Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“I’m sure as hell not changing it,” I told him.
Michael laughed in a cold manner.
“Well, that’s unfortunate. You see, there have been some anonymous complaints about your shop and some of your employees. I’m afraid your shop could be shut down for some of the infractions that have been reported,” he stated.
I tightened my fingers into fists, hearing sharp breaths behind me. The guys wanted to argue, but I fixed them with another hard look to make sure they didn’t blow up and cause more trouble.
“What infractions?” I questioned Michael, knowing that he was about to make up a bunch of bullshit.
“Some health code violations. A minor being tattooed. You know, that sort of stuff,” Michael replied with a light smirk.
“None of that is true, and you know it. You can’t just make up claims for your own personal gain,” I bit out as I took a threatening step forward.
The police officers immediately mirrored my motion, stepping in front of Michael to put a barrier between me and him.
“I actually heard a few of your employees have been dabbling in some suspicious, possibly illegal activities. This one was seen sneaking around and talking to a known criminal we’re trying to pin down,” Michael said as he pointed at Ti. He then turned to Gus. “And this one was seen in the vicinity of a stabbing incident, which we haven’t caught the violent criminal for yet. Suspicious. We might have to take them down to the station for questioning.”
“Like hell you will,” Marcus gritted out as he, the twins, and Taj moved in front of Gus and Ti.
“Don’t try it,” I told Michael with a stern glare. “You and me, let’s go outside and talk. Don’t bring them into this.”
Michael cocked an eyebrow at me, obviously interested.
“Let’s talk shop,” he replied as he clasped his hands together. He then patted the officers on the back. “Keep an eye on these delinquents.”
I couldn’t lie. I wanted to strangle the guy, but I breathed in deeply to keep my cool as I walked out of the tattoo shop with him. I didn’t expect to strike some kind of deal with him, but I was trying to buy us some time and keep the other guys safe.
“You don’t have to campaign as some family man. Leave Chloe and Madison out of this, and just move on,” I told him.
Michael chuckled and shook his head at me.
“It’s so much more than the campaign. Madison screwed me over and left with my daughter. And then shacked up with a bunch of criminals. It’s laughable, but she should know that actions have consequences,” he replied.
“Are you that evil? You’re doing this to your own daughter and the mother of your child,” I said, unable to believe that he was such a cold, heartless person.
“Don’t start with me about morals, criminal,” Michael scoffed in a dismissive manner that made me grind my teeth. “I’m going to tell you this once. Hand Madison and Chloe over, or I’ll pull every string I have to throw all of you back behind bars and to shut down your tattoo shop.”
Coldness washed through my entire body, my head filling with a shrill, ringing sound.
He was trying to tear everything down, to strip away my hard work and my family. If he could make cops corrupt, he could make his words reality, which meant that I and everyone else was possibly very, very fucked.
Michael put his fingers in the corners of his mouth and whistled, the sound ringing loud enough for the cops to hear and head outside.
“Good talking to you. Hope I hear from you soon, or you’ll hear from me,” Michael told me before walking down the sidewalk with the police officers trailing him, their eyes repeatedly flickering to me to make sure I didn’t try anything funny.
“Fuck,” I gritted out before storming back into the tattoo shop, immediately being swarmed by questions from the guys.
“What did he say?” Baker asked.
“What are we going to do now? He’s got cops at his beck and call!” Taj joined in.
“That doesn’t change anything. We still need to put this guy down before he fucks everything up!” Marcus argued.
“It changes everything. We’re not dealing with one person. We’re dealing with all of the people he’s paying off,” Ti replied.
“All of you, quiet,” I sighed as I pinched the bridge of my nose, an ache gripping my head. What the hell were we going to do? “He told me that if we don’t hand over Madison and Chloe, he’ll have us all arrested and shut down the tattoo shop.”
At first, silence rang out through the shop as the guys stared at me with shocked looks on their faces. All of our lives were at jeopardy, and the solution wasn’t clear in the slightest. We either lost a future with Madison or we let go of the shop we worked so hard to get off the ground. Something would be taken away from us no matter what.