33. Dax #2
“I really should thank you. Without you starting this war, I’d never know who my friends are.
Somehow, I managed to make even new friends, and he gave me all sorts of fun toys to play with.
Like shells for my tank outside,” I shared, gesturing to the window.
“There are all kinds of different shells that do different things. One I find interesting is the concussion shell… it’s experimental and not on the market.
It’s supposed to let out a concussive blast that will hit a building and make your teeth rattle but not blow it up.
Why do you think they would need something like that for a tank? ”
“What are you babbling about?” Marco demanded. “As for winning, you haven’t won yet. I’m still alive, and as long as I’m breathing, then I have another move to make. You’re not the only one with tricks.”
I nodded. “True, but how many of your tricks can be pulled off on the fly? You seem more like a planner to me.”
“You better know what you’re fucking doing, Dax. Shell incoming,” Harper warned seconds before I saw the flash from the gun barrel, and the building rocked.
It was like going through an earthquake, but it did what I wanted it to do as all the books on the bookshelf behind Marco crashed into him.
He dropped Tabby, and we moved in fast, Cognac scooping up Tabby, and I slammed the butt of my gun right into Marco’s face.
I wasn’t going to make this easy for him.
Marco toppled to the floor, stunned at the blow. Putting my gun away, I grabbed one of my knives and kneeled right on his chest. “You fucking piece of shit, people like you don’t deserve to live. I saw what you did to your own sister. She was your blood. How could that mean nothing to you?”
“Just because you have a dead-brother complex doesn’t mean everyone does,” Marco spat, bloody spit hitting my cheek. “You’re too soft. No woman has what it takes to rule this world. It needs a firm hold so everyone falls in line. Killing me will kill the criminal world as we know it.”
“Damn, you really are fucked in the head, aren’t you?” I commented. “Lucky for you, being dead means you don’t have to see what happens next. But before we get to the actual death part, I felt like I should share with you the journey I’ve been on through all this.”
Clearing my throat, I sat back a little and drove my knife into the joint of his shoulder. “The first attempt was on Harper. They smacked her around… a little black eye, fat lip, the basics.”
Pausing, I punched him in the eye since I already gave him the fat lip with the pistol whip.
“Then, not once but twice, you tried to attack me when all I wanted was some fucking food. It hurt my stomach so badly to be forced to fight with assassins instead of eating a burger.” Thrusting my elbow into his gut, he groaned and tried to curl up in a ball.
“I know, right, hunger pangs are the worst.” I sighed.
“The one attack that really got to me was when I came out as Two Tricks. Shot in the shoulder.” I yanked out my blade and cut his neck, not deep enough to kill him, but for it to fucking hurt.
“Grazed on the neck and shot in the back, but I’m not gonna flip you over so I’ll just show you where from the front. ”
With a quick stab, I went between his ribs into his lungs.
“Do you know what it feels like to almost drown in your own blood? I’m sure you don’t, but you will.
Then you had the balls to blow up my fucking house and take my shit.
While I’m not done destroying your house, I wanted to at least work on part of it so you got the idea,” I informed him.
Looking back at the guys, I tapped my chin. “Did I forget anything?”
“No, those were the big ones,” Cam answered.
“Wonderful, now I’m going to partially sever your carotid because I’d like you to have time to think about what you’ve done.
It will also ensure that you get to lay there in your own blood, knowing I won.
” The last part, I leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “This mouse was never a mouse but a wolf stalking her prey. You picked the wrong fight, Marco, and now I’m going to make sure everything your family built here will never be remembered.
The Tesoro Cartel will never be spoken of again. ”
Marco tried to fight me, but I slammed one hand down and drove my blade through his palm into the wood flooring.
I pulled out my other knife and did that to the other hand as well, making sure he couldn’t go anywhere.
Taking my last blade, I pressed it to the wound I’d already made on his neck and pressed ever so gently until I saw the blood flowing faster but not to the point it was spraying all over the place.
Wiping my blade clean on his shirt, I put it back in the sheath and stood.
There splayed out and bleeding like a stuck pig was the man who’d been haunting my nightmares for months.
He would no longer be a danger to my family or me.
There was still some cleanup, even after he was gone since he’d given people the bright idea they were a match for me, but that would be easy enough to fix.
So much devastation all caused by one man who was too power-hungry for his own good.
It was in a criminal’s nature to want more, but there was always a limit to what you could control.
Turning on my heel, I found all my guys standing there looking at me with pride, love, and relief. This was now over for all of us. Cognac held Tabby in his arms, her face tucked into his neck as he’d covered her ears so she couldn’t hear what I was saying.
What the hell was I going to do with a niece? Nope, we were going to have to deal with that another time.
“Let’s go,” I said, nodding to the doorway. “Harper, the moment we get our people out, I want you to blow this fucking place down.”
“Roger that,” Ghost answered, sounding way too pleased.
The fighting had come to an end but for the odd clean-up here or there.
They hadn’t been ready to handle the massive amount of people I’d recruited for this mission.
When we got outside, I found Martin tied up and on his knees between Gator and Mutt.
Now I had the choice of letting him live or saving myself the trouble of future revenge.
“Cognac, get Tabby somewhere safe so when the tank starts shooting, we don’t scar her for life more than we already have,” I said, not taking my eyes off Martin.
He did as I asked and headed over to the large group of our people gathering around the trucks they’d used to get here from the drug farm. Stepping up to Martin, I looked him in the eye, needing to know if he was being honest when I asked this question.
“Did Marco make you turn on your mother and brother, or did you choose to do that on your own?” I inquired.
“Caring about people only makes you weak,” Martin spat. “Marco taught me that. He showed me how they were holding me back, and I needed to be free of them to get the power I rightfully deserved.”
His gaze was cold and calculating, telling me he believed every fucking word he said. His answer gave me no choice because I wasn’t going to allow him to be a monster lurking in the darkness for Mariana or Alvaro to fear. “Then join your uncle in hell.”
At my words, Gator turned and shot Martin in the head.
Bound, he slumped forward then flopped to the ground, his blood seeping into the dirt.
I wasn’t taking chances this time. I had to end it once and for all.
Hating that I was going to have to tell Mariana another of her sons was dead sucked, but it was better in the long run.
It didn’t take long for Harper and her guys to take out the rest of the home leaving behind a pile of rubble, smoke, and ash. If Marco had still been alive, he wasn’t now, having been crushed under all that debris.
We piled into whatever vehicles we could find and headed to the airstrip for Billy to come get us. The rest of our people would be making their way back to the port, where they would be picked up and brought back to LA where we’d have a massive meeting at the Phantom Saints’ compound.
Eagle and Sprocket were right.
We needed a fucking vacation.