Page 139 of Deacon

Blue and I both looked up. Ink sat back from her wrist and checked the line for one beat before turning toward the open doorway. His voice cut through the shop.

Ink looked toward the doorway and called, “Deacon.”

My spine went rigid before I could hide it. So much for privacy.

Blue blinked. “What are you calling him in here for?”

I stared at Ink while realization arrived one ugly piece at a time. He hadn’t been absorbed in Blue’s tattoo. He’d been listening to every damn word.

Big ole Judas.

Jackson appeared in the doorway a second later with irritation already riding his face. “Yeah, what’s up? I got a client in my chair.”

Ink tipped his chin toward us. “I think these two have something they need to tell you. Your woman especially.”

My mouth dropped open. “Your woman? I am not his anything other than the mother of his child, and I do not answer to him like I’m a child.”

Ink met my anger with the same flat look he used when he had already decided he was right. Beside me, Blue leaned closer and muttered, “You better just tell him. We probably should’ve had this conversation at work or at your apartment. They will always snitch on us to each other.”

Traitor.

Jackson looked between us, irritation sharpening into suspicion. “What the hell is goin’ on?”

Ink never took his eyes off me. “You gonna tell him you got a stalker, or am I?”

Everything inside me froze.

Jackson’s whole body changed. “You have a motherfuckin’ what?”

Before I could answer, Ink kept going, because apparently betrayal really was his cardio. “They were just discussin’ it in here like it was business as usual,” he said. “Some guy named Jude. Been showin’ up places she goes even though he lives and works in Wicker Falls. Clearly creepin’ her out, and she isn’t payin’ attention to that instinct and taking it seriously.”

Jackson turned on me so fast I almost stepped back.

“Jude?” he said. “Creepy little Jude that used to follow you home from school? Whose mama used to beg your mama to let him come over for Sunday dinners after church because he was lonely? And then he’d sit there makin’ googly eyes at you the whole damn dinner?”

I rolled my eyes, mostly because the alternative was admitting how much of that I had tried to forget. “Yes, that Jude. I don’t know any other Judes. Do you?”

Jackson’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t sass me right now, woman. What is this that he is just showin’ up places that you happen to be at?”

Blue’s mouth twitched. Ink looked far too satisfied with himself.

I folded my arms. “It really could be coincidence. A couple weeks ago I ran into him at the grocery store. He said he was there shopping because he has a new girlfriend in the area and was making dinner at her house.” Jackson’s face stayed unreadable, which somehow felt worse. “Then yesterday I was having coffee with an associate.”

Ink cut in immediately. “A guy. Some doctor Reid.”

I swung my glare toward him. “Would you like to die?”

His expression didn’t change. “Depends,” he said. “You tellin’ the story or not?”

Jackson’s attention darkened. “You were havin’ coffee with who?”

I pointed at him. “You do not get to do that right now. That is not the important part of this story.”

His jaw flexed, but I kept going before he could drag Mason into a conversation that already had enough problems.

“Jude showed up at the coffee shop,” I said. “He said he was looking at houses. Said if he found one he liked, he might buy it and transfer here so he could take good care of his woman the way she deserves.” I shook my head. “It was weird. And creepy.”

Jackson’s stare stayed fixed on me. “What does he do for work?”