Chapter 1 — Blood Under My Nails
Jonnie Jo
Six hours of blackwork on a man determined to prove he could “sit like a badass” had left my wrist throbbing and my shoulders tight enough to crack when I rolled them.
Across from me, my client stared down at his forearm with the kind of awe tattoo artists chased like a drug.
The raven stretched nearly elbow to wrist, its wings spread wide in layered black and gray realism. Sharp. Dark. Clean enough to loosen something small and satisfied inside my chest.
“Holy s**t,” he breathed, slowly turning his arm beneath the light. “JJ, this is insane.”
A tired smile pulled at my mouth as I wiped away the last traces of ink and plasma. “Give it a week before you decide that. Right now your adrenaline’s doing half the talking.”
“No, seriously. Worth every damn penny.”
The tip he left made my chest tighten slightly. A hundred dollars.
Enough to fold into the envelope hidden beneath the loose floorboard under the bathroom sink.
Across the shop, Stitch tossed a handful of used ink caps into the trash before stretching both arms over his head with a groan dramatic enough to earn an eye roll from me.
“If one more grown man asks me if his tattoo is gonna hurt,” he muttered, “I’m legally allowed to punch somebody.”
“You say that every day.”
“And one day I’m gonna mean it.”
Outside, motorcycles rumbled down Main Street while neon signs from the bars across the strip cast shifting red and blue light through the front windows of the shop. North Town never really slept. It just changed flavors after dark.
Stitch grabbed his cut off the counter and shrugged into it. “You heading home soon?”
“In a minute. I still need to finish cleaning up.”
“That sounds terrible. I’m going to get drunk instead.”
“That also sounds terrible.”
“Yeah, but one’s fun.”
I shook my head, smiling despite myself.
The bell over the front door jingled as he left, followed a few seconds later by the roar of his bike starting outside.
I closed my eyes briefly and exhaled before heading toward the bathroom at the end of the hall.
The second I locked the door behind me, my shoulders sagged.
I crouched beside the vanity and pulled back the rug before carefully prying up the loose floorboard underneath.
Every extra dollar I could hide went into that envelope. Cash tips. Side money from walk-ins Havoc didn’t know about. Grocery money skimmed carefully whenever I could get away with it.
My escape fund.
I slipped tonight’s hundred-dollar tip inside and stared down at the growing stack for a long moment. It still wasn’t enough. Not enough for a lawyer. Not enough to disappear. Not enough to get Millie somewhere safe where Havoc and the rest of Hell’s Fire couldn’t find us.
The thought of Millie tightened my throat instantly.
Havoc only allowed me twenty minutes with her each week, always supervised by one of his club brothers like I was some kind of threat to my own daughter.
Twenty minutes to hug her, hear about school, and pretend I was still somebody’s mother before they took her away again.
I swallowed hard and shoved the envelope back beneath the floor before replacing the board and smoothing the rug over it.
That was when I heard laughing coming from the office.
At first, I barely registered it. Kinsley laughed at everything. Loudly. Usually while saying something wildly inappropriate.
But then I heard a man’s voice with hers.
Kins had stayed behind to finish inventory before close.
I stepped into the hall, my boots quiet against the old floor as another burst of laughter drifted through the door.
Then came the low creak of the desk.
My stomach dropped.
For one pathetic second, my brain reached for another explanation. Maybe it wasn’t what I thought.
A soft gasp cut through the silence, breathy and intimate enough to instantly turn my blood cold.
I stopped outside the office door while my pulse hammered against my throat.
Then I shoved the door open. The world stopped.
Havoc stood behind her with one hand tangled in her blonde hair and the other gripping her hip hard enough to bruise. His kutte hung open. Her shorts were shoved halfway down her thighs. Lipstick smeared across her mouth.
Then Havoc looked up.
And smiled.
Not guilt. Not panic.
A smile.
For a second my brain refused to process what I was looking at. The image felt disconnected from reality, like a scene from television left playing in the background somewhere far away from me.
Kinsley gasped and jerked upright so quickly she nearly knocked over the chair behind her. “JJ—”
“How long?”My voice barely sounded like mine.
Kinsley stared at me with immediate tears filling her eyes. I didn’t want tears from her. I wanted to wake up and realize none of this was happening.
“JJ, I swear it just—”
“How long?” I repeated.
Havoc calmly zipped his jeans before leaning one hip against the desk.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered. “Don’t start with the crying shit.”
I looked at Kinsley, my best friend.
The woman who had helped cover bruises with makeup before work. The woman who sat with me on the bathroom floor after Havoc took Millie away. The woman who knew exactly what my life looked like behind closed doors.
And she still f****d him anyway.
Kinsley finally dropped her gaze first. “I’m sorry.”
The words hit harder because she meant them. If she’d been cruel, maybe this would’ve hurt less.
Something sharp and ugly ripped through my chest before I could stop it.
I crossed the room and slammed the desk lamp onto the floor hard enough for it to shatter across the tile.
Kinsley jumped violently.
Havoc’s eyes narrowed instantly.
“You need to leave,” I said quietly.
Her head snapped up. “JJ…”
“Get your stuff and get out.”
“JJ, please—”
“I said get out.”
Havoc laughed softly under his breath. The sound scraped across my nerves.
“Your shop?” he asked as he pushed away from the desk and started toward me.
Every instinct I had screamed at me to step back, but I held my ground anyway.
His hand closed around my neck before I could react, firm enough to remind me he could overpower me whenever he wanted.
“I pay for this shop,” he said calmly. “I pay the lease. I bought the equipment. I keep the lights on.” His fingers tightened slightly against my skin. “So let’s not start talking like you own a damn thing under this roof.”
Behind him, Kinsley watched silently.
Maybe she should finally see what happened after everyone else went home.
“You’re disgusting,” I whispered.
Something dark flickered across Havoc’s face.
His grip tightened sharply before he shoved me hard enough that my shoulder clipped the wall beside the office door.
“Watch that mouth, Jonnie Jo,” he hissed, his breath hot against my cheek. “You think you’re tough because you can handle a needle and make a few bikers cry into your chair?” His fingers dug harder into my skin. “You’re nothing. You were a pregnant runaway sleeping in bus stations when I found you.”
Every word landed exactly where he intended.
“I gave you a home,” he continued coldly. “I gave you my name. I fed you. I took care of that kid when your own family threw you away.” His eyes dragged slowly over my face. “And I can take every bit of it back just as fast.”
My throat tightened because some awful part of me still remembered being fifteen, terrified, and pregnant while Havoc handed me a warm meal and a place to sleep like he was rescuing me instead of building a cage around my life.
“You wanna make things difficult this week?” he asked softly.
Every bit of anger inside me froze.
Millie.
He saw the exact moment fear replaced rage on my face and smiled faintly.
“That’s what I thought.”
God, I hated him so much I could barely breathe around it.
He leaned closer until I could smell whiskey and cigarette smoke lingering on his clothes.
“You’ll come home,” he murmured. “You’ll help get the house ready for the boys tomorrow, and you’ll stop looking at me like you forgot who takes care of you.” His thumb brushed slowly along my jaw. “If you behave, maybe I’ll let you spend a little extra time with Millie this week.”
Extra time.
Like he was rewarding a dog.
Behind him, Kinsley looked sick enough to throw up.
I couldn’t even look at her anymore without feeling something inside me splitting apart.
Havoc pressed a dry kiss against my forehead before finally letting go of my neck. Then he walked out of the office like none of this mattered at all.
Kinsley hesitated before reaching toward me weakly. “JJ…”
I stepped back before she could touch me.
Whatever expression crossed my face made her recoil.
All I could think as I stood there shaking was that if I didn’t find a way out soon, this place was going to kill me long before Havoc ever actually put me in the ground.
