2. Dax
DAX
As Wes gathered what he needed for pancakes, I refilled my coffee mug and headed out into the living room.
I didn’t like feeling trapped with all of them cutting off my exit, even if we did have a truce of sorts between us now.
Just as I got snuggled into the corner of the couch, a hand dangled a cell phone and my smartwatch in front of my face.
Snatching them, I glanced up to see my personal prick grinning down at me.
“Oh, I get my watch back now?” I sassed. “What if I use it to call all of the Hidden Empire down on you guys?”
Picasso rested his arm on the back of the couch and leaned over it, so we were practically nose to nose. “You won’t.”
“Such confidence.” I smirked. “It’s foolish to think you’ve tamed me because I decided to work with the Phantom Saints.”
He laughed. “Spitfire, there is no way I think you’re tamed or even that it could possibly happen. You like us too much to kill us off, well, for now, anyway.”
I narrowed my gaze at him but I didn’t really have a comeback, which told me more than I wanted to know about how right he might be. “I guess we’ll have to see how long that lasts.”
Unlocking my phone, I ignored him until he left, leaving me to deal with all the messages, emails, and voicemails I had on my phone.
Thankfully, it was fully charged so I didn’t have to worry about it dying on me as I started to catch up since I didn’t have time yesterday.
All the voicemails from Wes I ignored and deleted without listening to, but there were a few unknown numbers that I didn’t recognize.
That alone set me on guard because this number was only given out to a few select people I trusted or worked directly under me.
I hit the playback button and lifted it to my ear.
“Hello, this is Tim Pepperidge from Capital Bank, and I’m calling in regard to the bank account that you had us monitoring.
It seems that the owner had removed all the money and closed out the account.
It doesn’t seem that they opened another but simply had it cashed out...
in all cash. I hope this information is of use to you, and as always, we greatly value your business, Miss Blackmore. ”
“Son of a bitch,” I shouted, garnering everyone’s attention, even causing Cognac to thunder down the stairs in only a towel.
“What? Is something wrong? Are we in trouble?” Cognac demanded, marching right up to me.
I was a little too dazed at the sight of his copper skin and muscles still slightly damp to register what he’d just said. “Hmm?”
“Loba, I know I’m pretty to look at, but I need you to answer me.” Cognac chuckled with a smirk and a knowing look.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about. It’s personal,” I answered, waving him off. “You’re not that attractive, so don’t let it get to your head.”
“Sure, says the woman who was left speechless by seeing me in a towel,” Cognac teased as he turned to walk back upstairs, letting the towel drop so I got a great show of his ass the whole way up.
Groaning, I flopped back on the couch so I was now staring up at the ceiling.
It was just safer that way. My thoughts drifted back to the message that I’d just listened to, and I checked to see when they’d called.
Of course, it was a day after I’d been taken, proving what I’d already guessed.
Kimber, my brother’s white-trash widow, was running and she took all of Devin’s life insurance money that had been locked in a trust with her.
I’d pulled all the strings I could to make sure that the money couldn’t be taken out of the account easily.
She had to jump through a shit ton of hoops, and somehow, she’d managed it.
Or one of her new masters had more influence than I did, which left the De León Cartel.
I swear to God, that woman would forever be a thorn in my side.
This is what I get for letting the bitch live for the sake of sentimentality.
Wes appeared in my line of sight with what looked like a tray in his hands. “Harper might let you in if you have food.”
Rolling off the couch, I hopped up and took the tray from him. It had two plates of fluffy pancakes, eggs, and chocolate milk—everything the two of us loved. “I’m kind of impressed you remember things like this.”
“Dax, if you think I haven’t been memorizing all your favorite things since the day I met you, then you’re not as smart as I thought you were.
I wasn’t the one who said fuck feelings and refused to let anyone in after Devin died,” Wes scolded me as he caught my shoulder and led me to the stairs.
“Now, go fix things with the one person who knows you as well as I do.”
“So bossy now that we’ve fucked,” I grumbled, earning a swat on the ass. “Hey.”
Wes just rolled his eyes at me. With a cocked brown, he pointed in the direction that I needed to go.
Muttering to myself, I walked up to the second floor and stopped in front of the door that had temporarily been my room. Taking a deep breath, I knew that Harper wasn’t going to answer the door, so I did the only thing I could think of—I kicked it open.
“What the actual fuck, Dax?” Harper screamed as she glared at me from the floor, having fallen out of the bed.
“Um… I brought breakfast…”
Picking herself off the floor, she dusted off her ass and stomped up to me, reaching for the tray. “Thank you, now leave.”
I twisted to the side, sweeping the tray out of her grasp and getting myself further into the room.
Ignoring her growl of irritation, I sat on the bed and wiggled my ass further onto it before setting the tray down carefully.
“As you can clearly see, this is food enough for two people. That would be you and me, in case you were wondering.”
“Dax, I don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m furious with you. Can’t you understand that?”
“Are we talking about the level of mad like when I got paint all over the dress you needed for our final, or when I got us arrested in Mexico on spring break for taking that Maserati for a joyride?” I asked, recounting the two times I’ve seen her pissed at me.
“How about next-level pissed, because I just found out my best friend for the past ten years has lied to me about everything and kept a secret identity because she is a crime lord? Oh, yes, and let’s not forget the fact that I was held captive in my own house at gunpoint because they were trying to use me against said lying bitch ass of a friend. ”
Hanging my head, I took the knife from the tray and started poking at the pancakes. “Yeah, that sounds like a douchebag move that would give you every right to be upset.”
“You think?”
Glancing up at Harper, I took in the hurt and betrayal reflecting back to me in her deep blue eyes with bags under them.
Her blond hair was piled up on her head in a sad messy bun that was hanging off to one side, while she wore an oversized t-shirt.
The Harper I knew never would let herself look like that.
She was silk pajamas all the way. Being in the fashion industry, she took her appearance very seriously no matter what time of the day it was.
This was yet another sign telling me just how not okay my bestie was with this whole situation.
“Would you at least sit down and let me explain how it all started? If you still decide that you hate me after knowing all the information, then I’ll make sure you get somewhere safe and I’ll leave you be, to live your life,” I offered, silently begging to let her give me this chance.
“Will knowing this get me killed, because I really don’t need any more experiences like last night?” Harper questioned, crossing her arms.
“I swear on my brother’s grave that you will never again be in that kind of danger because of me,” I promised, holding her gaze so she knew how serious I was.
She searched my face for a moment, then let out a huff and came to sit across from me. “Did Weston make all this?”
“We both know I sure as fuck didn’t.” I grinned as Harper’s lips twitched, trying to hold back her own smile. “Can I eat my eggs first? You know there’s no point in eating them once they’re cold.”
“I’m not cruel, Dax. Eat your eggs, then you better get your lying ass talking.”
The tension in the room was thick as we ate in silence, making me beg for her to be mad at me instead of this wave of mistrust coming off her.
Popping the last bit of eggs into my mouth, I gulped down the delicious choccy-milk and settled against the headboard.
The only person who knew the full story that I was about to tell Harper was Wes, and that’s because he lived it with me.
“The whole thing started eight years ago, when Devin got sent to prison for taking the fall for his president, the leader of the Blackjax MC. While he was in jail, the MC abandoned him to his fate, and he turned to a rival drug ring for protection. When he got out and tried to return to his life with the Blackjax MC, they turned him away. It didn’t matter that he took the fall or was married to the president’s daughter.
The offense of working with this drug ring was too great for them to let him return, so he and Kimber left.
In order to make ends meet, he kept working for the rival drug ring.
A few months later, Devin was killed in a drug deal gone wrong when the customer didn’t like the product he was pushing.
It had nothing to do with Devin. He was low level and peddled whatever he was given. ”
“You’d told me it was drug related but I thought he OD’d. I didn’t know he was dealing,” Harper said. “Is this why you didn’t let anyone come to his funeral?”
“I was pissed at Devin for ever getting involved with an MC, let alone becoming a dealer. Every time we talked, it was all that we fought about, and, of course, you know that I refused to go to his wedding to the she-devil. To this day, I don’t understand what he was thinking.
Devin was all heart and no brains, making him gullible and foolish.
Kimber was just as upset as I was, but for an extremely different reason.
She was used to being treated like a princess and now she was cast out with no support.
I just recently learned that she talked my brother into using me as a bartering tool to get back at the Blackjax.
Joke’s on them, I’m the one who fucking destroyed them. ”
Harper leaned forward, catching my eye. “How? How did you go from the Dax I’ve always known, to one that could kill so easily? I watched you, Dax. It didn’t bother you one bit to kill them. Even now, you’re not upset about it. I bet you didn’t even have trouble sleeping.”
“Simple, you don’t fuck with my family, Harper,” I snarled, reliving the moment when I found out Harper was in danger.
“After losing half my soul, no matter how mad I was at Devin, it destroyed me. I wasn’t willing to do what it took to keep my family safe, I just looked down at him for not making something of himself.
What the hell kind of sister am I that I didn’t even bother to help him when he lost everything?
No, I had to make things right, and in order to do that, I needed to toughen the fuck up.
With Weston’s help, I took over the drug ring and used it as the foundation to build the Hidden Empire.
In the world of crime, women are seen as objects, pawns to be used to gain favors or manipulate with whatever blackmail we find while on our backs in their beds.
So, I created the persona of Two Tricks.
At first, I used a figurehead, a puppet if you will, then as I grew, I got rid of anyone who knew the truth.
To keep people off my scent, I worked my way up the ranks like any other member, proving myself loyal and invaluable during the light of day, then pulled the strings of the whole operation at night.
The Blackjax were the first to be wiped out and the declaration was made that Two Tricks didn’t work with biker gangs—ever. ”
The feelings from back then, as I struggled to change into the woman I’ve become now, were fresh in my mind.
The fights I got into, the hazing, and the bodies I’ve buried for others tying me to the organization, just as I’d ordered.
It was brutal and I had to fight tooth and nail for all the respect I’ve earned, but it was so worth it when I was the one that people feared.
Just uttering my name could make men pee themselves, knowing that I was ruthless and bloodthirsty when I needed to be.
“Harper, the life that I live isn’t pretty and I wanted to do all that I could to keep you out of it.
You are the last bit of who I used to be, and I was selfish wanting to keep that safe, tucked away where no one could find it.
My only weaknesses are you and Weston, and I will never regret doing whatever I have to in order to keep you safe.
I am sorry that I got you pulled into this, but I won’t apologize for what I had to do to keep you safe.
Lying to you, keeping you in the dark, let you live freely around me under my protection.
Now that someone’s dared to fuck with that, it means people are gonna die by my hand until you’re safe once again. ”