Hard to Be Good (Hard Ink #3.5) Read Online Free Page A

couple of years, they’d also become good friends. And something was very definitely not okay. “What’s going on?” Jeremy asked, looking from Ike to Jess. “Why are you here?” he asked Jess. He’d closed his shop to keep his employees and customers safe, so the last thing he expected was to see her back here.
    She tucked her wavy black hair behind one ear, which highlighted one of the bright red streaks that ran through it, and looked to Ike.
    “Someone broke into Jess’s house last night,” Ike said. “Ransacked the place.”
    Jesus. Would the madness never stop? “Are you okay?” Jeremy asked as Nick stepped beside him.
    She blew out a breath and nodded. “I hid in a crawl space at the back of my bedroom closet until they left, and then I called Ike.” Her brown eyes cut to Jeremy. “I knew you guys were shut in over here after what happened yesterday.”
    Nick nodded. “Did they take anything?”
    Ike nailed Nick with a cold stare. “Only her computer.”
    “This makes no sense,” Jeremy said, guilt flooding his gut for a whole new reason.
    “Unless someone knows she works for you,” Nick said. “And thought she might know something about me and the team.”
    “That’s why I brought her here,” Ike said. “They didn’t steal enough to make it feel like a run-of-the-mill robbery, and the way they tossed the place seemed like they were looking for something.”
    Jess hugged herself, the position highlighting the colorful ink that ran up her arms—a lot of which Jeremy and Ike had done themselves. “But that’s just it. I don’t know anything. Hell, I didn’t even know what all of you were doing here until Jeremy told me a few days ago.”
    Yeah, and that conversation hadn’t gone great. He and Nick had lied to Jess initially, which Jeremy had hated. They’d thought she’d be safer if she remained in the dark regarding the team’s investigation and enemies. In hindsight, Jeremy should’ve known better. Jess had made it crystal clear what she thought of their secrecy.
    “Did you see the people who broke in? Did they say anything?” Nick asked.
    “I didn’t see anyone,” Jess said, “but when they searched my closet, one of them said they needed me, whatever that means.”
    Becca came up beside Nick, and Jeremy was glad for the millionth time that they’d found each other in the midst of all this chaos. Because Becca was awesome and so damn good for his brother. “This feels like what happened to my and Charlie’s places all over again. Someone looking for us and information they thought we had.”
    “I was thinking the same thing,” Charlie said in a quiet voice from his seat at the desk.
    “Shit,” Nick bit out. “Yeah.”
    “Goddamnit,” Ike said in a tone close to a growl. He scrubbed his hands over his bald head.
    Jess’s bottom lip quivered. “What now?”
    Jeremy hadn’t seen Jess this rattled in years, not since her dad had died within a few months of her starting at Hard Ink, and he couldn’t hold back wanting to make her feel better for even one more second. He pulled her into his arms and petted his hand against her silky hair. She was so short that her head just touched the bottom of his chin. “For now, you stay here. I’ll help you put your place back together when all this is over. Okay?”
    A quick nod. “Thanks.”
    “Don’t mention it, Jess.” Her muscles trembled within Jeremy’s embrace, and it was clear she was trying with all her might to hold back her emotion. But after having her house broken into and tossed in the middle of the night, who would blame her for falling apart? No one here, that was for sure. Jeremy looked toward Ike. “Thanks for being there for her, man.”
    His face still set in a deep scowl, the guy gave a single tight nod. Jeremy wasn’t surprised at how angry Ike seemed. He’d always been protective of Jess.
    “I’m sorry you got sucked into this mess,” Nick said, bending down to peer in her eyes.
    “Thanks,”