Dead Ink: A Karma World Romance (Karma Series Book 4) (21 page)

The bells chimed over the door as he was bent over the guy he was tattooing. It was a reaper tattoo because that’s all he’d been in the mood to do. No one had complained. Some had even cried at the sight of the finished artwork because all of his pain and regret was there to see. He hadn’t been able to eat or sleep. All he could do was remember Faith’s tears, the hurt he’d caused her. It was tearing him up inside.

“Get out,” he said to whoever had just walked in.

The lights in the room started to dim and he realized the visitor was still there and messing with the window shades.

“Get—” He turned about to bark out a command when he saw her, Faith, lowering the shades. He thought he’d picked up her floral scent. He thought he sensed her so often lately, to only look over to an empty space, that he’d stopped expecting her to be there.

“Get out,” he said to his client, softer this time. “Now.”

“Again?” the guy grumbled.

“Yes,” Lars snapped and the guy grabbed his shirt and headed out the door.

Lars’ chest was tight as he watched her. She was as beautiful as ever, long blonde hair flowing down her back in a white strappy sundress.

“How’ve you been?” Lars asked when he finally got his voice back. He thought he’d never see her in his shop again.

“Okay.”

That word crushed him. She’d moved on. She’d looked it when he seen her through the window of her gallery. He hadn’t been able to resist driving past it.

“That’s good.”

“No, actually, that’s bullshit.” She finally turned to him and he could see the sadness there. She wasn’t okay.

“Why did you come here?” he asked. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

She walked around his shop, not seeming to realize he’d just given her fair warning.

“I finally looked at the tattoo you did on my back.”

“If you don’t like the flowers, I can cover them up with something else.”

“No. They’re beautiful. I just don’t understand why you chose them?”

“Flowers?”

“Not just flowers, but black roses, a symbol of death?”

“You didn’t have a symbol, so I guess I…”

“Decided to give me yours? I need to know why you did that.”

“Because from the moment I saw you sitting in that chair over there, the first day we met, something clicked inside of me. You were a mess, filthy dirty, absolutely terrified, but I could tell you were going to survive no matter what the cost. I don’t know. Something happened and the part of me that I never let see daylight was climbing out to the surface and saying you were the one. I just refused to believe it, at first.”

As Faith walked farther into the room, Lars moved slowly to the door. His fingers moved to the deadlock and he watched her as the bolt clicked into place. His actions didn’t seem to make her nervous, which was good because he wasn’t sure if he could let her go. Not again. He’d warned her, and she hadn’t left.

He started to slowly approach her.

Her eyes dropped and her fingers ran along his supplies, touching this and that. “I’m still angry. So angry it’s hard to think sometimes.”

The hurt he heard paused him on his pursuit.

“I just don’t understand how you can walk away from someone, not once but twice.” The overhead light caught her eyes and he could see the mixture of unshed tears and anger.

“I thought it was what you wanted.”

She looked at him, shaking her head, as if she didn’t even understand why she was there. But she was. She’d come to him and he wasn’t letting her go again.

All hesitation was gone as he crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her. “I love you. I’m sorry that I had to lose you before I realized.”

“How can I ever trust you again? How do I know you won’t change your mind again?”

He held her tightly, knowing he couldn’t let her go again, knowing that she still did care. “I know I can’t make what I did right. I know I hurt you but I’m going to fix it.”

“What if you can’t?”

“You wouldn’t have come here if you’d truly given up on us.”

“But—”

“But nothing. You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.”

“If you do it again…” Her voice broke and her words trailed off.

“I’ll cut my heart out myself. But it wouldn’t matter, it would shrivel up and die knowing I’d ruined this.”

He waited for some sign from her, as she was stiff in his embrace. When she finally started hugging him back he lifted her off her feet and started walking.

“Where are we going?”

“Upstairs. I’m taking you home and I’m never letting you leave.”

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