Page 125 of Sincerely, Butterfly

“Actually, you might know them. They have a lot of tattoos.”

He snorts. “There are hundreds of tattoo artists in New Orleans. That means nothing.” He brushes off, refocusing on my tattoo.

“But how many of them work with the Brotherhood?” Callie asks.

That causes him to pause again. “Christ,” he hisses, wide eyes flicking between Callie and me. “Don’t tell me your brother works for them?”

“For them?” I snort. “No. They are them. The leaders, I mean.”

I never realized someone so heavily tattooed could look so pale.

“Callie?” he says slowly. “Fucking hell, as in Calliope Jones?”

“Oh, so you’ve heard of me.” Callie brightens up. “This is exciting.”

“Fuck.” He closes his eyes, tilting his head back before looking at me. “This isn’t going to get me killed, is it?”

“Only if you don’t finish the tattoo.” I give him my sweetest smile.

“Guess I'd better give you the best damn tattoo of your life then,” he mutters.

“If you don’t mind, that would be wonderful,” I giggle.

Two hours later, I’m done. “Alright, what do you think?” Gerard asks, whipping the blood and ink from the tattoo.

Getting to my feet, I walk over to the mirror, eyes immediately going to inspect the tattoo. “I love it,” I breathe, a delighted smile forming on my face. “It’s perfect.”

“Glad you think so. I’m going to put on some second skin so it helps heal faster. With this being a blood tattoo, the less exposure the better.” He puts the covering over my tattoo. “Because you said the blood came from someone who was on some kind of psychedelic, you might experience some side effects. But as long as the body doesn’t reject the tattoo and no infection forms, then you should be fine.”

“Thank you for making time for me tonight.” I grab my purse, pulling out ten one-hundred-dollar bills and handing them over to him. “For you.”

“No. This one is on the house.” He shakes his head.

“I didn’t mention who we were to get favors,” I tell him. “I can pay for the service. Take it. Please.”

“If you're sure,” he hesitates.

“You used your time and talents and earned it. So… yes.”

“Thank you.” He nods. “If you need any more tattoos, come see me.”

“You got it.” I grin.

“And you.” He turns to Callie. “I’m not touching you with my gun unless I hear from your brother himself—in person—that you're allowed.”

Callie’s eyes widen as she gapes at him. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. I’d like to keep my life, thanks.” Gerard starts to clean up his station.

“So, you’ll tattoo my brother's girlfriend, but not me? How is that fair?”

Gerard whips around so fast he almost knocks over his tray. “His what?!” he practically screams.

“Gotta go!” I grab Callie by the hand and tug her out of the shop. “Dude!” I hiss when we’re back in my Jeep. “You can’t go around telling people they’re my boyfriends when they themselves aren't aware of it yet! What if he tells them? I’m going to look so stupid,” I groan.

“Relax,” she laughs. “That man isn’t saying shit-all to my brothers. Did you see the look of horror on his face? I almost feel bad.”

“Yeah,” I huff out a laugh. “It was pretty funny.”