Chapter 13

The next day I spent time at the office answering emails, attending conference calls with the management team for Kessler's Workout Studios and my Body Canvas stores. Two new tattoo stores were scheduled to open in the next six months. One in Florida and one in Georgia. There were a lot of details that needed my attention.

By the time those were done, I drew up a passionflower design, transferred it to carbon paper, and walked downstairs into Body Canvas. I should have asked one of my associates to ink me, but I wanted to tattoo the flower on myself. It was important to me that I embedded a symbol of Eva onto me—into me.

After cleaning my skin and applying a layer of petroleum jelly onto my bicep, I placed on the carbon paper and grabbed the tattoo machine. With a mirror, I transformed myself. Three hours later, four passionflowers surrounded the dark rose, taking the cardinal positions of the north, south, east, and west on a compass. I could've covered up the rose and its thorny stem, but I didn't want to. The darkness the rose carried no longer bothered me. Now it was just an image on my skin with no attachment. The passionflowers held power over the rose—over all the art on my body.

I couldn't wait to show it to her. What would she think?

I added ointment and a bandage over the tats and returned to my office to continue working. Working late had been my life for a long time. I didn't have a reason to stop, but I did now. Eva's face popped into my mind's eye.

She loved me. A goofy smile slid onto my face as I leaned back in my chair, swiveling back and forth like some teenage boy getting the girl of his dream.

Every time she spoke about her floral arrangements for customers, her face beamed with pride and passion. I glanced at the thriving plants I'd gotten from her shop. She loved her work, and it showed.

When she told me about an opportunity to take over Happy Flowers, I knew I had to help her. If I didn't help the woman I love achieve her dreams, what was the point of having money?

I'd never believed in love at first sight. It used to be some mushy thing I made fun of whenever I saw a promotion for a romance movie. How can this be real? How can he fall for her when he doesn't even know her?

Those had been my questions. But I was the prime example that love at first sight existed. When I first saw her, a powerful energy slammed into my gut, making my heart vibrate. A strange sensation stirred in me. For a moment time froze entirely. In that moment I didn't know it was love. The sensation was unfamiliar to me, but I was curious about how I had reacted to her. As time went by, the sensations only intensified, and now I couldn't live without her.

My phone buzzed, showing a text from Godfrey.

Godfrey: Sent you some documents. Send them to your detective friend if it's helpful. Busy for the next few days, talk soon.

Kain: Thanks, man.

I opened the file and glanced at the crime scene images. Five bodies had been discovered in the last six months around the New England area. Some were in the news, and some weren't. They all had the same MO. Death with their hands tied in a praying position holding a stem of the bleeding heart flower.

I sent it to Sean, asking him to meet me when he was available to go over this case. Who was this Bleeding Heart Killer? Many criminals venerated famous serial killers. Could he be one of them?

Sean replied saying he could stop by my office this Friday, which was in three days. An uncomfortable feeling slithered in my gut, signifying that something awful was just around the corner.