20. Harper
HARPER
The next four days flew by as we mixed our time with self-defense training and fun.
The training Dax and Wes taught me came back the more I used it, and I stopped flinching when I shot the gun, managing to hit the target with every shot.
There was still a long way to go before I would ever feel comfortable using it outside the range, but I felt confident if I needed to use it to protect myself or the triplets, I could.
I was relaxing out on the patio after a swim when Magnus came to sit on the lounge next to me. “We need to talk.”
Sitting up, I placed my drink on the table next to me and gave him my full attention. I could tell by his tone that something was wrong. “What happened?”
“It’s Dax—”
“Is she okay?. Did something else happen?” I demanded, swinging my legs around to face him. He gave me a disapproving look with a raised brow as if waiting for me to realize I’d cut him off. “Sorry, you know how I get when it comes to Dax.”
“Can I tell you what’s going on now?” Magnus asked, waiting for me to answer.
I rolled my eyes and folded my hands in my lap. “I’m calm, cool, and collected. Lay it on me.”
“First off, I told you that there was another attempt on her life. What I didn’t tell you is that she was shot three times and almost died. They rushed her to the hospital, and Weston gave us updates when he could.”
Shooting to my feet, I screeched, “Did you just say she almost DIED!”
Magnus closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, dealing with the pitch of my screams. “Calm, cool, and collected, I see.”
“Don’t you give me that crap. You just told me that my best friend almost died, and here I am having a fucking vacation. I have every right to be fucking pissed at you for holding that back from me,” I yelled, waving my hands furiously in the air.
He reached out and grabbed my wrist, yanking me down into his lap.
Then he wrapped his arms around me tightly.
I struggled to get out, but there was no way I could counteract his brute force.
“There’s an incredibly valid reason we didn’t say anything to you about it.
If you take a breath and listen to me, I’ll tell you what it is. ”
I growled in frustration but slumped against him. “It better be good.”
“After Dax made it through surgery and they knew she was going to be fine, word got out. She was in the hospital a day before another assassin tried to take her out, but her guys stopped it. Wes pulled her out of the hospital, hired private help, and smuggled her away to a safe house. No one, and I mean no one, could reach them for about four days,” Magnus stated emphatically.
“Weston reached back out, sending us an email just letting us know she was on the mend but still keeping a low profile. Shit went down here with us around the same time with Jean-Claude, so I felt it was best not to add more to your plate.”
I elbowed him in the gut. Even though I knew it wasn’t hard enough for him to feel it, it still made me feel better. “You still should have told me what was really going on.”
“That’s just half of what I have to tell you…”
Thrashing in his arms, I managed to sit sideways so I could look him in the face. “Now what?”
“Remember when I told you that Dax was in the middle of a war between some of the biggest power players in the criminal world. Well, it seems that Marco Tesoro of the Tesoro Cartel is no longer happy playing behind the scenes and made his introductions,” Magnus explained.
“You are speaking words, Maggie, but none of them are making sense,” I bit out. “Just spit it out, will you?”
“Marco blew up Dax and Weston’s house yesterday,” he finally admitted. “No one is hurt. They weren’t even there. They were at the compound with the Phantom Saints.”
“Why the hell would this Marco guy blow up her house? Is he the one who has been trying to kill her all this time? Wait, is he the one who has the hit out on me?” I demanded, panic starting to set in.
Ghost walked out with a bowl of what looked like ice cream and paused when he saw us. “Oh… I see things are going well. Maybe I should come back when you’re done.”
“Don’t you even dare, Casper! You come sit down right now and tell me if Maggie dearest is keeping anything else from me,” I ordered, pointing at the lounge chair I’d been using.
Meekly, Ghost came and sat down, setting the bowl aside, and gave me his full attention. “What has he told you?”
“Nope, not how this is going to work. You’re going to tell me what you think he told me,” I said with a huff.
Ghost gulped and looked at Magnus, but clearly, his brother wasn’t any help to him. “Uh, let’s see…Dax got shot and almost died… then they went underground because of another hit.” He tapped his chin, thinking. “The FBI took them in for questioning…”
“The FBI did what now? Was this before or after the house was blown up?” I asked with a raised brow.
Ghost tapped his fingers rhythmically on his thigh as he considered my question.
“All right, so that was something he didn’t tell you.
It happened before the house was blown up.
They’d just been released from custody and returned to the compound when it happened.
Marco must have known that when he did it.
No one was hurt, not even any of the neighbors, which is impressive if you think about it. ”
“I need a phone. Now,” I barked. “You said the bomb happened yesterday?” Ghost nodded. “Then I need to speak to her, pronto. I don’t want to hear any fuss about it. I’ll follow any rules you want, but I’m talking to my best friend.”
Ghost glanced at Magnus, who nodded as he let me go. “Give her the burner. I’m sure she has Dax’s number memorized.”
“Damn straight, I do. I can even dial it when drunk,” I reported proudly, standing to follow after Ghost.
Magnus caught my hand, causing me to look back at him.
He kissed the back of it and looked at me with a pleading expression.
“Please don’t be mad at us. At first, Weston told us not to tell you until we knew she was out of the woods.
Then when we learned you couldn’t talk to her even if you wanted to, there didn’t seem a point.
You’d get mad either way, but at least now you can speak to her. ”
“I don’t like that you kept this from me.
I thought we agreed on no secrets if we were going to make this work.
I’ll say this once and only once. When it comes to Dax, you will never keep that from me.
It doesn’t matter if I can talk to her or not.
I still need to be told if you know something I don’t.
Lying to me about the only family I have is going to ruin us faster than anything else.
” I paused, searching his face. “Tell me you understand?”
“Yeah, I understand. It won’t happen again.
You’ve made it clear how you would like things like this handled, and we will abide by that,” Magnus agreed.
“On the flip side of that, though, when you speak to her, you cannot tell her where you are. Don’t tell her about Jean-Claude or the agreement with his father.
You are privy to our secrets, but that doesn’t mean Dax is. The trust needs to go both ways.”
“That’s fair. I can live with that,” I said, leaning in and giving him a quick kiss. “I’m gonna go call my bestie now, all right?”
“Tell her hi for me,” he said, squeezing my hand before letting go.
Ghost met me at the door holding the phone out to me. “This phone can’t be traced, and I set it up not to show who’s calling, but since only so many people know her personal number, I’m sure she’ll answer it.”
“I’m gonna make the call in the bedroom for the illusion of privacy,” I shared, skipping to the room and belly-flopping onto the mattress.
I dialed the number, put it on speaker, and listened to it ring three times before it was picked up.
“Harper, is that you?” Dax asked, her voice betraying how badly she wanted it to be me.
“What the actual hell, woman? I leave you on your own, and the entire world goes to shit? Not only did you get shot, but your house blew up?” I yelled as tears welled up. It wasn’t until I heard her voice I realized just how much I’d missed her.
There was a pause as I heard her talking to someone, and the background noise faded away like she’d gone into another room. The sound of a chair being rolled out, followed by the creak of leather, told me I’d been right.
“Gorgeous, who are you yelling at?” Jaxson asked as he joined me on the bed with Ghost right on his heels.
I glared at him, but Ghost gave me an innocent look as if he had no idea I’d wanted to take this call alone.
Covering the phone with my hand, I answered Jaxson.
“I’m talking to Dax. The other two finally filled me in on what’s going on.
Now be quiet, or I’m going to kick you out of the bed so I can get some girl time with my bestie. ”
Jaxson and Ghost pouted at me, but before either of them could argue, Dax returned to the conversation. “It’s so good to hear from you. Those guys treating you well? Oh, did you go anywhere fun?” Dax asked, sounding like her life hadn’t just imploded.
Jaxson gave me a warning look, and I just flipped him the bird.
“Oh, you’re so not getting out of telling me things by goading me to tell you what’s going on in my life. Believe me when I say it’s been far less eventful than what you’re going through right now,” I pointed out.
“That’s your own fault, Harpster. We’ve given you plenty of options for exciting things to do.
You keep putting rules in place so we can’t do them,” Jaxson argued, then a sly grin tugged at his lips as he ran a hand up my leg, feeling the prickles showing me it was time for another shave.
“I mean, we could do that one thing again. I never get tired of that.” It was never just shaving with Jaxson.
It always led to fucking, not that I minded, but this was not the time or the place.