Page 54 of Two Tricks

I sighed, knowing this was going to burn like a bitch, but it wasn’t the first time this had happened in my life, nor would it be the last.

“You any good at those?” I asked. “If not, I can do it myself.”

That got Sprocket’s attention, his eyes snapping up to mine. “How many times?”

“What?” I asked, wrinkling my brow.

“How. Many. Times. Have you had to stitch yourself up?” Sprocket asked, anger burning in his tone.

“I don’t know—I’ve lost count. It’s really not that big of a deal, Sprocket. It happens,” I said with a shrug, not understanding why he was so bothered by this.

A growl fell from his lips as he stood and walked away from me towards the bottom of the stairs. “WESTON! Get your ass down here right now!”

I stood from the coffee table, but he whipped around so fast I froze.

“Sit. The. Fuck. Down, Dax,” Sprocket demanded.

The fury in his eyes caused me to sink back down, completely caught off guard by what was going on. Wes charged down the stairs, his eyes scanning the room, looking for what could have caused Sprocket to holler for him. Before I could get out a word of warning, Sprocket clocked Weston right in the face, making him stumble into the wall.

“What the fuck, man?!” Wes snarled.

“How could you let her get into situations where she ends up getting hurt and having to patch herself up?! Where the fuck were you? I thought you two were a team, but it sounds to me like you hide safely behind that goddamn screen while she puts her life on the line,” Sprocket fumed.

Their argument seemed to draw everyone out, and now all the guys were standing at different points around the room, watching everything unfold. Even Harper was observing from the top stair, clutching a pillow, eyes glued on what was happening before her.

“You have no fucking clue what you’re talking about here, asshole,” Weston shot back.

Eagle stepped in as Sprocket was about to lunge at Wes again, holding him back with a hand to the chest. “Easy, we need his mouth to keep working so he can explain himself.”

Sprocket growled but backed off as the rest of them circled around Wes.

“I think you better enlighten us there, Westical, before Void decides to make good on this threat from earlier,” Cognac said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Wes glared at all of them before his gaze flicked to me as if unsure of what he was about to say next. “You guys don’t understand, I’ve been at her side through everything. The history that we have both shared and survived in the Hidden Empire gives me a level of knowledge you will never know. Dax is a survivor and doesn’t need a bunch of meat-headed men trying to smother her in a bubble. If she tells me she can handle something, then I let her—but I wouldn’t hesitate jumping in front of a bullet for her if the need arose.”

“No,” Sprocket snapped, getting all up in Weston’s face again. “You claim to love her, but from where I’m standing, I don’t see it. No woman of mine would be allowed to put her life on the line for me or anyone else. I don’t give a fuck who Two Tricks really is, but he’s not having her back after this, and neither are you!” Sprocket bellowed.

Weston, having had enough, tackled Sprocket, causing Void to wade into the fight. The blur of fists and grunts as they landed on each other made Harper break.

“Stop!” Harper screamed, running down to the bottom of the stairs where Cognac stopped her. “Please, you have to stop them. They’ll kill each other if they keep going!” Tears streamed down her face as she fought against Cognac’s hold.

That did it. I shot to my feet, grabbed my gun, and fired a shot into the floor. This caused the room to fall silent as they looked at me with shocked faces. Marching over to them, I watched as they scrambled to their feet, Wes wiping at his bloody nose while Sprocket looked like he might have a black eye. Void even got a split lip out of the exchange.

“Are you dumbasses finished? Let’s start with the fact that Wes couldn’t have stopped me if he wanted to—he doesn’t own me or control me. If you lot think you’re going to have a better shot at it than him, I’ll tell you right now that it’s not gonna happen. Now that that’s clear—do you really think you could take me away from Tricks?” I demanded, hands on my hips. The guys frowned at my words, chomping at the bit to tell me they could. “I got news for you dipshits—I’m motherfucking Two Tricks!”

At my declaration, the room stilled, all eyes trained on me as my words hit home.

“Joke’s on you, idiots. The one person you’ve been trying so desperately to get the attention of has been sitting right in fucking front of you. Weston is my right-hand man, as well as my best friend, but when it comes to the Hidden Empire, he works for me! If he tried to keep me from doing what is necessary, I could have cut him off and out of my life. He keeps his mouth shut and lets me put my life at risk, no matter how much he hates it, because I always come back,” I snarled, my breathing heavy with the flood of emotions that was hitting me. “Now back the FUCK off of him.”

Void tilted his head back and began to laugh a deep belly laugh. “Oh, little demon, you are the best surprise I could have asked for in life.”

This seemed to break the tension in the room, and I noticed that Harper was gone from the stairs. I groaned to myself, knowing that was the worst way possible for her to hear this. Flopping down on the coffee table once more, I hung my head in my hands and fisted my fingers in my hair. God, how was I ever going to fix this?

Hands covered my own, pulling them from my hair, causing me to look up and see Weston squatting in front of me. “Don’t write her off just yet, shortcake. Trust in your friendship. Harper knows the real you that no one else gets to see, just give her time to take it all in. This has been a rough night for everyone.”

I nodded and gave him a weak smile, and he stepped aside for Sprocket to get back to my wound. He had to clean it all over again, seeing as I couldn’t keep still and caused it to start weeping again.

Once ready, he looked up at me. “I’m sorry I lost it like that, little rebel, I just couldn’t stand the thought of you having to deal with this all on your own. We good?”