Rome: A Marked Men Novel (6 page)

toward Rome. The two brothers regarded each other stonily and Rule pushed out the glass front door

without saying a word to his big brother. The antagonism passing between the two of them felt hot and

heavy, which was a shame. They had already suffered the loss of one brother, they should be reveling in

the fact they still had each other to lean on and give shit to. I had a hard time understanding how Remy’s

secrets had done more to drive the Archer brothers apart than his actual death had.

Rome gave me one last look that I couldn’t decipher. “They’re all lucky to have you.”

I thought the same thing all the time, but it was weird hearing him say it in such an empty and hollow

tone, like he was missing something crucial.

“Well, I’m lucky to have all of them, too, and so are you, Captain No-Fun.”

Those blue eyes got big and then blinked at me and once again that little half grin that turned him from

a good-looking dude into someone that made my heart bump against my chest in an erratic rhythm lit up his

face.

“What did you call me?”

“Captain No-Fun.”

He let out a chuckle that sounded rusty from lack of use and he shook his head at me.

“Staff Sergeant No-Fun is more accurate.”

I gaped a little in surprise that a sense of humor actually lurked somewhere under all the muscle and

broodiness.

“I call my dad ‘Admiral Ass Hat,’ he doesn’t really think it’s funny.”

The scar on his forehead twitched again. “Your dad was in the navy?”

“Oh yeah. He was totally Popeye.”

“Was he really an admiral?” There was a shade of respect in his tone.

“Yep, so you can imagine how thrilled he was trying to rein me in when I was younger.”

He chuckled again and this time it didn’t sound so much like it hurt him. His eyes glinted at me as he

pulled the door open to follow Rule out into the Colorado sunshine.

“I don’t know, Half-Pint, something tells me reining you in is probably a pretty good time.”

I felt my next words die in my throat, and it occurred to me that I was openly flirting with a guy I had

poured beer all over only a couple of days ago. Not to mention he totally wasn’t my type and so far from

what my idea of what the perfect match for me was that it was laughable.

I jerked my attention back to Rule’s client, who was still waiting to pay for the peacock design he had

inked along her rib cage. She was watching me with what I could only describe as envy, so I coughed a

little and tried to get back down to business. It bugged me that while I ran her credit card and went over the

after-care instructions with her, my gaze kept wandering to the big panes of glass that faced Colfax and the

Capitol Hill area of downtown Denver. Rome had his back to the glass and I could see Rule gesturing with

his hands, and he had a look on his face that was intense and serious. It looked like this was a confrontation

the boys needed to have a long time ago.

“Here ya go.” I handed her the slip to sign and wasn’t surprised when she not only tipped 35 percent but

also jotted her phone number down on the back of the slip. I would have given her a reproachful look or

made some kind of snarky comment about it but she beat me to the punch.

With a shrug she tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave me a rueful grin.

“You have the best view in all of Denver in this shop, and every time I come back it gets better. I saw

his girl’s name tattooed across his knuckles on his hand. If he won’t take my number, give it to the big guy,

I’m not picky and he looks like he could use a good time.”

She swept out of the shop leaving me feeling a mixture of irritation and something else I wasn’t sure of.

It felt slimy and slippery and I didn’t like whatever it was at all. I was possessive over my guys, that much

was true, but Rome wasn’t one of them, so I couldn’t justify why the girl wanting him to have her number

made me want to pull out her hair strand by strand.

Rome and Rule were still going at it when his next client showed up, so I set the guy up and had him fill

out all his paperwork and stuff so that all Rule had to do was put the transfer on and do the tattoo. When I

got back to the desk, Nash was sending his client on his way and had taken over my seat. He was watching

me steadily out of those eyes that were way more lilac than blue. I crossed my arms over my chest, propped

a hip on the desk, and met him look for look.

“What?”

He rubbed his thumb along the corner of his mouth and blew out a breath. “I need a smoke.”

“I thought you were trying to quit.”

“‘Trying’ is the operative word in that sentence.”

“Try chewing gum or something.”

He grunted and arched back in the chair, lacing his fingers together behind his tattooed head. Nash was

a really handsome guy, it just took a minute to notice it under that shockingly tattooed scalp and the tiny

ring hooked through the center of his nose.

“Don’t even try and go there with Rome, Cora.”

I tried to keep my eye from twitching and my mouth from frowning. I had known Nash for a long time

and there was no way I could pretend not to know what he was talking about.

“You all say he’s a wonderful guy. Why wouldn’t you want me to try and help get him back for you?”

“Because not everyone in the world needs your kind of help. Rome will find his way, we all believe

that, and I was talking about the goo-goo eyes you two were just making at each other. That isn’t something

I think either of you needs to try and mess with.”

I didn’t like anyone trying to tell me what to do, even if I knew Nash was just looking out for my

ultimate best interests.

“It’s not like I’m Captain America’s type anyway. Don’t worry.” I pushed the edge of the chair with my

foot, making him twist away from me. “Besides, you know I’m holding out for Mr. Perfect and that guy is

so far from it there isn’t a bridge on this planet that could get him from here to there.”

He planted his Vans-clad feet on the ground and pushed up so that he was standing in front of me. He

bent down so that we were nose to nose and I couldn’t look away from those intense, pretty-colored eyes.

“There
is
no Mr. Perfect, Tink. You made him laugh, whatever that means. I haven’t heard him laugh

one single time since he got back into town. Just watch yourself because no one county can have two rulers

and neither one of you likes to give up control.”

I wanted to laugh it off, to brush off his warning as unwarranted and silly, but I couldn’t ignore the fact

that Rome Archer was enigmatic and that I found him more interesting than anyone I had encountered in a

long time. Not to mention I really did want to see what he looked like without his shirt on, which was

something because my libido had been missing in action for longer than I cared to admit … Ack, it all had

the makings of something that was indeed bound to get complicated and messy if I didn’t put a lid on it

quick.

I sat back down just as Rule came back in the door. He didn’t look overly upset, but he didn’t exactly

look very happy either. I was going to ask him if he was okay, but he waved me off and muttered that he

didn’t want to keep his client waiting any longer than he already had. Since that was a valid brush-off, I let

it slide and went back about the business of keeping the shop running.

I know it was often hard to believe, given my big mouth and unusual appearance, but I had a killer

mind for business and was really only a few college courses away from finishing out a full-fledged MBA.

My dad and I had a difficult and convoluted relationship, but I always wanted him to be proud of me, and

he had given me every tool and every opportunity to be the best me I could be. It had just been him and me

for as long as I could remember. My mom had decided having a baby and being married to a guy who was

deployed all the time was no fun, so I bounced from naval base to naval base and spent ungodly amounts

of time with a series of nannies, distant relatives, and eventually Dad’s girlfriends or live-in lady friends

until I met Jimmy when I was seventeen and promptly decided he was my whole world.

Dad had eventually, after too many knock-down, drag-out fights, agreed to let me go live with Jimmy as

long as I graduated high school and enrolled in college. I had no problem doing either of those things, and

by the time I was a freshman in college, Jimmy had the shop open in Brooklyn and I was doing the same

thing I did now for far less money. I had always had an interest in body modification, but I couldn’t even

draw a stick figure, so it was just a natural progression that I learned how to pierce and do dermal implants

from the guy at Jimmy’s shop. He was an awesome mentor and I liked having an actual skill that I could

use in the world I lived in. Plus, it was fun to stick needles in people. What can I say, I’m a weird chick.

When things had gone south with Jimmy, my drive and ambition had taken a nosedive right along with

my relationship. I barely finished my senior year and the damage done had a lasting effect on my GPA. I

could go back and finish fairly easily but at this point in my career I made a good living at the Marked, I

had a full life and generally was happy, aside from missing that magical connection with someone to make

me a we instead of simply a me. I had been alone for too long.

Unbidden my thoughts went back to Rome and to that eerie and tight feeling I had in my chest when

that girl had asked me to hand her number off to him. We were strangers, I was pretty sure I didn’t even

like him very much, but there was no doubt about it: today, while we were in each other’s orbit, he got me

to react. I wasn’t sure what to make of that yet. The last guy who had gotten me to react had also destroyed

my world when he decided I wasn’t what he wanted. I didn’t do well as a leaf no longer attached to tree. I

needed roots, a foundation to grab on to, and when my perfect guy came along he was going to be so

solidly planted it would take a hurricane to move him.

The rest of the day was busy and I had two more appointments of my own to get through. I lost track of

time and was busy cleaning up my piercing studio and hollering at the guys to make sure they turned off the

lights on their way out when I heard the bell over the door ring. Since I had locked it after my last client, I

knew it could only be Phil. I poked my head out of the door to tell him I would be out in a second and tried

to remember if I had done the “cash out” in order to hand it off to him for the nightly cash drop.

Phil was as opposite to my very clean-cut, straitlaced dad as a man could get. He looked more like a

biker than a successful businessman, but the two men had served together in their much younger days, Phil

only staying in for a short four years, while my dad made a lifelong career out of the navy. I never really

understood how they managed to maintain such a close friendship, considering they disagreed on

everything under the sun. Phil was like a second father to me, and I treated him just like I did my own, so

when I came out of the room snapping off my latex gloves, I frowned when I saw him sitting in my chair

with his head in his hands.

Phil looked an awful lot like an older version of Nash; they had the same swarthy complexion, the same

periwinkle-colored eyes, and the same stocky build. Phil had a riot of black hair that he wore pretty long

for a guy his age, but with his sleeves of tattoos and neatly trimmed goatee, he pulled it off and still

managed to be a babe even if he was in his late forties.

“What’s going on, boss?”

He was typically an energetic and vivacious guy. He lived life at a hundred miles an hour and was

constantly taking in strays. I personally thought it was his mission in life to save every wayward soul from

themselves.

He looked up at me and I was surprised to see how tired and worn he looked. He had bags under his

eyes and his normally full cheeks looked slightly sunken in and hollow, like he hadn’t had a good meal in a

few weeks. He rubbed his fists in his eyes and blinked at me.

“Just tired. I’ve been busy. I was thinking about opening a second shop in LoDo and that’s taken more

time and effort than I thought.” He even sounded exhausted.

“I didn’t know you were thinking about opening another shop.”

“You guys are the best, but there is a lot of talent out there. I see way too many bad tattoos, too much

messed-up work coming out of other shops in this town. I have the resources for it, and frankly I think

Denver needs it.”

I went to the safe and pulled the cash dropout. There was definitely a profit to be made in having a

second location. I was just surprised I had never heard a word about it before now.

“Have you told the guys about it?”

Phil took the bank bag from me and I frowned when I noticed that his fingers were shaking. Something

was off here and I didn’t have a good feeling about it at all. He gave his head a little shake and pushed up

from the chair. It looked like it took far more effort than such a simple act should have taken.

“No. Rule was busy getting a house and settling down with his girl. Nash would ask too many