Zombie Ink

Chapter 2

TRICK

-Chapter 2 -

BONZO

"Zed, open the motherfucking door," I shout for the millionth time. The asshole had locked himself inside ever since his brother's wedding last weekend. He only emerged for a mysterious client the other night, then quickly retreated back here again. "Who was she, huh? If you're fucking around on Addie, I'll rip your fucking balls off! And don't even think of bullshitting me and saying you two aren't a thing!"

Silence.

My lips purse as my frustration gets the better of me. I've been in a perpetual state of pissed off since she walked out on me that night. I know I looked different, but I didn't trick her. Not really. Everything she knows about me, aside from my job, is true. The person she got to know? That's me. I thought we had a connection. I know it was only through a dating app, but I still felt it was there… even more so when I looked up and saw her. Fuck, her profile picture didn't do her any justice, because she was fucking gorgeous. Thick, dark hair that surrounded her shoulders like a curtain, and she had huge, chocolate eyes that I swear looked right into my soul in those few seconds she was standing before me.

Jesus, as my mind conjures up my memory of her standing there with her tiny fists clenched at her sides, my cock jumps. I still want her just as badly now as I did that night when her sweet, alluring scent was surrounding me.

"Fine, asshole. You refuse to come out, I'll find someone who can push their way in," I bark in warning before waiting another couple of minutes to see if it'll get him moving.

My best friend is a moody fucker, and I'm not ending another day without him at least attempting to sort his shit out, whatever the fuck it might be.

With a sigh, I run down the stairs that lead up from the tattoo studio below to the apartment he's locked himself inside of. I can't even use the spare key, because the asshole locked it from the inside, probably knowing that I'd try to force my way in.

I've already canceled my couple of clients tonight. I was fed up, knowing he was dealing with some shit while Addie had apparently decided not to turn back up to do her job. The other guys can cope if any walks ins turn up.

I don't bother going back to my room to grab anything or tell the others, I just storm through the front door and head in the direction of Addie's condo. If anyone knows what the fuck is going on, then it'll be her, considering she's avoiding the studio just as much as Zed is.

I hit the buzzer the second I'm outside her building, expecting to have to convince her to let me in. This shit is seriously getting boring. I've been calling and messaging her since she disappeared, but everything has gone unanswered.

To my surprise, I'm instantly buzzed in. She doesn't even ask who it is. Not wanting to argue with this easy entrance, I push the door open and start heading up the stairs when I discover hers is at the top.

The second I'm in front of her door, my patience snaps.

"Addie, open up," I call at the same time my fist rains down on her sleek black and chrome door.

The second she pulls it open, I'm inside and demanding she get her ass to the studio to sort Zed out. I can tell she's concerned, but the moment another person comes into view behind her, I almost forget the reason I'm here and why I need her.

"You. What the fuck are you doing here?" The words are out of my mouth before I have time to compute anything.

I haven't seen or heard anything from her since she walked out of that restaurant almost two weeks ago. By the time I'd ordered myself a drink and pulled up the dating app on my phone, her profile had already vanished. The only communication we'd had up to that point had been through the app, and now it was gone. I had no way of contacting her. All I knew was that her name was Bree, she was in her twenties and an operations manager for a business I knew nothing about because she didn't disclose the details.

She stares at me, her eyes hard and filled with hate at having to even look at me once again. I know I look different to the photo I used online, but I also know that I'm not exactly hard on the eyes.

"Bree…"

"Don't," she snaps with such venom that it makes Addie's eyes widen in shock.

Our eye contact holds, mine begging for her to give me a chance and to hear me out. I know I shouldn't care so much, but there's just something about this woman. I knew it from the moment we started chatting. Something was… different to all the others who had come before, and I really thought my risk might pay off, despite Wyatt's warning that it was a bad idea.

"Umm… what the fuck is going on right now?" Addie asks, looking between the two of us as if that will help her work it out.

"Nothing," Bree snapped, dragging her hate-filled stare from me to look at Addie. I don't miss that her features immediately soften as she silently begs her not to ask any more questions.

Without her stare, I'm able to regain my own thoughts and remember why the hell I'm standing there in the first place.

It takes some convincing, but eventually I manage to get Addie out the door and heading towards where Zed is. She's not happy about it, but I can see the concern in her eyes knowing that something's not right. Neither of them may want to admit that there's something between them, but I see through both of them.

Convincing him to let her in is easier than I thought it was going to be, but with Addie now inside with my grumpy ass boss and my clients canceled, I have nothing left to do. Unless…

Without thinking, I'm back out of the studio and heading in the direction I just came from. I have no idea if she lives there, if she's Addie's roommate or relative for that matter, but right now I don't really care.

My one short memory of her has been driving me crazy since that night, and my need to explain myself to her is uncontrollable now that I know where she is.

I jog the short distance back, afraid she might be one step ahead of me and have already left… or, if I'm lucky, on her way out so I can intercept her when she's not expecting it.

As I turn the corner for the building, I come up behind a delivery guy. I wait a few steps back and watch as he lifts his hand to ring the buzzer for whichever condo he's delivering to. I can't believe my luck when he presses for Addie's.

I stand with my heart damn near in my throat as I wait to see if she'll answer, if she's still there. And two seconds later she does.

"Delivery for Addie?" the guy says into the speaker.

"Yeah, come on up." I wait for the crackle to say she's released the button, and he's pushed the front door open before rushing over.

"Hey, is that for Addie?" I ask, coming to stand next to him. "I'm her boyfriend. Cozy night in," I say with a wink. "I can take it from here. Thanks, man."

I don't give him the opportunity to refuse me. I take the bag from his hand and walk away.

"Thank fuck for that. I'm running so behind tonight."

"Glad I could help. Enjoy the rest of your evening." I give him a friendly wave as he turns and rushes back to his moped.

With a smile curling one side of my mouth, I take the stairs two at a time.

I knock again, but unlike last time, I'm not quite so forceful. I need her to believe that I'm just a delivery guy with dinner.

"At last, that took… oh, fuck. No, no, no," she chants as I jamb my foot in the door at exactly the moment she realizes it's me.

"It seems I owe you dinner, and look what I have here," I say, lifting the bag of what smells suspiciously like Chinese.

"No. You're not welcome in here." She stands tall in front of me, which in itself is amusing because she can't be more than five foot four to my six foot two. She squares her shoulders and sets her jaw ready for a fight.

"We can either do this here for all the neighbors to hear, or we can do it in there. The choice is yours, doll." It's the term I used in our messages, and I like to think her cheeks flushed just like they are now every time she read it.

She holds her ground for a few seconds before eventually conceding and stepping back, allowing me to enter.

The apartment itself is incredible. It's obvious the building's been converted from its previous use, and whoever's completed the work has done a great job at keeping some of the original features.

The moment she takes a step in front of me though, all thoughts of the building we're currently inside leave my mind as my eyes lock onto her ass, swaying as she walks. It seems I lucked out with this one. If she's even half the person she came across as on the internet, I may have found exactly what I was looking for without too much effort… especially with that banging body.

"You're not staying," she states, turning on me. Her eyes are still hard, her shoulders pulled tight.

She looks fucking hot.

My heart rate increases just looking at her, all pent up and ready to fight.

"Aww, come on, doll. There's too much in here for you to eat alone." She glances down at the bag of food that's still in my hand before looking back to the door.

When she opens her mouth, I'm convinced she'll be sending me on my way, but much to my surprise, it's the opposite.

"Fine. But only because if you leave that here then there's a good chance I'll eat everything."

"And we wouldn't want to ruin those curves now, would we?" I take a step towards her, allowing my eyes to drop down her body. She's wearing a pair of fitted sweatpants and a loose cut-off sweatshirt, showing off a hint of her stomach and the incredible curve of her waist.

She sucks in a breath as I get closer, and it tells me everything I need to know. She feels this crazy thing between us just like I do.

"Am I interrupting a yoga class or something?" I say, looking back at her outfit.

"Um… no. Just a long day and I needed to be comfortable." At no point does she meet my eyes, and it pisses me off.

Reaching out, I touch my finger gently to her chin and tilt her face towards mine.

"I'm sorry. I'm really fucking sorry. I…"

"I don't want to hear it. Let's eat, and then you can leave, knowing that you helped me out by not allowing me to eat my feelings. That's all this is. I don't care why you did what you did, or why you turned up here. But nothing is going to happen." Her eyes hold mine before narrowing as if she's trying to make me believe her.

"Okay, fine. Fine," I say putting my hands up in surrender. My voice is totally insincere, and if she believes it then she might not be as intelligent as I think she is.

She takes the bag from my hand before rounding the kitchen island and lifting her glass of wine to her lips. She swallows an insanely large amount before turning and getting out some plates. I smile to myself. I'm totally getting to her right now.

"Drink?" she asks politely.

"Sure. Whatever you've got will be great."

I help carry everything to the table and laugh when she sets herself down with a fresh glass of wine and me a glass of water.

"Wow, thanks."

"Trust me, it's more than you deserve."

I can't really argue, so I don't. Instead, I watch her as she pulls the tops off the takeout containers and fills her plate, leaving me to have what's left. I'm not going to complain, it's better than the crap I would have probably gotten for myself tonight. Plus, it's free.

"So…" I say, desperate to break the heavy silence surrounding us. "This place is nice."

"It's not mine." Her voice is cold, and even though I don't really know her, I know it's not her usual tone.

"So Addie lives here alone?"

"Yeah."

I blow out a breath. "I work with Addie," I say, hoping to fill in some blanks she might have.

"Great."

"Bree," I sigh. "Just… give me a chance."

"You had one. You fucked it up."

"I know, but…"

"No. You don't get any buts. You eat up and then leave. If I was interested in hearing you out, then I would have stayed that night."

"I had no idea you'd be here. That you knew Addie," I admit.

"I know. If I thought you were stalking me then you most definitely would not be sitting there right now."

"So you'd get fat to keep a stalker away," I quip.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop trying to be funny. Stop trying to be the person you pretended to be online."

"That's just the thing though, I am…"

"Nope. La la la la. Not listening." Bree pushes her empty plate away, grabs her wine, and stands from the table.

Rushing to join her, I stand and cut off her journey towards the sofa behind me.

"I have every intention of making you."

"James, get out of my way. If that's even really your name," she mutters as I allow her to step around me. It feels so strange that this is only the second time we've met in person, yet I feel like I know her better than many others in my life already. It's unnerving.

"It is. I am James Bonzo. Everything you know about me aside from my picture and my job is true. Everything. The person you got to know is me."

"Not good enough. You still liked. You still tricked me."

"I know, but…" I trail off, expecting her to cut me off again. "Fuck, Bree. What do you want from me? I'm sorry. It was a stupid thing to do but…"

"But what? She shouts, slamming her empty glass down on the coffee table and taking an angry step forward.

"But I can't regret it." Her brows draw together with confusion. "I can't regret it, because I met you." She opens her mouth to argue again, her eyes burning with fire so I know she's not suddenly going to soften, and to be honest, a part of me doesn't want her to. It's almost like a challenge for me to try to put it out. "This is me, Bree." I reach behind my head and pull off my shirt, dropping it to the floor beside my feet so she can see me in all my tattooed glory. Her eyes immediately drop from mine to take in my exposed torso. I have no idea if she's aware of the move or not, but the second she sees me, she sucks her bottom lip into her mouth.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: To clear up any possible confusion, this takes place during Chapter 33 of Where I Belong.