Page 68 of Harper’s Renegades

That got Ghost’s attention as he hid Harper behind him. “That true, Mouse?”

Mouse just sat there cross-legged on the kitchen chair, grinning like a fool. “Oh, man, this is just too good. I can’t believe it. You actually found a woman who is willing to be shared between the three of you and is the hottest piece of ass I’ve ever seen!”

The sound of a gun rounding a bullet into the chamber echoed as Jaxson walked into the dining area from the patio. “What did you just say?”

“Oh good, all of you are here now,” Mouse said excitedly, clapping his hands together. “I want to hear it all. How did she end up with you? How did you propose? Give me all the details.”

Harper poked her head out from around Ghost and laughed. “Oh my God, you remind me of my best friend’s ex-boyfriend. Well, I guess they are back together now. Anyway, you remind me of this guy’s dad. You don’t happen to know a Dante Black, do you?”

Mouse’s eyes got extremely wide as his jaw hit the floor for the second time today. “You, you, know Dante Black? How is that even possible? No one knows that man, not really. He is a ghost. A legend only talked about in certain circles.”

“Or,” Harper cut in. “He’s the dad of the guy dating your roommate, best friend, sister-from-another-mister. Dante is amazing, and sadly, I’ve only met him twice, but he certainly leaves an impression.”

“Holy fuck,” Mouse screamed, leaping out of his chair, hand in his hair. “You’re Two Tricks’s best friend!”

Harper looked at us, unsure if she should confirm or deny that accusation. “It’s fine. We’ll just shoot him if he does something stupid,” I assured her.

“Yes, Dax is my best friend and the reason I ended up with these three,” she answered as she wiggled her way out from between Ghost and me. “Will you two please lower your guns?” she demanded, irritation lacing her tone. Jaxson and I gave each other a look, then nodded, putting our guns away. “Thank you. Now, Mouse, after you’re done cleaning up that popcorn, you can join us in the living room,” she announced and waved at us to follow her.

Ghost smiled from ear to ear as he watched her walk away. “God, she’s so sexy when she gets bossy like that.” Then he followed after her.

Jaxson grunted his agreement and smacked Mouse upside the head. “Pull your shit together, will you? You’re embarrassing us, and you’re the first person we actually like she’s met. Don’t make it weird.”

Mouse rubbed the back of his head and stuck his tongue out at Jaxson.

“Hey,” I barked, getting his attention. “I’m sure since you rifled through the place, you know where the cleaning supplies are. Don’t make me have to come back in here and check on you.”

“Damn, she’s got you three hook-line-and-sinker, doesn’t she?” Mouse taunted as he scooped popcorn back into the bowl. “Go on. I’ll be out in a minute. There’s no way I’m giving you a reason to kill me before I find out what the hell is going on.”

“What makes you think we’re going to tell you anything?” I challenged Mouse.

He just gave me a withering look. “Did you really think I tracked your ass down just to catch up? I got information to exchange with you that I know you’ll want if rumors are true.”

I didn’t like the sound of that at all. When Mouse had information, it meant shit was about to hit the fan. If that were the case, then we needed to get a move on this real quick.

The others were on the couch, Harper snuggled between them, acting as if our two-hour nap had been years. The assholes had more time with her than I usually got. They could go without so I could get my cuddles in on occasion. Pulling my gun from my lower back, I set it on the end table as I took my seat next to Ghost, kicking my feet up on the ottoman.

“How was your nap?” Ghost asked in a sickly sweet voice. “Must be nice to have picked the one bed we couldn’t barge in on, hmm?”

“It was wonderful and refreshing,” I answered. “Mouse said you went to the store?”

“Yeah, we didn’t know how long you two would be out, and I really wanted some snacks and wine. So I got a bunch of stuff to cut up to make a sharchoochie board,” Ghost shared, wagging his eyebrows.

“You know that’s not what it’s called, right?” Harper interjected.

Ghost looked down at her as if he was offended. “Angel, how do you not know this? Of course, that’s how it’s pronounced. Anything else would be ridiculously hard to say and not nearly as funny.”

“Do you go to restaurants and ask for it that way?” she inquired, her face telling us all she hoped he didn’t.

“Absolutely, I do. That’s its name,” Ghost said emphatically. “You’re not going to change my mind on this. It’s just not going to happen.”

“Fine, I’m not going to waste my time arguing with you when you’re doing it just to annoy me,” Harper muttered. “Anyone want to tell me why Mouse had that reaction to me?”

“While you’ve been gone, Dax came out to the criminal world, and it’s finally reaching over here. People have kept an eye on Dax since she became a big player in the Hidden Empire. She kept this lie going far better than anyone would have imagined,” Jaxson explained. “Weston was her right-hand man and worked closely with Two Tricks, so he is known as well, but they tried to keep you out of the criminal limelight.”

“But…” Ghost cut in. “That didn’t mean people didn’t pay attention to what she was doing outside of work hours. If they needed to use leverage, it was always smart to find that one thing you could squeeze to get them to do what you wanted. Between Dax and us, we kept the worst of it at bay.”

“Until the Mad Dogs,” she whispered, her eyes dropping to her hands. “How come you guys didn’t show up for that?”