Page 5 of The Devil's Revelation
THREE
TORQUE
If I didn’t feel low before, I do now.
The clubhouse is full and already starting to get a little rowdy by the time I pull up. This afternoon was an absolute shit show with people showing up wanting appointments and others that were scheduled but needing their vehicles done by a certain time. If today wasn’t a stark reminder of why we need another person, then I don’t know what is.
Which of course, makes the guilt in my gut stir again. Damn it, I need to let the whole Izzy thing go or I’m going to do something stupid. Like go beg her to come work for us. I don’t beg anyone for anything, so the thought puts a bitter taste in my mouth.
I definitely need a beer and to go to bed. My brain is telling me it’s more than ready to clock out if these are the thoughts going through it right now.
Walking inside, I see most of the brothers are in groups talking and laughing, drinking their liquor, while a few are playing pool or throwing darts in the other corner. The club girls are moving around the room, with barely anything on, and completely ignoring the table towards the back with three women sitting around it. A table that I’m going to avoid at all costs if I can.
I head for the bar, nodding at the new prospect, Carson, for a beer. He hands one to me without a word, popping the top, before he moves back down the bar to clean some glasses. After what happened with the last prospect, I’m not sure bringing in more was a good idea, but that’s the way of a club, and we need a few more. I’ll be watching them closely, but so far Carson seems to be a stand up kid.
I’d put him barely past eighteen, with short brown hair, and a baby face with dark eyes. He watches and listens, but he doesn’t seem so interested that it raises any alarms. He’s never uttered an ounce of complaint, and makes himself available at all times. He’s either going to be a stand up kid, or he’s up to something, and I’ll be figuring out what it is before long.
“So what’s this I hear about you being an asshole to a woman and then having to go apologize with your tail between your legs?” King asks casually as he sidles up and leans against the bar beside me.
I scowl. “How’d you hear about that?”
“How do you think?” he laughs with a jerk of head towards the table where Mom, Sage, and Syn are sitting. All three are glaring at me.Just great. “Brother, you really need to get out more if you think you can say that shit. Did you really tell her you thought Mom sent her to fix you two up?”
“It’s not like hasn’t happened before,” I defend. “Hell, Mom sent that girl, Katie or Kendra or whatever to the shop because she thought we would hit it off. Now that you’re all shacked up with the dick breaker over there, Mom wants the rest of us to be too.”
King smirks. “Of course she does. Crazy and Mom are like two peas in a pod and want to add to their witches coven.”
“Bite me, King,” Sage calls out, obviously hearing him.
King’s lips pull into a wicked grin. “Anytime, Goddess,” he answers back, giving her a look that makes it clear he already has a few places in mind.
“I really don’t know how the two of you haven’t killed each other yet,” I remark drily. The two of them had a serious hate-on for each other when they first met, and while I like Sage, she’s a bit too wild for me. At five ten, she’s got all kinds of curves, with a thick head of dark hair, but take one look into those amber colored eyes and you’ll see the glint that will have any sane man ducking for cover. Somehow, she and King have decided they love each other and he’s claimed her as his Old Lady, but they still fight and bicker enough that I have to figure the sex is wickedly amazing. That or King has seriously lost his mind.
“Makes it that much more fun,” King drawls, bringing his beer to his lips. “Not to mention the making up never gets old.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re starting to sound like Mom and Dad,” I warn him.
King shrugs, not the least bit concerned. “So what are you doing about this chick?” he asks, changing the subject.
“What the hell am I supposed to do? I apologized, she accepted, but she found another job and is going to be working there.”
“I heard Mom say she has some awesome experience.”
“She has hardly any experience,” I correct. “The thing going for her is that she graduated at the top of the class from one of the best mechanical schools in the country. She also has letters of recommendation from some of the top people in the industry that she worked under for her practical on-hands experience. Which tells me that she impressed some very smart people.”
“Then you must really feel like an idiot for letting her get away,” Stone says as stands beside King, crossing his arms across his chest as he glares at me.
“Look, I know I was stupid, and an ass, but it’s done and over with, so just let it go,” I snap angrily.
“We still need to hire someone for the shop then,” Stone says after a moment, thankfully letting that particular subject drop. “You going to put out an ad?”
“Gonna have to,” I groan, rubbing my temples with my fingers. “We’re so busy that I can barely get the office shit done.”
“I can help at the shop if you need someone, Torque,” Carson suddenly says, moving towards us.
I look at him sharply. “You know something about engines, Prospect?”
He shrugs. “I worked on a few cars every summer with my father. I can’t touch any of the big shit, but I can help with some grunt work if you need someone until you find a licensed guy.”
