DAX
It took me a moment to register what Void just said. “Explain.”
“Six years ago when we weren’t as big of a crew as we are now.
A guy named Lizard was kicked out of the club because he was pocketing money from drug deals he did.
Pissed he tried to get Eagle caught by setting us up with an undercover cop asking for black market weapons.
Normally Eagle always takes the meeting with new people but I had a bad feeling about it when he brought up knowing Lizard.
I pulled my gun on him and got arrested before the deal could go any further.
They wanted me to do ten years but Gabby got it down to four and I only did three getting out for good behavior,” Void shared, his icy eyes never leaving mine.
“While I was in he made sure I had everything I needed whether it was protection or a new toothbrush never once did I feel abandoned. Hell he even sent Picasso to see me twice a month to keep me up to date about what was going on in the club.”
The room was silent as they waited for me to react. I tried to hide how much I was reeling from this new information. My anger and hurt over what happened to my brother wanted me to push back at what he was saying but I was too good at reading people to think it was all made up.
“Okay so here’s the deal I propose. Weston and I will join you at the compound so he can consult on your security.
Meanwhile I will look into Mastiff and the Mad Dogs to see if what you’re asking me to do can even be done.
If I think it’s possible then I will bring this all to Two Tricks and see what he has to say.
Once he has made a choice then and only then will I make good on our side of the bargain,” I said, making sure to look at all of them as I spoke.
“Oh and you have to get this goddamn shock collar off of me or none of this is going to happen.”
Eagle sat back and rubbed his chin watching me with a critical eye. “So, you want to do this research on your own turf.”
“I’m either truly your partner in this or the deal is off,” I countered.
Picasso scoffed. “You want us to extend trust to you with no guarantee you will keep your word.”
“Sorry did you miss the part where you will have Wes with you at the compound?” I asked. “We are both extending trust here.”
“Hardly he will be in our security systems; he could do whatever he wants to them leaving us vulnerable to an attack from Two Tricks,” Picasso said his face scrunched up in a scowl.
“You have to leave the tracker on until Two Tricks agrees with the plan and when we talk to him face to face. That’s when you can be free of it. ”
I growled at him taking a step forward, but Wes reached out and grabbed my arm stopping me.
“Take a moment to actually listen to what he is saying, Dax. It’s a fair deal, you need to go back and show your face and deal with a few things before you can come back to the compound and I can help you with your dead ends.
It shouldn’t take me more than three days to overhaul their whole system.
If we need to order stuff in then it could be longer but I can still help you along the way. ”
My skin crawled at the thought of being tracked everywhere I went and them knowing where I lived. I wanted this thing off of me, the danger of being hit with that kind of shot at any given moment made me feel like this as a bigger leap of trust on my end.
“Fine, but if I end up getting shocked or the information you have on me gets out if the deal doesn’t go your way I will personally hand you over to the Mad Dog’s and watch them kill you all. Do I make myself clear?” I snapped.
Eagle nodded then got to his feet with his hand extended. I studied him for a moment then took his hand letting out a yelp as he pulled me forward and slammed his lips on mine. I fought the kiss at first but then when his grip on my hip and neck felt like they might bruise I relaxed into it.
When he finally released me he grinned. “When Two Tricks agrees to the deal make sure he knows that you will be spending a month living with us so he’ll have to deal with commute time.”
I scowled at him and shoved him off of me. “There is no telling what Tricks will think of this deal. It’s going against one of his rules and he doesn’t like it when things fuck with his rules.”
I felt someone step up behind me molding his chest to my back. “Don’t sell yourself short there Little Rebel, that silver tongue of yours could talk anyone into doing something they didn’t plan on.” Sprocket said, his lips brushing the shell of my ear.
Something about all these men had turned my abnormally high libido into overdrive as my body sang with desire.
I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Sprocket knowing he was trying to do the exact thing he just suggested about me.
Leaning into him I reached up and let my hand sink into his hair that was piled up in a messy bun.
He almost seemed to purr at the attention but just as I was going to get a nice grip on his hair he grabbed my waist and yanked me away from him as if it was as simple as a dance.
“Oh Little Rebel, haven't you learned your tricks don’t work on me,” Sprocket teased his eyes shining with mirth. “You’re going to have to up your game if you want to play with me.”
Shaking him off I headed for the door of the cabin. “Well, let’s get this show on the road. I’ll Drive the ATV back to the compound and then I’ll take my Camaro back home.”
“Looks like Cognac gets to ride bitch to one of us,” Void chuckled as they followed me out the door.
“Wait, you can’t leave the place like this!” Eagle called out still in the living room.
I looked at Void who was on my right shaking my head. “I’ve never met a man who could be more of a neat freak than Weston.”
“You get used to it or end up with a black eye or your hand stabbed with the fork you left in the sink,” Void said with a shrug.
Pausing I hollered back through the open door. “This safe house is burned now that you guys know about it. Tricks will probably just sell the place or burn it down, one of the two depending on his mood. So there's no point in worrying about it.”
Boots clomped to the door and Eagle glared down at me holding out his hand. “Then I’ll buy it off him right now, hand over the keys, this place is a perfect getaway.”
“Yeah no can do prez. We have to have a crew come and wipe the place of all our stash and security,” I said as I skipped down the steps to the ATV.
Eagle snarled, giving the place one more look over and forcing himself to walk out the door Picasso right on his heels.
“You have to hand it to the guy who has a great operation, there is no way that you guys would have found the place if it hadn’t been for the GPS,” Cognac mused while taking in the forest around us.
“Hey when you talk to Two Tricks about the deal tell him we will pay market price for this place. I wouldn’t mind spending a weekend out here some time. ”
I rolled my eyes at him, which caused his grin to grow wider. “You guys keep forgetting I have to check out if going after the Mad Dog’s is the right move or not. I actually like staying alive and I’d like to keep doing that for a while longer.”
“Come on Cognac you can ride with me,” Sprocket said, slapping his friend on the back.
Void and Picasso followed after them while Eagle watched Wes lock the place up and then tossed me the keys.
“You know what, I think you should come with me Little Hellcat. I don’t trust that you won’t drive off with the two of you in the buggy. Tech wiz over here knows there's a tracker and if he’s as good as he claims he could disable that in no time,” Eagle decided.
“Nah, I’m good going back with Wes. I’m not a girl who rides bitch when she has the option to drive,” I said, turning to hop in the ATV.
Big arms grabbed me around the waist and tossed me over a shoulder.
“What the fuck is it with you assholes and dragging me around like a sack of potatoes? Put me down right now Eagle or I swear to god I will make you crash your bike,” I yelled punching hard against his lower back trying to hit his kidney.
A hand smacked against my ass the sound of it echoing through the trees. “Watch what you say I already owe you punishment for leaving my room a mess, don’t make me add to it.”
Ignoring his warning I wiggled around grabbing his boxer trying to give him a wedgie from hell when two more hits on my ass in quick succession leaving a burn on my skin which stopped me.
“I can do this all day, it’s up to you when I stop,” Eagle commented as he continued on his way back to his bike.
I pushed up to see Wes standing by the ATV eyes wide in shock and trying not to laugh at me.
Oh that fucker is gonna pay for not helping me.
See if he gets as much as a hand job from me any time soon the unhelpful bastard.
We broke through the trees to a small side road that was more well used and wasn’t as rough as the one leading to the cabin.
Pulling me off his shoulder Eagle dropped me unceremoniously onto the ground causing me to sputter as I got to my feet.
“Are you trying to do everything in your power to piss me the fuck off? Because if you are you’re doing a great job,” I fumed.
Eagle rounded on me, grabbing me once again by the throat.
“It seems that there had been a slight miscommunication in all this. You might work for Two Tricks but you are ours, the Phantom Saints leadership has claimed you as theirs. So yeah I’m fucking pissed that I’m going to bring you back home then your going to get in your car and leave for who the fuck knows how long.
I won’t know what you're doing, if you're eating, drinking too much, or getting into trouble.”
Bewildered, I gaped at Eagle trying to understand what he just said. Then anger washed over me in a tidal wave as his words hit home. How the fuck did they get it into their heads that I was their’s of all things? I don’t remember signing up for that job.
Roaring at him, I reached out and grabbed his throat, gripping it far tighter than he was mine.
“I. Belong. To. No one. I told you from day one that I was not part of your crew. My loyalties are to myself and no one else, I will not be forced into this because you made the decision without even TELLING me. This woman can not be bought or sold like a piece of meat so get that thought out of your goddamn head this instant.”
We both glared at each other, everyone around us completely silent watching to see what would happen next.
A flash of pride shown in Eagle’s eyes before he removed his hand from my neck.
When I felt confident that he wasn’t going to make another move against me I pulled my hand away seeing a perfect impression of my hand on his throat with little crescent moons from my nails biting in.
“We will talk about this later,” Eagle said, walking over to his bike.
I let out a huff amazed at the sheer hard headedness of this man. “I’m not riding back with you, pick someone else.”
“Fine, you’ll ride with Picasso then,” He answered without even looking back at me.
I narrowed my eyes feeling like that was far too easy of a compromise.
Turning I looked at Picasso as he frowned at his brother’s back, then shifted to me.
Jerking his head for me to get on I took a deep breath and swung my leg over the seat.
Once comfortable I grabbed on to the belt loops on his hips not feeling welcome to wrap my arms around his waist. Oddly I felt more comfortable sitting bitch for someone who didn’t actually care for me all that much.
I couldn’t place my finger on it but the man who made me an egg-in-a-hole hadn’t shown up since.
He was far more closed off and untrusting.
It couldn’t just be the whole brother complex thing because other than today I hadn’t truly meant harm to Eagle.
The man was an artist and I knew from personal experience that we were all fickle bitches.
He either needed to get laid or spend the day locked in his art space for a day to get whatever had crawled up his ass to mellow the fuck out.