Page 10 of Two Tricks

I rolled over, and my face was flooded with sunlight, causing me to groan and pull the pillow over my head.

“Fuck, Harper. I told you not to mess with my room,” I mumbled to my bed.

Not being a morning person, I had turned my room into a cave. Working late nights at the shop and dealing with shit for the Hidden Empire sometimes kept me out until dawn. So I needed to be able to sleep late into the day, and the California sun was a worthy rival.

I groped around the bed, trying to find my phone so I could see what time it was. Unable to find it, I peeked out from under the pillow cautiously. What I saw had me chucking the pillow across the room and sitting up in shock.

“Where the FUCK am I?” I demanded to the strange room.

The room was simple with a queen size bed, plain wooden dresser, and matching nightstand. It had no personality, just white walls with nothing hanging on them. The sheets and the comforter were cream-colored, but they felt soft… so not a cheap hotel.

I slipped out of the bed, finding that I was still in the dress that Harper had made me wear to the party. Like sparks to kindling, the memories of last night came blasting back to me. I raced over to the window, hoping that I might recognize where I was.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” I yelled, seeing open fields and mountains.

The view was stunning, but it was nowhere near downtown L.A. Spinning on my heel, I started yanking drawers open, trying to find my wristlet that had my phone in it. I still had my watch, but it said that it was disconnected from my phone.

“Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck, fuck,” I swore and paced around the small room, pulling at my hair. “What the fucking hell is going on?!”

If those assholes thought that kidnapping me was gonna help them with Tricks, they fucked up. Bad.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen something so small so angry before,” a voice drawled.

My eyes snapped to the door, where I found the intrepid leader of the Phantom Saints, Enzo Rossi, leaning against the doorjamb. Behind him, I could see the cold eyes of his enforcer, watching his back like a good minion should.

Hmm… wonder what gave them the idea I might be dangerous?

“You’re forgetting Gaby’s chihuahua, Fifi. She was a damn angry ankle biter,” the enforcer mused, moving further into the room.

I could see his arms were covered in cuts from our last encounter. It made me smile to see my crazy idea had almost worked. Next time I would have to make sure he didn’t grab onto me when I sent him through a sheet of glass.

“Cute, never heard that before.” I deadpanned. “Now, I’m not a genius by any means, but for me, kidnapping someone you need help from wouldn’t be my first choice. Speaking from the limited experience I have, I’m not feeling all that helpful.”

Enzo rubbed the scruff on his chin, taking me in as if I was a zoo animal or something. I wasn’t used to being on this side of things—normally, I was the one doing this shit to others.

“See, I have this feeling that you mean way more to Tricks than people think you do. My money is on you being his old lady,” Enzo said, cocking his head to the side to see if the idea fit.

I couldn’t help myself. I burst out laughing at the idea that I was Tricks’ lover, then doubled over when I caught the looks on both their faces. It was pure gold.

“Oh man, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time,” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Shit. I needed that.”

Taking a moment to collect myself, I turned my back to them and looked around for something to wipe my face with. Not seeing Kleenex or anything, I grabbed the edge of the cream bedding. Once I was finally composed, I looked down to see a dark shmear from my makeup on the sheet. Not really giving a shit, I focused back on the two men, who were still looking at me warily.

“I can assure you that I’m not Tricks’ type and would never be his lover,” I said, letting them do with that information what they would.

The enforcer looked away and rubbed the shaved side of his head before he turned back to me. “Fine. You might not be his old lady, but we know you have his ear. You are one of the only people he lets around him regularly. That means you’re still valuable, and that’s good enough for us to keep you.”

Keep me? What the hell did that mean?

“What Void is trying to say is that we would like for you to be our guest until Two Tricks decides he is willing to talk to us in exchange for getting you back,” Enzo clarified.

Fuck!

This was so not my day.

“We tried to use your phone to call the person you talked to last, but it seems that everything has been wiped,” Enzo said. “I must say, you’ve thought of everything to cover your tracks—even the GPS in your car is blank.”

This information made me smile because it meant Wes knew what happened and where I was. He would have made sure to get all he needed before covering our trail. Moments like this were when having a hacker best friend really came in handy. Now it was my turn to do my part and get the fuck out of dodge.