5. Dax #3
“You have a child kidnapped and a finger cut off for not giving them what they want, then you can talk to me about not telling you what was going on,” Gabriella snarled. “I did what I thought was best. It worked out for you in the end, didn’t it?” She added, waving her hand in my direction.
“Don’t make this her fault. She’s a victim of this as much as we are,” Sprocket cut in.
Setting the coffee down, I hoisted myself up on the counter so I could get a better view of the family feud going on.
“Really, and what has that bastard done to her?” Gabriella demanded.
“Oh, I can answer that,” I interjected, waving my hand like a kid in school. “Let’s see, he tried to kidnap my best friend, sent assassins after me multiple times, blew up my house, and wants my head on a spike in his front lawn,” I shared, counting off each event on my fingers.
This seemed to shake dearest Gabby out of her self-pity. “What?”
“Oh yeah, this asshole is trying to take me out so I stop ruining his business. So he’s going after anything or anyone I care about.
Seems like a good thing you’re on my shit list for setting Harper and me up at that party,” I reminded her.
“It wasn’t very nice. She really believed you might become her client and spread the word about her business. ”
“If you’d just given me the information I wanted to know, then none of it would have needed to happen. I would have my daughter back, and you wouldn’t be dragging my brothers down with you,” Gabriella countered. “You are one cold-hearted bitch to let them take the fall for you.”
My brows shot up so far that I thought they would be lost in my hair. “Wow, okay, you’re going to need to explain that to me. How the hell have I become the cold-hearted bitch when they fucking kidnapped me, put a shock collar on my ankle, and tried to use me as bait for Two Tricks?”
“Ladies,” Cam cut in. “This isn’t going to help the situation or get your daughter back. What would help is if you walk us through what you do know. When was Elena taken? Where was she? What information have you gotten and how do they communicate with you?”
Gabriella let out a sharp laugh. “What are you, the FBI or something, asking questions like that as if it will do a goddamn thing.”
“Actually, I am the FBI,” Cam answered, pulling his badge out of his back pocket.
“I’ve been assigned to work with Dax and her crew to help bring down criminal terrorists just like the man who has your daughter.
We’ve found it’s better to work alongside the underbelly that knows how to interact without getting caught instead of infiltrating. ”
Fuck me sideways. I forgot how good Cam was at manipulating people. Seems there’s far more of his dad in him than I ever realized.
Gabriella just looked at him skeptically, but it was Demitri who stepped up to do the right thing. “Mom, he’s right. It’s time for us to stop thinking we can handle this on our own and ask for help. He’s with the FBI. He’ll have connections we could never get doing this alone.”
“Fine,” she said with a sigh. “Where do you want to start?”
“Let’s take a seat on the sofa, get comfortable,” Cam suggested. “Can we get you coffee? Something to eat?”
“I’ll take a glass of Jack with some ice,” Gabriella answered.
Okay, maybe I might actually like my inevitable sister-in-law after all.
If the woman wanted a glass of whisky at ten in the morning, having a bad day, then she’d damn well get one.
Hopping off the counter, I grabbed a glass, put ice in it, and poured her a healthy dose of the liquor.
I brought it over to her, where she’d taken a seat on the couch, but when I handed it over, she looked suspiciously at it.
“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered and took a swig of the burning liquid, then handed it over. “If I wanted to kill you, I’d do it to your face. I’m not a poison girl. Far too impersonal if you ask me. I like them to know who ended their life.”
“I suppose I can respect that,” Gabriella begrudgingly admitted, then drained the glass.
Wes grabbed my hand and tugged me to sit next to him a little farther down on the couch. He had his laptop open and ready to go on the coffee table. If there was information out there to be found, Wes was like a bloodhound. He’d find it.
“Are we sure we shouldn’t wait for Eagle?” Demitri asked, fidgeting nervously.
Ah, so this story wasn’t going to paint him in a good light at all. Why would he want Eagle around then? He’d be the first to beat his ass. Unless when it came to family, he was a big softy?
Picasso shook his head. “We don’t know exactly when he’s coming back, and Eagle isn’t in the best condition to handle news like this.”
“That, and do you really want him tanning your ass until you can’t sit for a week?” Void asked.
Demitri deflated in on himself as he shook his head furiously. “No. God, I’d hoped none of you would have had to find out about this.”
“Yeah, sorry, but that ship has sailed, Demitri. You just need to be honest with us about everything from this point forward,” Picasso warned. “Let’s start at the beginning when they first contacted you?”