Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross

Chapter 23

~VIOLET~

“If you’re done murderingme with your eyeballs, go tell Sean to come here,” Mateo, or rather Alpha, ordered Nico.

Nico sat in the only extra chair in my workspace, his arms crossed, and yes, a murderous scowl aimed at his cousin in my reclining chair. I almost laughed but didn’t think that would put Nico in a better mood. And something really was urging me to soothe him. But I couldn’t do that until I finished this tattoo in the crook between Mateo’s shoulder and pectoral.

I wasn’t giving him a spelled tattoo yet. I’d given Nico his yesterday, and we decided to wait and see how it went first. Mateo didn’t have trouble controlling his wolf ever since Evie had broken his curse. He also seemed to like having his wolf, Alpha, in his head. And since we weren’t sure yet whether my spell might send Alpha away permanently, Mateo had declined getting the spelled one.

So, I was giving Mateo a tattoo as a Valentine’s Day present for Evie. He wanted a scene rather than just one object. It still made me smile as I stared down at the intricately detailed X-wing fighter flying toward a Death Star in the distance.

Yes. Mateo had wanted a Star Wars tattoo. After he told me that he knew Evie would like it, I reminded him that this was permanent and it wasn’t a good idea to get a tattoo to please someone else. Then the strangest thing happened. Mateo blushed and mumbled that he’d become a fan himself, and he wanted it.

Mateo was a unique guy. Typically, he was quiet with an easy smile. He had the whole tender-hearted artist thing down to a tee. He was completely and utterly devoted to my sister Evie, which made him one of my top favorite people in the world.

But then there were times when his wolf Alpha pushed to the forefront, and his personality switched to aggressive, sarcastic, and quite Neanderthal-ish. Lately, Alpha seemed to be hanging around more than Mateo. I’d asked Nico about it, and he said it was because those other werewolves were in town.

Nico heaved an exasperated sigh from against the wall, then unfolded out of the chair and strode to the front lobby.

“What’s his problem?” Mateo huffed.

I glanced up at him, his eyes shimmering gold. Definitely Alpha hanging with me this morning. “I think he’s a little territorial,” I admitted, knowing full well why Nico needed to sit there while I gave shirtless Mateo a tattoo.

Nico was jealous and possessive, and it turned me the fuck on, which was the exact opposite reaction I usually had when men behaved this way with me. But this wasn’t just any man. This was Nico. My heart thumped a little harder, telling me what I already knew.

The werewolf in my tattoo chair grinned lasciviously, his wolf-gold eyes gleaming from half-slits.

“It’s alright, Violet. I’m a mated man. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I know,” I said, head down while I finished the detailing of the Death Star, biting my bottom lip so I wouldn’t laugh.

An arrogant sigh. Yes, his sigh was arrogant. “They can’t help it,” he whispered conspiratorially.

“Help what?” I glanced up, definitely recognizing the vain expression of Alpha.

“I am the superior male,” he said with such a straight face, pitying the rest of male-kind. “All others are threatened by me.”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, shifting back to put the needle down, then wiping away the excess ink. “I can see how you’d have to deal with that a lot.”

He patted my shoulder with a knowing look, like we now shared the same secret.

Nico strode back in with Sean on his heels. The teenager had decided to shave his head into a faux-hawk. And somehow, it looked really good on him.

“You can take a look,” I told Mateo, wheeling back to put my tools away and gesturing toward the mirror.

He hopped up and checked it out, grinning at his Star Wars ink. He was such a conundrum. But so was Nico. I’d thought I had him all figured out. Boy, was I wrong.

I went to finish up dressing Mateo’s tattoo while he looked over at Sean. “What’s the latest from your brother?”

I hadn’t tuned in much because I really wasn’t as concerned as the men around here, but Nico had told me that they had Henry doing regular sweeps of the neighborhood for Shane and any of his pack buddies. We might not be able to run them out of the city, but we sure as shit could keep tabs on them.

Sean watched me doing the dressing while answering him. “Henry said we’ve been clear for a week now. They’re not around.”

“You’re all set,” I told Mateo.

Nico picked up Mateo’s T-shirt and tossed it to the werewolf, whose eyes had dimmed to the normal warm shade of brown they usually were.

Rather than look irritated, though, Nico seemed relieved. “That makes me feel better about having the grand opening celebration now.”

“What do you mean?” I asked while spraying down the chair. “You considered cancelling it because of them?”

“I was planning on it,” he said with finality.

Removing my latex gloves, I tossed them in the trash and asked, “Without asking me? Because if I recall, this is half my business, too.”

He didn’t respond to my spike of temper the way I’d thought. He eased closer and gripped my hips, pulling me against him and effectively maneuvering me farther away from Mateo. He brushed a kiss between my brows, which I knew was his ineffective attempt at wiping away my frown.

He dipped his head close to my ear and whispered, “I was planning on coaxing you into my plan to postpone it.” He bit my earlobe.

Gripping his biceps, I said, “I suppose you think you have good enough coaxing skills.”

“According to you and Livvy, you already announced it to half the neighborhood.”

“Pffft. I was exaggerating to entertain the masses,” I protested, even as I felt my middle melting at the thought of his skills.

“No, you weren’t.” He pressed his thumb between my brow, rubbing softly. “Stop frowning. I wasn’t going to do anything without your permission.”

“My permission?” I stared up at him, thinking about permission and giving orders. The way he gave orders in the bedroom. My irritation derailed toward wayward thoughts. “I think I know something we need to add to the list.”

“Yeah?” He was still speaking low, even though Mateo and Sean had left to the lobby where Evie was hanging out. Mateo wouldn’t let her come in since he wanted this to be a surprise.

“I want to be on top,” I told him.

His mouth tipped up on one side. “You’ve been on top lots of times.”

“Yeah, but not really. You’re always in charge, even when I am. I want to be in charge.”

His brow arched in challenge.

I laughed. “Yep. It’s going on the list. I want to see how long you can stand taking my orders.”

His grip tightened on my hips a second before he slanted his mouth over mine, stroking in aggressively, his hands sliding down to cup my ass. Yeah, not so sure I was going to get to tick that off the list.

One hand came up to wrap around my nape possessively as he swept in with hungry strokes. He nipped my bottom lip then my top before coming inside again. Meanwhile, I already had a leg wrapped around his hip and was getting ready to climb him when we were rudely interrupted.

“Hey! Love bunnies!” Livvy was obviously standing in the doorway, but I couldn’t take my eyes or lips off of Nico. “We’ve got a lot of fucking work to do. Chop chop!”

A growl rumbled in his chest, sparking my arousal even more, but I dropped away and pressed my forehead to his shoulder. “She’ll only come back in if we’re not out in one minute.”

He dipped his head to my ear again, nuzzling the sensitive skin right below. “I only need five.”

My thighs clenched at the memory of the last time he said that. Laughing, I stepped away on a weary sigh and took his hand. “No, seriously. Livvy is relentless when she’s in manager mode. She will legit come back in sixty seconds.”

“Fine.” He heaved a sigh and followed me out through the lobby area and out in front of the shop.

Mateo, Evie, and Sean were already assisting two big muscly guys to unload the back of a U-Haul truck full of tables and chairs. Livvy stood off to the side with a clipboard, counting tables as they came out and checking her list.

She wore casual Livvy attire—black jeans, a mauve sweetheart cut blouse with matching lipstick. Even in what she’d consider her shabby clothes, she was a knockout. The two poor guys unloading the truck couldn’t help but ogle her every time they came down the ramp. But like I said, when Livvy was in manager mode, she stayed in the zone, not veering for anything. Not even two hot guys who could barely keep their tongues from hanging out of their mouths.

I assisted in unloading the chairs and stacked them on the sidewalk for now. Livvy was pointing out where she wanted the tables placed in a semi-circle around the stage, leaving room for dancing.

“You know,” I told her, stopping and propping my hands on my hips, “when I first told you I wanted to do a grand opening street party, I’d imagined getting a DJ, asking JJ to sell beer, and have a table for Empress Ink merch to sell.”

Livvy gave me her best side-eye, tapping her pen on the clipboard. “Really, Violet.” She snorted with something akin to disgust. “It’s like you don’t even know me.”

“We’re here!” said Clara, popping up out of nowhere with a perky smile as she surveyed the activity, Isadora right next to her.

“What can we do?” asked Isadora, checking out Livvy’s list over her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Iz. Even you would be proud of my thoroughness.” Livvy spun and pointed to two boxes right off the curb. “The linens and votive candles are in there, and I’ve got the Empress Ink coasters and napkins in that one. Would you set them out in the way I showed y’all last night?”

“On it!” Clara went right to work with Isadora in her wake.

There was an elevated stage set up right in front of the wooden fence that marked the end of our dead-end street, but the band wouldn’t be here for hours.

“The food trucks are still coming?” I asked.

“Don’t worry.” Livvy scribbled something on her list. “I’ve taken care of everything. Trust me. Jules is having Mitch, who’s the chef tonight, shut down The Cauldron early so JJ and Finnie can serve drinks here at the party.”

Jules had a regional meeting in Houston with the covens of Mississippi, Louisiana, and south Texas. I was sorry she’d miss the grand opening, but there was no way she couldn’t be there to represent New Orleans.

I peered around the U-Haul to see JJ and Finnie setting up a wide tent. It was generous of them to help out before their shift at the pub then to come here and serve at the party. I owed them both, big time.

JJ’s Ford F-150 was parked with the huge rolling cooler in the bed of his truck.

“Damn. Livvy, don’t we need a permit for something of this size?”

“Yes. And done. All you need to do is show up, make your big welcome speech, and enjoy the launch of your dream.”

She turned to me, her business expression slipping to caring sister mode.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a tight squeeze. “You really are awesome.”

“Yes, I know.”

“What can I do?”

“Glad you asked. Look over in that box there. I’ve included extension cords, but I want the white fairy lights strung up in a square around the dancefloor. Nico can help you put up the self-standing poles to string them from one to the other.”

“That’s going to be so pretty,” piped in Clara from the table closest to us that she was currently dressing with cracked-glass votive candles.

“It really is,” I breathed on a whisper, my heart fluttering that this was really happening.

Our base of clients through family and friends connections weren’t nearly enough to make a real profit with all we’d invested in the shop. But this? What Livvy had planned would draw the kind of attention we needed to put us on the map in New Orleans. I took a moment to bask on the precipice of success, relishing that moment of hopeful possibility and buoyant potential.

“Hey,” a deep voice rumbled in my ear. Strong arms wrapped around my waist, and a warm, hard body pressed against my back.

“Hey,” I whispered back, wrapping my arms alongside his.

“You seem deep in thought over here. Everything okay?”

“More than okay.” I turned in his arms, linked my hands around his neck, and pulled him down so I could bury my face against his throat and hug him hard. “Thank you for helping make this happen.”

His arms tightened around me as he rocked me softly back and forth, his mouth at my temple. “Anything for you, Violet.”

He brushed a kiss there, and I thought my heart might burst with joy.

You know those moments in life when everything seems absolutely perfect and you’re filled with this insurmountable happiness? I tried to grab onto it and hold on, wishing I could freeze this moment in time. It was a culmination of two things. Obviously, the fact that I was kicking off Empress Ink with what would no doubt be a fabulous party, thanks to Livvy and my sisters and friends. The second was that the man in my arms was more than my friend. More than my lover. And I was finally ready to tell him exactly how I felt.

I gave him a squeeze. “Come on. Let’s get this all set up so we can rest before we get dressed for the party.”

He pressed a kiss to my neck and released me. I took his hand and pulled him toward the stage area where the box of lights and poles were stacked.

“What are you wearing tonight?” Nico asked, picking up one of the poles and setting it in its stand.

“I don’t know. You have something in mind?”

He slid a devilish grin my way. “A dress.”

“A dress?” Like that was foreign to me. Because it kind of was. I rarely, if ever, wore dresses. Only if I had a wedding or a formal occasion like the Witch’s Guild Summit we had to attend annually.

Nico tightened the pole into place and shoved it over to the first spot, which apparently Livvy had marked with taped X’s. When his gaze swung back to me, his eyes glittered that electric green.

“Please,” he whispered, a sexy plea in his smoldering gaze.

I smiled and winked. “Anything for you.”