Page 8 of Damian’s Conquest

“And you? Don’t you like being a bodyguard anymore? I’m surprised you decided to run the club with Patrick.”

“Oh, I love it. Don’t get me wrong. But I like running the club too.”

“Isn’t that a bit much, doing both jobs at the same time?”

Damian shrugged. “What else am I gonna do with all my time? I like to be busy.” Then he winked. “Besides, where else do you meet a lot of pretty women, huh?”

Sebastian grinned. “Yeah, good point. Do you need an extra bartender or a bouncer?”

Damian chuckled. “I think Orlando is doing a pretty good job screening tonight, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, though I heard he can be a bit rude.”

“He’s not a man of many words.” And that was an understatement.

“Ain’t that the truth? So, what’s his deal? How long ago did he join Scanguards?”

“About a year ago. Just showed up at Samson’s doorstep one night and asked for a job. And that’s about all anybody knows. I assume Samson knows him from somewhere and trusts him. That’s good enough for me.” He wasn’t one to question Samson’s decisions. Besides, Orlando was a great bouncer. Nobody dared cross him for fear he’d beat the living daylights out of them.

“Guess so,” Sebastian replied. His cell suddenly chimed, and he pulled it from his pocket. “Oh, Adam just got here.” He typed a message and sent it. “Let’s have a look at this dry ice machine.”

They both crouched down to the machine, and Sebastian started tinkering with it.

“You still hanging out a lot with Zane’s sons?”

“Mostly with Adam. We’re closer in age. And let’s face it, Nicholas is a lot more like his father than he wants to admit.”

“Yeah, a barrel of laughs,” Damian joked.

“Don’t let him hear that,” Sebastian warned. “Or he’ll go off like a Roman candle. He’s got no sense of humor whatsoever.”

“Well, one of his sons had to inherit Zane’s temperament.”

“Is it true what they say about Zane? That he once ripped a man’s heart out just for the hell of it?”

“Like you I wasn’t around back then, but there’s more to that story. Apparently, the guy whose heart he ripped out was raping a young woman. Zane stopped him, and decided to dole out the punishment right there and then.”

“Gruesome,” Sebastian commented. “But I guess that makes him a hero.”

“If you wanna call it that. Still makes him a vigilante. But he’s changed. Don’t get me wrong. He’s no teddy bear, but at least he isn’t as volatile as he used to be.”

“Nicholas wants to be like him,” Sebastian said.

“And you, do you want to be like Oliver?”

“Nah. My dad, he’s great, you know. But I wanna be my own man. Forge my own path.”

“Just like the rest of us. You’re in good company.” Damian motioned to the dry ice machine. “Any clue what’s wrong with it?”

Sebastian grinned. “Oh, it’s fixed.”

“Wow, thanks. Anytime you wanna moonlight here, just let me know. We could use somebody with your skills.”

They rose to their feet.

“Now go and have fun.”

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