Page 3 of The Warrior's Salvation

"Why do you think I have that much shit on my desk?" Shaking his head, he scrubs a hand over his face. "I'm gonna be real with you, Loch. This situation on the picket line is getting tense. They’ve been getting hammered out there. We're trying to keep our guys out front so when Doyle moves in, it's our men taking the brunt of it, but a few loyal laborers who aren't part of this game have gotten hurt pretty badly."

My anger flares and I clench my hands into fists. I should be on that front line pretending to be a picketing worker just like my brothers who are there to defend our territory. Instead, Ro took me out of the game and I'm babysitting Draco's gun running operation and his little girl.

"Well, I'm not afraid to fight," I tell him, but I know he'll never go over Ro's head and put me out there. He needs someone making sure the shipments get out on time, and I've burned Ro's trust in me after my last fuck-up. Lost my temper one too many times and it cost me.

"You know what you can fight for?" Draco asks me, pressing his hand to my shoulder. "Fight to keep us on schedule. It's harder than you think. And make sure Evie doesn't sniff around out here." He pats my arm once and walks off toward the back exit.

Scowling, I return to the hall where I flip off the light and shut the door. I know this is a lesson in self-control, but I think Ronan is wrong for locking me down. So who the fuck cares if I split one of the Doyles’ head open for looking at me wrong? He deserved it.

I, on the other hand, don't deserve to be sidelined, but here I am.

Back at my office, which feels weird to call it that, I pass by Evelyn's desk. She's focused on responding to member emails when I tap her shoulder and curl my finger at her. She looks up at me as I beckon her back to the back office where I have a mountain of paperwork, which apparently is all the information I need to organize myself. It makes sense that Draco would keep it off his servers, but what a shitty way to do things today. Has he never heard of cybersecurity and firewalls?

"Yes, sir?" Evelyn stands in the doorway of the office wringing her hands, biting her lip when I turn around.

"What sort of stuff do you handle around here?" I sit down and thumb through a few of the files. There are names I recognize and those I don't. She watches me as she answers.

"I, uh…" She clears her throat and continues. "I help Da coordinate new members, follow up with current ones. I handle complaints and dispatch them to the right department, mostly legal. And I?—"

"The shipments?" I ask, interrupting her. Draco thinks she knows nothing, and she probably does, but in a place this small, word gets out. I need to know how ignorant she really is about this business of gun smuggling. I'm sure he's cooking books too, probably laundering, maybe some drug smuggling. I'll get into it more as I pore over these files, I'm sure.

"We accept donations for our educational wing from time to time, and our members at the docks also help track and monitor shipments. There are four shipping companies we contract with, so we?—"

"I mean your father's shipments?" I ask pointedly. I narrow my eyes at her, and she scowls at me.

"Look, Mr. O'Rourke, I'm not stupid. I know who you are and what you and your family do for a living. If you're insinuating that my father runs some sort of crooked business out of his labor union, you're wrong." She huffs and crosses her arms under her tits, making them push out slightly. She's cute when she's pissed, and I like the way her cleavage peeks out of that cream-colored top she's wearing.

Now the attraction that's typically in her doe eyes as she stares at me is masked behind defensiveness. She's naive. I'll give her credit for that. And she's loyal. It's just like Draco to raise a family loyal to him, even if they are ignorant of whom they're defending. It's a good quality to have.

"I'm not insinuating anything." My hand rests on the evidence that would show her exactly who her father is, but I'm under strict orders to keep her little innocent mind free from worry. "I'm asking what he ships." But now that I know she really is as ignorant of his real work as he says, I know where I stand. "When do his shipments go out? The schedule?" I raise my eyebrows and she blanches sheepishly.

"My God, I'm so sorry," she rushes, then walks over to the desk to lean over my shoulder. Her hand reaches for the mouse, and she presses her tits on my shoulder. She smells good, like flowers or something. It makes me wish she'd look at me the way she normally does. "Here…" Her clicks on the mouse bring up a shipping roster and she straightens. The way she brushes hair off her face in a flustered manner catches my attention.

She smiles nervously and then nods. "If you need anything else, I’ll be at my desk." Evie backs away, flustered again, probably feeling the charge of chemistry between us that I feel.

So maybe riding a desk isn't all bad. At least there's some eye candy, and I can see the merchandise Draco ships for our family up close and personal. I watch her walk out thinking it will be much easier to tolerate this task of overseeing Draco's work and keeping his daughter out of the know. Especially if she gets that flustered every time she comes into this office.

3

EVIE

Ilaunch the dart, and it flies from my hand across the room to the board where it sticks far to the right of the bullseye in the center. Jasper claps his hands loudly and laughs, almost doubling over and stumbling around. He's had one too many drinks this evening, but I'm not too far behind him. I scowl playfully and pick up my beer, taking a swig.

"If you're gonna have the balls to demand to live out here, you should at least have the decency to practice darts so you can beat me." He straightens and takes his final dart. One eye narrows as he lifts it and pumps his arm a few times before letting it go sailing toward the bullseye. It sticks right in the center next to his other darts. Meanwhile, three of mine are in the outer ring and one sticks to the wall beneath the board entirely.

"Shut up," I grunt, pushing him hard as I take the last swig of my beer. "It makes sense. You're never home anyway. Why would they give you this place to live in when you spend a lot of your time out on the road?" The old mother-in-law suite in the far rear of my parents' property sat empty for years, and when I turned twenty-one last fall, I asked if I could rent it.

"Da only lets you stay here so you are close and he can watch you," Jasper explains as he waltzes over to pluck the darts out of the board and wall. I'm well aware of my father's ulterior motives and I don't care. I get my own place where I can be independent away from their nosiness, and he gets to feel in control of me still.

"So, you have to bring women home to Mummy and Da's house." I wink at him and turn toward the fridge.

This used to be nothing more than our game room until I insisted I wanted to rent it. Now the large studio is my apartment, complete with access to the pool and shower house. I can come and go as I please with little interference by my parents but with the security of knowing if something happens, they’re right here. I'm not sure if I'd actually like living on my own away from here, but this is nice.

When I return from the fridge with two beers, ready to play the next round, Jasper sets the darts down and pushes the beer away. "No thanks," he croons as he runs a hand through his hair. "I have an appointment."

"Ah, so you really are bringing a lady home to Mum and Da's house?" Snickering, I set his beer aside and crack mine open.

"Nah, it’s something for work. Gotta follow up with one of the wounded members." Jasper is too dedicated to work, always running errands after hours. It's a noble trait, but I think he does it just to make Da proud, and he is wasting his time. Da is already proud of both of us, and Jasper doesn't have to work so hard.

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