I’m about to walk to my car and get in when I see Alex digging around in the back of his truck. I don’t have to be at work for another fifteen minutes, but to be honest at this point I really don’t care if I’m late.

“Hey!” I call out as I jog over to Alex’s truck.

Alex looks behind him and smiles his sexy, sweet smile when his eyes land on me. “Hey, gorgeous.” He nods to my car where I left the driver side door open. “You heading out for work?”

I nod my head. “Yeah. I just wanted to come and ask you if you’ve heard from Memphis.” I watch patiently as Alex gathers up a box full of drawings and tosses them into a bigger box with art supplies.

“He’s with my mother’s old friend, Jack. His ass was knocked out cold when I talked to Jack about an hour ago. He’s fine.”

Alex’s whole demeanor seems to change as he quickly reaches for the box and shuts the tailgate behind him. He suddenly looks tense . . . almost guilty.

“Okay . . .” I swallow and look behind me at my car. “I have to get to work. Will you tell Memphis that if he needs me I’ll be working until midnight?”

Alex nods his head while reaching over to kiss me on the forehead. “Sure thing, baby girl.”

He turns around to walk away, so I call out his name, stopping him. I just remembered that Ryan is supposed to be leaving sooner than we thought and now Styles is looking for a replacement. After seeing all the artwork in his box I have no doubt that Alex will be the perfect person to fill his spot.

“You should stop by Ravage Tattoos in a few hours.” I force a smile. “My manager is looking for someone to replace Ryan.”

“No shit.” Alex grins. “I’ll be there after I do a few things.” He starts backing away and winks. “Don’t miss me too much.”

I laugh as he turns around. “I’ll try my best, but it’s so damn hard not to,” I tease.

After he disappears I turn around and head back to my car. The thought that I’ll be stuck at the tattoo shop for eight hours makes my stomach ache. Even though Alex said that Memphis is fine I have this feeling that he isn’t, at least not emotionally. Not after the way he left my house early this morning. Something was eating at him.

As I get in my car and drive the guilt of me losing it on him this morning starts to eat at me. He wanted me to get mad at him. He wanted me to push him away and that’s exactly what I did, but really . . . what he needed was someone to do the opposite.

Now I just hope I can make it through work and keep my head in the game, not focused on Memphis in hopes that he’ll show up at the shop tonight.

Well fuck me to hell.

IT’S NOT UNTIL AFTER ELEVEN when Alex finally shows up at the shop. I’m sitting on the couch in the front when he walks in and greets me.

Styles is in the back somewhere and Ace has been in his room with some chick for the last hour, so I’ve been out here alone, lost in thought.

“Hey,” I say with a small smile. “About damn time you decided to show up.”

Alex places a binder on the counter before walking over to the couch and plopping down next to me. “Yeah, I went to go visit Memphis at Jack’s. It’s been too long since I’ve seen Jack.”

My heart instantly starts racing at the sound of Memphis’ name. I want to ask what is going on and when he is coming back, but Styles’ rude ass jumps up from behind me, almost scaring the piss out of me.

I turn around and slap Styles on the arm as he laughs. “Fuck you, Styles!”

“Maybe later, baby,” he teases.

I roll my eyes and take a deep, calming breath. I know he’s only teasing, so I give Alex a look to show him that as well. He instantly relaxes. If he wants to work here, then he’ll have to get used to the assholes that come along with it.

“I’ll be in my room. If you need me let me know.”

Styles waves me off, and starts talking to Alex as I walk away.

ONLY FIVE MINUTES BEFORE CLOSING time and Alex comes into my room with a huge grin on his face. I feel my heart beat fast with excitement when I realize that means he got the job. For some reason, knowing that Alex will be here with me makes me feel a small bit of peace. He’s the closest person to Memphis and it just assures me that I’ll at least always know that Memphis is doing all right. Don’t get me wrong, I want Alex here just to have him too, but it’s definitely a plus that he’s Memphis’ brother.

I smile at him from my chair. “Congrats, Alex.” He walks over to stand next to my desk. “I had a feeling that Styles would hire you. I haven’t seen much of your work, but from what I did see it was really beautiful.”

“I got that talent from my mother.” He grabs the back of my chair and motions for me to stand up. “She was the most talented artist I had ever known. She showed me her first painting when I was three. I knew right then that I wanted to be like her someday.”

He pauses briefly. “And well Memphis . . . he’ll never admit this, but he got his musical talent from my father. We both did actually. I used to play guitar when I was younger and then picked up the guitar again after Memphis left and started playing it for my mother. I’ll never be as good as Memphis, but . . .”

“Doesn’t matter,” I say softly while grabbing his shoulder. “I bet it made your mother really happy.”

Alex smiles. “Yeah. It was the only thing that kept her smiling till the day she died.”

I think about the tattoo on Memphis’ side and the one he has on his back. He loved his mother so much. He doesn’t have to say it for me to know that. I see that in both of these boys. It only makes me care about them even more.

It’s silent for a few moments before I finally just come out and ask what I’ve been stressing over all day.

“Where’s Memphis, Alex?” I look up and meet his eyes. “I know Memphis probably told you not to tell me. In fact, I know he did, but I need to know. I care about him and I at least need to know that he’s safe. I know he fought somewhere last night. Is he fighting again?”

Alex shakes his head and lets out a breath of frustration. “He’s going to fucking kill me if I tell you. It’s for your own safety. Trust me.”

He starts walking away, but I grab his arm to stop him. He can’t just say that and walk away. “Don’t do this to me, Alex.” I grab his face and force him to look me in the eyes. “I care about Memphis more than he knows, more than I’ve ever cared about anyone in my life. I have no family, Alex. All I have is Bailey, you, and well . . . Memphis, so please.”