I’d had the headache from hell ever since I pulled out of Briar’s driveway. For a few brief seconds, it relented as I read the text she sent me in response to mine, but the moment I put my phone away, the headache returned in full, glorious bloom.

I couldn’t help but brood and worry about all the problems at my feet, and now I had to deal with what she was going to do when she realized I had lied to her.

And she would find out. It was becoming more and more obvious that I wouldn’t be able to keep all of this from her.

It was going to seriously suck because I could see it in her eyes that she had feelings for me. I could no longer deny the fact that I cared for her too.

I didn’t give a damn how much I ended up hurt over this, but I’d crawl over broken glass to keep Briar from being hurt.

Problem was, I just couldn’t see how I could avoid that, even if I was able to just find something I could turn over to Marcos about her brothers or her father. Marcos might consider the job done, but whatever I gave the bastard, he’d use to hurt her brothers and her father, and that would hurt her because she loved her family.

“So what in the hell are you going to do about it?” I mumbled.

“Talking to yourself?” Jorge asked me from across the room.

The client he was working on laughed. “Shit, half the time the only way you can get decent conversation is if you are talking to yourself.”

“The man knows what he’s talking about, Jorge.” I gestured to his client, lying face down on the padded bench. “Especially when you’re around.”

“Don’t talk to me and distract me,” Jorge said, pausing long enough to flip me the bird with an ink-stained, gloved hand. “You’ll interrupt me, and this man will end up with a cute little tabby cat instead of a tiger.”

“Girls love tabby cats,” I said with a sober face. “They absolutely adore them.”

The client snorted. “If I end up with a tabby cat, Jorge, I’m gonna bust your ass.”

Jorge laughed, the sound like a maniacal hyena.

We all knew there was no way a tabby cat would end up on the big bastard’s back. Jorge had talented hands.

As they went on exchanging insults, I flipped through a magazine, trying to distract myself. The sound of a high, squeaky laugh drifted from the back hall, and I grimaced before I could stop myself.

A moment later, Melia entered the main room of the tattoo shop, and I glanced up at her as she called out in a bright, vivacious voice, “Good afternoon!”

She made no attempt to hide the fact that she was buttoning her shirt. Behind her, Jerrel hitched up his pants. Both of them shot looks my way.

It was clear that Melia wanted some sort of reaction.

I gave her one. A bored stare.

Her cheeks flushed, and she turned on her heel, stalking over to her workstation. She set about getting it ready for her first client, slamming trays and checking her supplies, all while grumbling under her breath. Jorge glanced at me from the corner of his eye. I kept my expression blank.

“Where the hell is my client?” she snapped, turning to glare at me.

“Not due in for fifteen minutes.”

She swore again and turned back to her station, grabbing a bottle of disinfectant and spraying down the padded seat.

Jerrel walked over to her. She paused as he approached, then stopped to smile at him. He dipped his head to murmur in her ear, and she giggled, her snarl replaced by a smile.

He stroked a hand down her back, letting it come to a stop just above her ass. She leaned against him, rubbing her cheek against his chest. After a few seconds, she pulled away and beamed at him.

He headed into the back room without giving me so much as a look.

After a few minutes, I pushed off the stool and went over to talk to her.

“I’m probably wasting my breath.”

She looked at me and fluttered her lashes. “Oh, you’re gonna talk to me now? You’ve ignored me for weeks, and now, all of a sudden, you wanna talk to me? Well, too bad. I found a guy who treats me right. You’re out of luck.”

I managed, barely, not to roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of her words. “That’s just it. You can’t trust Jerrel any farther than you can throw him. He uses people, then throws them out like garbage when he’s done. You’ve known him longer than I have. Surely you know how he is.”

She threw her hair back with a toss of her head and sniffed. “I know he treats me like a lady. He doesn’t just use me and kick me out of his bed as if I was only good enough for a fuck.” She didn’t bother keeping her voice down.

Shit. Keeping my voice much lower, I moved in closer. “I made it clear to you before we did a single thing that I was only interested in sex, and that there probably wouldn’t be a repeat. I gave you a chance to walk. You didn’t. So you can’t blame me for your hurt feelings. I told you what I was about.”

Melia didn’t appear to be at all concerned with airing dirty laundry though. She jabbed me in the chest. “What you’re about? You fucked me, then treated me like a stranger!”

“We are strangers,” I pointed out. Why had I bothered?

“I tried to be nice to you, to be your friend.” She sniffed dramatically.

“Nice revisionist history you’ve got there,” I said coolly. “But that’s not how it went down, and you know it. We both wanted to get laid, and that’s what happened. I wasn’t looking for a friend or a girlfriend, and I told you that. You were fine with that when I laid down the rules. Blame yourself for thinking you could change my mind.” I shot a look toward the back hall where Jerrel had disappeared. “And if you want to get caught up in his toxic circle? Hell. I tried to warn you.”

I was on my way back to the front desk when the man in question appeared in the doorway.

“I need a word with you, Cormac.”

I faced him straight on and considered telling him to go fuck himself, but in the end, figured it wasn’t worth the headache.

I followed him down the hall to Rudy’s office. He went inside but didn’t bother going behind the desk. He barred the chairs, which meant I wouldn’t be taking a seat. I took that as a good thing. This wouldn’t be a long discussion.

“You can collect your stuff,” he announced in a flat voice. “You’re done with the Castellanos, and Rudy never really needed you around here, so…you’re done. As far as the main reason you were here? Remember what I said. I’m taking over. Briar is my concern now.”

I stared him down, refusing to let all the words that wanted to escape me get past my teeth.

His eyes narrowed even more. “Did you hear me?”

“My hearing is just fine,” I told him.

“Then go on,” he said, nodding at the door. “Get your shit and get out.” I continued to eye him, remembered anger surging up inside. A faint smile curled his lips. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of that sexy lady doc.”

Instead of flattening him the way I wanted to, I hooked my thumbs in the front pockets of my jeans and asked, “Is this word coming down from Marcos?”

“Nah, man. The tooth fairy.” He bared his teeth at me in a vicious imitation of a smile. “Who the fuck you think is behind this?”

“Well, that’s why I’m asking. I’m not going to pretend that you haven’t been trying to run the show from day one. But you and I both know he’s the one who’s in charge.” I gave him a slow smile. “You just like to pretend you are.”

He jabbed his thumb toward his chest. “I’m the guy he put in charge. Me.”

“Yeah. That makes him the one in charge, Jerrel.”

His eyes spat ugly fire.

“You didn’t answer me. Does Marcos know that you’re taking over or did you just decide that was how you want to handle it?”

“I already answered that question.” He sneered at me.

But he hadn’t. I had a feeling he wouldn’t.

“Go on,” he said, gesturing to the back door. “Get the hell out. You know, if you hadn’t been so caught up in rich pussy, you would have seen this coming. But that’s the whole problem. That bitch has got you wrapped, and you ain’t doing your job.”

I gave him a long look, then turned and left.

Yeah, I’d get the hell out.

But I wasn’t going very far.