3. Dax
DAX
Levin didn’t answer, but I left him a message to get back to me when he could.
Just to make sure the grumpy old Russian wasn’t pissed at me, I logged into our system to double-check his transactions.
They had all been completed without a hitch, so that made me feel better about not contacting him about this earlier.
Getting shot sure did seem to take up a lot of time and threw off my whole schedule.
A knock on the office door had me peeking around the computer screen to see Cam lingering in the doorway. Not who I guessed it would have been, but that just made me even more curious as to why he was bothering me. “Can I help you?”
“I got information for you from my people back at the FBI,” Cam shared. “Figured you would want to take a look at it.”
“Not here. That information is far too sensitive to be looked over on this network. I have a safe house nearby. We can all head there and go over things,” I directed as I got up from my chair.
When I reached the door, Cam didn’t look like he was all that interested in moving.
“If you have something to say, then spit it out. I’ve got more important things to deal with right now than whatever emotional drama you’re going to lay on me. ”
Cam reached out and brushed some pink hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear. “No drama. I just can’t believe I’m here with you again, beautiful. This plan was such a long game, I didn’t think it would actually pay off the way it has, but Dad had all the faith in the world it would work.”
“This is what I don’t get. I leave you high and dry with no word, and you just brush it off, believing I didn’t really mean to leave you. What kind of man does that make you?” I questioned, looking up at his golden-brown eyes.
Cam had grown up into an incredibly handsome man with a flair for the dramatics, but I blame his father for that.
Back when we had been dating in college, he was a total skater boy with long hair, grungy jeans, and scuffed-up Vans.
Now his hair was perfectly styled in something that I’d see on the set of Mad Men and a perfectly tailored navy suit, working for the FBI.
“I didn’t brush it off right away,” he corrected.
“I pulled out of school for a full semester when Dad convinced me to come stay with him while I got my head on right. He took one look at me and told me, ‘A man in love the way you are can’t lose his soul mate because then everything else in the world is a lie.’ So he started working on figuring out what it was that caused you to walk away from everything.
That’s when we found out about your brother and traced that whole tale back to the Blackjax.
He was absolutely impressed with your strategy to get rid of them while starting to build the Hidden Empire at the same time.
I really should have known you were Tricks, but it was hard to see you become so callous and jaded, so I didn’t look too closely.
Dad was right, though. You and I are made for each other, and I just stopped fighting it.
There will never be another woman for me, but you and I know you have all of them.
I’m not worried or feel the need to compete against them since I bare your mark of ownership,” he said, patting his chest over his heart where I carved my name into his flesh.
“Don’t think just because I hold your life in my hands, this will be easy.
I don’t trust this new version of you. You’re going to need to prove yourself to me, just like the others are doing.
None of this has been easy. Never in my life did I think I’d be with one man, let alone seven,” I muttered.
“Now, move out of my way. We have shit to do. I’m not going to give that bastard a chance to blow up another building of mine.
This is the last time he’ll get the drop on me. ”
“As the queen requests, so her humble servant will oblige,” Cam said with a bow, backing out of my way.
Rolling my eyes, I clipped him with my shoulder as I walked by, letting him know his dramatics weren’t appreciated. I found the rest of the guys going through the things in the four safes we retrieved from the house.
“Damn, little demon, you could have waged a whole war from your home if you needed to,” Void commented with a grin.
Shrugging, I looked over the stockpile of weapons.
“I always wanted to be ready at a moment’s notice if I needed to.
If something happens in one of our warehouses, it’s always good to have backups of everything on hand.
Seems I wasn’t careful enough to keep my home under wraps, though.
” An idea sparked in my brain about who was on the list of people who knew where I lived. “Anyone craving pizza?”
Wes’s head snapped up at the question, his eyes narrowing. “You think they got to Robert?”
“Well, Lucifer’s is the only place we order from that delivers regularly and knows who we are and who we work for.
The last time I ordered from there, a hitman coming for Harper killed the normal driver and showed up at our door.
Seems to reason there might be a loose tongue flapping around somewhere there,” I pointed out.
“Can’t hurt to pay them a visit. Who wants to come with me? ”
Not surprisingly, all of them raised their hands.
“Do you really think it’s the best plan to split up, loba?” Cognac asked. “When a pack is under attack, it’s better to stick together. Power in numbers and all that.”
“Fine, but not all of you can come into the restaurant with Wes and me,” I countered. “That would signal whoever is behind this that we caught on to them.”
Once that was settled, they all climbed on their bikes, and I doubled up with Wes, keeping me in front since I only had my one arm to use.
I was extremely thankful we both had our bikes still at the main warehouse in the shipping yard, and we only lost the Camaro.
Yeah, it sucked to have lost so much, but we always used our bikes and saved the car for bad weather or when Harper and I went out.
I learned a long time ago not to get attached to things, knowing they could be taken from you at any time.
I was a little sad to lose all my art supplies and the paintings I didn’t get a chance to take to my storage space.
They had been waiting to be sold at the art gallery.
It didn’t take us long to get to the pizza joint and park.
This location wasn’t large, but it was the original location with its outside painted black with flames following the Hell motif.
It’s really not hard to figure out why it became my favorite pizza place.
The bell rang as Wes and I entered with Eagle backing us up while the rest stood guard at the front and back of the building in case someone wanted to make a run for it.
I walked up to the host, a young woman beaming a bright smile at me. “Welcome, how many?”
“We aren’t looking to dine in. I’m actually looking for Robert,” I shared, giving her a smile in return.
“Oh, ah, who can I say is looking for him?” she asked.
“Dax.”
Her eyes widened, telling me she knew my name and who I was. “Give me just a moment, and I’ll grab him.”
Before I could even answer, she was off running, ignoring the fact another group had walked in behind us. “Does that happen often, little hellcat?” Eagle asked.
“If they know what’s good for them, yes, but mainly from people who only know the rumors of what I’m like.
Most of the people who know me personally are still respectful.
They know as long as they follow the rules, there’s no need to fear me.
Robert hires me for protection since some of his other locations are in areas where local gangs like to think they’re hot shit. ”
“You haven’t stamped them all out or pulled them under your umbrella?” Eagle questioned.
“Do you know how much work it would be to stop every gang that wanted to pop up with the territory I cover? No, I let them be as long as they don’t mess with my people or jobs.
They do all the drug dealing and shit I won’t touch on a local level, but some get big heads and think that because I turn a blind eye, I don’t know what’s going on.
They learn real fast that isn’t the case,” I explain.
Soon, Robert was hurrying through the front restaurant area, looking a little panicked. I couldn’t blame him since it’s rare that I’d personally show up like this to talk to him. Normally, I’d just sit and eat, allowing him the chance to approach me casually if I wanted to check in on things.
“Dax, to what do I owe the pleasure?” he greeted, reaching out to shake my hand. Robert was the typical middle-aged Italian with a receding hairline and slight potbelly, wearing khaki pants and a black polo with the restaurant logo on it.
“Why don’t we head to your office? I just have a few questions,” I answered, gripping his hand with more force than I needed to so he knew I wasn’t fucking around.
“Of course, follow me,” Robert agreed and led the way back into the kitchen where his office was located. He said he wanted to be in the heart of his restaurant, which in his mind was where the pizza was made. “Can I get a pizza going for you while we talk?”
“You know I’ll never say no to one of your pizzas, Rob,” I said with a grin.
“Mike, I need a large Ringburner and habanero wings on the fly,” Robert called out to the head chief.