Page 16 of Devil Within

He smiled at her and also headed to the breakroom. At that moment, the phone rang, and for the rest of the morning she worked hard trying to form some sort of order to the chaos in between phone calls and clients coming in. Of which, the majority were men. A few women also came in, but the place was clearly a male-dominated business. She was also surprised by how busy it stayed. Jade finished with Norris and came to pay, holding out his credit card.

By lunchtime, she was surprised at how much she liked The Inkpot. She had found a few delivery menus and took them back to the guys, getting their order and then placing it with a company card she’d found in a metal cash box.

When the sandwiches were delivered, she placed hers on the desk, then brought the rest back to the break room. In the fridge, she saw a variety of cola drinks and grabbed one.

She ate her lunch at her desk, in between answering the phone. For a tattoo parlor, in a remote section of the city, they were awfully busy. In fact, she had no thoughts of leaving, and when it was time to close at midnight, Jade showed her how to write up the day’s total and place it in the safe. Then she slipped on her helmet, straddled the bike behind him, and held on as he drove her home.

Chapter Five

The men piled into church and waited for Saint and Sinn to arrive. Jade drummed his fingers on the table, with his thoughts centered on Shiloh. He wasn’t sure if he liked that she had taken up residence in his head, and he definitely didn’t like that she was distracting his thoughts from the upcoming run he had to do. Although he couldn’t deny there was something about her that set her apart from other women. Maybe it was because she didn’t act like she’d shuck her panties in order to bag a biker. Lots of nice girls wanted to take a walk on the wilder side by fucking a one percenter, but Shiloh kept her distance. Not just physically, but mentally as well. About the closest she allowed was holding onto him while he drove them to and from work.

Why? A river of shadow and pain lingered in the secretive pools of her midnight eyes. The way they shifted to take in everything around her, how she kept her back to the walls, all pointed to abuse. Hell, even the man she wanted to castrate in the alley bared witness to the hate-filled rage bottled up inside her. He’d seen that same pain on Kira, and he hated the speculation it brought.

Apollo strode in, his keen eyes sweeping quickly through the room. Of all the brothers, he was the one who would’ve made a good detective. His eagle-eyed gaze missed nothing.

“Good to see you back, Apollo,” Snow greeted. He held out his hand, and they did one of those handshake-pound-the-back hugs.

“Thanks,” he said.

Saint walked into the room, followed by Sinn, who closed the door behind him. When the VP was seated, Saint banged the gavel and started church.

“Let’s get started.” He glanced around the table. “A couple of weeks ago, Lucifer contacted me about the death of four people who overdosed in Laramie from a substance with the street name Red Dust. He wanted to know if we’ve had anything similar here. I had Apollo investigate, and he unearthed ten deaths here in Cheyenne alone. With those numbers, I sent him to neighboring towns to see if this is widespread. Apollo, can you debrief us?”

“I went north on our trade route, all the way up to Casper, and didn’t find any deaths linked to Red Dust.” He shook his head. “Since Cheyenne has been the largest contributor of the overdosing, followed by Laramie, I believe we’re ground zero.”

“Do we know what psychoactive substances are in Red Dust?” Nero asked. “Do we have a sample I can analyze?”

“I got a sample,” War said as he reached into the inner pocket of his cut and pulled out a baggie. The contents were, indeed, bright scarlet. He tossed the bag across the table to Nero. “Bought it on College Drive from a pusher who seemed to know a lot about it.”

“Then it’s only a matter of time before this blows up with more scrutiny,” Saint stated grimly. “We need to shut this shit down right away.”

Nero held up the bag to the light, studying it. “I’ll start right away.”

Saint nodded. “In the meantime, we have a meeting with Lucifer tonight to discuss our strategy about this. Jade will lead us. Apollo and War will accompany Sinn and me.”

“No traitors this time,” Apollo quipped.

Saint glared at him. “Did you really just say that?”

“Too soon?” Apollo shrugged, not looking the least bit ashamed.

“You know,” Sinn commented blandly. “Pushing buttons is a way for you to gain power or superiority over others by triggering emotional reactions. That’s usually driven by insecurity or low empathy.”

“Oh, yeah,” War said loudly. “That’s Apollo. Nailed it, Sinn.”

“Thank you.” Sinn grinned and looked at his brother. “See? Someone appreciates me.”

Apollo flipped War off.

Saint let out a frustrated sigh, reached for his pack of cigarettes, and stuck an unlit one in his mouth. “I swear, you guys are gonna drive me insane.”

****

Shiloh waited for him at the end of her driveway. The sound of his bike reverberated through the neighborhood, and a little quiver of anticipation fluttered in her belly. She barely knew him, and already he fascinated her, which made him the most dangerous man in her world.

His bike rolled to a stop next to her, and he shut off the engine, then pulled off his helmet. “Hello.”

She smiled. “Hello.”