30. Harper
HARPER
“So you’re fitting right in with the family, making friends with mobsters and drug lords everywhere you go,” Mouse concluded as I finished telling him how we ended up here.
I didn’t give him too much information about the locations of things, just kept the story generalized. Something told me a lot of what I’d been privy to weren’t things everyone should know about.
“I can’t say I’ve been making friends with everyone, but we’ve reached a mutual understanding,” I commented with a shrug. “The drug lord seemed almost to pity me being with them as if they would hurt me.”
Mouse just gave me a knowing smile. “Oh, babe, you have no idea how many people are scared shitless of your men. They might be puppy dogs to you, but the rest of the world sees a darker side of your princes.”
“Enough of that,” Magnus cut it. “We told you what you wanted to know. Now tell us what you came to share. If you didn’t know we had Harper, why would you feel the need to share this info with us?”
“I knew that Harper went missing, and her shop was closed, and rumor was she sold it to another person along with her client list. If you didn’t have her and lines were being drawn in the sand, I figured you should be aware of it.
Dax has finally decided to fight back, and it’s going to get messy…
fast,” Mouse explained, waving his hands about.
“I, of course, would side with Dax because she isn’t evil incarnate like Marco is.
That bastard wants to have the whole criminal empire worldwide under his thumb.
By that, I mean everything… drugs, weapons, smuggling, anything you can think of, he wants a piece of the pie.
About to put me out of business because there won’t be a scam I can run that wouldn’t steal from his pockets. ”
I frowned and leaned forward, setting my now-empty plate down. “If he runs it all, wouldn’t that make him the biggest target? No one in the criminal world wants to be managed or have their life dictated. It’s why they broke away from normal life.”
“Yes and no,” Jaxson cut in. “That’s how things went down for us, but Dax, she did it for revenge.
Then she figured out she was fucking good at this kind of life and ran with it.
Others are trapped. They never had a chance because of a father or financial situation.
Life of crime pays well if you don’t get caught. ”
That had me thinking about people I knew and how things turned out for them.
Some thrived and went on to do great things, while others flopped and are now working in fast-food restaurants or any other job they can find to make ends meet.
You could have all the best intentions, only to have them shatter because of one moment in time or a person who fucked you over.
“What are you, Mouse?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. “Did you choose this life, or was it chosen for you?”
“A bit of both, I guess you could say. Mom left because Dad was a deadbeat and hit her all the time, but she left me with the asshole, wanting a fresh start. She knew if she took me, he would hunt her down. To have a male heir was important to him, a legacy to live on,” Mouse shared, then sighed, looking out the window wistfully.
“If only I hadn’t been gay. Hard to carry on a name when you won’t marry a woman.
He disowned me when I came out and found myself on my own at eighteen. ”
My heart hurt for Mouse. His story was like so many others whose families just couldn’t accept them for who they were. Nothing about Mouse changed just because he preferred to love a man over a woman. Why the hell couldn’t people see that?
“Shortly after, I met a man named Clive. He told me I had what it took to make my stake in the world. He, of course, was a con artist and needed a pretty assistant to help him with a job. We became friends, lovers, then bitter exes, but he saved my life and taught me what I needed to know to get off on the right foot in this world.” Mouse grinned and opened his arms wide, gesturing to the guys.
“Then these assholes showed up, and they’ve been the only family I’ve ever needed.
Even helped them on a few jobs when they had to get close to a target before killing them. ”
“Seriously?” I asked in amazement. “Magnus let you help?”
“Shocking, isn’t it? The man does have a flaw under that dark, tortured exterior,” Mouse teased.
“As I said before, the only reason I’m sharing this is because you are family.
Not sure if it will help you at all, but I figured if we are picking sides, I’d make my position clear.
I chose the crazyass pink-haired crime lordess named Two Tricks, Queen of the West Coast.”
“Lordess?” Ghost shot back with a raised brow. “Now, who’s making up words?”
“Hey, we all thought she was a man up until a few weeks ago. I’m not going to call her a lady because there is nothing lady-like about her at all,” Mouse argued. “Besides, I didn’t say anything about your made-up phrase.”
Ghost just grunted but let the matter drop, choosing to pull me into his lap and wrap himself around me instead. “You said you had something to tell us. I don’t think it’s just that she’s waging war on the Mad Dogs… or was it?”
“Well, you stole my thunder knowing about the FBI already, but what I know is that while Dax might be gunning for them, they have it out for her just as bad. Their leader, Mastiff, has a weird fucking hard-on for that woman, always has. Claims that her brother sold her to him or some such shit,” Mouse explained.
“What I found interesting is they are setting a trap for her. I can’t tell you what it is, my source didn’t know, but the Mad Dogs aren’t rolling over and letting her ruin them without a fight.
If she does manage to take them out, then she’s got Marco’s pet cartel leader in New York, who’s got an ace up his sleeve.
Or at least that’s what the rumors say.”
“Wait,” I said, holding out a hand to stop him from talking. “You come here making it sound like you have good intel, and all you have is hearsay? I know there’s a problem but not what that problem is or how to fix it? What the hell good does that do us?”
Jaxson coughed to cover up his laughter. “Damn, Mouse, she got you there. This is some bullshit, and you know it. Why would you come to us if you didn’t really have information to give?”
“Damn,” Mouse cried, leaning back from us all dramatically. “Give a guy a warning. Your woman’s got some claws. Now I see why you became a fan favorite of the Frenchie. He likes his woman to spank him and tell him he’s a bad boy.”
“Is that all you had?” Magnus demanded. “We give you our story, and you’ve got nothing in exchange?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Magnum. Take a deep breath in and let it out slowly,” Mouse instructed as he did the actions himself. “Damn, that vein in your forehead is starting to throb. That can’t be good for your health.”
“Mouse,” Magnus bit out.
“Fuck, all right,” Mouse blurted, tossing up his hands and getting up to pace.
“I knew you had Harper. Word got around from your friend, the drug lord, that you had a companion. He was making it clear he wasn’t picking Dax’s side or Marco’s.
He just wanted to be left alone to do what he does.
Well, Marco didn’t like that so much, and you guys left just in time to miss him coming after you.
I wanted to make sure you were all right. ”
All of us froze as what he said worked its way into my brain. “Are you saying we were almost killed? If we’d stayed in Bali longer, this asshole Marco would have sent a kill squad after us?”
Mouse nodded. “Yeah, that about sums it up. I was in Dubai when I heard about it and started looking for you right away. Thank God I knew how to track you and your flight patterns, so I knew you’d made it out of there in time.
I would have been here sooner, but my ride has stamina like you wouldn’t believe, and he wouldn’t fly until he was satisfied.
Besides, I knew you were safe and out of there, so I didn’t need to intercept you when you stopped for fuel. ”
“Who did he send?” Magnus demanded. “Are they still looking for us?”
“The Conductor and his crew,” Mouse answered, stopping in his pacing to look Magnus in the eye. “He’s not fucking around.”
“Fuck,” Magnus swore, shooting to his feet and walking to the window, running his hands over his head. “We can’t go to Russia with him coming after us. I’ll have to call Dax back and tell her it’s no good. It puts Harper in too much danger.”
While I loved that he was worried about me, nothing about this was going to get any better if we didn’t end this. I tapped Ghost’s arm, and he released me, allowing me to walk over to Magnus and wrap my arms around his middle.
“We have to go,” I pointed out. “This needs to end, and that can only happen if we do what we promised to do. You said this job gives Dax the supplies she needs to win this, right?”
Magnus turned to face me and raised his hands to cup my cheeks. “Doll, while we might be ahead, for now, the Conductor is incredibly skilled and will hunt us down no matter what. If we do the Russia job, we’ll be sitting in one place too long.”
“Look, we know where to look for the asset. How hard can it be to grab it and go? I know you were worried about me and having been taken that one time, but I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.
You three have a normal way of doing things…
how you move, how you plan, how you go to ground.
What if acting completely out of character might work best in this situation? Throw them off their game,” I reasoned.
Magnus just stared at me for a few moments, then looked past me at his brothers. “What is your vote?”
I heard someone coughing as if they were gagging on something, but the way Magnus was holding my face, I couldn’t turn to look. There was the sound of a few quick thumps, followed by more hacking and then a gasp.