Page 114 of More Tricks

The idiot mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key, then perched his chin in both hands, waiting for Wes to continue.

“Diego has a son who is two years older than Elena, who goes to school there. He’s going for his MBA and has an excellent GPA for never attending any of his classes. Yet, somehow, the work always gets done and submitted right on time,” Wes shared as he scanned whatever information he was looking at.

“How many kids does this guy have?” Cognac asked, rubbing his hand over his buzzed head.

Wes looked up from the laptop and twisted the thing around to show us a list of names. “Just a few.”

“Jesus,” I blurted, looking at the long list that appeared on the screen. “Most of them have different last names, bastards?” I guessed.

“From what I can tell, he supports them all but only gave his last name to the children they bore with his legal wife Mariana,” Wes explained. “I’m sure there are reasons for that, but what it tells me is that he has a relationship of sorts with these kids. What if one found out about Elena’s connection to us and manipulated her into thinking she was helping or that he was in love with her, like Dax said? This at least gives us a starting point.”

Everyone nodded their agreement as we turned to our own thoughts on the matter. It was one of the quietest meals we’d had in a long time, but under the circumstances, what more did we have to say? When we were done eating, we left the clean-up for later since we needed to get to the clubhouse for the meeting Eagle called.

Cam and Wes headed off to deal with the ten kids who would be left in their care. I had faith in them, even if they both looked clueless about what to do. Most of the kids were toddlers, the rest under the age of six. Plus, if they needed help that badly, we were one building over.

Eagle had the five of us standing on the stage as everyone else gathered around. Dax was off to the side, leaning against a wall keeping a lower profile than I expected. Not once had she asked us what our answer would be when it came time to vote if she was added to the crew or not. Granted, she knew regardless, we were never going to let her go, but her faith in us to make the best choice hadn’t gone unnoticed.

The room was full of people talking amongst themselves, moods ranging from curious to nervous. We hadn’t called a meeting of this magnitude in years, and that had been at the beginning of our time as leaders. The room fell silent when Eagle stepped forward and raised his hand to get everyone’s attention.

“Thank you, everyone, for making it here tonight. I know we don’t do these types of meetings often, but I feel like it’s only fair for everyone to know what’s going on,” Eagle started trying to settle nerves. “I wanted to start with the announcement that there is an alliance between the Hidden Empire and the Phantom Saints. When you mess with one of us, you have to deal with us both. I’m sure you noticed when we were attacked by the Mad Dogs, we had the Empire stepping up to assist.”

Everyone nodded and whispered to each other in a positive manner about the situation.

“That being said, the Empire, more directly Tricks herself, is being targeted by a rival drug lord from Mexico. His one and only mission is to take her out and absorb her network into his own, making him the ruler of the West Coast. The Mad Dogs were part of that, but we crushed them under our boots like the cockroaches they are,” Eagle roared at the end, sending the room into a flurry of cheers and whistles.

He let it go on for a few moments, then gestured for them to settle down. “Soon, we will have another enemy to crush that has gone after Dax and one of our own. The De León Cartel has taken my niece hostage and is trying to leverage her for information that will help bring the Empire down. This will not be tolerated, and we will not stand by as they go after our families because we look after our own.”

Cries of agreement and more whistles echoed his words. I couldn’t help but grin as our president stood tall and strong, glowing in his element. This is what made him the leader they all respected. He valued the same things they did, fought beside them, and knew how to rally his people to the call.

“The other day, one of you approached Picasso requesting that we vote on allowing Dax to become a member of the Phantom Saints. We took our time considering what would be best for our crew and the future of the Saints.” Eagle looked at me, and I turned to grab the two items he was looking for just as the clubhouse door opened, showing Wes and Cam joining us as we planned.

Casting a glance at Dax, I saw her push off the wall clearly aware that we were planning something she wasn’t aware of.

“Most of you know Dax isn’t just another member to us but our lover as well. She is with the five of us along with Weston and Cameron,” Eagle explained as the two men joined us on the stage. “This is an arrangement we’ve all agreed on and hold it with the same sanctity you do with your partner. That being said, Dax, will you come up here to hear our verdict on the request to induct you into the Phantom Saints.”

The cagy look that she gave us had me holding back laughter. If there was one thing Dax hated more than anything, it was surprises, public ones being an even worse transgression. Stepping up on the stage, she looked ready for anything, her hands loose at her side but ready to pull her gun from her low-back holster. This woman loved us but living in the darkness of the world trained you to always question situations you couldn’t see the outcome of.

As if we’d rehearsed it, we all dropped to one knee as Eagle lifted the ring box, lid pulled back so she could see what we offered her. It was a ring with an ace of spades with a skull on top of it, the eye sockets filled with two diamonds. It was a combination of our logo, her personal calling card, and what engagement ring would be complete without a diamond or two.

“Dax Rose Blackmore, will you marry us?” Eagle asked.

I once believed that nothing could shock this woman, but from what I was seeing at this moment, we’d made her speechless.

“We’ve all talked, and there is no one else for us but you. Please make us the happiest men forever by being ours as much as we are yours,” Picasso added, trying to give her time to wrap her head around what was going on.

Dax shook her head slowly as a smile tugged at her lips. “The fact that you all want to tie yourselves to my crazy ass means you’ve lost your ever-loving minds.”

“So, is that a yes?” Cognac asked, his voice hopeful.

“Fuck my life in the best way possible, yes,” she answered, tossing her hands up in the air like she had no other choice.

The room erupted in cheers so loud I thought the building would come down. We’d all known if we did this with just the eight of us, she would have found a way to avoid the answer. Doing it in front of everyone was risky but also forced her to give us her true and honest choice. Eagle stood, passing the ring box to Void, who pulled it out and slid it on her finger. Now she was smiling like an idiot, fully accepting what we were offering.

Void pulled her in and kissed the shit out of her. Next was Cognac, then Wes snuck in there, whispering something in her ear that made her laugh before he stole his own kiss. Picasso pulled her out of his hold, but instead of kissing her, he guided her to the front of the stage.

“Now that we’ve gotten that part settled, I feel confident in giving you our answer on membership,” Eagle said with a chuckle as he displayed the cut he’d had draped over one arm. “I present to you, Little Queen, our co-president and wife. This is unorthodox for an MC to even consider adding a woman to the crew, let alone making her leadership. I think you would all agree she has more than earned her place in our midst as well as shown her value as a leader. As queen of the Empire, it would have been wrong for her to be anything less than our partner in crew as well as in life.”

Eagle shifted, holding the cut open for her to slide on easily. Dax’s eyes were wide as she took in the eager faces of the crew, then back to us. Ever so slowly, she slipped her arms into the cut and grinned down at the patches sewn on it.