Page 69 of Harper’s Renegades

I figured she would be asking this question one day, but it didn’t make it any easier to answer. “At the time, we were on a job but aware of what happened. Dax also caught onto what was happening and could get to you faster than we could, so we let her handle it. That might not be the answer you wanted to hear, but it’s the truth. We would have dropped everything if we thought we could have stopped it before it got to that point,” I said, hoping she would know how much I wanted to be there for her.

“I get it, Dax was there pretty quickly, and it was the start of all this. That was the first move, which got her attention to what was going on around her,” Harper stated, making me proud of her to realize that.

“Speaking of what’s going on with your BFF, lady Harper, I come bearing news,” Mouse announced as he sauntered out of the kitchen. “She is on the warpath against the Mad Dogs. It seems they have been puppets in Marco’s plan to destroy the Hidden Empire. I don’t think it helps that they pissed her off involving you in all this.”

I narrowed my gaze on Mouse. “How do you know about this?”

“Magnum, please.” I had to grit my teeth at the terrible nickname I couldn’t get him to stop using. “I have my ways, my own network of little birds who tell me what I want to know. One of them is in the FBI, working under none other than Dante Black’s son. Bet you didn’t know that Dax got hauled in for questioning by them, did you?” Mouse taunted, loving the fact we’d had other things to focus on, or so he thought.

“Yeah, that’s where Cameron made himself known to Dax. Seems he butted his cocky ass right into her situation. I mean, seriously, I have three guys, and she’s running around with eight?” Harper carried on, not realizing she was taking the wind right out of Mouse’s sails. “That damn girl didn’t want anything to do with men, and now she has a whole ass fucking harem!”

“Oh… so you did know,” Mouse commented, sinking onto the end of the chaise opposite the couch from us. “I guess I didn’t take into account you would have someone Dax would actually talk to about things.”

The melancholy nature of his tone tipped Harper off that he was upset. “You know girls, they talk, but I had no idea about the Mad Dogs’ thing.” She looked up at me. “You talked to her last. Did she say anything about it?”

“Wait,” Mouse screeched. “You’re talking to her regularly now, too, Magnum?”

“She had a job for us,” I answered with a shrug. “Dax said she had plans in motion but didn’t say anything about what they were except for our part in it.”

This seemed to perk him up a bit more. “Then I would be happy to share what I know… after you tell me how,” he said, swirling his finger at us. “This happened because it has to be a good story. Dax was so against you ever getting near Harper. I can’t believe she’d let you propose. Wait, does she know you’re engaged?”

“Sorry, Mousy-Mouse, you only get part of the story. Once we hear what you have to share, then we’ll tell you the rest,” Ghost countered, flashing him a confident grin.

“Fine, but I want Harper to tell me. I feel like you three will leave out the good bits,” Mouse answered.

Harper’s stomach gurgled, making us all stare at her. “Guess I’m a little hungry.”

Frowning, I stood. “When was the last time you ate, doll?”

“Ah… I think I had some trail mix on the plane. I don’t really travel all that well, so I tend not to eat, so I don’t get sick to my stomach,” she replied.

That answer set me off, and I stomped into the kitchen, rummaging through what Ghost had bought at the store. He did indeed get everything you would need for a charcuterie board, so I set to work chopping everything up and setting it out while Harper regaled Mouse with our love story.

“They drugged you,” Mouse gasped. “What kind of thugs are you?”

“Look, she was about to lose her shit. You should have seen her. It was the best thing we could do for her in that situation. Don’t judge until you’re there looking at the love of your life having an epic meltdown,” Jaxon argued.

“When I meet the love of my life, I won’t put them in that situation. Besides, men tend to not be as hysterical as women,” Mouse stated.

Everyone started to laugh at that, even I chuckled. It wasn’t at all about what he said. It was the fact that if anyone got hysterical in a situation, it would be him. Theatrics was one thing that man knew how to do and did well. He could perform a death like no one I’d ever seen. If he ever decided to be on the straight and narrow, Broadway is where he should go searching for a job.

Now that I had everything settled and ready to eat, I made up a plate before I dared bring the rest of it out. Plate in one hand, board in the other, I handed Harper hers first, then set the rest down for the animals.

“No wine?” Harper asked, her bottom lip popping out.

God, the things I wanted to do to that lip.

“Once business is over, then we can break open the wine. For now, we stay sober and clear- headed,” I ordered.

Harper let out a heavy sigh and leaned back on the couch, her plate clutched to her chest as she munched. Ghost reached out to steal off her plate, but I smacked him upside the head. “There is a whole platter over there, don’t steal from her.”

“So hateful,” Ghost muttered while grabbing a handful of random cheese. “One of these days, I’m going to have brain damage from that kind of treatment.”

“One of these days? You don’t already?” Harper quipped, smirking as she popped a grape into her mouth.

“Nice one, gorgeous,” Jaxson cheered, bumping knuckles with her. “Need some ice for that burn?”

“Fuck off,” Ghost grumbled, but I could tell he wasn’t upset at all.