Page 124 of Sincerely, Butterfly

“Yes,” he says. “What kind of drugs?”

“A psychedelic,” Callie answers for me.

“How did you get this blood?” he asks me, raising a brow.

“None of your business,” I repeat, growing a bit frustrated. “Look, can you do the tattoo or not?”

“Normally, I’d laugh in your face,” he huffs with laughter, shaking his head. “But I’ll be damned if I piss off Toren by saying no to his kid. Yes, I can do it. Give me some time to get everything set up.”

After a ten-minute wait, he’s all set up. I’m lying back on the table, arm prepped and ready to go.

“This is so exciting!” Callie blushes with excitement. “It’s going to look so good! I wish I could be a fly on the wall when the guys find out about it.”

Gerard turns the gun on, dipping the needle into the ink. “You’re getting this done for a boy?” he asks, raising a brow before pressing the needle onto my skin.

It hurts a little bit, but nothing too bad. Yet.

“Notaboy, but three boys.” Callie grins.

“Callie,” I hiss.

“Sorry.” She bites her lip. “I just love everything about this, okay? I lived a very boring life for so long, let me live vicariously through you, will ya?”

Closing my eyes, I let my body relax.

“I never got your name,” Gerard asks Callie.

“I’m Callie. And this is my best friend, Nola.”

“Nola. That's right. I remember your dad talking about you over the years. He’s proud of you, loves you to death, I hope you know that.”

“I do.” I smile, eyes still closed. “He’s the best.”

“So, Gerard, tell us about yourself.”

“Not much to say. Been living in New Orleans my whole life,tattooing for half of it. I bought this shop when I was fresh out of high school. Met my wife around five years after opening up. She was a client. I gave her a sick arm piece.”

“What does she do?” I ask, starting to grow sleepy. It feels kind of nice, a little relaxing. It goes numb after a while.

“She owns Madam Katherine,” he murmurs.

“What's that?” Callie asks.

I open my eyes and look over at Gerard. He flicks his gaze up to mine, not sure how much he should say.

Madam Katherine’s is a gentleman's club that a good number of the Brotherhood are members of. High-end escorts, if you will. I’ve heard the guys mention them a few times, so I looked the place up. It’s a hidden building in the French Quarter.

“Her brother and his friends are banned from there,” I snicker, remembering when Skittles caught them coming out of the building. Guess the girls there didn’t appreciate their kinks. Can’t blame them, it’s not something everyone can handle.

“Really?” Gerard asks, pausing what he’s doing to look over at Callie. “And who are your brother and his friends?”

“No one you’ve heard about, I’m sure.” She waves him off.

I snort out a laugh.

“What?” he questions incredulously.

My eyes flick over to Callie, and she grins. She said she used to love throwing her name around, let's see what Gerard does.