“Where’s Faith?” Angus asked, looking behind him. Lars knew it was a precaution to make sure she wasn’t close behind, not that he wanted her there. This was a conversation strictly for the guys.
“Upstairs, sleeping,” Lars said.
“Yeah, more like sleeping it off,” Cutty added, speaking softly as if to himself. His comment didn’t go unnoticed, and the three not in the know all turned to him, waiting for further explanation.
Lars shot Cutty a look that told him to shut his mouth. He knew what he’d done had rattled Cutty but did he really have to turn into a blabbermouth now? Lars was fairly certain Cutty hadn’t meant to. His disapproval of Lars using the voice on her had just gotten the best of him and leaked out into nervous chatter.
Angus took a step toward Cutty when Lars failed to explain. “She got drunk?”
“Yeah, she looked drunk,” Cutty said, trying to cover up his slip of the tongue.
It was a good attempt but Lars knew it was too late. Faith hadn’t touched a drink since she’d met them, so the idea of her getting blasted in the middle of the afternoon didn’t ring true to anyone’s ears. He confirmed his thoughts with the skeptical looks he was getting. No choice left, he launched into damage control. “She was really tense after what happened. I helped her out a bit.”
“You helped her out?” Fate was instantly on his feet and getting in Lars’ face. “When Karma was having a near breakdown, you wouldn’t do shit to calm her. You were there, you saw what she was going through.”
Everyone considered Karma and Fate an item except Karma and Fate. And here Fate was again, proving that everyone else was correct.
Instead of getting right back in Fate’s face, like he would’ve normally done, Lars took a step back. He remembered exactly what Karma had gone through. This afternoon, when he’d seen Faith like that, if one of his guys could’ve helped and hadn’t, he’d have gotten just as angry.
“I’m…man, I don’t know what to say.” Lars knew there wasn’t anything that could take back how Fate had felt.
The room, which was already subdued, seemed to become more so. Normally, a confrontation like this would end up in a brawl and then a drink together afterward, but never an acknowledgment right out of the gate.
Fate, knowing him better than anyone, seemed slightly taken aback. His brow scrunched a bit as his head tilted. After a long pause, Fate said, “Shit happens. It’s okay.”
“If I had known at the time what it was like, I…” Lars put his hands up in bewilderment, not able to express any more on a moment that still felt sore to him.
“I get it. I…you know…” Fate shrugged and nodded. When he looked at Lars now, there was commiseration in his eyes. “So, it’s like that between you two?”
Lars shrugged back. “No, I don’t know. I just felt bad.”
“Yeah, man, I get it.” Fate let out a long sigh as if he understood all too well.
Cutty walked over to the two of them. “When you two are done braiding each other’s hair, can we get back to the matter at hand?”
Lars and Fate cleared their throats at the same time, while Cutty took the floor. “So, we’ve got a bloody ring, a note and a positive ID on Keith being the one who supplied said ring. Where do we go from here?”
Lars perched himself on the edge of one of the work counters that lined the walls of the shop. “He still wants her but he can’t get to her here and he knows it.”
Angus who had taken a seat on the tattoo bench spoke up. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. He crosses on to my territory and he’s dead. He can’t bust through my wards, which is why he sent that kid. Plus we all know he’s scared to get within fifty feet of me, just in case I might be able to escort him along to somewhere he doesn’t want to go.” Lars was the only one of the guys who was always avoided by Malokin and his men. Even Fate had gotten into range, but not Lars. Not Death himself; that was too risky. They must have suspected his full range of talents even if they had no proof.
“The problem I have is why does Keith want her so bad?” Fate asked. “I know all you guys have taken a liking to her,” Fate shot an awkward look at Lars as he said that, as if trying to apologize for throwing his girl under the bus, “but you can ask Karma, good people don’t get messed up and involved with these guys. Why is Keith infatuated with her? Lars, he came right up to your sidewalk. They’ve never gotten that close to you before. This isn’t sitting well with me. At all.”
Lars remained quiet. He couldn’t imagine Faith doing anyone wrong but he couldn’t trust his opinions anymore, not when it came to her.
He’d used the voice on her. What if he really wasn’t thinking clearly? No, he needed to sit out on this one. He couldn’t go to bat for her when he couldn’t trust his gut. This could jeopardize them all.
When no one disagreed, Cutty spoke up. “We only have a small sampling of who he’s gone for. Karma herself was one of his victims. What about that? Don’t tell me you think Karma is evil,” Cutty said, directing the question at Fate bit looking at Lars.
Lars knew what he wanted, back up defending Faith. Lars looked out the window instead. He couldn’t defend her, even though it was killing him. The more he thought about how he’d used the voice on her, the more he realized his judgment really might be impaired when it came to her.
“Karma was different. She had potential and also a skill set that made her appealing,” Fate shot back at Cutty.
Lars made the mistake of looking back at Cutty. He could read his thoughts so clearly. He looked at Fate and then to him, clearly saying, See? He defends his woman.
“And how do we know that the same wasn’t the case with Faith?” Cutty asked, glaring angrily at Lars, rather than Fate, who he was arguing with.
“What skill set has she demonstrated?” Fate asked.
“I don’t know,” Cutty said. “But I trust her. Maybe that’s it? Maybe she instills faith? Hell, it is her name, after all.”
Fate let out a mocking laugh before voicing his disdainful reply. “Because that’s definitely something Malokin and Keith would find useful.”
“What do you think, Lars?” Cutty said, putting him on the spot.
“I think whatever the case is, that’s unlikely to be her calling,” Lars replied. Cutty was really starting to get his ire up. They barely knew the chick, and just because he might fuck her didn’t mean he was obligated to have her back in every instance. The guilt trip Cutty was trying to lay on him was a step too far and he was already in a bad way. “The bottom line is, none of us know her that well. We need to be cautious,” Lars shot back at Cutty.
“Lars is right. For now, I think we keep going as is.” Fate walked across the room. “She’s our guest as long as she doesn’t try and leave. At least for now.”
Lars felt guilty as he nodded but it was the only sane move. Everyone agreed, except for Cutty, who remained silent. Angus, Bic and Fate left but Cutty didn’t budge from his spot. Lars remained in his, knowing the two of them had unspoken business.
The door to the shop swung closed and Cutty didn’t wait long to get what was bothering him off his chest. “You can’t be on both sides of the line.”
“Man, what the fuck are you talking about?” Lars’ head was starting to spin and he didn’t need grief from one of his closest buddies.
Cutty stiffened. “You’re either on her team or you’re not.”
“Team? There is no team. You said it yourself, it was a good idea to bang her. That doesn’t make me and her a team. If that’s all it took, I’d be on a hell of a lot of teams.” Too many to count, and he didn’t understand why Cutty was getting all up in arms this time.
Cutty pointed his finger at him even though he maintained his distance. “If you aren’t going to have her back, don’t touch her.”
“Don’t tell me who to touch or how I have to treat them if I do. I didn’t ask for your advice on the subject, so stay out of it if you don’t like what I do.”