Page 5 of Marked by the Protective Biker (Heat & Ink)

FELON

No matter how hard I try, I can’t get Emily out of my head.

I’m thinking about her non-stop, and the longer I’m unable to see her, the shittier my mood gets.

My first day at Heat & Ink and I’ve managed to piss off anyone and everyone.

Alice has thrown her hands up at me, Gunner has already threatened to kick my ass, and I’m pretty sure Boss is ready to fire me.

“What the fuck, man? Pres said you wanted this job, but you’re sure not acting like it. What’s your problem?”

I ram my hand through my hair. This is my first day out, and my club offered to let me take a few weeks off, but I thought working would help me keep my mind off things. It hasn’t helped at all. All I can think about is Emily and how she’s at Jasper Prison… without me.

You can bet your ass that I have people on the inside watching her and protecting her, but it’s not enough. No one is going to protect her like I can.

I look at the biker in my work area. “I need to make a phone call. Can you give me a minute?”

Boss holds his hand up. “Sure, but first tell me what the hell is going on.”

I’m not used to explaining myself, but this is how the Guardians work. I have to remind myself that these are my brothers, and I need to lean on them. “Fine. My woman works at the prison. I have inmates watching her, but it’s not enough.”

Boss crosses his arms over his chest and levels me with a look. “So what do you need? What can we do?”

“Since I’ve been in, I’ve had some prospects watching her in the evenings, but I told them since I was out, they can stop and I’d take care of it.”

Boss looks at the clock on the wall and back at me. “So what? Your first day at work and you didn’t plan on working this late?”

I nod my head. “Yeah.”

Boss nods. “Fine. I’ll take care of it.”

Surprised, I rear back. “What?”

He shrugs. “Dude, I’d be the same way about Lexi. I’ll get some prospects over to the prison, and they’ll tail her home until you come and relieve them.”

For the first time all day, I let out a breath of relief. I trust Boss, but I also know how important this is. “Are you sure? I can make a call.”

Boss shakes his head. “Go in there and finish the tatt, Felon. I’m going to take care of it. I just need her name.”

“Emily Riles.”

Boss nods. “Emily Riles. I got it. She’ll be protected until you get there. Now quit worrying and get to work.”

I nod and walk back into my room. It feels as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I’m not sure what I’m thinking, but I panicked for a minute.

On the inside, it was a good idea to let people know she was mine and to be protected.

But outside the prison, I’m not so sure.

The Exiled Guardians try and stay clean, but we have enemies, and those enemies wouldn’t think twice about going after my woman.

As I walk back into my work room, Miller raises his head from the back of the chair. “Everything okay?”

He’s a millionaire. Not that you’d know it by looking at him right now.

His shirt and jacket, which are worth probably two grand, are lying over a chair in the corner.

His arms and back are already covered in tattoos, and today was his appointment for his chest piece.

“Yeah, I’m good. I just had to rearrange things.

I know you want to get this piece done.”

Miller has a thing. He won’t let just anyone do his tatts. I’m the only one that has ever put art on him, and we started this chest piece right before I got put in prison. I was surprised that he was my very first appointment, but maybe I shouldn’t be.

He lays his head back on the cushion, and I must take too long to get started because he looks at me again. “You sure you’re okay, Felon?”

I grimace at the name. It’s my family name, but it rings different now that I’m actually a felon. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

He leans up on his elbow. “You sure? You're different.”

I shrug as I wipe off some of my equipment to get another color set up. “Yeah, I just have my mind elsewhere.” Shit. I probably shouldn’t tell him that, but it’s the truth. I can’t stop thinking of Emily.

He sighs. “I’m sorry, man. You want to reschedule?”

My eyebrows lift in surprise, but there’s no way I’m taking him up on his offer. Mostly because I’ve had a feeling about something, and I wanted to ask him about it. I slide my chair over next to him. “Miller, can I ask you something?”

He grunts as he leans back in his chair again. “Sure.”

“I only served a year of my twenty years.”

He opens one eye. “Is that a question?”

I shake my head. “I talked to my club because I thought for sure it was them that got me out early, but Pres said it wasn’t. They tried and couldn’t pull it off.”

His eyes are closed now, but he’s paying attention. “Pull what off?”

I have my tattoo gun in hand and am ready to get started, but I’m stalling so I can ask. “Did you have anything to do with me getting out nineteen years early, Miller?”

As soon as I say it, I realize how absurd it sounds, but I can’t figure out what happened or why I’m out now. Miller is quiet, and I’m about to start my tattoo gun when he finally starts talking. “You did the right thing, Felon.”

I set the tattoo gun down. “What?”

He groans like he doesn’t even want to have this conversation. “I said you did the right thing… saving that kid like you did. You shouldn’t have been in there in the first place.”

Stunned, my mouth falls open. “So you did get me out early?”

He shrugs like it’s not a big deal. “What? Did you think I was going to wait nineteen more years to get my tattoo finished? No way.”

All I can do is sit here, shaking my head. “So what… how?” I stutter.

I’m not sure how he did it, but instantly he’s shaking his head.

“It’s not for you to worry about. You’re out, and I’m working to get it expunged from your record.”

“Miller…” I start, overwhelmed. There’s no way I can repay him for this.

He’s acting like it’s not a big deal what he did.

But he made it to where I only had to serve one year of a twenty year sentence.

And now he’s talking like it’s possible to get this off my record.

It’s too much, but it’s also everything I’d dreamed of.

Miller groans and finally looks at me, face on. “Look, let’s not make a big deal out of this. I needed to get my tattoo finished, so I pulled some strings…”

I choke on the words. “Pulled some strings… it’s more than?—”

He cuts me off. “Look, seriously, you didn’t deserve to be in there, so I took care of it.”

I nod. “Fuck, okay, thank you… I mean, I know that doesn’t even begin to cover it, but?—”

He blows out a breath like he’s frustrated. “Shit, man. Forget it. You’re welcome. You sure you want to do this now?”

At that moment, Boss knocks on my open door. “Sorry to interrupt. I took care of that issue. They have eyes on her, and they’ve been instructed to stick with her until you get there.”

I let out a breath. “Thanks.”

He nods and turns on his heel as Miller chuckles. “Oh. Woman troubles. I get that.”

“Miller, you don’t even know the half of it.”

He laughs, leans back, and closes his eyes.

I pick up the tattoo gun again and get to work. The quicker I work, the faster I get to Emily.