Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,126

of his words because there was definitely a reason why he asked.

And then, the rest of my brothers turned to look at me, each of them giving me their attention.

"What is it?"

Half expecting for them to give me more shit over my mom or Indy, when Storm asked, "We need you to build something else for the club, Cruz."

I leaped at the chance to help my brothers.

I could just never have imagined what that 'something' would be.

Twenty-Four

Indy

I hated the cops in Verona. What I'd give to be dealing with the sheriff's department in West Orange, because at least they were on the Sinners' payroll. But Verona PD were a bunch of stuck up asses who, as expected, and which would probably work to my benefit in the long run, dismissed my 'missing persons' case.

They promised to file a report, especially as David had been missing for so long, but their disinterest was clear. If I'd actually cared about my ex-stalker's whereabouts, I'd have been pretty fucking devastated by their cavalier treatment.

Not that I should have expected anymore from the guys who made donut runs look like a professional sport.

Huffing at the thought, I stalked out of the small building which was probably as small as their dicks, and was a tad aggressive when I answered my phone, "What?"

I winced because that was more of a snarl than I'd been aiming for...

"Is that Indiana Sisson?"

"Yes, this is she."

"I'm so glad I managed to get through to you. I've been trying this past week but it's been hard—"

"I'm sorry about that. I've had a lot of personal issues. My family home just burned down."

Understatement.

"Wow, I'm so sorry!" the woman repeated, and it came as no surprise that she sounded more embarrassed than sincere.

"Yeah, it's been hard. Anyway," I asked, after I cleared my throat. "Is there something I can do for you, Miss...?"

"My name's Aly. I work with City Ink, the TV show?"

Eyes widening, I tucked the phone into my shoulder and started rustling through my purse for my drawing pad and pencil.

It wasn't the first time I'd been approached to go on TV, and each time, it had worked wonders for the parlor I was attached to.

This was the first time it had happened, though, since I'd opened Indiana Ink.

"I love that show," I told Aly. "You do great things to showcase the art."

"Thanks. My husband is the executive producer, so it's his baby."

If my eyes were wide before, they pretty much started to bug out of the sockets. "Jesus. You're Trade's wife?"

Aly laughed. "You really are a fan."

"More of his work than the show," I admitted.

"So, you wouldn't be interested in being featured?" Aly teased.

"Hell, yes, I would, but will I get to meet Trade too?"

"Yeah, you will," she said around a chuckle. "That's great you're interested."

"Let me guess, this is about Steeler's back piece?"

"It sure is. He submitted the photos himself. It's a pretty fantastic work of art, Indiana."

"Thanks. You know when you finish a piece and just get chills? That one did that for me."

"I can see why. Those chills were earned.

"So, this is a preliminary call, but if you're interested and have a lawyer we could send over the contract to, you can see what the feature entails and if you're interested, you can come into the studio and get a feel for what will go down."

"That sounds great to me." Without a second's thought, I gave her Rachel's info, and as she made a note, I murmured, "Just so you know, she's family too, so I'll make sure she watches out for the contract but we're all still trying to piece everything together after the fire."

"I totally understand. Normally we have a two-week time limit, but I'm not going to lie to you, Indy, Trade wants you on the show. So, I'll up the time frame to four weeks, okay?"

"Wow, I really appreciate that," I replied, taken aback by the offer. "Thank you so much."

"Thank you for inspiring my husband. He's been at the drawing board ever since we got the latest set of submissions sent over to us by the studio." I could hear the smile in her voice. "I'll be in touch, and you can tell your attorney to expect an email today or tomorrow, okay?"

"I'll tell her. Thanks so much for calling!"

"No problem. Can't wait to hear from you."

As the call ended, with my heart beating a thousand rounds a second, I knew it was lame, but the only person I wanted to