24. Dax
DAX
“Dax,” Eagle ventured, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Hmm?”
Eagle’s brow furrowed in confusion as he watched me. “Do you have anything to say about what I told you?”
I knew blowing him off right now was somewhat cruel, but I’d only promised to listen—giving an answer was not part of the bargain.
“Nope, not really, but I might later,” I answered, yawning. “Right now, I could go for a nap and food doesn’t sound all that bad.”
As the magical medical fairy that she is, Dani reappeared.
“I think it’s time that we can get some food in you, but sadly it needs to be boring and simple.
You’ve been on tube feeding the last few days, so your stomach isn’t gonna be thrilled with you throwing just anything at it.
Why don’t you take a nap and I’ll work with the guys to figure out something to eat for when you wake up. ”
“Any chance I can ditch the IV too?” I begged, glaring at the contraption still attached to me.
“I think that might be arranged,” Dani shared, as she helped me to my feet and followed after me as I headed back to the bedroom.
She had me sit on the edge of the bed as she shut off the flow of the IV bags. “Now you know that this means we’ll have to go to oral pain management.”
“Would it surprise you to know that I’m far more willing to deal with that then to drag it around with me?” I smirked as she shook her head at me.
“No not really, guess it’s like waving a white flag, proving that you’re not well.”
“I knew you would get me, Dani.”
Now with my good arm free of all things medical, I could finally curl up on my side, even if it did pull at my back stitches. All things considered, it was the least painful thing happening with my body.
“How long until I’m able to manage real life again? This whole invalid thing is not really my cup of tea,” I grumbled as I forced my eyes to stay open.
“Woman, you need to give yourself a break.” Dani huffed. “Give it time and it will happen faster than you realize.”
When I woke from my nap, the smell of something delicious made my mouth water and my stomach growl with excitement.
Tossing back the covers, I trudged my way out of the bedroom to find that the living room was empty.
There was not a sound to be heard anywhere in the small house as I entered the kitchen.
The stove had a large pot on it that the source of the yummy smell came from, with the burner on low.
I flipped it off, not wanting to worry about the house catching on fire or ruining the food I hoped for.
Scanning the room, I looked for some note or reason that everyone was gone but nothing was out of place.
“Okay, guys, like this is getting fucking freaky what the hell is going on?” I called out, hoping that this was just some elaborate joke.
Getting no answer, my hand twitched for a gun, but I had no idea where mine ended up after everything.
So I grabbed a kitchen knife from the block—hey it was better than nothing.
Hugging the wall, I slowly made my way down the hall on the long side of this ranch house, where I assumed the other bedrooms would be.
All the doors were closed, and I battled with myself on if it was smart to bother opening them or if I should just get the fuck out of the house.
What if they are tied up and can’t answer me?
I thumped my head against the wall, frustrated on what the best move would be.
Normally this wouldn’t be a question, I would fend for myself and GTFO.
Damn these men for making me sit here like a fucking deer in headlights deciding what to do.
Growling, I moved to the first door and crouched low, facing the wall since I only had one good arm.
Most people would assume that you’re standing when you open a door, so keeping low made you less of a target.
Add in the fact that I’m short as shit, and I was even harder to hit.
I shoved the door open, waited a moment, then peaked ever so slightly around the corner finding the bedroom empty.
Signs of someone staying in it were clear, but there were no obvious markers of a struggle.
Slinking down the hall, I got to the next door and repeated the process, finding it once again empty.
One more room left and this one was facing down the hall so I couldn’t approach it the same way.
Tucking myself into the corner, I reached over with my right hand and opened the door just enough so it wouldn’t catch on the latch then kicked it in with my heel.
It bounced off the wall but nothing else followed, so I ventured a look and found Eagle and Picasso sprawled out on the floor face down and the room was a wreck.
“Shit!”
I glanced around the room but didn’t see anything that would indicate someone else was in the room so I stepped in further.
I went to the closet door that was shut and instead of opening it I shoved the dresser in front of it.
If someone was in there, then they weren’t going to get out.
Darting over to the two idiots, I checked their pulses and found them still alive, and I was oddly relieved.
Both of these douche canoes didn’t really deserve my help after what they did and said, but I knew I couldn’t leave them like this.
This room was a second master bedroom with a sliding glass door out to the yard.
It was slightly open, as if they didn’t get a chance to leave or that’s how whoever did this got in.
Now the question was—what the fuck do I do?
There was no way that I could drag these fuckers out with only one good arm and going after whoever did this was just as much of a risk.
“Goddamn it, where is everyone else?!” I snapped, running my hand through my hair. “Okay, calm the fuck down, Dax. This is not the worst spot you’ve been in, so figure your shit out.”
Moving over to the sliding glass door, I opened it and stepped out onto the grass making sure that the backyard was empty.
None of this was making sense. If they wanted to fuck with us, they would have killed those two and come after me, but they didn’t.
Not to mention, there is no way that Wes would have left me without giving me a note of some kind.
Leaving the two sleeping beauties, I headed back to my bedroom and checked there to see if I could find anything.
Sure enough, I’d missed a note on the nightstand from Wes telling me that they were going on a food run and checking in on things, leaving the two idiots with me.
A sneaking suspicion of what might be going on rolled around in my brain.
Back in the kitchen, I found a large bowl, filled it with ice from the fridge, added some water for good measure along with some chili oil I found in the pantry.
Lugging the large bowl, I had to take a few breaks now that my adrenaline was wearing off reminding me that I was busted up, as I made my way back down to the room the brothers were lying in.
I dumped the water right on their faces.
“Holy fucking shit,” Picasso screamed rolling around on the floor. “Why is it burning the fuck out of my eyes?”
“Goddamn you, woman, what the hell did you do to us?” Eagle snarled, as he clutched his face.
I dropped the bowl on the floor and watched them writhe around in pain for a few minutes before I left the room.
Grabbing a bowl, I took the lid off the pot and found vegetable soup that smelled orgasmic.
Filling my bowl, I sat down at the table and started to eat, grinning at the sound of the brothers swearing and moaning about my retaliation.
They needed to learn real fast not to fuck with me if they couldn’t take the consequences of their actions.
This little game had done nothing but piss me off at them even more. What had they hoped to gain from this?
“What on earth is going on back there?” Dani asked, as she walked into the kitchen with a bag of groceries.
Grinning at her, I sipped another spoonful of soup as the sound of someone crashing into something followed by a string of curse words echoed down the hall. “They’re just learning they can’t play with the big dogs.”
“Do I need to go check on them?” she ventured, as she flinched at another burst of swearing.
“Would chili oil in the eyes cause permanent damage?” I inquired, while resting my chin on my hand.
“Oh God, well, they’ll have to use milk to get it to stop burning. They can’t just wash their faces,” Dani informed me.
I laughed so hard I started to cry. “That idea just keeps getting better and better. I need to remember that trick the next time I need to get someone to talk.”
“I think I better go deal with that.” Dani sighed and headed down the hall.
Seeing both Eagle and Picasso walking behind Dani holding her hands, since their eyes were red and swollen shut with tears streaming down their faces was just priceless. She guided them to a chair and got them each a milk-soaked paper towel.
“Now don’t rub, just gently blot them and let the milk counteract the heat and oil, alright,” Dani instructed.
Both of them sat there with their heads tilted back, crying milky tears.
“Either of you care to share what the fuck you were thinking?” I asked.
“Spitfire, you are pure evil. I respect the fuck out of you, but goddamn,” Picasso muttered.
Eagle dropped his milky towel and cracked an eye open to look at me. “Do you really hate me that much?”
His question caught me off guard. “Really, that’s what you think this is about?”
“Why else you would try and fucking blind me?”
“Eagle, do you know what you just did with this little stunt? There are people actively trying to kill me, and by association you. In what universe did you think it was a good idea to fake an attack when I’m the weakest I’ve ever been in my life?
That doesn’t instill trust in the slightest,” I explained.
Hearing what I said, Eagle deflated and dropped his face back onto his milk. “I thought it would be a good way to see if you really didn’t care about me. If you left me there and saved yourself, I would know for sure if I had a chance or not.”
“What about you, Rembrandt? How did he talk you into participating?”
Picasso let out a heavy sigh. “Weston said you were probably majorly pissed at me for the stupid shit I said, throwing your brother in your face.”
“Wow, guys, just wow,” I muttered, rubbing my forehead.
“I don’t even know where to begin with how fucked up all of that logic was.
Picasso, was I upset you pulled the brother card on me—yeah.
Not enough to leave you for dead, asshole, but don’t ever do it again or I might.
You also need to work on your brother complex a bit, because it’s getting you in lots of trouble with me, just saying.
As for you, Eagle, I really don’t know what you want from me.
Yeah, you told me your whole story—you think you have pure evil living inside you and I’m going to set it free, causing you to set the world on fire.
Thing is, I don’t really need you to do that for me, I’m very capable of doing that all on my own if I want to.
You need to slow your fucking roll a second and give me a chance to build some trust. This bullshit—not a good move. ”
Taking a deep breath, I walked over and sat right on Eagle’s lap, grabbed his face and peeled back the paper towel.
“Did it ever cross your mind that I wouldn’t have taken a bullet for you if I hated you?
If I thought you were completely written off, no chance in hell of getting back in my good graces, I’d have let you get shot.
Stop trying to fix things and force it to work when all you have to do is be you.
The Eagle who’s President of the Phantom Saints, the guy I was willing to consider moving in with that’s a neat freak and cooks amazing food.
Remember him? The dick who always wants to make me submit and challenges me in the sexiest ways possible…
that’s the Eagle I’m willing to give a chance to redeem himself.
Whoever this whiny insecure dude is, I don’t like him—at all.
Stop asking me to forgive you and make me forgive you, just like you’ve always done things with me. ”
As if he finally was hearing me, he grabbed the back of my neck and slammed his lips down on mine, devouring me.
We fought for control of the kiss, but it just made it all the better.
His hand shifted to get a fist full of my hair and shifted the angle of the kiss, deepening it so it felt like he was tongue fucking my tonsils.
“Okay, you two, easy there, she does still have stitches in her neck, and we don’t want them to tear,” Dani called out, breaking the two of us apart.
I couldn’t help but grin at Eagle as his eyes, still swollen and red, finally had that commanding fire back in them. “Well, would you look at that, the president is back in business and ready to play.”
“I’m gonna stop you right there, Dax,” Dani cut in once again. “No sex until we get the stitches out. It’s been six days, so you have another week to go, missy.”
Shifting so I could glower at my nurse I whined, “What the hell Dani? Here I thought you were cool but all I’m hearing right now is that you’re cockblocking me.”
Dani gave me a smile and a wink. “Sorry, girl, but I’m a nurse first and this is what you’re paying me for, so deal with it.”
I tried to stand up, but Eagle yanked me back down. “Nope, sorry, little hellcat, but I’ve gone too long without my fix, and I believe you told me to take what I want.”
“Don’t get too full of yourself, bub, you’re still in time out,” I informed him.
“I can deal with that, but personally, I think chili oil to the face earns me some cuddles at least,” Eagle countered.
“What the fuck about me?” Picasso blurted. “I didn’t even fuck up as bad as he did.”
“Yeah, this is punishment for letting him talk you into pulling that stunt.” I smirked as he started to cuss under his breath.
I caught Dani watching the whole event, leaning on the counter with raised eyebrows. “Is it always like this between you guys?”
“Some days are better than others.” I shrugged.
“Yeah, some days she asks me if she can give my dick a mouth hug,” Eagle chimed in.
“Once… that happened once… when I was drunk.”
“Still happened.”