DAX
“Now that we’ve found our spot and marked it—like the alpha bitches that we are—can I go get my deep-fried treasure?” I begged Harper as she slathered herself with suntan lotion.
Harper peered over her glasses at me. “Only if you promise to bring me back one of those lemonades with vodka in it.”
“They don’t come with vodka—”
“Oh, so you’re telling me that the great and mighty Two Tricks can’t manage to get booze put into a carnival drink?”
Okay, so clearly Harper hadn’t moved on from our little stop along the way. I should have seen this coming.
“As the queen wishes, her humble servant will make it happen.” I bowed dramatically. “Tilly, do you want anything?”
“Hell yes. I want one of those Japadogs. I don’t care which one, I’ve heard they’re all good. Oh, and I’ll totally take a vodka lemonade too.” She grinned.
“You know what, on second thought, maybe you guys should get this shit yourself. I’m not a pack mule,” I teased, as I started to walk back to the pier.
I watched the beach as I walked, knowing that I was acting like a paranoid freak, but I knew better than to ignore my gut.
That car earlier had been following us, I know it.
When there is one… another is soon to follow.
What I didn’t know is who the mastermind was behind the tail and if it was for me or Harper.
The double-edged sword of rescuing her was I proved that she was important.
If it were anyone else, I would have let them die.
Still, this didn’t seem like a move that the Mad Dogs would make, leaving the cartel, which had much deeper pockets.
Convinced that I didn’t see anyone lurking and watching the girls as I left, I let myself relax ever so slightly.
The pier was full of people running about, so I decided to start with the drinks first since this would be a two-step process.
It didn’t take long for me to get the lemonade.
I got the largest size I could get with the special cup that allowed refills.
Then I made my way over to the Mexican restaurant that had a bar on the patio and sat down.
“Yeah, I’m gonna need to see some ID for you to sit there, kid,” the middle-aged bartender said as he scowled at me.
Squinting up at him, I slid the drink to the side and out of the way. “I’m sorry, are you talking to me?”
“Look, you might be able to fake your way into getting those tattoos and piercings, but I’m not going to serve a minor,” the man stated, crossing his arms.
“I’m thirty fucking years old, dude, and I own the shop where I got these tattoos done, thank you very much,” I snarled.
Then, when I saw I was attracting attention from the rest of the people eating, I took a deep breath.
“It would seem we started off on the wrong foot. Hi, I was hoping to get six shots of vodka. If you need an ID, I would be happy to show you one. If you could manage to ask nicely for it.”
The man didn’t seem at all impressed with my show of restraint. “You plan to drink all those shots?”
“What I do with them once I’ve paid for them is none of your concern, sir.”
“No, you’re going to put them in those cups and who the hell knows what you’ll do with them then. I’m not going to be responsible for seeing on the news some kid gets kidnapped by some pink-haired tattooed freak.”
Now why the fuck did he need to make it personal?
Lunging forward, I grabbed his button-down shirt and yanked him so he crashed into the bar and bent at the waist. I pulled out my dagger and slammed it into the bar right between his thumb and pointer finger.
“Listen up, asshat, I wasn’t looking for trouble but then you had to go and piss me off.
Now say what you want about my appearance, I couldn’t give a flying fuck, but now you’re saying I might kidnap someone?
That just crosses the line. So here’s what you’re going to do—put the goddamn shots in the lemonade, ring me up, and don’t open your mouth to speak another word.
If you should choose to ignore me, then I’ll take your tongue out so you don’t ever spout shit like that again. Peachy?”
“Someone’s gonna call the cops and you’ll be arrested if you lay a finger on me,” he grunted.
“You think so? Let’s see.” I leaned back and looked around, seeing people with phones out, filming what was happening.
“It’s alright, folks. I’m an undercover cop and this bastard was trying to sell me drugs under the table.
Make sure if you feel sick, dizzy, or have memory lapses that you get to a hospital to make sure you haven’t been drugged. ”
People gasped and some even got up and left the restaurant, terror written on their faces, but no one made a move to stop me. Good thing they’d been blasting the news about the major crackdown on drug trafficking along the beach.
“Hmm, guess that plan didn’t work out for you, now did it? For the inconvenience and damage control I’m going to have to do, I’ll be taking those shots free of charge,” I explained, shoving him back. “Make sure it’s Grey Goose and not that well off-brand shit.”
Now white as a sheet, and far less sure of himself, he grabbed the bottle of Grey Goose as I popped the lids to the drinks.
He put far more than two shots worth in, but I wasn’t going to complain, all the better to deal with this kind of bullshit.
Securing the lids once again, I hopped off the stool and left one of my ace of spades calling cards with a flaming skull in the middle of the bar.
“Here’s a tip for you, don’t judge a person by their appearance, because they might be a bigger fucking threat than you think they are. When the cops do come to collect, give them that card and they’ll know what to do.”
As I left the bar, I scrolled through my contacts until I reached the right one. “Santa Monica police department, is this an emergency?”
“Hello, this is Dax. Is Jacquie available?” I asked.
“Hold one moment while I patch you through to the chief.”
I rolled my eyes at the peppy hold music. Whoever called the police for a good reason? It should be hard rock or even some depressing violin shit, not something you would expect at a little kid’s birthday party.
“Dax! What’s up girl?” Jacqueline answered. “You ready to get that drink to celebrate my promotion?”
“Soon, I promise, but I need a small favor. Can you send two of my guys over to the pier to pick up a bartender from Mariasol? I might have accused him of trying to sell me drugs when he tried to refuse service based on the fact that I might kidnap someone.”
Jacquie laughed. “Now you definitely owe me a drink, but yeah, I can do that. I’m sure once we get him down to the station, they’ll find some dirt on him to teach him a lesson.”
“And this is why you got the job, because you live to fight injustice,” I proclaimed loudly. “How about next week? I need to fill you and Michele in on some shit that’s going down.”
“You good, Dax?”
“That’s TBD. I’ll tell you what I can when we get together. Kiss the kids and tell Hank hi for me,” I said, ending the call and shoving the phone in my back pocket.
Thankfully, the rest of the trip was uneventful, and I made it back to the beach with all our goodies, only to halt in my tracks when I spotted three identical Greek gods of hotness hanging around Harper.
“Weston better not have fucking done what I think he did,” I muttered as I sped up my approach. “I’m gonna kill him with my bare hands when I get back.”
He knew better than to ask these cocky fuckwads for a favor, especially when it came to Harper.
Now I was going to have to try and kill three of the best assassins I’ve ever worked with or had the displeasure of knowing.
Refilling their position would be a bitch, but I wasn’t about to let them get their claws into my best friend.
“Finally, you’re back!” Harper called, waving and grinning ear to ear. “Look, some of your friends found us.”
Glaring at them, I handed out the food and drinks that I had worked so very hard to get and now couldn’t enjoy. “Well, if it isn’t the Wright brothers. What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?”
“Oh, Dax, you’re always so warm and welcoming,” Jaxson replied, batting lashes that woman would kill for, at me.
I had to hand it to them, they made an impressive vision in their swim trunks, golden skin, tattoos, chiseled jawline, and matching crew cuts. They were identical in every way but for their eye color, giving you a chance to figure out who the fuck you were talking to.
“Dax!” Harper snapped. I could tell by the pout on her lips that she wanted me to shut the hell up so she could work her magic on them. Little did she know that they had been panting after her like a dog in heat for the past three years.
“So sorry, how have you been? Killed anyone lately?” I asked, flashing a bright smile.
Magnus, the self-proclaimed oldest by ten minutes, glowered at me. “There’s no need to be rude, Dax, especially when you’re asking for favors that could cost us quite the payday.”
Ghost—given name Casper—bent over Harper’s shoulder and took a long pull from her straw, his eyebrows snapping up. “Holy shit, you trying to make a Molotov cocktail with that much vodka going on? That could get an elephant drunk.”
“What, can’t handle your liquor, Ghost? Hate to break it to you, but real women can drink,” I sassed.
Tilly let out a little giggle as she sat eating her hotdog and sipping her lemonade, enjoying the front-row seat to this spectacle.
I get it, who in their right mind would fight with men like them, when they looked like that and could kill you in half a heartbeat?
Luckily they liked little old me enough not to make my best friend cry with my death, because it sure wasn’t my winning personality that was doing it.
On second thought, it could be the supplies I got for them too—
“Enough, all of you,” Harper snapped, as she stood from her beach chair. “Tell me what the hell is going on right now, because I’ve had about all the secrets and alter egos I can handle.”
The boys lined up in front of her like some synchronized swimming move with the same blinding smile on their faces.
“I’m Magnus Wright.”
“Jaxson Wright.”
“Casper, but everyone calls me Ghost. We’re assassins,” Ghost answered, laying it all out there.
Harper blinked at them a few times before she turned to me. “Are they serious right now?”
“Unfortunately.” I shrugged. “You said you didn’t want any secrets. This is what happens when you meet new people who call themselves my friends.”
As her legs started to go out, both Jaxson and I moved to help her, but he got their first. Slowly, he lowered her back to her chair and handed her the lemonade. “Ah, I think this will help.”
Robotically, she took a long sip, still watching the brothers with wide eyes. They shifted, waiting for her to give them a verdict on what she thought about the situation.
“Why are you here? You said Dax needed something from you guys?”
Magnus rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced over at me, and I nodded in agreement. My feelings aside, this was the smartest choice to keep her safe.
“Weston called us and explained your situation. So, if you’re willing, we would like to be your bodyguards,” Magnus ventured, bracing himself for her answer.
Harper started laughing hard enough to make her cry.
“Weston wants three assassins to keep me safe? Wouldn’t you guys be the ones they contact to kill me?
I might be a blonde, but I’m not that dumb to believe you would pass up a profit for a no-name fashion designer who happens to be best friends with Two Tricks. ”
I flinched as she told them who I really was. We’d danced around that answer for years and now they finally knew the truth.
Ghost squatted down in front of her and placed his hands on her knees.
“We already turned down the job, Harper, before Weston asked us for our help, if I’m being honest. Not because it wasn’t a profitable job, but because it was you.
I know this doesn’t make any sense but you’re just gonna have to believe me when I say the last thing we want, is you to be dead. ”
“Hey, I have an idea,” Tilly piped up. “Why not let them spend the day with us and you can get to know them and decide when we pack things up?”
“I guess…” Harper answered, looking slightly lost at all this news.
Grinning, I grabbed Tilly where she sat and wrapped her head up in a hug. “This is why I keep you around Tilly-Billy. As for you, boys, this will be a test to make sure you can treat my best friend the way she deserves. Otherwise, I’ll just shoot you.”
“Dax, haven’t we told you before not to threaten us with a good time? Man, the chance for us to really have a go at you on equal footing would be amazing!” Jaxson said with a grin.
“Yeah, it’s official, you four are weird as fuck,” Tilly said, pointing at us, still sipping on her lemonade.
So much for a relaxing afternoon now that these goons were going to be around.