Gravity (Artistic Pricks Ink Book 1) (27 page)

“I can walk, Dougie boy,” Mitch slurs, shoving Doug away before stumbling into a table in front of him. “Who put this fuckin’ table in my way?” He roars, shoving around it.

Grabbing Doug’s arm, I let him get me through the bodies and into the hallway leading backstage. “Backstage hmm?” Mitch says, scratching his chin. “Where to Darlin’?” He asks, reaching for me.

“My dressing room, now.” I say, pointing down the hallway.

“Damned bossy woman,” he grunts, pushing off the wall. “Always bossing me around. Like… Like… Bossy bitches. Always thinking they are the boss and shit,” he rambles.

Doug pushes around him to open the door to my room. Mitch stumbles inside far enough to slump into my chair. Sprawling out his legs, he watches me carefully. His gaze running down my body as I hurriedly cover myself with a knee length robe. His droopy eyes coming back up to meet mine and widen. “No. I don’t believe it,” he whispers, shaking his head. “Ki?”

Not willing to deny it, I nod. Pulling off the wig, I toss it to the vanity. “Yeah.”

Pushing to his feet, he stumbles. “All this time and it was you? You! How could you do this to Luke? You’ve been keeping this shit from him, huh?” He shouts making Doug insert himself between us. “How could you look him in the eye? For fuck’s sake, you been sleeping beside him. You bitch!”

His words sting. Hitting just as they should, they break my heart. I never meant to hurt anyone. That was never my intention. But, Mitch is right. I deserve everything being said and more. Problem is, it’s the wrong person saying it to me. Tears pool in my eyes; threatening to fall at any second, but Mitch isn’t off the hook. Not with me. Needless to say, I’m not happy that Mitch is the one saying it to me. I fully understand he is defending his friend, but is he really any better? Here he is, not only destroying his life, but everyone else around him.

Oh Mitch, aren’t we a pair? Both of us so dead set on hurting someone so important to us.

“Sit the fuck down and chill out,” Doug shouts, shoving Mitch into the seat again. “She is the one keeping you out of a squad car tonight. I’m more than happy to make that call if you keep runnin’ that mouth, asshole. What you need to do is sit there and wait on whatever she has planned to get you out of here.”

“Doug,” I say, holding up my hand. “It’s okay, I can handle it.”

Doug whips around and glares at me. “Do you think I’m leaving you alone with him?”

“Yes, he’s harmless,” I assure him.

Doug stares at Mitch who is watching me like a hawk. “You need me, you call me. I’ll go check on Lynsey and make my rounds then I’ll be right outside your door,” he says, grabbing the doorknob. “Don’t make me regret this, asshole,” he says to Mitch before pulling the door closed behind him.

“I can’t believe this,” Mitch says, his head falling back against the chair. “This is gonna crush Luke.”

“This was coming out anyway, Mitch. I had already planned to tell him later tonight. You’re drunken outburst is just forcing my hand,” I reply digging through my bag for my phone.

“Then why the fuck did you?” He asks, groaning as he stretches out in the chair. Lulling his head back against the chair, he closes his eyes as if in pain. “Let them take me in, I don’t give a shit anyway.”

“I couldn’t sit by and watch that play out knowing I could stop it. Luke worries enough about you being locked up.” Kicking out of my shoes, I turn to face him. “How do
you
look him in the eye? It isn’t fair for him to keep picking up the slack or being denied anything from any of us and you know it.”

“None of this is fair,” Mitch replies, unmoving. “It’s just not fucking fair.”

Right now, I know my choices. I can put Mitch into a cab and pay the driver to take him home and hope he gets there, which could always end up in Luke getting the call he told me he dreads. Or, I can deal with this and face it head on by calling Luke. Luke’s tattoo comes to my mind, the words he uses to balance his life echoing in my mind.
Life, love, and loyalty.
Where my loyalties lie isn’t a question I want to hear being asked, but the answer is simple. “Luke deserves better than all of this shit,” I say, pulling up the number and pressing send. “Which is why I’m ending it. Right now. I just hope he forgives us both.”

“I appreciate you stayin’ late to help me with unpacking and restocking, Shelby,” I say, stacking the last of the boxes into the supply closet in the hallway. After working two hours on an old-style Americana piece, I needed something to pass the time. Shelby was more than willing to suggest me a list of things that needed to be done. Instead of leaving, she decided she needed to help.

Or supervise… Yeah, she’s more of a director when it comes to us guys, but it keeps the shop running like a well-oiled machine.

“Please,” she waves me off. “If I don’t help do it, then I won’t know where anything is when you guys can’t find it.” She shrugs, tossing her pink tipped blonde hair over her shoulder. “Honestly, it’s saving me time in the long run.”

“What would we do without you?” I ask, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

“Damned if I know,” she teases as my phone vibrates from my pocket.

Pulling it free, I look at the screen. Smiling when I see Kionna’s name, I swipe the screen. “Hey, Dollface. You comin’ back to me already?” I ask, hoping she is on her way.

“Luke,” the tone of her voice makes my stomach drop.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, causing Shelby to drop her box and face me immediately. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s Mitch,” she replies. “He’s far from fine.”

“Wait, Mitch?” I ask, in confusion. “What the hell is going on, Ki? Why is Mitch with you?”

She rattles off an address that sounds familiar before telling me to hurry and bring help with me. My mind is whirling with a thousand scenarios of what could be going on right now. Walking up to the front of the shop, I grab my keys from the hook. “Charlie, hold down the fort,” I shout at him before turning to Shelby.

“What’s going on?” She asks at the edge of the hallway.

“I need an extra pair of hands, you’re all I’ve got,” I say starting up the hallway to where she stands waiting. “Mitch is with Ki. I’ll explain as much as I can on the way.”

***

“This can’t be the right address,” Shelby says, as we walk into Heaven on Heels. A club I met Skinner at weeks ago when Mitch had a drunken bender.

“This is the address she gave me,” I say, not wanting to believe the truth spelled right out in front of me. There has to be some explanation, some rational reason that Kionna would be here other than the obvious. My heart is racing in my chest, the rapid thumping only escalating when Shelby walks up to a bouncer.

“Looking for a drunk asshole and a pretty brunette,” she says to a guy I recognize from the last time I was here.

“Doug, right?” I ask. “Looking for my friend, Mitch.”

“Come with me,” he says before leading us to the back.

Walking down the hallway, everything begins happening faster than I can keep up with. Doug stops and knocks on a door, before opening it. When he moves to allow us to pass him, I can’t breathe. Mitch is sprawled back in a chair. His eyes are closed as he breathes evenly.

“Luke,” Ki whispers.

Rubbing my eyes, I can’t believe what I see. No, this is not happening again. Ki has a knee length satin robe pulled tightly against her body. So tightly, that there can’t be much, if anything, beneath it. “What the fuck is this?” Shelby asks, while I stand there dumbstruck.

“I can explain,” Ki says stepping toward me.

“Are you sure about that, Kionna?” I ask, finally finding my words. “Can you explain this while keeping your secrets? Were you fucking Mitch this whole time too?” I shout, yanking a hand through my hair. “I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

“No, Luke you don’t understand. I don’t… I wouldn’t… I never…” She stammers, tears streaming down her face.

“This explains so fucking much, you have no idea,” I say looking at the ceiling to attempt to get a grip on my emotions.

“Hey, Luke’s here,” Mitch says sleepily. “Luke, look it’s Kibrina.” Scratching his chin, he chuckles. “No, Sabronna. Can you believe this bullshit?” He asks, pushing to his feet so fast that he bumps into Shelby as he turns to face me.

“Get the fuck off me,” Shelby says in disgust, knocking him into the wall. “How could you do this to Luke? Both of you? Did you call just to rub it in his fucking face?”

“Wait, what?” Mitch asks in confusion looking at me. “I didn’t do anything. My dick has stayed in my pants alllllllll niiiiiiiiiiiiight looooooong,” he slurs.

“You deserve that fucking solitude you love so much, Mitch.” I say, shoving him away from me hoping to inflict some damage of my own on him. “Whatever you two wanted to prove by getting me here, you’ve done it.” Looking over at Ki, I shake my head. “I thought what we were building was something I could hold onto. A force worth giving myself over to, because I thought you were worth it.”

“Luke, please you’ve got to let me explain,” she sobs. “I was going to tell you tonight, but Mitch was in trouble. I had no choice.”

Ki’s words swirl in my head. I can’t take this shit. Memories of Crystal and all the bullshit mix with Kionna. The pain of this betrayal cutting even deeper than anything I have felt before. Ki and Mitch? This is fucked up! All I can think about is getting the fuck out of here. To get in my car and get as far away from this place as possible before I lose my shit and get myself arrested.

Stepping around the chair; Ki reaches for my hand, desperately trying to hold onto me. The feel of her skin has me yanking away from her like she burned me, because, well, she has. The pain in my fucking chest right now feels like I swallowed a lit flame thrower. “Don’t,” I snap, turning away from her to face Shelby. “Grab a cab and take him back to the shop. I don’t want to see either of them. I’ve gotta get outta here, I can’t do this.” I say before yanking cash from my pocket and thrusting it at her.

“Luke,” Ki pleads, her voice cracking.

Walking out of the room, I head down the hallway out the back exit with one thing on my mind. Distance. Lots and lots of distance. Slamming the door behind me, I turn and kick the brick wall over and over again, screaming into the empty lot.

Sagging to the ground, I yank the phone from my pocket and dial. “Hey big brother,” Chase says into the phone. “Did you finally carve some time away from your girl to talk to your sister?”

“Tell me where you are, I’m coming to see you,” I blurt into the phone.

“Whoa now. Hang on a minute, hothead,” she says, blowing out a breath. “Let’s take a step back here. Hi, Luke. It’s lovely to hear from you, what’s up?” She asks, attempting to calm me.

Pushing to my feet, I start around the building to my car. “Don’t. Chase, right now I just need to get on a plane and see you. I can’t be here.”

“No,” she replies. “I need a minute to get to the bottom of this. It sounds like you’re running. Does it have something to do with the girl Mitch was telling me all about?”

“Yeah,” I snap, getting into my car. Starting the engine, I take a breath and switch the call to hands free. “It has everything to do with her and Mitch. I caught her just like I did Crystal. Can you fucking believe it?”

“You what?” Chase shouts into the phone. “That’s impossible. I don’t know her and you know that I will be the first to cut a bitch over my brother because I love you. Mitch I do know, very well, and he would never hurt you like that. No matter what he’s going through, he’s your best friend.”

“You don’t know what I saw, Chase.” I say pulling out into traffic. Racing up the street; I burn my tires as I head out of the city, ready to get lost in the road.

“Look, all I’m saying is that I don’t think it’s as bad as you thought. You need to get to the bottom of all of it, Luke. Don’t run off half-cocked and make a mistake you may regret for the rest of your life. Sometimes, we don’t get second chances to fix that shit,” Chase clarifies. Part of me knows that she is right, but all I can see is Ki standing there, nearly naked, with Mitch passed out in the chair. “You want to tell me everything from the beginning? I promise to keep an open mind.”