Page 6 of The Devil's Revelation
King, Stone, and I share a glance, before I nod and reply, “I’ll keep that in mind, Prospect.” Carson nods and heads back down the bar.
“That helps in the short term, but you definitely need one more person,” Stone says.
“And if he wasn’t such an idiot he wouldn’t have to worry about it right now,” Mom says as she comes to stand between us.
I glare at her. “I apologized, what more do you want from me?” I ask in frustration.
“You know, I expected something like that out of this one,” Mom says with a thumb towards King, “but you’ve always been level-headed and don’t run your mouth. To know that you said something like that to a woman you only just met, because you thought she was too pretty to be doing a job that most would consider men’s work, saddens me. You rarely do it, Torque, but you certainly disappointed me this time.” Then without another word, she turns and walks away and into the kitchen.
Well if I didn’t feel low before, I do now. Fuck. The last thing I ever want to do is disappoint my mother. She might be a wild and reckless pain in my ass sometimes, but she is the best woman I know. I also know that there are few things that disappoint her.
My father comes to stand with us and says calmly, “Son, you and I both know that being men we think without speaking at times. This time, it’s coming back to bite you in the ass, big time. Your mother took a shine to the girl, even after only a few minutes, and I have the feeling that she talked you up to her to make her feel at ease to come and apply at the shop. As far as I’m concerned, it’s done and over with, because you can’t fix shit in the past, but you best be figuring out how to get back on your mother’s good side.”
“Fuck,” I hiss between clenched teeth. I slam down my beer, stand, and head for the kitchen. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me as I enter, but I ignore them. Mom is leaning against the large island in the middle of the room, arms crossed over her chest, and watches me expectantly. “I’m sorry, Mom,” I say tiredly. “I really am. I was a dick, and I will do whatever you want so you’ll stop being pissed at me.”
“I taught you better than that, Harley,” she says mildly.
I flinch at the use of my legal name. “I know, and I promise it will never happen again.” I hold her gaze, letting her see my sincerity.
Finally, after a moment she nods. “I believe you, baby.” She holds out her arms to me and I walk into them, hugging her tight. I don’t give a shit how old I get, I will never get tired of hugging my mother. There’s something comforting about it, and I don’t give a shit if people think I’m a Mama’s Boy. I’ll wear it with pride as long as I don’t ever have my mother disappointed in me again.
When I start to pull away, I yelp when she pinches me hard on the arm. “Ouch! What the hell, Mom?” I demand, scowling.
“Be glad I didn’t have your father kick your ass,” she answers mildly. “Now, what are we going to do to convince Izzy that she needs to come work at the shop?”
“I really don’t know, Mom. Short of asking her again or offering her more money, she doesn’t strike me as the kind to just leave another job for no reason.”
Mom huffs. “You should send her some flowers or something, try and woo her back.”
I shake my head. “Mom, you need to understand that if she does come and work at the shop I will never date her, right? She’d be an employee, so that would be wildly inappropriate.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll think of something. In the meantime, figure out where she is and we’ll see what we can do.”
“We?”
“You really didn’t think I was going to leave the girls out of this, did you?”
“Is it too much to hope you would?” I ask drily.
Mom snorts. “In your dreams, son. Now, you just focus on the business side and leave everything else to us.”
“I’m telling Shadow to up the bail money collection,” I call after her as she walks out of the kitchen. I laugh when she gives me the finger over her head.
Instead of heading back into the main room, I head up the stairs to my room. It’s not much, just a queen-sized bed, small desk, and a closet with a small dresser that I put in there to hold a few loose items. Thankfully it has its own bathroom, so I lock the door and head for the shower. I need to clear my head after this fuck up of a day.
As the hot water beats over me, I try and figure out what I’m going to do about Izzy. Mom’s not going to be happy until we lure her back to the shop, but I know that it’s possible that it may never happen. I may have just burned a bridge, and it’s no less than I deserve.
