Page 68 of The Devil's Revelation
THIRTY-THREE
TORQUE
I have never been that scared in my entire life, but it gave me clarity. I want Izzy. Permanently.
“Are you alright?” I ask Izzy worriedly as I hurry into my office. The cops separated us all, and I offered to let them use my office, which they took me up on. A purposeful suggestion on my part, because it made sure that Izzy wasn’t exposed further. I would bet the entire shop the shooter is still lurking, despite the fact that the cops say they don't see any evidence of them still around.
I normally have respect for cops, but these ones are damn crooked. They took their time turning the shop upside down, but they were obviously taking the opportunity to dig up dirt on the club, not looking for the shooter. Hell, not one of them has gone to look at the rooftop of the building across from us, instead saying that the bullet was fired from close range.
Useless assholes. Thankfully Shadow and Viper have already taken a look and found the spent bullet casings. The cops can walk around with their thumbs up their asses for all I care. My brothers and I will figure this shit ourselves and handle it far better than they ever will.
Izzy looks up at me and nods, though her face is still pale. “How’s Carson?” she asks, standing and moving closer to me.
I pull her in, holding her tightly against me. My heart is still pounding at just how close that bullet came to her. “Carson was awake and talking when they loaded him into the ambulance,” I assure her. “They said the shot was clean through so he should be able to get stitched, medicated, and then head home. Stone is heading to the hospital to be with him.”
“Someone should let his family know,” she suggests.
“I don’t think he has much family, but we’ll make sure they do if he does,” I promise. I cup her face and look her over. “What about you? You doing okay?”
“I’m fine, but I’m running on adrenaline. I’ll probably crash soon.”
I nod, leaning down to kiss her; needing that connection to cement she’s okay. She doesn’t fight me, sinking into the kiss and gripping my shirt in her hands. Everything in me settles, and I slowly pull away. “Scared the shit out of me,” I murmur, resting my forehead against hers.
“Me too,” she murmurs back. “I didn’t know what was going on. It was them, wasn’t it?”
I don’t need to ask her who she means. I pull back and nod grimly. “I don’t know for certain, but that’s what we’re figuring. Some of the brothers are looking around to see what they can find.”
Izzy blows out a breath. “God, Torque, this is all my fault. If I just kept my mouth shut…”
“No,” I interrupt firmly. “No, this is not your fault.”
“But Carson…”
“Carson is fine. He’s alive, and he’s going to be back on his feet in no time.”
She doesn’t look convinced by my arguments. “Maybe I should go back to Missouri. Then you won’t have to worry about protecting me and hopefully they won’t shoot at anyone else.”
The idea of her leaving makes my belly clench. “It’s not safe for you to go anywhere, Izzy,” I try to reason. “All you do is bring trouble to the doorstep of wherever you go, and you’ll have no protection. Here, we can make sure you’re safe.”
“So safe that someone was lying in wait outside with a gun,” she points out darkly.
“Then we make sure they don’t have another opportunity to get any kind of aim at you. Any time a car is brought in, you go and wait in the stockroom or the break room, where they have no clear view of you.”
“You make it sound like you still actually want me working here.”
I frown. “Why wouldn’t I?”
She pulls away and throws her hands up in exasperation. “Why do you think, Torque?” she snaps at me. “Because there are people trying to kill me, and me even being here is a danger to you and the customers. How is that even remotely safe?”
“Then we’ll close the shop.”
“And have everyone lose out on pay because of me? No.”
“Izzy, we can figure this out…”
She holds up her hand, stopping me. “It’s not safe for me here, Torque, and I won’t have someone else getting shot on my conscience. I need to stay at the clubhouse, as much as it’s going to pain me. I need to make sure I’m not bringing any more danger than necessary.”
I don’t like the idea of leaving her where I’m not with her. At least here I’d know she was safe. To stall her, I say, “We’re going to be meeting for Church soon. I’ll mention it and we’ll look at all our options, okay?”
