Page 167 of Tattooed Love

It was instinct now to reach out for her, so I did, wrapping my arms around her, and she hugged me back. I think I took my first easy breath since she’d left; holding her now. I could breathe easy.

The nerves were gone.

Holding her just felt right.

Everything always became easy when I was with Amber which was why I’d fought so hard, because you don’t get handed the perfect woman and then have being with her as easy as breathing more than once.

She was thinner; there was barely anything of her.

“Thank you,” she whispered in my ear.

She was thanking me for bringing her back? Did that mean she didn’t hate me completely?

“I said I would get you back,” I whispered in her ear and kissed her cheek, and then she stepped out of my grasp.

Pulling away from me with a sad smile on her face.

“Amber?”

She turned and my eyes went to Tae.

“We need to change your phone,” he glanced at us, but looked like he didn’t have any time for us whatsoever.

Which I think shocked the boys.

“Right, sorry Tae,” she said and walked to him, taking the phone he was offering her. “Thank you.” She smiled. She looked really thankful too. It just proved to me again there was competition here.

His phone started ringing and he cursed. “That will be Lee, making demands as usual.”

“He doesn’t demand things,” Amber was still smiling at him. As if they had had this conversation before. “You just don’t want to pick up because you don’t know your schedule this week.”

He arched his eyebrows at her. “You know me too well.”

“Here, give it to me,” she said and put her hand out.

“Like always Amber, this is one of the reasons I love you,” he said, sending a direct punch to my gut... He just said he loved her. I was mortified. Amber said she would never risk her heart again; had she changed her mind over the course of the week? Less than a week.

She rolled her eyes and answered the phone, her heels clicking as she walked off, riddling off details.

All eyes were on Tae and he didn’t seem one bit fazed by that. He looked at all of us, one by one. Summing us up. He was an underworld figure; he knew us, but we weren’t meant to know he was the face of an underworld figure.

He wouldn’t go into business with us, unless he knew every detail about us.

“So, you must be her brothers,” he said, somewhat polite. I think the only reason he was giving them time was because of Amber. “She has told me a lot about you lot. Her stories always seemed to feature one of you.”

So they spent time together. Enough time for her to tell him personal stories. Some business relationship.

I glanced at her back. She had some explaining to do.

I wasn’t letting her date him. Hell, I wasn’t letting her be with anyone apart from me. I was going to get her back. I needed her back. I ripped my eyes off her back, in time to watch the boys introduce themselves and shake hands.

Tae was really making an effort. For a man meant to be as ruthless as me, it looked like we both had it hard for one woman and were willing to do anything to get her.

Amber walked back to us, just as Cole was making conversation with Tae.

“Ok. So your schedule is locked in with Lee.” Amber handed him the phone. “And we are locked in for dinner at six.”

He grinned at her. I sure as fuck didn’t know the man ruthless enough to run TNS to smile or grin, but he did with her.

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