“The fact that I hired Hailee is non-negotiable,” Giovanni said stiffly. He leaned back in his office chair and ate Riley up with his eyes from where he sat. One week was all it took for her to get under his skin, both positively and negatively. The woman drove him up the wall, but at the same time, he couldn’t get enough of her. As tiny as she was, she packed a punch, and she knew how to put him in his place.

He still wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“The fact that you hired Hailee is irresponsible,” Riley replied, firm in her opposition. “The News was already overpaid. If you’d agreed to sit down with me before hiring another artist, we could have renegotiated the salary she’d receive and invest those funds back into the shop. We need to be able to afford ink and supplies to stay open. If you took two percent off her salary, and then adjusted the cost of—”

Giovanni’s mind wandered off. Whenever Riley talked numbers, his eyes glazed over and he lost focus. She could talk about two percents, dividends and overhead all she wanted; it all went over his head. Instead, he focused on the way her lips moved as she spoke. It was a strange thing to think about a woman, especially one as beautiful as tiny Riley Byrne was, but Giovanni found her lips feminine. They were rounded, delicate and plump, and they fit Riley’s face well. His eyes traveled from her lips to her radiant skin, then to her dark eyes. The dark color drove him mad with desire, and the intelligence in them challenged him in a way that pumped him up.

“We need to discuss shifting the artists off salary to a percentage of the work they do. Other shops do this and…”

“No.” Giovanni shook his head. “Absolutely not. We switch them to that sort of bullshit and we lose shop loyalty.”

“If drastic changes aren’t made, we’ll lose the shop. Now, if you would just look at these spreadsheets—”

“Not we, sweetheart, me. My old man built this shop. He was the one who first decided to make his tattooists salaried. It kept them off the streets, away from the mob, and should the shit hit the fan, which it did, often, they had his back. Always. Wouldn’t have happened if they were only being paid a percentage of their work and that’s a tradition we’ve continued to this day.”

Giovanni leaned forward to look at her. “Look, babe, you might be gorgeous, but you’re annoying as fuck. From the second you walked through the doors you’ve been trouble, and I’ve no interest in being caught up with a woman with a big mouth who thinks she can run this shop better than I can. Thorn Tattoo is a DeRose family business, and you ain’t going to take away control from me. No way. Antonio could throw as much money as he wanted your way, but I ain’t budging. What it boils down to is we need more manpower, and to get that, Antonio is going to have to open up his purse strings and give us the funds to hire more artists like Hailee. I need artists who can do big, precision pieces quickly. They deserve cushy salaries because they bring in more money than any uncertain newbie or veteran tattoo artist who takes a year to finish a walk-in.”

Riley set her stunning lips and clasped her hands tightly on her lap as she stared daggers at him. Every day she’d worn something designer, even on days where she looked more casual. From stunning, strappy black dresses that showed off her chest and back to days where she came in wearing a T-shirt and jeans, Giovanni knew she was the type of girl who preferred the finer things in life. Even the bag she carried everywhere, almost as big as she was, was designer.

He couldn’t blame her. His arms and legs were crowded with tattoos from the best of the best. What she spent in maintaining brands, he spent in supporting artists.

“Are you finished?” she mildly asked even though her face said otherwise. Giovanni was about to say something when she held up her hand. “No, seriously, I’m quite sure you’ve said enough.”

Standing up, she leaned her hands on the desk, glowering at him. If she wasn’t so angry, Giovanni might think she looked cute. He watched her take a deep breath, blowing it out.

“I understand that as an artist you have sympathy for those who work beneath you, and I can also understand your desire to maintain traditions set by your father. So, for now, I won’t bring up salaries again for the current employees. But if you want this place to stay open as a business rather than a charity, we’ve got to do something.” Every word she spoke irritated him, like she thought she knew better. “I’ve been running the numbers, Giovanni, and it doesn’t look good….”

Numbers. Giovanni hated numbers. “The fact is, the artists here are good, the shop has a solid history, and I’m not going to let it close no matter what. Numbers are a small part of the problem. Our biggest problem is finding more guys to take on the workload. We can get out of this on reputation and talent alone.”

“No. We can’t.” Riley shook her head, her beautiful brown waves bouncing. For a second, Giovanni wondered what her hair might look like spread out across a pillow, her head thrown back in ecstasy. “While I know it’s hard for you to accept, I’m not trying to call all the shots here. Antonio brought me in to work alongside you, not over you. I want what’s best for both of us, and I think your passion for this shop is incredible. If we could simply pair that with my understanding of business, we’d be golden.”

She could restate it as many times as she wanted, but Giovanni wasn’t about to believe it. He shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. “You came into my shop, and you’re going to have to play by my rules.”

“It’s not your shop,” Riley said stiffly. “It belongs to Antonio. You may be brothers, but that doesn’t make you partners.”

In the end, it all came back to Antonio.

If Riley wouldn’t take orders from anyone else, Giovanni would bring their business right to him. He knew that no matter what, his brother would take his side.

* * *

Twisted Oak was crowded like every other Friday night. The bar was one of Giovanni’s favorite hangouts, located far enough away from the main strip that it wasn’t stuffed with tourists, but close enough that he could make it on foot after they closed shop for the day.

It was just after eleven at night, and Giovanni was meeting up with his brother for weekly drinks. Their time together was sorely overdue. Giovanni needed to give Antonio shit for hiring Riley when they were already too lean to hire new artists.

By the time he arrived, Antonio was already sitting at a table on the patio. Giovanni made his way over and sank into the empty chair opposite Antonio. His brother lifted a brow, but before he could say a word, Giovanni leaned across the table and looked him square in the eye.

“I want her gone.”

“Forget it.” Antonio shook his head and cast Giovanni a withering look. “I hired Riley because she’s good at what she does. That woman has a mind like a tack. We need her to get business back on track.”

It looked like convincing Antonio to take his side was going to be difficult.

“You’re insane.” Giovanni flagged down the waitress as she passed and ordered a beer. “You want me to listen to her? She’s a tattoo virgin, she looks like she’s fresh out of college, and she’s way too interested in the bottom dollar to be able to do good for our artists.”

“She’s twenty-eight, Gio.” Antonio clasped his hands together and looked Giovanni over carefully. Giovanni recognized the look. Antonio was analyzing him, using his critical eye to pierce Giovanni’s defenses. He wasn’t going to let him in. “She went to Princeton and has a degree in finance. Riley knows what the hell she’s doing. She’s going to turn Thorn Tattoo around because you haven’t done shit.” Giovanni looked his brother over, resisting. Antonio was the most severe of the DeRose family, and it showed on his face. While Giovanni kept his jaw lined with stubble and enjoyed a good time, Antonio was always clean-shaven and straight-laced. His brother clearly suffered from the male equivalent of resting bitch face. Resting dick face?

“School smarts aren’t what a place like the parlor needs,” Giovanni argued. “You know that I’m all the shop needs. With enough artists, we’ll be able to increase our output, and if we get quality artists, we can charge more. It’s as simple as that. We can still turn this thing around.”

“You might dress like father did with the tailored suits but you know jackshit about the business end, which is why she’s here. I’m not letting her go. I’ve warned you time and time again that the shop was struggling but you kept insisting that I throw more money at it. Well, I did by hiring Riley and we’re doing it my way now. Riley stays and you’ll listen to her.”

Antonio leaned away from the table as the waitress returned and set a pint of beer in front of Giovanni. He helped himself to it, eager to relax. The whole day Riley had been getting under his skin. Half the time, Giovanni wanted to pin her up against the wall and kiss her until his jaw ached. The other half, he wanted to slam his fist into the wall.

“She canceled an appointment today,” Giovanni said.

“Why?” Antonio’s face didn’t change. “There had to be a reason.”

“I fired The News this morning,” Giovanni said. “He came in almost half an hour late, and then started tattooing a human canvas with this jacked design. It looked like he gave the thing to a first grader. I came in and he was putting down wobbly line work, and I lost it. Told him to get out and not come back, and then took his appointment over. Riley scheduled a meeting with me that afternoon, but I told her that I needed to take over for The News. The shop comes first.”

“So she called to cancel your afternoon appointment?” Antonio asked. He pursed his lips, and Giovanni saw the gears turning in his head as he processed the news. “Did she reschedule?”

Giovanni grit his teeth. “Yes.”

“Then what she did was correct. Getting the shop in line is essential to its success. This isn’t a small problem, Gio. If we don’t turn things around, the shop is facing closure. I’m trying to preserve dad’s legacy, but you keep throwing up roadblocks. Get in line or it all goes.”

“I don’t want to lose it, either.” Giovanni said softly. He palmed his pint, dragging it across the table but not lifting it. “But hiring on more management isn’t going to solve anything. You know I love this place. If we could just find a way for Luc to come back….”

“Luciano is happiest on the road,” Antonio said simply. “I’m not going to shackle him to the shop. We can make do on our own, but we need Riley’s expertise. She’s a smart woman, and she’s going to be good for the shop, so stop causing problems. The shop will flourish if the two of you compromise, which means you not being such an ass.”

Giovanni didn’t want to hear it. Not only was Riley an annoyance, she was a distraction. Now more than ever, Giovanni needed to keep his head in the game. Managing artists wasn’t easy. They were a temperamental group and he knew how to keep them in line. Little Miss Finance didn’t have a clue.

To drown his frustrations, Giovanni took a swig of beer. It hit the back of his tongue and chilled him. Closing his eyes, he let all of his frustrations go. Antonio wasn’t going to tell Riley to back down, but that didn’t mean he had to give in to her. Numbers be damned. He knew what he was doing.

“Where did you find her, anyway?” Giovanni asked. He wanted to change gears. Talking about Riley’s role in the shop was starting to grind on his nerves. “Princeton graduates don’t flock to tattoo shops.”

Antonio shrugged. “She did. She found me. I’d posted a few listings on job employment sites, and out of all the applications I received, hers was the most promising. We got in touch, and she agreed to fly out to interview. We met and I hired her without a second thought. She’s got a head for business and the references to back them up.”

“So, no history in tattooing?” Giovanni frowned. Business types didn’t think twice about places like tattoo shops. “It boggles my mind how a Princeton graduate with virgin skin would want to come to a place like this. Are you paying her well?”

“No.” Antonio tightened his lips. “The pay’s not great, especially for someone of her caliber. I have no way to explain why she left her last position to take this one. It was a huge pay cut but she didn’t seem to mind. She said that she was tired of working in the corporate world and wanted to be some place where she could make a difference.”

“There’s something else there. Must be.” Giovanni stared into his beer, thoughts drifting back to Riley. Behind that confident, pearly smile of hers, was there something she was hiding? No one would take a job at Thorn when they were qualified like she was, not unless they had something to run from and limited options. “No criminal records?”

Imagining little Riley with a criminal record made Giovanni snort, but he didn’t forget how tight her grip had been on their first day together after he’d stormed off.

“No. She has a squeaky-clean background, fantastic qualifications, and a good head on her shoulders. As far as I can tell, she’s a model employee.”

So what was the give? Giovanni gripped his beer and let the chilled glass cool his palms. The night was frigid in Las Vegas, but he liked the cold.

“You like her, don’t you?” Antonio’s words curled with humor, and Giovanni jerked his head back up to stare at his brother who had a smirk on his face. “You’re a stubborn asshole, but you’ve never questioned my business decisions before. You’ve always been the first one on board.”

Seeing Antonio grin was strange. Giovanni crossed his arms over his chest, sinking back into his chair. “No.”

“God, you do.” Antonio shook his head.

“I—” Giovanni’s phone rang, and he stopped short. “Gimme a sec and I’ll come back to this because it’s not over. I need to check this.”

It wasn’t uncommon for one of the guys from the shop to text him around now, asking for the day off. If it was someone from the shop, Giovanni needed to take care of it right away.

The text message was from a number he didn’t recognize, but the tone of the message made it clear who it was right away.

Hey G. Tnx for the chance @ ur shop but turns out im taking a position in NYC! Good luck.

“Shit.”

“What’s happening?” Antonio asked. He leaned forward to look at Giovanni’s phone. Giovanni turned his hand around so Antonio could look, and Antonio took a second to read the message.

“I guess you hired someone who’s not coming in anymore?” Antonio asked.

“One of the artists who sent in their portfolios. She was my top pick, and after I kicked The News to the curb, I wanted to bring her in. Riley was upset I didn’t wait to consult her, but we needed someone immediately. You know how it is.”

“Whoever you call to replace that artist, I want Riley in on it.”

Giovanni furrowed his brow and set his phone down onto the table. “What the hell does it matter if she’s there or not? She’s not an artist. I’m looking for the best possible candidate.”

“And we need someone who’s going to be advantageous to our bottom line,” Antonio replied. “What I need from the artists we hire next is a balance of both. Riley is going to be there to reel you in and keep you on track. I love you, Gio, but sometimes you’re too headstrong and you blind yourself to the best possible path. Don’t fight me on this.”

If Antonio weren’t his brother, Giovanni would have gone off on him. Instead, he shook his head and downed the rest of his beer. “I’m not going to fight you.” But he wasn’t necessarily going to listen, either.

Riley was coming in off the streets with no knowledge of the industry, and Giovanni would be damned if he let her make the important decisions for a shop he knew and loved in an industry he’d grown up in.

“So,” Antonio said, changing the topic of conversation. He cleared his throat and shot Giovanni a mischievous look. “You like her? Why don’t you tell me a little more about her?”

Giovanni’s temple twitched in irritation. “You bastard.”