Page 97 of The Vows We Keep

“I know. That’s what makes this perfect. I want aProperty of Niropatch on my back.”

My eyes go wide. That’s gonna hurt. “Babe, I can’t put you through that. It’s a lot of black shading.”

“Oh, yes, I know. Typically, it would be. But I don’t want a traditional one. I want a pretty one. I want color, and things that represent my heritage and who you are. We can always take off our cuts, but I want you closer than a piece of leather.”

My mouth goes dry. She doesn’t just want to be with me. She wants the world to know she’s mine. And more importantly, she’s telling me I’m hers. “Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

I lean forward and kiss her. “Yes, to all of it. I fucking love this idea. Yes, I want to do it. And, yes, I can make it pretty as fuck, but it still won’t be half as pretty as you are.”

The smile I get tells me two things. First, Rae is right. Complimenting the right woman in the right way will light her up from inside. And second, I did it without thinking, which is progress.

“I like it when you say things like that.”

“I like when I—”

“You need any help getting set up, boss?” Carlos asks, dropping off a set of my favored needles.

“I need you to fuck off, is what I need.” I keep my eyes on Catalina.

“What he means, Carlos, is thank you for asking. And it’s going to take him a while to draw up what he wants for me.”

Carlos grins. “I like you better than him.”

“If you like being alive, you’ll stop thinking about her.”

At this, Carlos laughs, and Catalina joins him.

“Assholes,” I mutter, biting back a grin as I climb off the bed and grab a sheet of paper. My pencil is sharp, and I start to sketch.

“I’m guessing you’re not going to mind shaving her back,” Carlos continues. He glances to Catalina. “He hates that part usually.”

I look up. “Told you stop thinking about her. Especially stop thinking about her naked back.”

Carlos salutes, flips me the bird, and leaves the room.

“How big do you want this, cariño? A full back piece is a lot for a first tattoo. We could do something small, on your shoulder maybe.”

Catalina moves to the desk and looks down at my outline. “If I were a prospect, to prove my worth, I’d have to do something hard. That kind of hard is usually killing someone, stealing something. That kind of hard comes easy to me. It costs me nothing. I kinda like the idea that this is my test. I want to prove my worth, to the club and to you. I don’t know about the Iron Outlaws, but ink generally gets removed at Los Reyes if anyone goes rogue.”

“Same with this club. Did you know that’s how King and Rae got together? He told her if she didn’t stay with him, he’d remove Saint’s ink with a knife. This was right after we found out he used to be ATF.”

“What?” Catalina asks, and I hear the pitch of anger immediately.

“Steady. This was before King and Rae fell in love and got all schmaltzy with each other.”

Her stance changes, and I’m certain with one more word from me, she would have ridden out to lob my boss’s dick off with the knife attached toherside. “Schmaltzy?”

“You know what I mean. All romantic and shit.”

She moves to stand next to me. “Are we schmaltzy?”

I turn my head to look at her. “Definitely not.”

“Foxy?”

“Nope.”