“I want to see them too,” Nova muttered, grabbing my hand when I took a step in the direction Mila indicated.
I lifted her hand to my lips, kissing her knuckles before following the sound of Lyric humming along to the background music. When we reached the door to his workstation, I knocked with my free hand. The big man’s head lifted, a smile breaking across his face when he spotted us. “Just in time.”
Standing, he waved us over. “This was probably the easiest piece I’ve ever done, seeing as I only had to trace Nova’s signature.”
Nova’s signature was just as beautiful as she was, the tiny letters in perfect cursive from a note she’d left hidden under my pillow after she’d stayed with me the night of New Year’s Eve. I’d scanned and cropped the note, emailing only her name to Mila for Lyric to turn into my first tattoo. It was going around the ring finger on my left hand, marking me as Nova’s for eternity.
“Nova, I was waiting to measure your finger so I could get the letter size right for yours,” Lyric told her as he pulled out a thin tape measure.
“My finger?” she murmured, sounding dazed. “But…what if I want it bigger?”
“Ryan said ring fingers,” he said. “But this is your skin, honey. You tell me what you want and where.”
“I want his name here.” She held out her left wrist. “My fingers are too small to do the ink justice. No one will see it. And I know Ryan. He’s going to want everyone to see it.”
She wasn’t wrong, but I hadn’t wanted to push her into something larger. Having never gotten ink before, I wasn’t sure how uncomfortable it would be, and I didn’t want her to be in pain even if it was to brand my name onto her body. But if that was what she wanted, she would get it.
I hugged her from behind, kissing her neck. “Whatever you want, my heart, it is yours.”
“It’s your signature?” she asked, glancing up at me over her shoulder.
“Yes. Just as my tattoo is yours.”
She melted against me. “I love this. It’s perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” I breathed, lowering my head to kiss her long and deep.
“Give me a few minutes to get this printed, and we can get started.” Lyric pulled our attention back to him, reminding me that we weren’t alone. Slowly, I lifted my head and looked at him. “Ryan, you’re first?”
“I can go first,” Nova offered.
“No,” I argued. “I’ll go first, to show you it doesn’t hurt.”
She shook her head at me, a smile teasing at her lips. “Okay, you go first.” But the smile dropped, and she glared at me. “This doesn’t mean you get out of wearing a ring when we get married, mister. I expect you to wear a band and never take it off.”
“What did I just say, Nova?” I touched my lips to her forehead. “Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
34
Nova
Whoever said the sting of getting a tattoo was the worst part was a lying jerkface. I’d barely felt the needle as Lyric had inked Ryan’s name across my wrist. It was the itching that was the worst part of the whole experience. The need to scratch, but knowing I couldn’t because it would ruin the beautiful artwork on my skin.
It was worse than chicken pox, something that had been pure agony for both Garret and me when we’d had them at the same time. I was thinking of gnawing off my wrist just to get relief. My favorite part of the day was each time I slathered lotion over the area, adding a few extra layers just so I could rub it a little longer. It was a near-orgasmic experience, soothing an itch that literally couldn’t be scratched.
If Ryan was having the same experience, I wouldn’t know. Since we’d gotten to New York, I hadn’t seen him once. It had been nine days, and other than a few texts to let me know he was still breathing and missed me, I’d seen no other signs of him. Something work related had caused Garret to leave Creswell Springs early, but I hadn’t seen my brother either, so I couldn’t exactly ask any questions.
I understood that work could make Ryan busy, but this not seeing each other was not going to fly with me.
Since returning to New York, I’d been staying at the mansion in my old room. Meanwhile, Ryan was at his apartment with my brother. If I lived with them, then I knew I would see my boyfriend for at least a few minutes of the day, and that was all I really wanted. Maybe a kiss before he left for work, to cuddle before falling asleep.
Something, damn it.
Grumbling unhappily to myself, I grabbed my purse and stomped downstairs. As I passed Anya, her eyes widened at the sour look on my face. “I see it’s a duck and cover kind of day,” she murmured with a teasing smile. “Shall I get the tarp ready in case you need to move a body?”
“I doubt you would help me move your son’s body,” I told her as I continued toward the front door.
“You would be right. But I’ll still get the tarp out. I won’t help, but I can make it more convenient for you to get the supplies you need, l’vitsa.” She gave me a little finger wave when I glared at her over my shoulder. “Send Ryan my love.”
Outside, the SUV that Ryan had said was mine when we touched down at the airport was already waiting. Pietro was by the back door, ready to open it for me, a driver behind the wheel. “Where is he?” I asked my guard as I approached.
“I am unaware of his location, Miss Nova,” Pietro informed me. “My only priority now is your safety.”
Since Ryan had yet to get the cameras installed that he’d promised he would so I could watch him whenever I wanted, I didn’t know where he was either. “Let’s start with the office first,” I muttered. “If he’s not there, I’ll make him come to me.”
I’d already texted him twice that morning, and both had gone unread. Whatever was going on, that didn’t make it okay for him to ignore me. Nothing was that important.
At least, it hadn’t been in the past.
I still had no reply to my texts by the time the driver pulled up in front of Ryan’s office building. Pietro jumped out of the front passenger seat and opened my door. As I stepped out, the guard unbuttoned his suit jacket, sticking one hand inside, touching his gun as his gaze shifted around us, taking everything in while we entered the building.
With Pietro at my side, we easily bypassed security and went straight to the bank of elevators. My guard swiped a card, unlocking the executive elevator that bypassed the other floors and took us straight to Ryan’s floor. As the doors slid open, I saw a well-dressed man sitting behind a desk in front of Ryan’s office.
“Eduard,” Pietro greeted with a chin lift.
The personal assistant’s eyes barely lifted from the screen of his computer as he typed, sparing Pietro only a minuscule glance before returning his focus to the task at hand. “Mr. Vitucci is currently unavailable.”
I huffed. “Does that mean he’s in a meeting, or that he isn’t in the building?”
I didn’t get a response, and that only pissed me off. As big as Pietro was, and as small as I was in comparison, I was hidden from the other man’s view, but my voice was anything but tiny. Gritting my teeth, I walked past the desk and opened the office door. The lights were off, and I was quick to switch them on. But the place was as meticulously neat as always, which didn’t tell me anything.