Page 19 of Devil Within

Late morning, Shiloh walked out of Vette’s house and saw Jade waiting for her. A bolt of happiness shot through her, but the moment she tried to analyze why, the heavy chain of guilt tightened. How could she find him attractive when she’d ... endured ... what had happened? Was she as horrible as she was told?

“Hey,” he greeted. “What put the sadness in your beautiful eyes?”

Immediately, she blanked out her face. “No sadness. You must be seeing things.”

It looked like he wanted to argue, but she plopped her helmet on and swung up behind him. By now, she was a pro. The bike roared off as they headed into work.

The days passed quickly, one bleeding into the next. Shiloh liked staying busy, and in between customers, she decided to rearrange the waiting room to make it a little more inviting. The metal folding chairs weren’t comfortable, so she asked Jade if she could order better ones, with cushions, so butts wouldn’t go numb either waiting or looking through designs.

He quickly agreed.

She even typed up ideas on how to expand the business, including a girls’ night offering half-priced tattoos. Because if you bring women, the men will follow. Their slowest night of the week was Tuesday, so she suggested that night.

Again, Jade agreed.

Thinking up business plans and improvements to the shop gave Shiloh a sense of purpose. All her jobs in the past always made her feel listless. Unmotivated. It was why they were so easy to walk away from. She never cared about them. The Inkpot, however, wasn’t something she saw coming. It was nice to actually look forward to work.

Friday night was a completely different ballgame.

“Hey, Shiloh.”

She smiled up at Jade. “Yeah?”

“Listen, once the sun goes down tonight, there are going to be a lot of people showing up,” he said. “I don’t want you to be overwhelmed, so if you feel like you need to leave, it’s okay.”

A sliver of unease swept through her. “Why are they showing up?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “First Friday of the month, there’s a parking lot party.”

She blinked. “A party? That’s it?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “The Sons invite all the gangs, and the only rule is no weapons, no wars. That shit is left at the road for one evening.”

That seemed a little far-fetched. “And that works?”

“It’s been working for years. Everyone knows not to fuck with the Sons, and it’s a way to not only flex our muscles, but to also prove we’re still the apex predator in Cheyenne.”

“I see,” she murmured.

“Do you want to go home?”

An innocent question, but filled with intent. If she ran away, he would know she couldn’t handle this life. Might even think it was a mistake to hire her. She couldn’t lose her job because she loved it too much.

Besides, if she went home, when would she put her past in the grave? She couldn’t live the rest of her life constantly scared to death.

“I’ll stay,” she told him.

His eyebrows rose. “You sure?”

She nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “But if you start to feel nervous at all, let me know.”

“I will,” she assured him.

When the sun went down, Jade turned the music up, propped the doors open, and the party erupted all over the parking lot. Bikers arrived wearing the same patch as Jade, some with women behind them. Low-riding cars and trucks came. Everywhere she looked, she saw people greet the Sons with that fist-bump-hug-thing that men tended to do. Food and drinks appeared. People mingled together. Even the Sheriff stopped by. All having a good time.

Shiloh stepped out of the shop to look around since she’d never seen anything like it. The Sons held court like they ruled the city, and she guessed they did. Who would be dumb enough to go against them? This wasn’t a world she knew anything about, and if someone would’ve asked her if she would feel comfortable surrounded by rough and tough men with tons of muscles and dangerous auras, she would’ve said no way.