Page 104 of The Devil's Revelation
I pause. I don’t need to be a genius to know that I’m stepping myself into some shit. “We’ll be fine,” I promise her. I kiss her again. “See you later.” Then I make my escape. She and the rest of the damn coven are the guys’ problem now.
By the time I get to the shop, I’m later than I planned, and I’m surprised to see Zeb already waiting for me. Timber and Titan smirk at me when I walk through the door. “You’re looking well rested, Torque,” Timber remarks. “You and Izzy have a fun night?”
I glare at them, while Zeb scowls. “Fuck off and get to work,” I order them. I look at Zeb. “I promised Izzy that we wouldn’t beat each other’s asses, so how about we move right along?”
Zeb nods. “Probably for the best.” He glances around the showroom and waiting area. “You got a nice spot here.”
“You almost sound surprised,” I say drily, leaning against the counter.
He shrugs. “It’s not my shop, but it’s not terrible. There’s probably a few things you could do to make it a showpiece but I got the feeling that’s not what you’re after.”
“Don’t give a shit about the dog and pony show. I just want to work on cars and keep the business going,” I shrug.
Zeb nods. “You got an office where we can talk business?”
I eye him for a moment. “This the kind of business that I’m going to like?”
He smirks. “It’s the kind of business that could make you a hell of a lot of money,” he returns. “And make it so that I can see my girl more often.”
Curious, I nod and lead him down to my office. We both sit and I lean forward on the desk. “So what’s the deal?” I ask, cutting to the chase.
He leans forward too and holds my gaze as he answers. “I do some motorcycle work at my shop, but it’s not my bread and butter. I’d rather refer to another shop I trust, or ship a bike to another shop, have it worked on, and sent back. I’m thinking that since you have a reputation for doing damn good work on bikes, we can make it mutually beneficial. You’ll be helping me out, you get paid for doing the work, plus a commission, and we’re both happy.”
It certainly is intriguing. I sit back and regard him cautiously. “You work with other clubs or are these just people who like to ride?”
“Some are clubs. Most are people who like to ride.”
“We won’t touch another club’s bike unless we know it won’t come back on us,” I warn him. “If it’s an enemy, it’ll be a definite no.”
Zeb nods. “I’ve been around enough bikers to know not to get into the middle of any feuds. If we agree then I can promise to send you a list of the clubs we deal with, and you can let me know which ones are a no go. For those we’ll arrange something else. The others, we’ll send down your way, either by them if you all are okay with it, or ship the bike itself.”
It’s very tempting. I love working on bikes, and we definitely have a reputation for it. “I can’t give you an answer today. This needs to be run by the club.”
He nods. “Figured. I’ll have my lawyers draw up a contract, have yours look it over, get the okay from the club, and let me know.”
“Are you just offering this because I’m seeing Izzy?” I ask curiously.
He shrugs. “Partly, but I also checked into you. Your reputation is solid, you do good business, and from what I can tell, most everyone loves your work. Anyone who complained online about you obviously didn’t know shit about how things work, so I don’t really pay attention to those. If you were a prick and did shit work, then I wouldn’t have even given you a second thought. I’d have also worked harder to convince Izzy to come back home.”
“You know I never plan on letting that happen right?” I hold up my hand to stop him when his eyes go dark and stormy. “Sorry, poor word choice. What I mean is, I plan on making her very happy, and making her realize that being here is where she wants to be. I like the idea of coming in with her to work every day. She’s still got shit to learn, but so does everyone with all the technology they’re putting in cars now. She only worked here for a half a day and the guys all said she knows her shit. Only had to ask where parts were. Even if she didn’t, I can still work with that and help her develop her skills. You obviously taught her well.”
“She’s damn smart,” Zeb says proudly. “Even from the start I could see that. She fucked up, she took me yelling at her, listened, and worked to correct her mistake. I don’t treat any of my mechanics differently because they’re female or male. They fuck up, I ream their asses. With her, I thought for sure she would cry and bitch me out, but instead she nodded, took it to heart and got back to work. Knew then she was going to do just fine.” He gives me a hard look. “But if I hear about you yelling at her and making her cry, I’ll stick my foot so far up your ass you’ll be walking bow-legged.”
“And I’ll let you,” I assure him. “Not going to say I won’t yell at her, but she’ll yell back. She’s done it before and I honestly prefer it. If we can’t get that shit out, then we can’t fix it.”
Zeb nods. “I don’t know much about relationships, but I won’t stand in your way. Especially not if it means that I’m getting some bike work out of the deal and I get to come down and harass you whenever I feel like it,” he adds with a sly grin.
I roll my eyes. “You make it sound like a threat. You have no idea what kind of life we live at the clubhouse, man. You can threaten me all you like, but the girls have got you beat.”
Zeb snickers. “You definitely seem like you have your hands full with your mother.”
“You have no idea,” I groan. “Izzy’s with them today and I’m not gonna lie, I’m glad I’m here and not there. Those girls can get into some crazy shit.”
“Then how about you show me around and then we can head over there so I can see my girl before I leave tomorrow.”
I nod. “I can do that. Just make sure you can keep up,” I joke. “Don’t want to overwhelm you and have you cryin’ to Izzy that I was mean to you.”
He flips me off as I stand up and laugh.
