11. Dax #2
His hand faltered for just a moment before he continued.
I understood this state of mind. It had been building and building up inside him until he was ready to burst. Now he was using that emotion and spilling it onto this canvas.
So I watched and waited, picked up a pad of drawing paper, and started to sketch him.
I was trying to capture everything I could feel flowing out of him, curious to see if that could translate into an image when there were no words to explain it.
Having no idea how long we stayed like this until Eagle opened the door to call us for dinner. That seemed to be enough for Picasso to break out of his trance and jump in surprise when he saw me sitting on a stool next to him.
“When did you get here, spitfire?” he asked.
Flipping the pad around, I showed him my drawing, knowing that would give him a better answer.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he questioned as he slid his hands up my thighs until his fingertips slipped under the hem of my shorts.
I narrowed my gaze at him. “You really don’t remember me coming in here and telling you that I’m pretty sure those aren’t Elena’s ears?”
His whole body snapped back at my words. “What?”
“When I looked at them more closely, I noticed that the earrings had been shoved through the lobes and were super off-center. Eagle and I talked about it, and there’s no way they could be her ears,” I explained.
Picasso dropped his head on my shoulder, letting out a heavy sigh.
“God, I can’t believe I said those things to you before.
I’m so sorry, spitfire. I was so mad I couldn’t help but take it out on everyone.
That’s why I knew I needed to come in here and draw, paint, something to get my feelings under control. ”
I gripped the back of his neck and gave him an awkward neck hug.
“If anyone understands that, I do. Art is what helps us process, and you haven’t been able to do that while Eagle’s been out of commission.
Now that he is healing, the weight of responsibility has been lifted from you.
Thank you all the same for apologizing and admitting you were an ass. ”
“Hey now,” Picasso warned, nipping at my neck. “Don’t push your luck.”
“Ha,” I laughed, pushing him off me. “That’s what I do every damn day, and I don’t see it changing anytime soon.”
His hand snapped out, grabbing me by the throat as he pulled me in for a kiss, slow and wanting. I could feel my body perk up at the idea of maybe getting some action, but we both groaned when there was a sharp rap on the door.
“Let’s go, I want to eat,” Cognac hollered.
Hopping off the stool, I tossed open the door. “I’ve got something you can eat, lover,” I teased Cognac, who was leaning near the door making sure we came out.
A slow, sultry grin crossed his face. “Damn, who could pass up an offer like that.”
“Hey,” Eagle barked. “Sit the fuck down for dinner.”
While many of my ideas had fallen on deaf ears, moving the pool table and putting in a real dining room table where we could all sit had stuck.
Now, for almost every meal, we all gathered and ate together.
It had become something I looked forward to.
We made a rule that at breakfast, we couldn’t talk about anything to do with this job.
It had to be about us. Dinner was the opposite.
It was our chance to compare notes of events that happened during the day.
I’d spotted Demitri passed the hell out on the couch and hadn’t even flinched at Eagle yelling. That’s what made me feel like it would be safe enough to talk about things while he was here.
Today I was sitting between Sprocket and Cognac.
They’d come up with this silly rule that every dinner, I had to rotate around the table so I wasn’t sitting next to the same person all the time.
If it’s what made them feel better, then so be it.
Things around the house had been relatively friendly, for which I was thanking whatever being was looking down on us.
“Dax, why don’t you start us off with what you found out,” Eagle suggested. “I feel like that will ease quite a few minds.”
Shrugging, I shared my discovery. “I would bet just about anything that those ears aren’t Elena’s, and if I’m being honest, I don’t think the finger was either.
She is far too valuable as a hostage and cutting her up that bad doesn’t serve the greater purpose.
What they hope for is exactly what happened.
The loved one is far too shocked and doesn’t even look twice. ”
It was almost as if a hidden tension in the room broke at my words. Everyone around the table seemed to relax ever so slightly.
“Fuck, I’m glad to hear you say that,” Cognac blurted. “I know the little girl, and she doesn’t deserve that kind of torture. She’s a good kid.”
“About that,” Wes interjected. That had everyone’s attention.
“I talked to a bunch of her teachers, and while she was still at school, she wasn’t attending classes, not the ones she signed up for, at least. They remember her being there for the first few months, then she dropped off.
One or two of them commented that they saw her on campus, but she wasn’t in those classes for months. ”
I could feel my brow knitting as I considered this information. “Is there any way to find out if she switched classes? Or started sitting in on a different lecture or something?”
“I’m pulling security footage for around the time they remember her no longer showing up. There’s also some cameras around her dorm room, so I’ll see what I can find there too. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t an article for her class that had her in the city during that break,” Wes reasoned.
Looking at Eagle and Picasso, I could tell they were heartbroken to hear about this.
What made it even harder for me was that I knew the signs, and something in my gut told me that Diego had got his claws into her.
He knew damn well who the Phantom Saints were and how he could use someone like them to get to me.
I’d hated MCs forever because they turned their backs on each other but not this group of men.
They were just the opposite. What had my stomach churning was if Demitri had given them far more information than he realized.
Just how much could Diego De León really know about me? If they wanted the power to manipulate Two Tricks, then all Diego had to do was use the guys. No. I couldn't think like that. There had to be a different reason as to what caused Elena to drop out of her classes.