5. Dax
DAX
It was just as I left it last night, which was good because I did not want to deal with a pissy, bossy man if things were out of order.
Our dear president had a small case of OCD and needed things to be exactly as he had them in his own space or he couldn’t relax.
I knew it was more than just a personal preference.
It pained him if things were not just so.
Did I use that to my advantage on occasion?
Hell yeah, I did. But only when it served a higher purpose, not just to be a dick.
Hopping into the shower, I cleaned up, toweled off, and got dressed, then headed out to find coffee.
When I appeared in the kitchen, Wes was still glowering at me but handed over a fresh mug with, The Blood Of My Enemies written on it.
Popping up on my tiptoes, I kissed his cheek before sitting at the counter.
“How are you this morning? Seem a little grumpy if you ask me,” I commented, then took a sip of the lifeblood of the world. All would be well as long as coffee was still in existence.
Wes just gave me a flat look and flipped me the bird before placing a bowl of cereal in front of me.
“Okay, so clearly I did something else wrong if this is what you’re feeding me this morning,” I mused, taking in the bowl of bran flakes with wrinkled raisins.
“Did I miss your birthday? No, that's not for another month… I didn’t take your bike without asking. Hell, I can't really remember what happened last night after I fell asleep during the movie. You’re gonna need to give me a hint.”
Weston crossed his arms and looked me dead in the eyes as if searching for something in my expression. “You don’t remember, do you?”
“Ah… that’s what I’ve been trying to say. What the hell happened?” I demanded.
Not giving me an answer, he snatched away the bowl and opened the oven to pull out a large dish full of fluffy egg casserole.
I gaped at him in horror. “You were going to make me eat a disgusting bowl of gravel when you made that?” I screeched.
“Whoa, what is happening in here?” Sprocket questioned as he walked over to the coffee maker.
“Weston was trying to kill me,” I blurted.
Sprocket turned to Wes, who just rolled his eyes. “She’s being dramatic. I gave her a bowl of fiber cereal, thinking she remembered last night, but she didn’t.”
“Ah, I see,” Sprocket answered, nodding his head, then glancing at me. “You really don’t remember?”
Irritated, I growled and stabbed the knife that was lying on the counter into the wood. “No, but someone better explain before I stab something else. What am I getting punished for now?”
“Easy, little demon, Weston is taking this more to heart than he should, and Sprocket isn’t helping by teasing you,” Void said, coming up behind me, wrapping me in his arms. “When the movie was over, we were asking you where you wanted to sleep, or should I say with whom. Since you didn’t give us an answer, Wes scooped you up, but you told him that he snores too loud and farts in his sleep after eating Italian because he’s allergic to parmesan cheese. ”
My jaw dropped, and I looked at Wes in full understanding. “Okay, wow, yeah. I would give me something to make me fart all day long too. Damn, I can’t believe I said that.”
“It would seem that Wes is sensitive about his bodily functions,” Cognac added as he sauntered into the kitchen. “Smelled the food and figured it was grub time, but I didn’t know we were having a morning recap of your most embarrassing moments there, Westly.”
“Fuck off, or you won’t get any of the food I make for the next week,” Wes threatened.
Cognac threw up his hands in surrender. “My bad, I’ll keep my lips sealed.”
Cam and Picasso were the last to join us and that had me looking around the space. “Where’s Dante?”
“Dad is staying with Tilly and her husbands.
There isn't any more room here, and he thought it might be best to give us our space,” Cam answered as he cupped my chin and placed a kiss on my lips.
“So did the vice president do right by you, or do I need to finish things off under the breakfast table?”
Picasso made a move to slug Cam, but Void grabbed his arm. “If you don’t react, then he’d stop teasing you. The black knight likes getting a rise out of you.”
Cam winked at me, then turned to face Picasso. “Guilty as charged,” he said with a shrug. “You turn this interesting shade of red when you get pissed but try to hold it back. It’s fascinating.”
Wes slid a plate over to me and slapped the back of Cam’s head. “Keep it up and you’re cut off from the food too, Cammy.”
The two men glared at each other, but much to my amazement, Cam backed down first. “You’re right. I need to be better about my teasing. Pushing things too far seems to be a family trait.”
Quickly, food was passed out and some found space around the kitchen while others went to the living room. The counter with its four seats would only get us so far.
“So, since this is now our home, what do you think about maybe moving the pool table to another place and getting something all of us can sit at together?” I ventured. “Another thing I’ve noticed is that we’re running out of bedrooms.”
“What do you mean running out of bedrooms?” Cognac asked. “Wes has the guest room. You float around to whoever which I love. What problem is there?”
I pointed my fork at Cam, who had the audacity to steal the bite of egg off of it. “What about him? Can he cuddle up with one of you guys too?”
“Ah…” Cognac answered.
“That’s what I thought,” I quipped, then looked at Cam. “Steal my food again and I’ll stab you with this fork.”
Cam leaned in and kissed me once again. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, beautiful. I love it when the crazy comes out to play.”
Rolling my eyes, I shoved him away and stuffed a bite into my mouth before someone could snatch it from me.
The others seemed to ponder over my suggestions as they ate, which I was fine with.
What I was asking was a lot, and they’d been living here just fine, but if we wanted to make this work long-term, a space that was all of ours needed to happen.
“Cognac, you said Dani called,” I asked, changing the topic. That wasn’t one any of us would have an answer for.
“It’s an hour ahead there, and she said they were leaving as soon as he got discharged. Everything looked good. No issues from the surgery, but he’d need to take it easy for at least a week. They didn’t want him to ride his bike for two weeks until the stitches came out,” he relayed.
“Was he raging in the background while she was sharing this?” I asked, just picturing how pissed he would be.
Cognac just laughed as he finished his breakfast. “I feel like we need to send a donation for all the people who took care of him to get counseling for his bad attitude.”
“Lucky for him, we need at least two weeks to make a plan and figure out what we know. Speaking of, where is Demitri?” I questioned.
“Since we didn’t want to raise suspicion or the FBI to get wind of anything, we sent him home. He understands not to do anything without talking to us first. After the events of yesterday, he’s fully aware that with you involved, there’s a chance to save his sister,” Picasso answered.
While I didn’t love the idea of the kid not being within arm’s reach, I saw their point too. “He said he works in the garage full-time or part-time? Didn’t sound like he was going to college.”
“He’s not… tried a few classes at community college, but that was more his sister’s thing.
She’s just like her mother. Demitri took after his deadbeat dad, who left them high and dry when Elena was born.
Thought he could handle a wife who was the breadwinner and high-powered lawyer but turns out he couldn’t,” Picasso said, his tone telling me he had no love loss for his brother-in-law.
“Maybe he should meet Kimber. It sounds like they would be a perfect match,” I suggested. “But then again, if she’s shacking up with one of Marco’s top men, then who knows how long she’ll be alive. She has a knack for pissing people off in just the right way to make you want to slit her throat.”
Cognac let out a whistle. “Sounds like if she’s not dead, she will be soon.”
“Yeah, lots of sisterly love going around for her,” I muttered, jumping off the stool and rinsing my plate before putting it away. The last thing Eagle needed was to have a fit about his kitchen when he came home.
Feeling the itch to be doing something, I started to gather everyone else’s dishes and cleaned up Wes’s mess from making breakfast.
“You alright there, little rebel?” Sprocket asked as he came to lean on the counter next to the sink.
I glanced at him and shrugged. “All things considered, yeah, I’m fine.”
“That’s a load of bullshit,” Sprocket stated with a snort. “Let’s try not to lie through your teeth this time, shall we?”
“The Mad Dogs were easy, but the De León Cartel is another story. We will be going into a place where we have no support or connections, the center of enemy territory,” I explained. “Think about how much planning we did for this last job and how fucked up it got.”
Sprocket watched me for a moment, then took hold of my arm and pulled me to stand in front of him.
“Clearly, we took our punishment too far if now you’re standing here telling me that all hope is lost. While I don’t support you throwing yourself into danger unnecessarily, I’m not looking to change you into someone you’re not.
Dax, we need your brand of crazy to make this work because only someone with a screw loose would ever attempt to take down the people we are going after. ”
“You realize that is the opposite of what you’ve all been telling me the past twenty-four hours, right?” I grumbled.