Pierced and Inked (KO Ink Book 2)

by Harley McRide

  “Yeah, that is if you can get one woman to come back for seconds,” Bry ribbed.

  “Hey, I’m the one who doesn’t come back for seconds. Too many women, not enough time,” Falon answered and got the shame shake from each of us.

  “The chick probably can’t get out of your place fast enough. Do you even get their name before they book?” Cal asked. And that is when it hit me where and how I remember Zoey. Evidently hitting Reese at the same time ‘cause we both looked at each other and said the same word, “Vegas.”

  Chapter Three

  Zoey

  Shit, shit, shit, I thought as I made it back to the table my co-workers were already sitting at. I am so stupid, damn it, they were going to follow me and demand to know why I had slunk out in the middle of the night. Then my co-workers would know, and when I finally announced my news to my co-workers they would also know my secret. This was so messed up. My brother was going to kill me. He didn’t know exactly why I had come home yet. Of course, part of it was to help, but the other part was purely selfish. Then with one fell swoop I screwed things up, well, technically I hadn’t screwed things up, my screwed up past had somehow followed me.

  Ranger, my brother, was gonna flip when he found out. I hadn’t told him a thing prior to my move. Hell, who would talk to their siblings about this shit, not me, it was too embarrassing. I had one night of drunken celebration when I graduated from college. One night I figured I deserved it after taking all of the finals, my roommate had been a wild child, Brit was a hoot, I really wished my friend had found a job here as well and moved, but she had instead gone to the other coast and set up in LA, it fit her.

  I could almost remember the whole night, but things had gotten a little hazy when Brit and I had gone to our fourth bar. I remembered meeting both Mike and Reese, my God had they been hot. I didn’t fool myself about my looks, I never had. I wasn’t the perky little cheerleader who all guys loved and hit on all the time. Nah, I was all the guys’ best friend. I helped them out with their sucky love lives until they found the ‘one’ and then completely forgot about me. Usually the ‘one’ turned out to be one of my friends or co-workers. But, I was the cute and plucky sidekick I decided with a shake of my head. But that night, I hadn’t been cute or plucky, hell no, I had been drunk and daring, hence getting my dumb ass into a ton of trouble.

  Brit and I had been on the dance floor when I felt someone behind me grab my waist. I turned and saw the most gorgeous man I had ever seen before, then I felt someone in front of me and I turned back, and the second most gorgeous man had been grinning and standing in front of me. Both had moved with me as I danced, it had been amazing, and something I never would have done had it not been for those damn shots Brit and I took. Closing my eyes, I pictured the two men.

  We had barely said a word, just let our bodies do the talking. When Mike had leaned down and whispered into my ear they wanted to take me back to their room, like a dumbass I hadn’t argued. To this day, I think of how stupid that had been, they were complete strangers but I hadn’t felt a threat coming from either one, though it might’ve been reckless, I’d left with them. And I had the best night of my fucking life and then woke up sober with a little gift as a reminder never to drink like that again in Vegas. Because let me tell you, it’s lies, all lies. When someone says ‘What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas’, they’re lying, I’m the proof, damn it. Because what happened in Vegas would be a reminder of how fucking stupid I was to think there would be no consequences.

  I could feel my co-workers staring at me, I had to be pale and shaking, because that was what I felt like. I didn’t want to get up again, my heart was racing and I felt faint. Damn, I needed something to drink.

  “Water,” I whispered and thankfully Cora heard me.

  I heard her yell to the barmaid, and I wanted the ground to swallow me up whole. I couldn’t faint, they would all see me, and ask a ton of questions I did not want to answer.

  “Zoey honey,” Cora said softly and put the glass of water down in front of me. I reached to grab it but everything was getting fuzzy and a little black around the edges. Shit, I was so going to biff it. I tried to pre-empt the attention by whispering my brother’s name to Cora.

  “Please call Ranger, on my phone push one,” I whispered, I wasn’t sure she heard me but I really hoped so. I felt myself falling and the whole time the only thing I could think of was, I was totally thankful for wearing clean underwear, ‘cause that would have just sucked.

  Let me tell you, if anyone tells you that fainting isn’t the worst thing that could happen, they must have been the ones who had visited Vegas and thought everything they did stayed there. Because I woke slightly confused looking up at a host of gorgeous men all looking concerned, which wasn’t so bad I thought. Then Cora pushed in and grimaced, pulling at my hips and whispering.

  “Honey, your skirt is around your waist, and your ass is sitting in spilled beer.”

  I groaned and put my hand up to my eyes, would this embarrassment ever end? “Over here,” I heard someone yell and I opened my eyes. Shit, someone called the EMS workers, because they were moving toward me. My eyes looked around, it would only make my night perfect if my brother showed up right about now, please for the love of God do not let my brother show up here right now.

  “Ma’am,” one of the EMS workers said softly and I looked at him.

  “Uh huh,” I muttered and focused on just him and talking. I ignored the two men who were leaning on the other side of me.

  “Can you tell me your name?” he asked and pulled out a light and flashed it in my eyes.

  “Zoey, uh, Zoey Marshall,” I whispered.

  “Do you know where you are?” he asked, gently picking up my hand and putting two fingers on my wrist.

  “Yeah, um, the Irish Pub,” I said just as softly. He was young and cute, not that I was looking or anything, ‘cause you know the whole ‘Vegas’ thing, but still, right now, he was safe to look at and I totally needed safe.

  “Good,” he said and then looked over his shoulder at Cora. “How many has she had to drink?”

  “None,” Cora said quickly and the EMS worker looked at Fin and Tony next thank God. Now, as if I could feel worse, Tony and Fin had just left, but here they stood with me. Great, they must have come back in when the EMS pulled up.

  “She hadn’t been here long,” Tony said and pointed at the women who were all standing nodding. “They’d just got here, not even sure if they put their order in yet.”

  “Just, but Zoey wasn’t at the table and the initial order wasn’t back yet, but she had already told us to order her a soft drink,” Cora said and the man nodded and looked back at her.

  “So you got off work and came here and fainted?”

  I grimaced, “Yeah.”

  “And how are you feeling now? Did you hit your head?” he asked and I frowned and shrugged.

  “I was kinda unconscious when I went down so I am not sure. But I am feeling much…” I said and sat up quickly. Way wrong idea, because everything spun around. He must have saw I was having an issue again because he quickly grabbed me and held me around my shoulders and leaned me back. “Shit,” I muttered and closed my eyes, yeah this was not cool.

  “I think we should take you in and check you out,” the EMS worker said and I grimaced once again. Some girls’ night out for me, could the evening get any damn better.

  I knew what was wrong, I had been battling this since I figured out what the hell was wrong with me. This morning had been bad and I had thrown up all of my breakfast, and of course, I ran to work without actually taking care of myself. I was supposed to be drinking water, and eating bread or crackers in the morning.

  “I think—” I started and then Reese spoke up, cutting me off.

  “Take her in, we need to find out what is going on.”

  Umm, excuse me, I thought I just heard Reese practically tell the man that he was somehow in charge of me. What the hell?

  “No,” I sai
d firmly and looked at Reese and glared. “I am fine, a bit under the weather, but otherwise fine.”

  The EMS worker sighed and then moved and touched my hand and got my attention. “Ma’am, I really think taking you in would be a good idea.” Then he leaned closer and whispered into my ear so no one could hear. “Trust me, the hospital will not tell anyone what the issue is, and neither will I. Please, just allow us to take you in.”

  I leaned back and looked into his eyes, shit, he thought something was wrong. I nodded slowly and the man looked relieved. Shit, was there? He motioned to his partner who was standing behind him and without talking to anyone else, they started to get me on the gurney. Damn it, I was dizzy again when they moved me, what was going on? I settled on the gurney and took deep breaths trying not to throw up, so I ignored everyone around me.

  I saw Cora hand the EMS workers my purse and then she said she was gonna follow along. I was grateful she was following, because now I was freaked out, and I didn’t have very many friends in town yet. I didn’t want to call my…

  “Zoey?” I heard Ranger yell and I closed my eyes. Damn it, of course he came here. He would have freaked when Cora called, even if she told him I was fine. Shit.

  I kept my eyes closed and leaned back, but could hear him pushing through the crowd. It was one of his nights off and instead of being home with his son, he was here. It made me feel like shit, he shouldn’t have to be there for me, this is why I moved back, so his son had someone there on the nights he had to work. I also knew he would have called Mrs. Honeychil, yes, that was truly her name, to watch over Rucker while he came to find out what was wrong with me. Mrs. Honeychil lived in the house next door, she was actually a lovely woman, and she had adopted Ranger and Rucker when they moved in, but when I had arrived, she announced she was our honorary mother. She invited us over for dinner on Sundays, which we always attended. She was also the back up babysitter if something happened and I was later getting home. I loved the woman, but she was seriously opinionated. Like over the top opinionated about our lives.

  “Zoe?” Ranger said, finally making it to my side. I opened up my eyes and saw the look of worry. Shit, I had really not thought it through about Cora calling him to tell him I had fainted, I should have. Ranger had lost his wife last year, and it had caused him to become overprotective of both Rucker and me.

  “Ranger,” I said and grabbed my brother’s hand. “I am fine.”

  “Your definition of fine and mine are way off then,” Ranger snapped and looked up at the EMS worker. “What is wrong with her?”

  When the worker hesitated, Ranger pulled out his badge. “My name is Ranger Marshall; this is my sister. What the hell is wrong with her?”

  The worker shook his head and said, “We are taking her in as a precaution. Any more details, you need to talk to her. Now, we are leaving, follow behind us if you want to.”

  Ranger looked down at me and I almost said it out loud, but I stopped. Too many people, especially the two men who were standing close to my brother. As they rolled me away, I saw both Reese and Michael step forward and say something to Ranger. Well, fuck a duck, I thought and laid back on the pillow.

  Chapter Four

  Reese

  I looked at Michael who was just as anxious as I was about Zoey. Damned if she didn’t stir something in us. She had that night too, but she had disappeared before we’d woken up. Both of us had been pissed off about that, but then in Vegas there wasn’t much we could do, we didn’t get her last name. Now that we found her though, I was thinking maybe we would actually talk about things again. Hell, Fin and Tony had done it, we could as well if that was where it led. Fuck the world about what they thought, what we did in our free time was none of anyone’s business. I hoped Zoey felt the same way.

  Shit, with all the crap swirling around the borough right now, we were going to need to be careful and go slow. Hector wasn’t the head of the fighting ring, he was a peon, an expendable peon, and since Brook had already been targeted because of her link to Fin, we all assumed these assholes were going to do what they had to in order to keep their shit under wraps. Since Michael and I were now investigating with Tony, all bets were off. I needed to talk to Michael about this when we got home, because I wasn’t putting Zoey in danger, and I wasn’t letting her go either. Thank goodness we had a security system installed in Michael’s house last week. Hell, with that fortress we could lock Zoey in there and no one would get to her. Damn, I was getting ahead of myself, we had just found her again.

  Tony walked to Ranger and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, man, you need me to drive you to the hospital.”

  I wanted to pump my fist in the air, we have an in with the brother, possibly. If he and Tony were tight, then one, Ranger would know about Tony, Fin, and Brook, which made this a lot easier. Ménage relationships weren’t always accepted, however, in our small area of the Bronx, family was family, no matter what type of family. And two, we were in the perfect position right now to convince Zoey to give us a try. We were finally together in the same town, with me moving back and Michael being here already. And three, Michael and me, we were ready to settle down, we had talked about it a while back and truthfully, this felt right. Zoey could be ours, damn it. Even if I was drunk, I’d felt the connection with her. The next day, Mike had voiced the same thing. She fits us, and it hadn’t all been physically.

  “Nah, Tony,” Ranger said and ran a hand over his face. “I have my truck, but thanks, man, you know it is good to know you were here at least. When I got that call…”

  Tony looked at the man with compassion and gripped his shoulder before letting him go. I stared at the large man as he walked away and turned to Tony, “What was that all about?”

  “Ranger lost his wife about a year ago,” Tony explained and then motioned to Ranger as he was walking out of the bar. “He is one of the best cops I know, worked his way up from the bottom after he moved here. He is from somewhere out west, when his wife got pregnant, she wanted to be closer to her folks so they moved here. Hell, Ranger hadn’t even had a job but he picked up and moved here. However, he found a job, a good job one and he was happy, until that terrible night when his wife was taken from him.

  “No one knew exactly what happened, Noel had been in the house by herself, Ranger working his shift. For some reason, which no one can explain, Noel had left their house and had been traveling into the city. Ranger hadn’t understood why she had left home, she’d left their son with the neighbor, just telling her she needed to run an errand. She was shot in a drive-by in her car, DOA. Poor dude, he has been investigating her death since, trying to find out anything.”

  I shook my head, seriously that sucked, I had no clue what I would do if the woman I loved was murdered. And Zoey, she had come back to help him out obviously. It said a lot about the woman. I turned and looked at Michael who was talking to her friend.

  “Yeah, I will get that to her,” Cora said and took a small piece of paper and nodded at them all and walked to the door.

  “What was that?” I asked and Michael shrugged.

  “My number, I told her friend to make sure Zoey had it, and she said she would but she also said she would call me when there was an update on her.”

  I frowned and then looked at my friend. I wasn’t gonna just sit around while she was in the hospital. I was ready to tell him that too, when he shook his head.

  “Man, she looked freaked out ‘cause she saw us again. I am just as happy as you to see her again, but we need to talk,” Michael said and I took a deep breath.

  “Sucks,” I muttered and Michael nodded.

  “That it does, brother, but us being on the same page is gonna make it easier.”

  Michael

  I walked to my truck and looked at Reese who was following me looking very thoughtful. I knew what he was thinking about. I was too. Zoey Marshall had walked out of our lives that morning without a word, but she had left a ton of questions.

  Both Reese and I thought s
omething special happened that night, when we woke and she was gone, we had agreed to let it go. It frustrated the shit out of us, but we had to. Now seeing her again, I knew somehow we weren’t letting her go this time, at least until we figured out if what happened that night had really been real. It had felt right, she had felt right between us. That morning when I’d woken up, I’d thought we could have breakfast and talk, get to know each other and see where it would lead. Instead, she’d been gone with no way to find her.

  Damn it, I wanted to go to the hospital as well. But it wasn’t our place. At least not yet, we should probably put the woman on notice first, it would be the right thing to do, in case she hadn’t felt the same about that night. Women don’t give men enough credit, just ‘cause we don’t go around spewing our feeling and shit, doesn’t mean we don’t have them. We’d rather show them, and if it came across as if we were overbearing, all because we wanted to take care of them and happened to take a direct approach, tough. Never knew what was so hard about that for a woman to accept.

  “What if she is sick or something. I mean, I don’t like the thought of her going through all that alone,” Reese said softly and I nodded.

  “I know.”

  “Just fucking sucks,” Reese said and I shrugged.

  “It does, but we need to make sure we are on the same page, and then we are going to go to her. I agree with everything you say, but we need to go slow. This is not Vegas, and this is not going to be for one night. You and I both know that. But Ranger has no idea we even know her, I do not want her to have to answer questions she’s not ready to answer. We need to come up with a plan and see where that takes us. Also, we need to get shit at the shop organized and done.”

  My brother and his best friend had stirred up a lot of things in the borough about a month ago, and damned if they weren’t still trying to figure out who the hell was behind all the crime in the area. Me and the others figured with Slinging Ink’s special design for the tat we wanted to use, it was gonna be simple really, it would be part of the ink I had developed into regular ink for the tats. Once in there, we could track people within a thousand yards with the equipment. It would come in handy, especially since they had decided to use different colors to establish what gang, if any, the kids belonged to. The ink had already been patented and used in tats, hell, the ink had helped find Brooklyn when she had been kidnapped.