“Wearing your shirt. Tell me you didn’t, man.”
My eyes stay locked on the coffee that’s being cradled by my hands.
The silence is all the answer he needs.
“Fuuuuuuck. I thought you were stronger than that, man.”
“So did I. Zach doesn’t know anything happened, though. I didn’t sleep next to her.”
“But you fucked her?” he confirms.
“Keep your fucking voice down.” My eyes flick to the door in panic.
“Jesus. You need to tell him.”
“Yeah, I also kinda like my face.” He raises a brow. “It was a one off. It won’t be happening again, so it can just be forgotten.”
“You really think that’s possible? You weren’t able to resist her for forty-eight hours.”
“I know,” I groan, “but you didn’t see her, man. She snuck out and he got his hands on her. She looked so beautiful, so broken.”
“You’re fucked, mate,” he says, dropping down onto his wheeled stool and rolling over, a mixture of sympathy and amusement on his face.
“Where is she now?”
“In the flat, I hope.”
“You need her to move out.”
I open my mouth to agree, but even his suggestion of it sounds wrong. “Where would she go?”
“I know you’re trying to do the right thing here, but maybe it’s time you took a step back. You clearly don’t just have her best interests in mind.”
“Ah, fucking hell,” I complain, rubbing at my rough jaw in the hope it’ll give me some clarity.
“What’s different about this girl? You usually move on without so much of a second glance.”
“If I knew that, I might not be in this situation.”
“Is Zach gonna pay off her debt?”
“I think so.”
“Well, let’s just hope that happens sooner rather than later, so she can get out of your hair.”
“What if I don’t want her out of my hair? Shit.” I don’t mean for the words to come out loud.
“Fucking hell,” D chuckles. “You’ve got a serious problem here, mate.”
Thankfully, a knock sounds out on D’s door, and I’m forced to get up and head to my own room as he welcomes his first client of the day in.
“You know where I am, man,” he says before I disappear from sight.
As I close the door behind me, locking myself in my little sanctuary, I wonder if D might like a new housemate. I’m just not sure if I should be the one to take up residence in his spare room or if I should ship Kas there. D’s got more morals than I have. Hell, he’s got more than the three of us put together. He’d never touch the forbidden. Unlike me.
My first two clients of the day drag. The tattoos they want aren’t half as intricate as I need to fully lose myself in. Every time I hear footsteps or a door opening and closing, I wonder if it’s Zach coming to continue our conversation from this morning, but he never shows his face.
That is, until sometime after six o’clock. I’ve got a break in clients so I can grab some food, and I’m just about to shove my wallet into my pocket to head out when his knock comes. We’ve worked together long enough to identify each other by that alone.
“Yeah,” I call out, somewhat hesitantly.
“Hey. I’m uh… sorry about this morning,” he says, gesturing to my face with a wince.
My eyes widen in shock. I was sure he was going to come flying in to deliver another painful message.
“I should be thanking you for taking care of her.”
“Um… I didn’t really do anything.”
“Mate, you dragged her off that stage. Titch said it was pretty epic.”
“I’m not sure your sister or Dakota saw it that way.”
“Meh, don’t care what they think. You did the right thing.”
If he knew the whole story, I’m sure he’d be saying something else entirely.
Guilt threatens to engulf me, but I tell myself over and over that it was a one-time thing and it’s better for everyone if it’s just put in the past and never mentioned again.
“So, are you going to pay this motherfucker off or what?”
“Yeah, I’m sorting it.”
“She hasn’t told me how much, but that’s gotta hurt.”
He shrugs. “She’s my sister. She’s already had a shitty life. She deserves this.”
“Couldn’t agree more. You should have seen where she was living.”
“You should have called me sooner.”
“She was too busy giving me the run around. She’s a defiant little bitch, your sister.”
He chuckles, telling me that he’s more than aware.
“She’s something, all right. I wish I had a chance to meet the woman who gave birth to us,” he says, a sombre expression passing over his face.
“From what I’ve heard, you didn’t miss much.”
“She deserves so much more,” he repeats.
“There’s plenty of time for her to turn it around. She’s still young,” I add, more to remind myself than Zach.
“I’ve offered her a job.”
“Oh?”
“She’s a kick-arse artist. She could do really well here, with the right training.”
I swallow at what he might be implying.
“I’ve already got my hands full with Biff.”
“You said it, man.”
“Fuck off. You seem to know how to handle her, so I wondered if you wanted to take her under your wing.”
“M-mentor her?”
“Yeah. You up for it?”
Fuck.
My heart races as I try to come up with a response that might get me out of this, but if I refuse, he’s going to want to know why. If I say yes then… fuck.
“S-sure. If you think she’s got what it takes.”
“I do. Plus, she owes me a few quid now, so she hasn’t got a lot of choice.”
“When’s she starting?”
“The second it’s safe for her to step outside of your flat.”
“She probably already has,” I mutter.
“Oh, she’s there. I sent Biff to babysit her.”
I can’t help but laugh at the serious look on his face.
“I’m not sure she’ll take too kindly to that.”
“Well, sadly for her, she hasn’t got a choice until this motherfucker is dealt with.”
“W-what are you planning?”
“Nothing for you to worry about.” He winks, causing dread to settle in the pit of my stomach.
“Zach, you
