Temporary (Indelibly Marked #2), page 6
“Did you want my help or not?” He shook the jacket at her. “Maybe if I try to help, we can move beyond what happened?”
“Are you going to try? Or are you going to help?” She put her hand on the jacket but didn’t take it.
Before he answered, the deep, vibrating rumble of a motorcycle intruded on them. In a cloud of dust, Ivan pulled in. He got off the bike, took off his helmet, and stomped in their direction.
Her chest tightened, though not sure if she wanted him there or not, she would have given him hell later if he remained absent. No wonder she drove him crazy.
“I can’t believe you actually showed for your own sister.” He pushed Dillon’s jacket away, thrust himself between them and put his own jacket around her. “Your outfit is see-through.”
“So I’ve heard.” She slid her arms into the sleeves, allowing the aroma of leather and aftershave to swirl around her.
“Emily and I were speaking.” Dillon draped his jacket over his arm. “I’m not my brother. I don’t need backup.”
“I’m not backup. I’m the front line.” Ivan straightened up and crossed his arms. “I told Emily not to involve you.”
“She called me, upset and screaming, so I’m here and involved.” Dillon mirrored Ivan’s stance.
“So the day she cried when she walked into Shane’s place to find nothing but a mattress, you weren’t involved? How about the times she called you, but you didn’t bother to answer? Did you know she cried then?” Ivan moved his face closer to Dillon’s. “Why now?”
Not sure how to stop what she put in motion, she raised her hand up to her mouth and hit herself in the face with Ivan’s jacket sleeve. “Guys!”
“Since when did the relationship with my sister turn into your concern?” Dillon leaned back on his heels.
“Since the day she came to me instead of you.” With those words, Ivan pointed at Dillon.
Funny how sometimes the answers came from the most unlikely places. Ivan didn’t truly want her. She was nothing but a huge obligation. A selfish, silly obligation. The girl who sat back and let her brother and her best friend argue about her and her family’s business while she thought about her love life. What had she turned into? Nothing but a whimpering woman.
“Stop!” She moved around Ivan and pushed them apart. “I need both of you. It’s not even about me, it’s about Permanent Tattoo.”
“Em.” Ivan’s tone gave her a warning.
Dillon remained quiet.
“Ivan, you and I need to take care of the businesses.” She swallowed. “We need Dillon to help us with the lawsuit. He knows how to deal with these situations.”
“Emily.” Ivan bent down to her ear but spoke loud enough for Dillon to hear. “Shane wouldn’t want this.”
“Shane is having a baby and he left the business with us. We have to make sure it’s not ruined.” She stared into his eyes. “After everything he’s done for us, we have to fix it no matter what it takes.”
Ivan nodded and turned back to Dillon. “In the end, it’s all about Shane.”
Dillon focused on her. “You asked me before if I was going to try to help, or if I was going to help.”
She waited for his answer.
“I’m going to help, but…” He lifted his finger.
In unison both her heart and stomach fell. “But what?”
“I want my sister back.” When he lifted his chin his resemblance to her other brothers magnified.
“What about everyone else?”
“I want my sister back.”
“Okay.” She held her hand out for a shake.
Instead, Dillon opened his arms.
Though she tried to resist, she closed the distance between them and gave her brother a hug for the first time in over two years.
He pulled her in for one of his monster hugs and his hand grazed over her tattoo.
“Ow!” She jumped back, putting her hand over her side, trying to make the burn subside from the pressure of his embrace and the fabric of her shirt.
“What the hell?” Dillon reached for her.
“Don’t touch her!” Ivan pulled her away. “You’re here three seconds and you already hurt her.”
“I gave her a hug.” Dillon tried to move in.
“Let me take a look.” Ivan kneeled down and lifted the side of her shirt.
“Oh my God!” Dillon took hold of her arm. “What have you done to yourself?”
With the pain subsiding, she grinned at her brother. “I got a tattoo. Look.” She twisted around to give him a better view.
“Help me.” Dillon shielded his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” She glanced over at Ivan and down to her tattoo and side boob.
“There are certain things a brother should not see,” he groaned. “It’s bad enough that the shirt is transparent.”
Ivan winced and lowered her shirt. “Don’t touch it.”
“It’s safe now.” She stepped back from Ivan.
“Has your other brother seen your markings?” Dillon narrowed his eyes at them.
“No!” Both she and Ivan yelled in unison.
Dillon tightened his lips.
“Dill, Shane can’t know about anything.” She reached in her purse and handed him the letter about the lawsuit. “They can’t have any stress. The baby.”
“That’s still my niece or nephew.” He unfolded the letter, his brow furrowing as he scanned the pages. “I am going to have to add one more person to the mix though.”
“Who?” Ivan crossed his arms.
“I need to get working right away.” Dillon folded the letter and slipped it back in the envelope.
“Dillon.” She held out her hands, waiting for an answer. “We don’t want anything leaking out to the press until we know how to deal with it.”
“Meet me at Lawrence’s Bistro at eight tonight for drinks, and we’ll get our last player involved.” He held his hand out to Ivan. “Both of you.”
Ivan glanced at her and then thrust his hand into Dillon’s.
“I’m off.” Her brother headed for a tiny car she didn’t recognize.
“When did you get a car?” She called after him. The last she heard his car was stuck in transit between New York and Los Angeles, but it had been well over a year since she saw him with a vehicle. That was a huge no-no in LA LA land.
He walked backward and pointed at Ivan. “Did you do the tattoo?”
Ivan nodded. “Why?”
Without a word her brother saluted and got in the car.
“I better get back to the shop.” She slipped off Ivan’s jacket and returned it to him.
“Look.” He lifted his chin.
She peeked over. Two hummingbirds flitted around some flowers. “Why do you love them so much?
“Why don’t we take a ride?”
Mimicking her brother, she saluted him. “We drove separate.” No matter what, she would always be everyone’s little sister.
Chapter Five
“Your brother is late.” Ivan strummed his fingers on the tiny table of the overpriced restaurant in Beverly Hills. “I bet he doesn’t show.”
For the first time since she left him in Beachwood Canyon, Emily graced him with a glance. “If he says he’ll be here, he’ll be here.”
“We should have just kept things status quo. All this change is not good.” At last they were sort of talking. Between working with Billy, Tamsin, and the accounting office, she managed to avoid him until it was time to leave. She never even indulged in one of his iced teas. He’d weaseled into her car for the ride to their dinner with the douche, but she didn’t speak to him. She only continued to fiddle with the music and talk about how long it had been since they went somewhere without a drive through. Every word she spoke smacked of a personal attack.
She shook her head. “You didn’t have to come.”
“I’m in charge of the shop.” He pointed at himself.
“Then act like it.” She squared her jaw.
He reached into his water glass, plucked the lemon wedge out and tossed it into her drink. “It has nothing to do with the shop or the lawsuit.”
She glared at the citrus fruit. “Okay, if I’m so dumb that I don’t know what it is about, tell me. Put all those words of wisdom you impart to everyone else to good use.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You are frustrated.”
“Oh yeah. That’s your big light bulb moment?”
“We had a good thing going, you saw that last night, in fact you initiated last night. Now you don’t know how to get it back without looking like you reversed your stance. I assure you that you have nothing to be embarrassed about. I say we just forget the last few days and go back to how things were.” At having let everything out, he took a long gulp of his water and reclined in the stiff booth. “Just tell me what you want.”
With narrowed eyes, she stared him down and took hold of her glass.
He gripped the edge of the table, preparing to be drenched in her lemon water, but for once her brother came in handy.
“There she is.” Dillon approached with some idiot trailing behind him.
The bile stung the back of Ivan’s throat at Emily’s complete turn around. With a smile and a giggle, she slid over to allow the intruders into their space.
“Emily Elliott, James Westland, Attorney at Law.” Dillon held his hand in front of the man as if he were a model showing off prizes on a game show.
Seriously? The guy’s name sounded made up for a movie.
“Dillon speaks about you all the time, and now I see why.” The man shook her hand.
“He does?” She bit her lip. “Really?”
“Absolutely.” He kept hold of her hand.
“Attorney?” Since no one else acknowledged him, Ivan took it upon himself. “You don’t look like an attorney.” No, the hack Dillon dragged with him in some mock attempt to fix the situation didn’t look anything like a lawyer with his slick backed dark hair and golden complexion. In his polo shirt, blazer and tailored jeans, it was more likely the man stepped off a beach, rather than out of a courtroom.
Without letting go of Emily, the man shifted his focus to Ivan. “That’s funny, you look exactly like a tattoo artist.”
“What? Did you find an attorney through the same magazine where you wrote away to get your real estate license?” Ivan crossed his arms.
“We’ve worked together on some property deals.” Dillon flashed him a scowl. “The man with the class is Ivan Harlow. He’s running the tattoo shop while my brother’s out.”
“Ah, the best friend.” James nodded and finally returned Emily’s hand. “Why don’t we get a bottle of wine and discuss some strategy?”
“Wine?” The word left Emily’s mouth like she’d never heard it before.
“Yes, wine.” He motioned toward the waitress.
Within a minute, the waitress and a man in a tuxedo appeared, placed glasses in front of them and opened the sought after bottle.
The man poured a small bit into James’ glass.
James swirled the burgundy liquid in glass and pushed it to Emily. “Why don’t we find out what the lady thinks?”
Color, almost the same as the wine, crept into her face. “I don’t know anything about wine.”
Ivan ground his teeth together. What game was the ass playing?
“I think you are a woman who knows what she likes.” He inched the glass toward her fingers. “Just take a sip and be honest.”
“All right.” She sat up straight and lifted the glass to her mouth.
Every part of him prayed she would choke on the foul drink and spit it right into the guy’s face.
Instead, she swallowed, licked her lips and smiled. “It’s delicious.”
“Good, that’s from my family’s private stock that we keep here.” Once more James lifted his finger and the man in the tuxedo proceeded to pour them all a glass.
“Mr. Westland?” Emily used the voice, the soft one, the one where he had to lean in to hear her. That voice that belonged only to him.
“James, and yes.” He tapped his glass against hers.
“You said you had a strategy?”
“A business woman, I like that.” He reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out the summons along with a small notebook and a pen. “It seems to me the main concern is to avoid any sort of negative publicity for Permanent Tattoo?”
Emily nodded.
“We have a couple of choices. We can let them take us to court and fight it, or we can settle, but as part of the settlement, we would insist on no publicity.” James tapped his pen on his notebook.
She looked down, running her finger along the stem of the glass.
“Emily do you have any questions?” Dillon asked and leaned forward.
Ivan fought the urge to punch Dillon in the face. There was no way would Emily blurt out a decision when it came to Permanent without turning it over in her mind a million times.
Emily pursed her lips.
James drank down his wine and clicked his pen, trying to rush her without words.
“Do you understand the options?” Dillon prodded.
“Of course she understands the options.” Ivan hit the table. “She’s not stupid, in fact, she’s so smart, she’s thinking before spewing an answer at you.”
She lifted her head and turned to him, cupping her hand over her mouth.
Fine, she may have shared her private sexy voice with those goons, but the shielded whisper belonged to him and he moved over to receive it.
“You’re in charge of the shop. What should we do?” Her breath tickled him.
“We’re in charge of the shop, tell me your gut,” he mumbled, trying to abate the shivers traveling down his own body.
“The settlement thing seems good, but where are we going to get the money? Lindsay will notice missing funds.” She grabbed his forearm.
“I’ll front whatever is needed, including our friend James.” He turned to her. “We’ll get it, don’t worry. Just tell me what you want to do, and take your time.”
For a second she paused, stared into his eyes. Her face broke out in a smile, not one of those excited smiles at drinking some overpriced grape juice, but one that connected them. “I think the settlement thing sounds like the best plan.”
“I agree.” He sat back.
“Do you think the settlement option will work?” she asked the attorney. “Do you think you can get that guy to go away?”
“For the most part, I have found that people want the money.” James made some notations in his book. “I will draft a letter and we’ll move fast.”
“Thank you.” Once again, she shook James’ hand, but underneath the table, she took his hand.
“That’s my job.” James closed his notebook and put it away. “I should probably get going. I want to get started right away.”
“I’ll go with you to fill in the blanks.” Dillon took a last sip of his wine. “I promised my sister I’d help.”
“Thanks, Dill,” she whispered as she gave him a quick hug.
“Just focus on the businesses, we’ll take care of the legal things.” He gave her a pretend punch in the arm. “Later, Ivan.”
Ivan lifted his chin. Along with the businesses, now he had to watch the big brother, and most importantly, his best friend and unborn child.
“Enjoy the wine. Just consider it part of my comprehensive service.” With one last beach boy smile, James left with Dillon tagging along.
Alone with Ivan, she moved his glass toward him. “You never even tasted the wine.”
“Aren’t you supposed to make a toast or something?” He lifted the glass.
She mimicked his action. “Then I propose a toast to you for offering to front the money without even taking a breath.”
“Of course.” He tapped his glass against hers.
They both took a sip.
The acidic liquid hit his throat and he grabbed for his water, taking a gulp and trying to dilute it. “Oh Lord.”
“You don’t like it?” She betrayed herself with a laugh.
“You poser.” He elbowed her. “You hate it.”
“It’s like drinking cough medicine. I just kept lifting the glass so it looked like I was having some, I don’t know what I would have done if they stayed.” She hid her face in his shoulder.
“I guess you’re supposed to develop a taste for it.” He put his hand on the back of her head.
“I would rather have a beer.” She looked up at him. “Maybe we should go.”
“For the record, I apologize about last night.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Not that it happened, but that you didn’t want it to.”
“There you are.” She touched his chin and turned away.
There was the voice again, but meant for him. “Where did I go?”
“The Ivan that knows how to say all the right things is back.” She opened her purse. “I don’t know where you went.”
“I have an idea.” He tapped her back. “Look at me.”
She did as he asked.
“Maybe we should make the most of our time in the hills of Beverly and order a couple of beers and some dinner, my treat.”
Her focus darted to different parts of his face. “I accept.”
“Excellent.” He raised his hand for the waitress.
~~*~~
“Good morning, partner.” Ivan opened the door for Emily as they entered Permanent.
“Good Morning.” She walked in ahead of him, trying to avoid eye contact.
They made their way to the front counter where Ivan let her put her purse away first.
Ivan opened the mini fridge. “Would you like an iced tea?”
She opened up the appointment book for the day and clipped Lindsay’s list next to it.
“Em-lee,” Ivan whispered in her ear. “I have pre-sweetened your favorite drink.”
Though she refused to succumb to his charms, his voice vibrated down her spinal column and she shuddered. She would not give in to the way he said her name. After last night’s beer and dinner fest, he gave her a simple kiss on the cheek and made sure she got in her apartment safely. Yes, he paused at the door as if waiting for an invitation, but she managed to get inside without giving in.
