Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1

by M. A. Stone

  MY brother is skinny, but not too skinny. And his eyes are a piercing green. Like mine. We both have black hair like pretty much everyone on my father’s side of the family. Mine is down to the middle of my back. The last time I saw Axel, his hair was spiky black with blue here and there. He can tend to be very intimidating and he cannot sit still, cannot settle down. And he is a man whore, while I was still a virgin. I will say, Axel has had some close calls in regards to getting girls pregnant and he liked to mess with rich girls. If it has a pussy and a pulse, he is all over it. On second thought, a pulse may be optional.

  Driving slow, avoiding the inevitable, I pulled up to Axel’s house. It is a modest two story dark blue house with black shutters that he bought a few years ago. The lights were on upstairs and a BMW was in the driveway. He drives a F250, dark and sleek, like him. Unfolding myself from my own black pickup truck, I grabbed my bag from the seat next to me and almost limped into the house. Trying to turn the handle, I found that it was locked. Sighing, I rang the doorbell. A laughing woman with long, blonde hair and wearing a pair of boxers and a man’s polo shirt answered the door. Another rich girl I was betting. She looked at me for a moment and swayed on her feet. She was shorter than I, and she eyed my jeans and wife beater clad self and raised an eyebrow. I willed myself to not roll my eyes and just shove past her.

  “UM, who are you? I don’t think we ordered pizza,” she said, slurring a bit. Taking a deep breath, I counted to ten. She’s drunk, I tell myself. Don’t take offense. You may be tired, but there is no need to be a bitch.

  “I am here to see Axel,” I replied. She looked at me for a moment and then laughed.

  “Let me guess, you are some tattoo groupie who wants to talk to him? Honey, he does not want to talk to you, he has me. So scram!” She actually said scram? Who says “Scram”?

  “Listen Barbie, I am not some tattoo groupie, which obviously, you are. By the way, who shows up to the door half naked? So let's make this easy for BOTH of us, step away from the door before I kick your ass. And believe me, I can do it. And in case you are wondering, I am Axel’s sister.” I said, my voice rising a bit. She stood there with that whole “Deer in the headlights” look, so I shoved her to the side. Because she was more than a little drunk, she landed on her ass by the front door. Smirking, I set my bag down on the bottom step of the stairs leading to the second floor and walked into the kitchen. Grabbing a can of soda, I leaned against the counter and sighed. Around Carl, I was a submissive shell of myself, when I am away from him that is another story. Granted, I am usually non-confrontational, but shit, I’m tired, stressed and my heart hurts. This has been one HELL of a week already and it will not be hard to piss me off.

  “I see you’re making friends wherever you go sis,” laughed Axel, coming into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his waist, showing all his tattoos. His chest is not completely covered. On his right side from his armpit to his waist, he has tattooed an angel, head bowed, and tears running down her face. My mother’s name is underneath the angel. Uncle Tangler did it for him and it’s incredibly detailed and breathtaking. On his left side is the Celtic tree of life, also incredibly detailed. One hand has a Celtic style shamrock on it. Like I said, there is a lot to take in when looking at his inked skin. His back is my favorite. A huge Celtic cross covers his shoulder blades and extends to his lower back. He has others underneath the towel, but I don’t care to see them. His eyebrow is pierced, his bottom lip is pierced, as are his tongue, nipples, and I am guessing some other things too. On his left hand, he has my mom's name tattooed on his fingers. On his right hand, the word Harley was newly tattooed. I am guessing because of the bikes he is obsessed with. My brother is a definite work of art.

  “Whatever. I am tired, hot and irritated. Plus when I knocked on the door, she acted like I was some skeezy tattoo groupie. So I shoved her,” I replied, taking another sip of my soda. He smirked.

  “Well, Little Miss Sunshine, she took off. Happy now?” he asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter with a smirk.

  “I am sorry. I guess you and Rosie Palm are going to be best buds again tonight huh? Besides, why do you care? It’s not like she is wifey or anything, is she? Where did you meet this one?” I asked. He looked at me.

  “I am upset Bleu. She could have been the one,” he replied sadly, looking down. Staring at him, he looks back up at me and we both break out laughing. He still did not answer my question though. Weird.

  “How long are you staying for?” He asks suddenly. I toy with the tab on my soda can and avoid his eyes.

  “Bleu?”

  “Not sure how long. Um...Carl...and I are over,” I mumbled, willing myself not to cry. It did not work at all. He walked over to me and lifting my chin with his hand, wiped the tears that were flowing down my face.

  “Why?”

  “Well I came back from a work launch party and caught him fucking my boss in our bed. He was all proud of himself and blamed me because I would not put out. Then I lost it and kicked his ass, ended up in jail and I got fired,” I said the last thing softly.

  “What!!? Wait, what do you mean because you would not put out?”

  “All of that information I just spilled and that's the one thing you focus on? I know it’s hard to believe, especially with your endless supply of booty. I was waiting until I got married to have sex.”

  “As in never ever having sex ever?” He raised an eyebrow and leaned across the counter, stunned.

  “Yes Axel, like as in never ever having sex,” I replied snappishly. He was getting on my nerves.

  “Wow, sis. I mean wow. But you lived together! How the hell did he not go crazy? I mean you are my sister, but you are hot!”

  “Thank you. Believe me it was HUGE bone of contention with us, no pun intended,” I remarked bitterly. He snorted and punched me lightly in the arm.

  “You really kicked his ass?” he asked after a minute. I nodded.

  “Yeah he pressed charges, so at some point, I have to go back for court. And because Amanda's dad owns my company, she gave him some sob story about me being a threat and they fired me. So I am homeless and jobless,” I replied. He shook his head.

  “Well you can stay here as long as you like. Things are kind of crazy for me here too, but you are my blood. You have taken care of me all of my life, its time someone took care of you,” he said, putting his arm around me and squeezing me to him. I honestly did not expect that sort of reaction from him.

  “What do you mean things are crazy?” I asked him. He just smirked.

  “Let's get you a bed,” he said, before turning and walking out of the kitchen. Fine, let him be Mr. Mysterious.

  Axel cleared out his extra bedroom; pushing aside boxes filled with various tattoo paraphernalia. Apparently he stored some of his extra stuff in here when he was not in the shop. The bed was a full and had clean black sheets on it and a maroon comforter. Tossing my bag on the bed, I smiled at my brother as he hugged me and walked out the door. Kicking off my flip flops and taking off my glasses, I laid face down on the bed and closed my eyes.

  “Hey, geek girl? Get the hell up!” yelled a male voice. Opening my eyes slowly, I looked up at my brother. He looked like a deranged elf with a cup of coffee in his hand. Sitting up, I brushed my long hair out of my face. He handed me the cup of coffee. He was wearing all black and his hair was styled into some kind of faux hawk. I hated that he hopped out of bed looking fabulous, while I always looked like Morticia Addams on meth.

  “Morning,” I mumbled as I took a giant sip of the coffee.

  “Any plans today?” he asked. He had this look in his eye that made me nervous. The last time he had that look; we ended up in jail and grounded for three months.

  “Why?” I asked cautiously.

  “Well I figured you needed some cash. So I have an idea.”

  “No, I am not having sex with your friends for money,” I mumbled, taking another sip of my coffee. He smirked.

  “ Yeah, no
. Adam, the shop guy, who does everything but fix bikes and tattoos, well he quit. Like I said last night, things have been crazy and I don't have time to go through all kinds of apps to weed out the crazy and hire a competent person. I figured I would have you work the shop. Sound good?” he tugged on the small silver hoop in his left ear, waiting for my answer.

  “Yeah that would be awesome, especially since I haven't really had the time to look for a new job.” He shrugged.

  “Whatever works,” he replied .Taking another sip of coffee, I studied him. He looked like he was about ready to jump out of his skin and he had these bluish black circles under his eyes.

  “Ok. It’s real easy sis. Jeans, tank top, boots, flip flops. Whatever. We are not fancy. Just try not to show your tits okay?”

  Raising an eyebrow, I reached for my glasses and snorted.

  “Aww shit bro. And I was planning on wearing booty shorts and pasties my first day!” I said with a whine.

  “Yeah, I don’t think the guys would be able to work if you did,” he laughed. He stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans, giving me a stiff smile.

  “Well I got to go to work. You know where it is right?” He pulled at his lip ring and looked at me. Stop tugging on the damn lip ring.

  “Sure do. Let me take a shower and I will be there,” I replied. He nodded and shut the door behind him. I heard the front door close a few minutes later. He better calm his jumpy ass down.

  I stared at the water going down the drain, in a trance. Thoughts of Carl crashed through my brain. When would he get out of my damn head? I hated myself for comparing everything and everyone to him. Relief flooded me over not having given up my body to him as well as my heart. Grabbing a towel I stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around me. Towel drying my hair, I opened up my bag and pulled out a pair of well-loved jeans that hugged my curves perfectly. I am not rail thin, my Irish ancestors saw to that. Curves in all the right places that would be me. Decent sized chest, not porn star huge. I pulled on a black tank top with thick straps that went past my waist. It has a Day of the Dead type female skeleton on it, straddling a chair in pin up lingerie. The pic is amazing looking. Looking in the mirror, I smiled to myself. Tying my hair up in a messy bun, I grabbed my black leather messenger bag and headed downstairs to leave.

  My brother’s shop, Insatiable Art and Cycles, is two blocks away from his house, so I walked. It is a large black building with a two bay garage attached. As I got closer to the building, I saw the doors of the two bay garages were open and music was blasting. There was a tall guy leaning against the open garage door frame. He had a shaved head and from what I could see, his bottom lip was pierced and one of his eyebrows as well. He had on baggy jeans, black Docs and a gray form fitting t-shirt that showcased a nice muscular form. He had both arms all tattooed, an ankh, Celtic style, on the left side of his neck and I am sure more ink was underneath his shirt. He smiled at me; his eyes were deep brown and piercing. I gave him a shy smile in return. Other guys were working on various bikes inside the garage. They stopped working when they saw me go inside shop. I gave them all a wave and opened the shop door.

  Let me tell you, the inside was impressive. Having never been here before when everything was finished, I looked around. To the left of the door was large counter with black granite top on which sat a swanky computer system. To the right of the door was a large waiting room with honey colored cushy couches and chairs and a bookcase unit with artists’ portfolios and back issues of Inked Magazine. There was also the shop office behind the couches. Two huge windows in the front of the shop let in tons of natural light. Straight ahead as you walked in, was the shop. There were four work stations and a closed off room for piercings (there was a sign on the door.) There were two drafting tables for the artists to draw up the tattoos. There were three tattoo artists and my brother. The shop logo was brightly painted on the shop floor which that complimented the funky colored walls and old school signs from tattoo shops. When I had walked in, the bell above the door jingled and a head poked out of the office. Out walked the guy from the garage. He smiled and I remembered to catch my breath. He looked familiar but I could not place him.

  “You must be Bleu. Sorry about staring at you earlier. It’s weird though, you and Axel have the same eyes and smile!” he remarked. His voice was deep and but smooth like honey. Girly parts snapped to attention.

  “Well I can say I have never had anyone tell me that before! But yes, I’m Bleu,” I replied with a laugh. He smiled again.

  “I’m Jack. Axel said you were going to be working with us,” he said happily. Jack the other partner. God he is sexy. Hold on Bleu, reign in the hormones! Baseball, Barbie dolls, Joan Rivers. Shakily smiling, I noticed he was studying my face.

  “Uh yeah. That’s what he told me too.”

  “Well then little lady, let’s get you all set up,” he said as he led me over to the front desk. Behind the counter, was list of prices for various piercings. Next to it, a sign that stated that there was a fee charged for drawing out a tattoo, as well as the hourly rate for a tattoo. The place was really clean.

  “Nice place,” I remarked. Jack nodded. Nice place? Seriously? That's conversation? What the hell was wrong with me?

  “This is pretty much going to be your area. Set appointments, cash out, and order supplies. That kind of stuff. For now you are pretty much our shop mom. But no worries, the shop pretty much explains itself. The bathroom is off to the left and the supply closet is next to it.” Nodding, I took it all in.

  “The garage is separate from the shop I take it?” I asked.

  “Yes. But sometimes if people have to wait, they will just come in here. No worries, they don’t have a waiting room over there yet, “he replied with a shrug. Then he looked at me and I guess he could tell I was a bit overwhelmed. He put an arm around me, he smelled so good. Pathetic, that’s me.

  “Don’t worry. I don’t have any appointments today. I will help you out. Axel is my bud, I got your back,” he replied.

  “That’s all you better have!” shouted Axel, coming out of one of the rooms. A skinny girl with auburn hair trotted out after him, batting her eyes at him and smiling. Good Lord. He pulled off his black rubber gloves and threw them out as he cleaned up his station.

  “Really? Axel, I am a big girl, I can handle myself,” I retorted, trying not to pout. He shook his head.

  “It’s not you that I am worried about, it’s the guys here. They are all sex crazed perverts,” he said and then he slapped Jack on the shoulder.

  “Takes one to know one man,” responded Jack. I followed him out to the front to get to work.

  Chapter Three

  A few weeks later, it felt like I had been there forever. In between appointments, Jack had showed me how to use the computer system and then I went and changed it all on them. It was an organizational nightmare and they had no record keeping system to speak of. I was not surprised. At night, or when it was slow, I did endless job searches.

  “I think you got the hang of it,” said Jack as we sat in the office. He was eating a bag of chips while I sat there eating some yogurt.

  “Thanks for showing me the ropes. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem. But I cannot really take credit for anything. You totally reorganized everything…no you organized things. “He said with a laugh.

  “Don’t mention it,” I replied with a laugh.

  “You know, your brother really helped me out when I got out of prison. He is a good guy, even if he gets more tail than Hugh Heffner,” he said. Prison? Axel had neglected to mention that little tidbit. Axel was usually a gossipy little bitch, this was unlike him.

  “Jail? Uh…do you mind me asking what for?” He shook his head and balled up his empty chip bag, tossing it in the trash.

  “No, I don’t mind. It was for aggravated assault. I beat the hell out of my mom’s boyfriend Angus. He took all her money, got my older brother hooked on heroin. So I kidnapped my brother and locked him in
my house while he detoxed. I told mom that was what I had to do you know? She could not afford to send him to rehab even if she does own her own business. He told me he needed money, which stupidly, I gave him. He snuck out and hooked up with my mom’s ex, giving him all the money because he wanted it to buy drugs. I found out, and went to Angus’ house, beat the ever living shit out of him and took my money back. It got me five years,” he replied.

  “Is…is your brother alright?” I asked. He nodded.

  “Yeah, he stayed clean and sober, went back to school and is a math teacher at the high school. I am the one with the record though. Your brother hired me here once I got out,” he replied. His eyes held a lot of pain and more than a little bit of apprehension. He was afraid, actually afraid of what I was going to say.

  “I am glad your brother is okay,” I said softly. He let out his breath slowly.

  “Not want to talk to me anymore huh?” he asked. My head shot up and I smiled.

  “No. I am thinking of how I was just in jail for something not so similar,” I said softly, with a laugh. His eyebrows raised and he shook his head in disbelief.

  “I thought for certain you were going to bolt out of this office,” he remarked. I shook my head.

  “I am the last person to judge someone for being in jail or really anything, come to think of it. I am not here to judge anyone. People in glass houses and all that,” I reassured him.

  “Not to change the subject, but what did you do before you came here? And why the hell would you come back here after living in Philly?”

  “Well let's see..... I caught my fiancé having sex with my boss in my bed when I came home from a work party. He blamed me for it and then I kicked his ass and ended up in jail. Now that I think about it, it wasn’t a good fit. Then the next day, when I went in to request a leave of absence, the company I worked for, let me go. My boss' daddy owns the company and she told him what happened, I am guessing she left out the whole reverse cowgirl situation I found her in though. So I came here, to the only person I can trust. Axel.” He nodded. I guess my brother was kind of “base” in a crazy game of “Tag” that we all seemed to be playing with Fate.