Her face hardened. “You can keep Chucky, but Leon is coming with me.”
“Is that so?” I challenged.
“Enough, brother,” Sundance said.
I sighed. He was right, I was intentionally scaring her, and I needed to stop, but I liked that this woman wasn’t backing down. She was scared, but she was still pushing through that fear to stand up to me. “You can take him, but he’s gonna need to make amends.”
“How exactly is he going to do that?” she asked, her expression softening, ever so slightly.
“He’s gonna come work at my shop. I’ve got a pile of junk in the back that needs sorting, and the toilets could use a good scrubbing.”
“What shop?” she asked.
“Potion.”
“Fuck, yeah,” Leo hissed.
She jabbed a finger toward him. “First of all, clean up your language. Second. This is a punishment. Not a reward.”
Leo had the sense to lower his head in contrition, but he did it smiling.
“What kind of auto shop is called Potion?” Indigo asked.
“Tattoo,” I corrected, and Leon groaned, rolling his eyes at her ignorance.
“I suppose your tattoo parlor is downtown, right?” she asked.
“Parlor?” Rocky coughed out.
I smirked. “Shop, but yeah, I’m downtown.”
“I need to do a background check on your par...er...shop first.”
I shrugged. “Have at it.”
“He has to go to school,” she continued. “That’s the priority.”
I nodded. “Yeah, if he misses school, he’ll clean the shitter with a toothbrush.”
Leo’s face scrunched up in horror which made Indigo smile slightly. Jesus, she was pretty.
“If everything checks out, what time do you want him there tomorrow?” she asked.
Leo crossed his arms. “But I have—”
“Shut it, Leon,” she said. “You’re grounded.”
“You can’t ground me, you’re not my mother.”
I didn’t miss the second of hurt that flashed over her face, but she hid it quickly and focused on me again. “Never mind, you can keep him.”
She turned and walked toward her car.
“Fuck,” Leon hissed, and rushed to catch up. “Wait! Indy, I’m sorry.”
Indigo said nothing as she climbed into her car and slammed the door closed. Leon scrambled to climb in beside her as she cranked her engine.
The squeal of the fanbelt was louder than before, and I frowned. Someone really needed to look at that, but I didn’t have a lot of time to ponder that fact as her car limped out of the parking lot and onto the street.
