LOGIN~ GAVIN ~“On it, boss,” Max replied, sounding much more alert. “I’m going over to her place now. Keep me updated on your progress. Make no mistakes.”I ended the call and dialed Sienna, marching out of my studio with the jacket slung on my arm. She hadn’t taken my calls or replied to my messages since the day she gave me her number — the same day Lennon showed up and created a scene. This time, her phone didn’t even ring. It went straight to ‘switched off’, cold and unapologetic, sending my heart further into the pit of my stomach. Freya looked up as I stormed past the front desk.“Everything okay, boss?” she asked.“Cancel all my appointments,” I instructed without stopping, weaving through the busy floor with its usual mix of artists and customers.Once outside the shop, I hopped into my car and fired up the engine, its low roar echoing the beat of my racing heart. Foot to the pedal and I was speeding down the street. To Sienna’s apartment. My knuckles had gone bone-white fro
~ GAVIN ~Today was one of the rare days when I was the one on the other side of the tattoo pen.The machine buzzed low as my newest artist pressed the cartridge into my arm, his hand steady. I’d known from the first line he pulled — clean and confident — that he had it. Talent wasn’t something you could fake in this business. Not on skin.At GK Tattoos, this ritual wasn’t optional. Every artist who worked here earned their place by inking me first.If I was going to let someone stain other people’s bodies under my roof, I needed to see — and feel — exactly what they could do. My clients didn’t pay a premium for basic service. This new artist was young; the youngest I’d ever considered hiring. Frizzy purple hair. Clothes two sizes bigger. A few tattoos on him, the most prominent one, an anchor under his left eye. I never got a face tattoo — nor anything on my neck or hands. All my ink, plentiful as it was, stayed carefully confined to my shoulders, wrists, and calves. I hated to adm
~ GAVIN ~Sienna’s gasp needed a moment of its own. She slapped a hand over her mouth, as if that could hide the look of absolute mortification on her face. I continued quickly, trying to get it all out and move on to a different topic. “But it was borne from heartbreak. And that heartbreak was caused by me. So technically… I killed her.” I let out a dry, humorless huff. “I said it once when I was overwhelmed with guilt and grief, and some people just ran with it.”Her expression softened quickly. She started to reach for me, then hesitated, her hand hovering before dropping back to her side. “I’m so sorry, Gavin,” she said gently. “That must be such a huge burden to carry.”“It’s not a burden if it's yours,” I muttered with a shrug which I immediately regretted because my shoulders also hurt like hell. Lennon had surprisingly put up a good fight. Or was it his overexcited goons? Either way, I enjoyed the fight. I always enjoyed fights. Since I left prison, since I left the gang
~ GAVIN ~I never thought a day would come when someone would ask me if I killed the only woman I had ever loved. And even more strangely, that I wouldn’t respond to the question with a punch to the face of whoever was dumb — and bold — enough to ask.But Sienna was standing in front of me, grey eyes searching mine as she waited for an answer. I raked my sweat-slicked hair with my fingers. “I didn’t kill my mom.” She kept staring at me, waiting for me to continue, her chest rising and falling like she was the one who just did the fighting. At some point in the chaos, I actually forgot she was standing here. Not that it would’ve changed anything if I didn’t — especially not the final beating I gave Lennon.I somehow always lost control when anyone spoke ill of my mother. It was the surest way to get under my skin. And anyone close enough knew it.That’s the problem with having a trigger — once people find it, they use it. Mercilessly. Just like Lennon did.I knew he was trying to g
~ SIENNA ~Lennon struggled to his feet, swaying like he was standing on a sphere. They had a stare down. Both of them ruffled. Both of them panting. Only one of them looking incredibly sexy while at it. “Lennon,” Gavin started, his tone measured but edged, “I’ve made a habit of keeping out of your way. I suggest you return the courtesy.”“Oh, that was easier when I had a job.” He tapped his chin, as if weighing the thought, though the glint in his eyes betrayed him. “Maybe I’ll drop by your little tattoo shop next, instead of bothering you at home.”“You disturb my business, that’s when I kill you,” Gavin whispered, his expression — or lack of it — so cold, it sent chills down my spine. The effect was obviously not the same for Lennon. He cocked his head arrogantly. “Like you killed your mother?”Those words knocked the air clean out of me. Todd must have noticed my knees buckling because his hand clamped onto my shoulder to steady me. My heart pounded wildly, way louder than the
~ SIENNA ~Lennon shrugged nonchalantly as he moved even closer to Gavin. “You’re right. Enough about her. Let’s focus on you. On us.”The swing came without warning. The bat slammed into the bumper of one of Gavin’s cars parked beside mine, the metal crunching inward with a sound that made me flinch. The next hit fractured the windshield, cracks racing across it in jagged lines. Both times, Gavin reacted as if he was the one who’d been struck. And before we could find out the destination of the third hit, he lunged. His fist connected with Lennon’s jaw in one brutal blow, the sickening smack of flesh echoing as Lennon wheezed and staggered backwards.“I’ve had enough of you, Lennon,” he growled furiously. “You’ve used up all your graces for being family.”Lennon regained his composure rather quickly and with a raw, guttural cry, he raced towards Gavin. The bat whistled through the air as he brought it down hard on his arm. Gavin dodged the first strike neatly but he wasn’t so lu
~ GAVIN ~From the moment I found out what Max ‘knew’ I needed, I vehemently turned it down. But he insisted. In his words, “We have work, Gav. Go let out this steam so you can function with a clear head tomorrow.”So here I was, in a private booth of a shadowed sex club with a dancer he whispered
~ GAVIN ~The air in Maxwell’s balcony was heavy with the smell of cigar as we puffed into the night. A bottle of the strongest vodka I’ve ever had sat on the stool between us, flanked by our half-filled glasses. A speaker was blasting metal music inside the house, the sound filtering out and servi
~ SIENNA ~“Sorry, we haven’t received a dog like that,” the woman at the table said sympathetically. Dog hair clung to her cardigan. She didn’t bother brushing it off. It sat there like a badge, proof for anyone who needed convincing that she truly worked at a dog shelter.“White. Immaculate whit
~ SIENNA ~I ignored him and continued searching for a ride on the app but it kept returning ‘No available drivers for your location’.Maybe because the kind of people who dined at Aurum Noire and environs didn’t need cabs to leave. Their chauffeurs and convoys were parked close by, waiting for the







