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ChapterFour
ERIKA
Taking a deep breath, I center myself and focus on the piece that is now stenciled on my model. I was so excited when I saw I was going to have a woman. She asked for the piece to be on her back, which I had hoped for. As my machine works across the stencil of my drawing, I calm. I don’t think of anything but making sure every line is clean. That the black and gray are in harmony. I’m leaving areas where the skin can breathe.
They call for the first break, and I slowly help my model sit up. After handing her a bottle of water, I direct her to take small swallows and not large gulps. Working with tattoo recipients is like working with a sub coming out of subspace. You need to care for them. If they stand too fast, they can collapse. Sometimes their muscles will cramp, and water can make nausea worse if they are feeling sick. When I’m sure she’s good, I stand myself. I’m about to walk off and find something for myself when a large extremely handsome man with the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen is standing there. He’s dressed in a pale gray suit with a tie that matches his eyes.
“Hello, I’m Aleksei, Mr. Aldridge asked me to bring you some lunch and a drink.” His voice is thick with a strong Russian accent. He holds up a brown paper sack, and I reach for it but pause. Knowing this is a test. I look around for the closest camera and smile at it.
“How do I know you are with Mr. Aldridge?” I smile at the man.
He takes a moment, unsure of how to answer me. He also looks at the camera. Hmm, he knows Grayson likes to watch me.
I lean over my station toward the guy. He could look down my cleavage but doesn’t. He keeps his eyes up. “Why don’t you show me the secret handshake? If you know it, you know you have to kiss me.” The guy rears back, again keeping his eyes up.
“I know that if I so much as touch you, they’ll never find my body. I can tell you that Mr. Aldridge is watching us right now.”
I take pity on the guy and step back from him.
“Fine. So, Aleksei, will you tell me this super-secret job that Mr. Aldridge does for the casino?” I reach for the offered water bottle, twist the cap, and take a deep swallow.
“Mr. Aldridge is very important to the running of the Lucky Dice.”
I move away from the station, and he follows me. I take in the tattoos along his neck and on the back of his hands and fingers. Again, they are in line with Russian mafia icons.
“You’ve known Grayson for a long time?” I ask when we get to the side of the convention hall where people aren’t moving around, and I take a seat. He sits with me. His head is cocked to the side. His intense blue eyes taking in every part of me, but not in a sexual way.
“I’ve known Gray since he came to live with his…” He pauses. “With hisbabushka. My father lived close by.” Aleksei is thinking before he speaks. He doesn’t want to lie to me, but he isn’t being completely truthful or giving me everything.
Taking a deep breath, I can’t fight the urge to be a bit of a brat. I hold the bag of food up and look inside. A grilled turkey and Swiss sandwich with avocado from the restaurant I wanted to try sits in a clear covered container. My mouth waters. Okay, so I won’t throw it away, but it doesn’t mean I can’t still vent about this.
“Thank you for the sandwich and water. Tell Grayson I’ll see him this evening but only if he’s ready to give me the truth. Goodbye.” I move away from Aleksei. I expect him to leave, but he starts walking alongside me back to my station. I won’t eat in the sterile area, so I stand nearby. People brush past me as they look around. I get bumped a few times, and Aleksei puts out an arm to stop them.
“You were out of the way over there. You might think you’re pissing him off, but he’s angrier that these people are bumping into you,” Aleksei says, his voice flat. I look up and see the anger in his eyes.
“Fine. But I only have another fifteen minutes. I don’t want to sit there just staring off.”
“I won’t tell you anything other than what Gray has already told you. I’m loyal to him. You get that, right?” He stares at me, and I see the challenge in his eyes.
“You think I’m after him for something?” I ask before I move back to the seating area. I take a seat and then a big bite out of my sandwich.
His head cocks to the side as he observes me. “You think there is something you could gain from him?” He doesn’t give me more than that.
“I’m fairly certain if he’s in security like I suspect, I probably will be the one needing a prenup. But we aren’t talking forever here. I’m all for just a bit of fun.” I smirk at him and take a big gulp from the water bottle. We don’t say anything else to each other. I people watch and check out some of the booths. Tomorrow I’ll be able to explore more.
“Tattooers, please return to your stations.” The announcement comes across the speakers.
“Thank you. Please tell Grayson I said thank you also.”
“What do you want from him?” Aleksei asks, and I turn back to him. Pursing my lips together, I think about it for a moment.
“Honestly, I don’t really know. Something about him calls to me. Maybe a good fuck will get him out of my system. But I can’t focus on him right now; I have a piece to complete in two more hours.”
I return to my station and sanitize my hands before I sit down. Aleksei’s question hits me again. I was being honest; I don’t really know what I want from Grayson. He’s dominant and sexy as hell. But on top of all that, I see a goodness in him. Yeah, there is something dark. I’m fairly certain he runs with the darker parts of the world, or he used to, but that doesn’t scare me.
When my model settles in, I resume working on the piece. I’m doing a design of my own. It’s a sand clock that is broken on the top with mystical creatures flying out of it. The bottom bulb of the glass has a castle. I like the piece and think it fits my model after reading her bio and getting to know her. Plus, it’s my piece. Really and truly me. The whole thing is in black and gray.
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