22. Dax
DAX
It was hard to fight against the adrenaline rush you got from making a plan that was falling into place so perfectly.
I’m not sure any of us got much sleep last night because of it.
The information Tommaso gave us helped to fit the pieces we couldn’t figure out perfectly.
We had all the names of the biggest players in his cartel, where they liked to hang out, and who was important to them.
Not many of them had families, which was smart.
This was no life for kids to grow up in.
“Holy fuck, if this works, it’s going to be one of the most epic takeovers ever witnessed,” Ghost said, flopping onto the couch in the living room. “They’re never going to see it coming.”
“Now the trick is to get Tommaso to convince everyone to do their part,” I countered. “He might have taken out his immediate competition, but I’m pretty sure he knew all along he’d have to do that. This is going to be that on a massive scale.”
Wes looked up at me from where he was lying in my lap, poking my side. “If he doesn’t have the balls for it, then just do what everyone assumed and take over both coasts.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure I want that much work,” I said as I absently brushed my fingers through his hair. “Think of how much work it is to run the Hidden Empire, then double it. There would never be a chance for us to do anything but put out fires flying all over the place. It just sounds awful.”
“Fine, then we put Harper in charge,” Sprocket suggested. “The two queens ruling the US criminal world together.”
“Not a fucking chance,” Magnus grumbled.
Jaxson looked down at the sleeping Harper in his lap, lovingly brushing hair off her face. “I don’t know. I think she’d be an amazing queen. It’s not like she would be doing it on her own. We would be there to back her up.”
“You want to give up being our own bosses and traveling the world?” Ghost asked, his face showing his surprise.
“We would still be our own bosses, but let's be real, we know Harper runs the show. She just lets us think we call the shots for his ego,” Jaxson said, gesturing to Magnus with his thumb. “Once things settle down, why wouldn’t we be able to travel? Besides, you’re telling me that being assassins isn’t getting old?
The last dozen jobs have been so boring.
This would be new, and we wouldn't have to leave our gorgeous girl.”
Void grunted at that from where he’d been lying on the floor.
I thought for sure he was asleep but clearly not.
“I get that feeling. Not sure I’d be able to handle Dax flying all over the place if we couldn’t all go with her.
Makes me twitchy when she’s not in the house with us…
not sure I could handle her being in another state. ”
“This is all assuming the kid doesn’t have the stones to pull this off, but I have a feeling we’re cutting him short,” Cam interjected. “This plan is based on eighty percent of the work he’s put into the takeover.”
“It’s always good to have a backup plan,” Picasso argued. “If things were to fall apart, we’d need to know how to move forward.”
“Did anyone bother to ask me if I wanted to be queen?” Harper asked with a yawn as she rolled on her back.
“Why the hell would I want to run a criminal empire like Dax? I’m not the kind of gal to handle being shot, hunted, and constantly looking over my shoulder for danger.
One day, I think I’d like to have kids, but that for sure isn’t gonna happen if they can’t be safe. ”
Jaxon traced her face with a finger, then booped her on the nose. “Then that settles it, no ruling empires for you.”
“Really? Just like that, you're fine with it?” Harper questioned.
“Yup, I want kids with you someday, and if that’s going to get in the way of my filling that belly up with my child, I don’t want it, gorgeous,” Jaxson answered honestly.
Watching those two stare at each other with so much love had me looking down at Wes. He must have known how this conversation was going to rattle me a little as he pulled me down for a sweet kiss. “I love you, Dax, no matter what. As long as I have you in my life, nothing else matters.”
I kissed him again and playfully rubbed our noses together before sitting up, smiling. The rest of my guys were all looking at me now, making me freeze like I’d missed something important during our tender moment.
“That goes for all of us, Dax,” Eagle stated.
“You’re the woman we all fell in love with, not for any other reason that you crashed into our lives and made it impossible to let you go after that.
” He then glanced at Harper, who was watching me as well.
“I have a feeling those kids are going to need some kick-ass uncles and one badass aunt in their lives.”
Harper sat up and clapped her hands excitedly.
“Just think how much fun this will be. You can do all the things I’d never allow them to do or their fathers, for that matter.
I’m pretty sure they will turn into the biggest worry-warts as the kids start getting into things.
They’re going to need people to turn to when we drive them crazy. Who better than you guys?”
“Now, why would you go and say that?” Ghost demanded. “I’m going to be the coolest dad ever.”
Harper just looked at him and patted his leg. “Yeah, we’ll see. I’ve seen how you act with me. When it’s our children, I only see your smothering getting ten times worse.”
Ghost pouted at this but didn’t really argue either, making me think it might be true. “Now that we’ve got that all settled, I think it’s time we call Tommaso and find out if he’s willing to play our game,” I suggested.
Wes handed over a cell, and I dialed the number Tommy had left on the sheets for us. It rang twice before I realized it was six thirty in the morning and he might not be up.
“When you said you’d call in the morning, I didn’t think you meant the ass crack of dawn,” Tommaso answered.
“Yeah, sorry not sorry. I haven’t gotten to bed yet, and I’m taking it out on those who got to sleep,” I shot back. “Do you want my answer or not?”
“Okay, shoot,” Tommaso said as I heard the rustling of sheets and assumed he realized he wasn’t going back to bed at this point.
“You’ve got the Hidden Empire backing you if and only if you agree to the plan that we’ve made. It will put you in power, take out Diego, but give me what I need out of this whole situation,” I warned. “Still interested?”
“One hundred percent, but I feel like this conversation shouldn’t happen over the phone.
I’m going to send you an address to my operations headquarters in New York.
This way, as you lay out your plan, you can sell it right to the men who are going to help us pull it off,” Tommaso offered.
“Unless you don’t trust me enough to do that? ”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying not to bitch this guy's ass out for getting sassy before I had any sleep or coffee. “That’s fine. It makes the most sense if you're confident that you’ll stick by what we came up with.”
“Trust goes both ways, and if it gets me in power and meets your needs, then who am I to argue?” he reasoned.
Grunting, I leaned back against the couch.
“Send me the address but give us a few hours to pull ourselves together before we head over there. I’m sure you need to get your ducks in a row as well.
” I paused, thinking of something I should have asked last night.
“Hey, does everyone know you killed the big boss man?”
“No, Francois has helped me keep that under wraps. Valter is known for going off to see one of his mistresses in Pennsylvania, so we are just playing that story up for now,” Tommaso answered. “Take the time you need. If we’re going to pull this off tonight, then you need some sleep.”
“I’ll text you back at this number when we’re heading over,” I shared, then hung up, tossing the phone on the couch next to me. “Seems he’s all in, wants us to go to his base of operations to settle up the plan and put it into action tonight.”
“Little Demon, what about the fight? It’s tomorrow?” Void asked.
I rolled my head to look at him. “Oh, don’t you worry about that. I have a perfect plan for that situation. It’s going to be so much more fun and ensures that neither of us will get hurt.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What did we say about sharing the plan, little demon?”
“Can I just ask you guys to trust me on this, and once we get the important part settled, I’ll tell you the rest?” I requested. “This can only happen if the whole plan goes as it should, but we’ve seen how well that goes.”
“Does it put you in more danger, loba?” Cognac asked.
“Nope, it actually takes me out of danger,” I shared.
Cognac shrugged and looked at the others. “That's all I needed to know. You guys good?” Everyone nodded and mumbled in agreement. “Great, now I think we need to get some sleep so we aren’t dead on our feet.”
Magnus grabbed keys out of his pocket and chucked them at Sprocket. “These will get you into the apartment downstairs. It’s set up for you guys, even food in the fridge.”
Heaving ourselves up, we managed to stumble into the apartment downstairs, and I flopped face-first on the bed. I felt the others come join me, but I didn’t know who managed to fit, but I didn’t care. I just needed sleep.
Looking out the car window, I chewed on my thumbnail as we headed for Staten Island.
Now that I’d gotten four hours of sleep and ran through the conversation I had with Tommaso over again in my brain, I realized I should have questioned why he had a base of operations in New York.
If he’d been based out of Boston this whole time, when did he have the chance to make a place here that Diego didn’t know about?
It was smart as shit to have people already planted where you wanted to take over.
I just didn’t get the feeling he’d been that prepared.