Page 31 of The Devil's Reward
I give a shy smile. “Well, that’s the fun part about being an adult. Ice cream can’t ruin your dinner if ice creamisdinner,” I reason.
He chuckles. “Good point. How about I walk with you, just to make sure you don’t have any more unwanted encounters?”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I rush to tell him. “You guys were obviously heading somewhere and I don’t want to keep you.”
He shakes his head. “Nah, it’s nothing that can’t wait.” He indicates for me to go ahead, and I hesitate for a second before I turn and start walking.
“Don’t you need to wait for your friend?” I ask awkwardly as we make our way down the sidewalk. I look behind me but don’t see any sign of Viper or Frank.
Shadow shakes his head. “He’ll text me when he’s ready to meet up. So you had a crappy day?”
I blink at the abrupt subject change, but decide to go with it. “Yeah. Started out with a client basically telling me I’m worthless and then demanding that I either, uh, give him a blowjob, or leave him the hell alone.”
His expression turns thunderous. “I hope you punched him in the damn face,” he growls, looking down at me.
I shake my head. “I just told him I wouldn’t help him, and that I would refer him to someone else. He left, thankfully without issue.”
“Good. You have security or something to help if someone doesn’t want to leave?”
“Technically, yes,” I say with a wince. His eyes sharpen on me. “The guy the clinic hired is a retired Vet, but he spends more time walking the halls and talking to people than being security. I guess they figure since we don’t deal with people like in the hospital who are suffering from severe PTSD and other things, that we don’t need a security team.”
His scowl deepens. “Unacceptable,” he says fiercely. “Anyone who thinks that doesn’t know a damn thing about Vets. It can be anything that sets you off, even the smallest shit. The normal looking guy can also be the deadliest. I saw it plenty in my time with the Forces.”
“Well, I’ve worked there for five years and we’ve never had a problem.”
“There can always be a first time. You still have my number?” I nod. “Good, you run into a problem, you call me. And if I can’t get there, I know people who can.”
“Thank you, but I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I assure him with a small smile. “So, ah, how are things with you?” I awkwardly ask as we lapse into silence for a couple minutes.
He glances at me. “About the same as every day,” he says with a slight smile. “Running a business and the club take up a lot of my time.”
“What’s that like? Being in the club?” I ask, unable to stop myself from asking the question that’s burning in my mind.
He slows his pace as we round the corner and I can see the ice cream shop up ahead. Shadow stops and looks down at me, his eyes watchful. I flush at his stare, fighting not to look away. “It’s probably the only thing that saved me when I got out,” he tells me, his tone serious. I stare wide-eyed up at him. “You see it yourself, when people get out; some have nothing, and I was one of those people. I had planned on being a career recruit, but life had different plans and threw me a curve ball. When I joined the club, it gave me a purpose again, and I had men who had my back no matter what.”
“Just like in the Forces,” I murmur.
He nods. “Just like in the Forces. That’s not an easy thing to find, but I got lucky.”
“And you think Crypt is going to be lucky too?”
“If he wants to be. It’s all up to him.”
“A good thing to know. And you seem to have some nice women around too,” I add with a shy smile. “They seem like they keep you on your toes.”
“You have no idea,” he sighs. “Trust me, those two on their own are nothing compared to the group as a whole.”
I laugh. “You did call them a coven,” I remind him. “Are they really that bad? They seem so nice.”
He groans. “They already got to you,” he sighs. “Should have figured.”
“What did they do to make you warn me off?” I ask curiously.
“Nope, if I tell you, you’ll want to join them,” he reasons, though his eyes hold a sparkle of humor. Damn, he’s good looking. I just want to stare at him. A man shouldn’t be this attractive.
“Or, it could make me want to run the other way,” I counter.
“Hmmm,” he says thoughtfully. “The better question is, what haven’t they done?”
