Page 3 of The Devil's Conflict

Viper shrugs. “The crazy ones are the fun ones, brother. Now, I have my woman to get to, so I’ll see you assholes later.”

Bullet looks back at me. “You good, or you need me to call someone in to help close up?”

“Nah, we’re fine. It’s a slow night.”

He nods. “Then I’m heading home. I have my own woman to see to.”

“And a drawer full of crazy sex toys from what I hear,” I joke with a wicked grin.

Bullet scowls, flips me off, and then leaves, making me chuckle. Hell, it’s become a game to the women to see what they can buy to try and have Rose shock Bullet. The man has far stronger nerves than I do, because when the double dildo showed up at the clubhouse the other day, I’d have said fuck it and become a hermit in the woods. Probably a better option than dealing with the women and their games.

Though it’s funny as shit to watch.

I get to work on the dreaded paperwork that’s been lying on my desk for the last couple of days, and also shoot Cryos a message to let him know about our potential hire. Hopefully she’s good enough, because come Friday night, this place is going to be busy as shit, and I don’t want to deal with someone who can’t handle the stress.

When I finally finish, it’s close to midnight, and my eyes are burning from looking at the computer for so long. Fuck, I hate this part of the job. I get to my feet and head into the bar, which still isn’t all that busy, and Sandy seems to be handling it just fine. I feel a small tinge of guilt that I wasn’t out here helping, but she’s proven to be more than capable on her own. And she always comes to get me if she needs the help.

Seeing that she has things under control, I head back to my office to finish up on other things I’ve been putting off. Seems like a night for annoying shit.

I’m about to sit when I hear the shots. It’s a sound you never forget as a solider, no matter what branch you’re in, and my body is moving before my brain has time to process. I hear the screams and glass shattering. “Everybody, down!” I roar over the chaos. I crouch as I reach the end of the hall, pulling my gun and running for the side door. More bullets fly through the shattered windows, hitting everything in their path. My sole focus is getting outside and finding out who the fuck would dare to shoot up our bar.

Though I have a feeling I already know.

When I get outside, I see a black SUV and the open windows. I fire off a shot at the back window, following it up quickly with a shot to the tires, missing and instead hitting the fender. Then I hear more shots, and I realize Kaleb is also shooting, though his shot isn’t as good as mine.

The shots stop from the SUV, and it peels away, tires screaming and the night goes silent. I run after them, firing more shots, even as I hear the sirens coming. It’s too dark to try and get their plate, but it probably wouldn’t come back to anything. I pull out my phone and call Bullet. “Looks like the war has started,” I tell him grimly when he answers. “Bar just got shot up. Better get the brothers here.”

TWO

THEA

I never expected to see him again, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of proving him wrong.

I narrowmy eyes at my brother and try not to lose my temper. He’s been this way since we were kids, and he thinks a charming smile and some compliments are going to get him what he wants. “Why the hell do you need my car?” I ask him as calmly as possible. Namely because the idiot has crashed more than once in the last year due to his love for speed. And I just bought this one, and having to buy another one and deal with insurances and legal bills is not something I want to do. Especially not when I’m still trying to find a job, and I have to be careful of what I’m spending.

“I’m going for a potential interview,” Theo says, never losing his smile. “Don’t you want me to make a good impression?”

“Interview for what exactly? I thought you got a bouncer job at that club downtown.” Ever since my brother and I both discharged from the military, he’s been flitting around from job to job trying to find something that sticks. He’s been out a bit longer than me and has taken to civilian life far easier than I have. But it’s concerning he can’t stay in one place for too long. Maybe I’m wrong that he’s been adjusting so well. I make a mental note to keep a closer eye on him.

We’re fraternal twins, and while he is four minutes older than me, we couldn’t be more opposite. He’s always been a bit of a free spirit, while I’m serious and disciplined. Not to mention, he loves an adrenaline rush, and while I love action as much as the next person, I’m not anywhere close to his level. Which is exactly why it doesn’t surprise me that he joined the Army at eighteen, sure he was going to do wild and crazy things. Instead, he ended up with a bullet in his leg, and has spent the last year doing rehabilitation and physical therapy to get to where he can walk with a barely perceptible limp, and get back to a relatively normal life.

I joined the Army a year after him, unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. I worked my ass off in boot camp, even impressing some of the commanding officers. Then, once I had some experience under my belt, I moved over to Special Forces, where I was a part of teams that did shit I can’t even tell my brother about. Which is probably for the best, because he doesn’t always watch what he says. It got him in trouble a few times while he was deployed, but thankfully, nothing serious happened.

Now, I have to put up with him living with me until he can find a steady job and move into his own place. Not that I don’t enjoy having my brother with me, but the man is a slob, and I’m getting tired of dealing with his shit all the time. A surprising thing considering his military history, but I think it’s an act ofrebellion now that he doesn’t have someone constantly checking to make sure he’s kept his shit clean.

Still, that doesn’t mean I’m just going to give him my car.

“Nah, pretty sure they’re into some shady shit, and I don’t want to deal with it,” he tells me with a shake of his head.

I frown at that. “How would you know that?”

He loses some of his smile. “Probably best you don’t know, sis, ok? Let’s just say that some people were let in that I got a bad vibe from, and I heard from some of the girls that shit was going down in the back rooms they didn’t want anyone else knowing about. So I got my last pay yesterday and split.”

My curiosity is piqued, but he’s probably right, so I let it go. “Alright, fine. But what interview is this for?”

“You remember Eric, my buddy you met when you came to visit me on base a few years ago?” I nod. “Well, he got a job at a security company here and said they need a couple more guys for some contract work. The owners also are in the market for some prospects for the motorcycle club they are members of too.”

“Wait, what? You want to do contract security work and also join a motorcycle club?”

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