“We’re all looking.” Nate had been trying to get out of this place for almost a year now, but nowhere else was hiring. He’d actually been close to caving and accepting his brother-in-law’s offer to get him an interview somewhere better after the last company dinner with Mit Parker, but then he’d woken to a “gift” from Silver that had thrown a wrench into that plan.
How Silver had found out he was racing, something Nate explicitly kept a secret from Nuri, was beyond him, but he shouldn’t be surprised the guy had found out. And how had he chosen to deliver that news? By purchasing the latest model hoverbike and having it dropped off at Nate’s doorstep with a big shiny red bow and everything. There’d even been a card.
It’d been creepy and amazing.
And Nate had immediately slipped into a depression great enough to keep him inside for the rest of the day. He’d felt worthless and burdensome despite not having asked for the expensive gift. Had been torn over whether or not he could accept it, and then if he wasn’t going to, how he would convey that to Silver without making things worse for either him or his brother.
He wasn’t stupid. He understood that Silver Rein, even as his brother-in-law, wasn’t a man to mess with. The gift had been sent and was already there and…In the end Nate had kept it.
He still couldn’t figure out if it was meant as a threat or a peace offering, though. With Silver, it could be either or both. Eventually, he was going to have to make a call and find out, but he’d put it off.
“I might swing by his place later,” Annya said.
“I’ll come with.”
“I think you’re going to have your hands full, actually,” she winced apologetically. “The boss wanted me to tell you you’re wanted out front. There’s a new client who’s requested you. Upside? He’s younger than Mit Parker. Downside?”
“Don’t tell me,” Nate tossed the rag onto the workbench and headed around the bike, “He looks like a rich asshole?”
“More like a rich devil,” she corrected.
“Fantastic.” If his sister hadn’t decided she loved Vitality so much, there was a really good chance Nate would have returned home to Ignite after graduation. The only things keeping him from doing so were Neve and, now, Silver. Being around his brother-in-law made him antsy and overprotective, and no one wanted or needed that.
But if was seriously becoming tempted to find some way off this planet.
The front of the shop was a lot quieter than the back where most of the work was being done, and Nate easily located Sier standing by the open garage doors.
Next to Kazimir Ambrose.
Nate slowed before he could help it, his chest tightening as alarm bells went off in his head. For some reason, he hadn’t put two and two together when Annya had mentioned devils, and now felt foolish for not making the connection. There were a lot of Devils on the planet, though, some of them even sort of his friends, so it was just his luck that he’d get saddled with Kaz.
Who’d apparently asked for him.
Fuck.
“Nate, there you are!” Sier waved him over, giving him an annoyed look when she turned her face away from Kazimir. The smile was back in place by the time Nate approached, fake, just like everything else about her. “I didn’t realize you were friends with an Ambrose!”
Friends?
He sent a questioning look Kaz’s way but the Devil merely shrugged.
Nate didn’t correct Sier.
The Ambrose family was well known on the planet for the work they did with Void Corporation. If the Voids had their hands in a proverbial cookie jar, it was a good bet that the Ambroses did as well. Hell, the company Nate really wanted to work for, Flircorp, was actually a subsidiary of Void Aero Dynamics.
“Mr. Ambrose needs someone to check on his bike,” Sier motioned to a cherry red hover bike parked nearby. “I told him you were the best!” She leaned in and clapped Nate on the shoulder, whispering, “Don’t let me down, kid.”
“Should we just leave it here?” Kazimir asked.
“Yes, of course, much easier than you trying to make your way into the back where all the grime and grease is.” Sier gave them both a thumbs up. “I’ll leave you to it, Nate, and I’ll just be in my office if you need anything, Mr. Ambrose.”
Nate watched Sier walked away and then sighed. There were a couple of ways he could approach this, but avoidance of the elephant in the room seemed to be the smartest. He didn’t want to discuss what had happened between them. It wouldn’t make a difference in the long run and would only serve to embarrass him further. “What seems to be the problem with it?”
“Straight to business,” Kaz clicked his tongue. “That’s kind of boring.”
“This is my job,” he pointed out. “And yeah, it’s kind of boring, but it pays the bills so…”
“Does it?”
