If anyone would have told me that I would meet, convert and start to fall for a man who represents a dangerous threat to me, I would have laughed in their face.

What do I do when I meet said man and realize he’s just a frightened man who fell in with the wrong crowd eager to exploit his fear and confusion?

I get him a job at the shop.

The rest of the guys didn’t require much convincing. I was ready with all my arguments on why it was good to keep him close, to help him get back on his feet financially so he didn’t fall back into the organization’s orbit again. When I asked about Carlo working at the shop, Taran shrugged, saying, “Sure, we can use the help since you bums won’t do anything about keeping the stockroom straightened.”

“Carlo,” Bronaz glances over his shoulder, “next time you’re in the storeroom, could you bring out a new box of gloves? The extra large.”

“Sure, ‘Naz,” Carlo says with a smile as he disappears into the back.

I’m glad to see that smile on his face.

I wrap up my business with my client and check the appointment book. Looks like unless we have more walk-ins than Varos can handle, I have a block of time for lunch. I pull my phone out to see about ordering when the front buzzer activates and a guy walks in. He glances around, leaning to peek behind the dividing wall between the counter and where we work before he even notices me.

“Welcome to Treasured Ink,” I say, putting my phone down. “Here for an appointment or just to look around?”

The guy leans with both elbows against the counter and plays with one of the display kiosks we have for some of the products we sell. Maybe it’s just me, but this guy doesn’t look like the tattoo type. I guess, if I were generous, that it isn’t always a given that tattoo fans would look like us, sporting our art for the world to see.

Something about him seems too buttoned up.

Taran appears suddenly, his brow furrowed. “Hey,” he says. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” the man says, straightening when Taran appears. “I was just thinking about getting a tattoo. Your sign says walk ins?”

“Sure, have a seat and I’ll see if someone’s available. Sako, a word.” Taran turns on his heels and marches off.

Anyone who knows Taran knows he doesn’t march off unless something’s on his mind.

I smile uneasily at the guy and follow Taran, who doesn’t stop until he gets to the office. “Who is that guy?” he asks when the door shuts.

“No idea, he just walked in.”

Taran’s expression is still dark. “I don’t have a good feeling about him.”

Another thing about Taran. If he doesn’t have a good feeling, it’s about more than his instincts. He has this ability to sense things about people. It’s a bit freaky at times because he seems so in tune with you when he’s like that.

In this case, I can appreciate he has that ability. My instincts are ruffled but sometimes it’s just because I don’t like someone. I don’t give it more credence than that.

But if this guy has Taran off guard?

“I’ll give him to Varos,” Taran says, opening the door. “Keep Carlo out of sight.”

Keep Carlo hidden? This must be bad. I nod and as Taran heads back out, I duck into the store room.

Carlo is on a stepladder, pulling down the box of gloves for Bronaz. “What’s up?”

“Um…there’s a thing going on out here in the shop and Taran wants you to stay out of sight. So…just sit tight until one of us comes to get you, okay?”

Worry immediately crosses Carlo’s face. “Sure, Sako. I’m not in trouble, am I?”

“No. Nothing like that. It’s just a feeling we are getting, that’s all. Trust us on this.”

Carlo nods. “I trust you. Can you take this to Bronaz?” and he holds out the box.

I take it and almost turn around. Instead, I lean in for a soft kiss. It startles Carlo when our mouths meet but he’s smiling when I pull back.

A smile. Much better.

I drop the box off with Bronaz and find shit to do at my station while Varos gets the guy settled in his chair.

Their conversation is all business to start off with. Varos has his pad out while they talk initial design. Either Taran mentioned something or he has good instincts, too, and tries to get the guy talking about where he’s from, what he does, all the chit-chat small talk we do to put a client at ease. Although from what I’m seeing, this guy doesn’t seem interested in the small talk.

“So, what do you do?” Varos asks casually, his arm sweeping over his pad as he draws.

The man isn’t watching Varos, he’s more interested in looking around. “Insurance.”

“Oh? What kind?”

“Kind?”

“Like house, vehicle,” Varos points around with his pencil, “business?”

“Yeah. Like that.”

Varos cuts his gaze over to me, his expression placid. I caught it and then glance at Taran who is looking unhappier by the minute.

“How did you hear about us?”

“One of my neighbors came in here. She got a tattoo and showed it off. You guys do really good work.”

“Cool. Word of mouth. We love those.” Varos looks up at him. “What did she get?”

The guy waves his hand. “Butterfly? Something with wings, I think.”

Just generic enough for us not to place her. Interesting.

“Your place is a little hard to find,” the man continues. “I got lost trying to get here.”

“Where’d you come from?”

“Aspen Heights area.”

That has all of our attention. Varos, bless him, is a smooth operator and doesn’t flinch at the mention. “Sweet area. Guess you don’t see a lot of tattoo shops up there.”

“No you don’t. Like I said, you’re not easy to find unless someone’s looking.”

Varos nods. “We’ll work on that. See if we can get more word of mouth going up around your neck of the woods.”

“It’ll be slow, I’m sure. People are a little paranoid at the moment. Seems like one of my neighbors has gone missing.”

“Mmm, that’s worrisome. I hope they find him. How about this?” Varos turns the pad around to show the guy and their conversation drifts to that.

My inner dragon is in an uproar. It’s not hard to see that the guy isn’t here for a tattoo. We’ve all been tattooing long enough that we can tell when someone’s scoping things out. Only this time, he’s not from the competition but I’m willing to bet he someone with ties to Carlo’s old life and that hate group.

By the time the guy leaves, none of us are convinced he’ll be back to get the tattoo, even though he goes through the motions of making an appointment. As soon as he’s gone, Varos comes back to sit with us.

Bronaz finished up his client an hour ago and the shop is empty now.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Nyve asks as he drags his stool up.

“Go get Carlo,” Taran says to me. “We need to talk.”

I duck in back and motion for Carlo to come out. “It’s clear,” I say.

He follows me back into the shop and Taran motions for him to sit.

Taran scrubs at his face. “That was bullshit.”

The color drains from Carlo’s face and he looks at me with wide eyes. I squeeze his shoulder. “The guy claims to be from your subdivision.”

“He was even cheeky enough to ‘mention’,” and Bronaz air quotes that, “that ‘someone’ was missing from the area.”

“At any other time, I wouldn’t even think twice,” Varos says. “But not at this point in time. It’s too coincidental.”

“Well, whatever is going on, the stakes just went up.” Taran crosses his arms and drop his chin in thought. “We have to come up with a plan. We were proactive once and it seems we’ve landed on their radar.”

My dragon is agitated and chitters noisily in my head. In this regard, I have to agree with the uneasiness. Someone knows Carlo is missing and now they’re starting to send out feelers to find him?

There’s no way in hell I’m letting him go back.

These strong feelings should bother me. I rarely have a strong opinion one way or the other. But they won’t get their nasty hands on my fated mate.

No how. No way. It’ll be over my dead body.