I glance over and see her close her eyes as she takes a long, shaky breath. Her body is shaking as if she’s imagining just that. “Hurry, before I get nervous and change my fucking mind.”

Grinning at her sassy ass mouth, I scoot my chair over to her backside and slap her ass, hard.

She yells and grips the chair. “Fuck, Royal!”

I grab her hip and position her where I want her. “You sound so fucking good screaming my name, babe. Do it again and I’ll give you a real reason to.”

She quiets down and takes another long breath to calm her nerves. “Okay . . . I’m ready. Let’s do this before it’s too late.”

I take a few seconds to finish preparing my gun, before I start free handing a large Phoenix.

About thirty minutes through it, I notice her gripping the chair and tensing up in pain.

“Can you handle it or do you need a break?”

She shakes her head and bites her bottom lip. “No break. Keep going.”

“We’re almost done,” I say. “Just hold on for about twenty more minutes.”

She looks over her shoulder at me, and smiles bravely, while giving me a thumbs up. “I can do it . . . I can . . .”

When I’m done, I look down at her body and just admire how damn beautiful her body makes my art look. She’s the perfect fucking canvas.

“Are we done?” She asks eagerly.

“Yup.” I scoot the chair over to the table to get rid of my gun and gloves, before standing up and helping her to her feet. “Check it out.”

I guide her to the full mirror and watch her mouth as it drops open in shock and admiration. “Holy hell . . . this is absolutely beautiful. I’m completely in love with your beautiful hands. So much talent and heart.”

Her words cause my heart to beat slightly faster as I watch her taking in her new ink.

She turns in different angles, checking out the Phoenix with the biggest smile I’ve seen on her, before throwing her arms around my neck and kissing me hard on the mouth, surprising me.

She tries pulling away after a few seconds, but I bite her lip pulling her back to me. Her mouth tastes so fucking good that I’m not ready to stop yet.

Both of my hands tangle into the back of her hair as she moans into my mouth. “Sorry,” she says breathlessly. “I didn’t mean to kiss you.”

I yank back on her hair and suck her bottom lip into my mouth, before releasing it. “And I didn’t mean to kiss you back.”

Clenching my jaw, I release her hair and walk away. “Let’s get your tattoo cleaned up so you can get some rest.”

“Yeah,” she says softly. “Sounds like a good idea. I need to go home before work so I can shower and change my clothes. It’s already really late.”

I swallow hard, while cleaning her off and bandaging her up for the night, before sending her to my bed to get some sleep.

I keep myself busy for a while, cleaning up the rest of the stuff and organizing the inside of my desk.

I need to keep my distance right now, because the way I’m feeling from that unexpected kiss is not fucking good. It felt too damn good for me to be okay with it.

Flipping off the lights, I close the door and walk down the hall to my release room. I usually go in there to work out and release some stress . . . but not tonight. Guilt inside of my chest has me opening the desk in the back of the room and pulling out the box. I haven’t looked inside of it in months.

With my breath held, I open the box and pull out the letters and photographs that I kept from Olivia after she passed.

My heart aches so fucking bad as I take in her smiling face. She was always so happy and full of life, and it’s because of me that her life was stolen from her.

Her piercing green eyes stare back at me, making me feel so much guilt that I can’t breathe. Looking at these pictures make me feel like I’m suffocating, but there’s one that I can’t close the box without looking at.

With shaky hands, I find the picture that I’m looking for and my heart fucking stops in my chest. I’m broken and dead inside, missing the biggest part of me that I’ll never be able to hold, and there’s nothing that can bring me back from this.

I’m completely fucking lost . . .

Twenty Months Ago . . .

“SHIT! NOT HERE. NOT HERE . . . fuck, I’ll kill you Assholes.”

I make it halfway up the driveway, with my heart going crazy in my chest, before slowing my bike and jumping off in a hurry. I don’t want these fuckers to know that I’m here yet and give them the upper hand. I’ll do everything in my power to show these fuckers that they’ve messed with the wrong family.

Walking fast, I pull out my gun, squeezing it in my hand while fighting to catch my breath. The thought of them hurting her is making it hard for me to breathe and is scaring the shit out of me. I’ve never been so damn scared in my life. Losing her is the only thing that terrifies me. I can’t let that happen.

Protecting her is my job. She’s my fucking life and these assholes are fucking with my world by being here right now. That makes me want to rip their throats out.

Running up the steps, I hurriedly reach for the handle and turn. My whole body runs cold at the fact that it’s fucking locked. Olivia always leaves the door open for me, making it easier for when I get home. I’ve never given her a reason to have to lock it before, which means James and his guys have a reason to keep me out.

“Fucking shit!”

In a panic, I start searching through my leather jacket for the keys. I feel like I’m running out of time and it’s making me want to scream and kick this damn door down, but that gives them the chance to hear me coming and outgun me. I need to keep my cool.

Gripping the key, I shove it in the lock and turn it, leaving it hanging in the door as I open it and step inside.

The house is dark. Olivia hates the dark.

“Fuck!” I say under my breath, while walking through the house in search of Olivia. “I’m coming for you, baby. I’m here.”

The living room and the kitchen are empty, making me even more anxious to just get to her.

It’s not until I hear her scream of pain come from down the hall that I know exactly where she’s at: the family room. That sound is enough to make my world stop.

With my heart racing out of my chest, I take off running through the house, not caring anymore if they hear me. I need to get to her.