Page 104 of Sugar & Ink
“I will always volunteer to be your chair, baby. Fucking always.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rome
Inventory was bullshit.
That was my first thought at nine-thirty in the morning while I stood behind the counter at Bad Habit with a clipboard in one hand and a half-empty bottle of black ink in the other.
My second thought was that I should’ve hired someone years ago to do this part for me.
Tattooing, I loved.
Designing, I loved.
Running the shop, I could handle.
Counting bottles of ink, checking expiration dates, and making sure I had enough gloves, razors, stencil paper, and damn paper towels to keep the place moving? Bullshit.
I set the bottle of black ink down and marked it on the sheet.
The shop was quiet around me. The lights were on, the front door was locked, and the sign still said CLOSED. I didn’t have an appointment until six, which gave me plenty of time to get organized before the day went sideways.
I grabbed another bottle of ink and checked the label. Crimson. Low. I marked it down and tossed it into the reorder bin.
My phone rang and I looked at the screen. Skid. My stomach tightened before I answered. “Yeah.”
“We got a problem.”
I set the clipboard down slowly. “Talk.”
“We can’t find her.”
Everything in me went still.
Skid kept talking. “She’s not at her apartment. Not at the clubhouse. Not at Tasha’s. Not at Finn’s garage where she sometimes crashes. Cash checked the diner. Mack checked the motel on Route Nine. Nothing.”
My jaw clenched. “She knows you’re looking?”
“Maybe. Maybe she got spooked after Josie figured it out. We’re not exactly moving quietly.”
I stared out the front windows toward Scoop & Swirl. From where I stood, I could see the mint-green trim, the clean glass, the OPEN sign glowing bright.
“Where’s Prez?”
“On it. He said keep a close eye on Josie until we find Brandi. Club’ll handle her.”
I laughed, but there wasn’t anything funny about it. “I don’t need permission to handle her if she comes near Josie.”
“I know.”
“You hear me?”
“Rome,” Skid said, voice lower. “We know. Nobody’s telling you to stand down. I’m telling you to keep your woman close and let us know if Brandi shows.”
My woman.
Mine.
