, Mike had put it in the ink they used on her tattoo.
“We may have to be pierced, Fin?” Tony said and I groaned.
“Think we can talk Brook into a piercing? That would be fucking hot,” Fin answered and I pushed my chair back and stood. Last straw on the sister front, the restroom was a good escape until that particular subject passed. And as I walked away I knew the assholes knew the reason when their laughter followed me.
It felt good to be with the guys without drama and shit going on all around us. Damn, I really hoped this lasted but I knew deep down it wouldn’t. Mike needed to get more ink made, because there was no way I was fucking around with this shit anymore. I paused and looked back at the table and grinned. Oh yeah, it was awesome to be back with everyone.
Chapter Two
Michael
Though we’d been back for three years and been together almost every day, it was still nice to be out with my brothers and friends in a non-business capacity. I looked around the table at everyone, this was family and with Reese, my best friend, just made it more complete. From the ribbing that was tossed around, and by the look on his face, I think he would agree.
“Yo, you two might want to lighten up on Reese with the sister jibes,” Tony and Fin looked at me and smiled. The bastards were so happy it was sickening.
“Maybe, but he makes it so damn easy,” Fin said just as Reese came back to the table.
“Who makes what easy?” Reese said as he sat back down.
“You, bro, when it comes to your sister,” Tony laughed.
“Yeah, well, speaking of that—how’s Georgina and Sofia doing?” Reese asked.
“Don’t go there. Geez, I will stop talking about Brook in front of you if you promise not to bring up those two again. Fuck me, they are both like Ma, though they would never admit to that. They get into more stuff and cause more shit than my ma does.” Tony huffed and shook his head. I knew how much effort me and my brothers put in to keep track of Mia. I didn’t envy Tony; he was an only son with three sisters.
Tony’s phone rang and he reached for it and we laughed out loud from the look that crossed his face. He verified all our thoughts when he stood and stepped outside to take the call.
“Bro, his ma still calling him everyday?” I asked Fin.
“Dude, he thought it would ease up with us being with Brook, because hey, no need to have dinners with I-want-a-daughter-in-law candidates. Hell no, she has moved on to the I-can’t-wait-to-be-a-grandma phase. And she has now decided that since he and I are with Brook, I have become part of her plan so when she can’t reach him, she calls me,” Fin sighed, which made me chuckle, ‘cause now he was getting it from both sides, our mother, Olivia, was no lightweight.
“Fuck, I want to thank you, Fin. With Ma excited about you getting with Brook, she is so caught up in that, we have been catching a break. I was over there yesterday and it was the first time I didn’t get told that I needed to meet a nice girl. So should I feel bad for you, yes—do I?—nope,” Bry said and ‘no shit’ was chorused from the rest of us.
“No shit, what?” Tony asked as he sat back down.
“Assholes just aren’t feeling our pain with your ma, that’s all,” Fin glared at each of us when he spoke and Tony laughed and looked between me and Reese.
“Yeah, well, we shall see, ‘cause the phone call was her saying how your ma and Reese’s ma wish you boys could find a special someone. Translation,” Tony smirked at each of us, “she is getting a list of good girls together for them to pick from…and…she even volunteered to have the din
ners at her house to help them out,” Tony said, picked up his beer, took a swig, and leaned back in his chair. Every one of us groaned and I wanted to smack that smirk right off his face too.
“What the hell are you two waiting on? Knock Brooklyn up and the rest of us will at least get a good year break out of. Fuck, I would just take the nine months of her being pregnant to have them lay off and keep me off their radar,” Falon said then stood, “I’m going to go shoot some pool. Show the few chicks over there how to hold a stick,” he finished with a smirk of his own and walked off.
“Damn, I’m going with Falon too. If I am going to have to endure torture with good girl dinners, I’m going to finish my nights with bad girl for dessert,” Cal said and followed.
“Fuck, me too,” Sean said and got up.
“Right behind you, but let it be known you guys are pussies, Ma ain’t that bad. It is all in how you handle her,” Bry got up and followed the others.
Tony, Fin, Reese, and I chuckled at Bry’s comment. After we composed ourselves the conversation turned to business. With things settled down after Hector, we were getting back to some resemblance of normal again. Though Tony’s guys were still trying to track down who actually owned the warehouses the underground fights were being rotated to, at least we hadn’t heard of any taking place since. Didn’t mean someone new wouldn’t take over because Diablo hadn’t been identified yet or the killer that took out Hector and his brother, Manny.
Only good thing out of all of it so far, was my perfected ink being put to the test. I wished it hadn’t had to have been Brook as the test subject, but I was glad Kink and I had used it on her. If not, the outcome of finding her could have been different.
“Going to start a once a week training session for kids at the gym,” Fin announced.
“No shit,” I said. Fin already had his application in with MMA to have his gym certified as an official training gym, but I knew he didn’t want the whole place geared toward that. He’d come back, bringing us all with him, to make a difference in our old neighborhood, a semblance of what we had growing up here.
“Yeah, I think it will go over well. Put out some feelers, they came back with great numbers. Parents said they would welcome something for the kids to learn a little in how to protect themselves, not to mention just having them socializing with other kids. Going to have signups next week, see how many I get. If I get a huge amount of interest, may have to have it more than once a week. But that is what I plan to start out with.”
“That is great, man. Now is the time while we have a breather. And with Reese running the everyday stuff with all three business, leaves us time to work on making them grow more.” I didn’t know how much more business Slinking Ink needed to pick up, the chairs seemed to stay full.
“You need a piercer on staff, Mike,” Reese said.
“Ya think?”
“Where am I going to go here to get anymore work done. Sure not going to fly back to Vegas to get it done.”
“Not a bad idea, Reese. Do you have any of your clients ask if you offer it?” Tony asked.
“Yeah, had quite a few, actually,” I answered and had to admit that it couldn’t hurt business to have a licensed piercer on board.
“There you go,” Reese said and chuckled, then looked toward the door when it swung open, a huge smile crossing his face as the group of women entered. Maybe Cal was right, bad girl for dessert, especially if the blonde in the group was bad.
“Dude, you checking out the blonde?” I asked, we had always had the same taste in women so if I liked her, I knew Reese would too. His face already showed he spotted her.
“Hey, that’s Zoey.” Fin and Tony both stood and walked toward the woman. What the fuck, if that asshole had already tapped her at one time or another, then she was off the table. Bros before hos, we didn’t put our stick in if one of our brothers had been there before.
“I really can’t sit but just a minute. We are having girls’ night out,” the blonde who Fin called Zoey said as Fin walked her back to our table and she sat in Cal’s empty seat beside Reese.
“Nice to see you again, Ms. Marshall,” Reese said. Fucking hell, how did he know this chick? He’d only been back less than a month and most of the time spent at the hospital or organizing KO Ink. When he glanced in my direction, I raised an eyebrow in question and he grinned. But then I wondered what type of encounter they’d had by the look the woman was giving him. Interesting.
“Yes, nice to see you too, Mr… I don’t think I got your last name,” the woman said, then turned toward Tony and Fin, effectively shutting Reese out and not even giving him a chance to give her his last name. I looked at him and he shrugged. She didn’t seem to have the same attitude toward Tony and Fin.
“We want to thank you for everything you have done and are doing to help Brant, let us buy you a drink,” Fin said and I sat back to enjoy the view. The woman was hot as hell and I had every intention on finding out info on her.
“Um…thanks but I don’t drink,” she said and glanced between Reese and I. She even looked kind of sheepish too.
“Hey, babe, you are in a pub. Most people come here to drink. Name’s Falon,” Falon leaned his hand across the table after introducing himself as he and the rest took their seats back at the table. And for some unknown reason, that I was sure I would analyze later, had me wanting to knock the shit out of him for even touching her.
But no one else had the opportunity to say anything when Cal was standing by her and she jumped up, bumping the table just enough to make the bottles rattle on it.
“Oh here, I must have your seat. I need to get back to my friends. It was nice meeting everyone,” she said and walked away in the direction of her friends.
“What the hell, that was strange as shit. She is always professional to the point of being kinda cold,” Fin said and shrugged his shoulder. I, on the other hand, along with Reese, watched her walk away. Damn, she had a prime ass.
“I have that effect on women,” Falon said and we each groaned.
“Shut up, asshole,” Cal said and took his seat.
“What? Just ‘cause you, Bry, and Sean couldn’t get any of those women to give you the time of day at the pool tables, you turn into asses.”
“Yeah, ‘cause they asked if we were related. If I had known that was a setup, I would have said fuck no. Is there a female over the age of eighteen in this neighborhood you haven’t fucked?” Bry, ever the straight shooter, said and glared.
“Dude, you seriously are a man whore. Ma wants grandchildren bad but your ass better being using the love gloves,” Fin said and everyone laughed but Falon, he just huffed and drank from his beer bottle.
“No shit. It is one thing the moms took their threesome so easy,” I pointed at Fin and Tony, “but let’s not test the waters on a kid without a marriage yet,” I said.
“And I can’t think of any one of us who would want to be the first in that area. Damn, I just got back, getting used to living near my mom again. Not to exclude yours,” I waved my hand to the rest of them, “we have to fight them for privacy now. Do you think they would be so involved that even if you said it was an accident and you weren’t really interested in the woman that that would mean jack shit. My mom would twist my head off and so would y’alls. I am going to agree, raincoat that sucker and duct tape the end of it if you have to, to keep those fucking swimmers from diving in the deep end,” Reese said and looked at each of us, and the others had to be wearing the same look on their face as I was.
“Dude, seriously, a rant on condoms? Have you ever not used one?” I laughed at my best friend who kept looking in the direction of the chick and frowning as if trying to place her and the more I stared at her, I felt I should know her too. But fuck, someone that hot, I would remember, didn’t mean I didn’t have plans to get to know her.
“Who the fuck is that chick? Why haven’t I seen her around? And, Reese, how do you know her?” I fired the questions and when I looked back to Tony and Fin
they were staring at me with a frown.
“What?”
“Zoey is the lady who is handling Brant’s case. Zoey Marshall. Let me say this right now, don’t fuck this shit up, she will be working with him until he graduates in a few months,” Fin said and his frown turned to a glare.
“Not going to fuck it up for Brant. The kid deserves better than that. She just looks familiar and I can’t place her. That’s all,” I said and looked back over at her and caught her staring back. She blushed and lowered her head.
“I had her checked out to a point,” Tony said, drawing mine and Reese’s attention to him, “She moved here from Arizona about three months ago, lives with her brother, who by the way is a cop in the city. First job, only graduated from college four months ago. She turns twenty-four this year.”
“To a point? What size panties does she wear?” Sean said and we all turned to him and smiled. He just looked back at us. My brother was so serious that sometimes you didn’t know if he was joking or not.
“We want Brant to have a go at life. Already has shit against him being Hector’s kid, not to mention he has lost both parents even if they weren’t much of ones.” No one had a comment for that; it was true. We grew up with parents and people around us that gave a shit. Brant was an example of how a lot of kids grow up on their own without anyone’s help—some good or some bad. Brant was one of the lucky ones, the young man wanted better for himself and wasn’t afraid to work for it.
When Tony finished talking, his and Fin’s phones beeped signaling a text, when they looked at their screens, their facial expressions needed no explanation of who it was from, they both pushed back their chairs and stood. Dual “Catch you guys later,” was thrown over their shoulders and they were out the door to our amusement.
“Never going to be that fucking gone for a chick,” Falon broke the quiet.
Pierced and Inked (KO Ink Book 2) Page 2
