Page 115 of More Tricks

“That’s not all,” Picasso interjected. “We would also like to welcome Weston Price to the Phantom Saints as our new Sergeant at Arms. He is now fully in charge of security and defense of the compound. It's what he’s already been doing. We’re just officially giving him the title. Next, we welcome Cameron Black into the crew as our Secretary. He will be in charge of all meetings, records, and coordination between outside law enforcement.”

“As your leaders, we know this is a big change, but if you think about it, these men have already been doing these roles, having zero expectation of being brought into the crew. What we want the Phantom Saints to represent is how important loyalty is to each and every one of us. Every person earns the right to wear these cuts and no choice is made lightly,” Eagle explained, noticing the uncertain looks flitting about the crowd.

Dax stepped up in between the two newly patched men and gave everyone a wide grin. “Don’t worry. If they fuck up, I’ll see that they’re punished to the full extent of my abilities.”

That simple teasing set everyone at ease, making them chuckle. They might not trust the guys, but Dax had them eating out of the palm of her hand. The bold, brash woman said it like it was and didn’t hold back. This is what made people trust her. She said what she meant and meant what she said.

“Alright, everyone, settle down. We have one more important matter we need to discuss,” Eagle announced, waving his hands to hush everyone. “In another week or so, the eight of us will be leaving for New York. In our place, Mutt and Gator will be proxy president and vice president. They will still be in contact with us about how things are going, but if there is an immediate need, they will be who you're going to. These men are like brothers to me and have been loyal since the beginning. They play vital roles but for us, every day, recruiting business as well as members along with managing our other shops off property. Give them the respect they deserve, and I know everything will go smoothly.”

My brows rose as Dax stepped up next to Eagle, resting her hand on his arm, letting him know she had something to say. The choice to make Dax a co-president was one that all seven of us argued about for days. It wasn’t until yesterday when the patch had to be placed that we agreed it was the best call. I’d been team co-president all the way, but Wes and Picasso worried adding more to her plate might not be wise. What they didn’t understand is she was going to take that role whether we gave her the title or not. She didn’t know how to be anything other than a leader of people.

“Eagle might be one for the diplomatic approach, but I’m sure you’ve seen that isn’t really my thing. That being said, Gator and Mutt bleed Phantom Saints, so does Tilly for that matter,” Dax stated. “If word gets back to us that you’ve been disrespecting those we’ve decided to put in charge, then you’ll be having a chat with me about it when we get back.”

That was threat enough for most people to take seriously. They’d all seen how her talks went. Most ended with something bleeding or broken if they didn’t catch onto the problem fast enough.

“Any questions?” she asked, leaning her head against Eagle’s arm, acting all sweet. Murmurs of no and shaking of heads were the unanimous responses to her question. “Delightful. Was there anything else we needed to go over?” Dax questioned, looking back at all of us.

Void chuckled and came up behind her, settling his hand on her hips. “I think that’s enough for one night, don't you think, little demon?”

Her answer was to pull him down into a quick kiss. “Works for me, big guy.”

“You heard the lady,” Cognac called out to the members. “Enough of the heavy, let’s party, turn on the music, and bust out the champagne. The queen of the Hidden Empire said yes to our sorry asses.”

The room cheered, and Tops slid over the wooden bar to start pulling out the plastic glasses and bottles of champagne. After all the fighting and surviving we’ve been doing for the past month, now it was time to celebrate the life we still had, and there were no better people I wanted to party with than right here.

Chapter thirteen

Dax

The bass reverberated through the air as we danced and partied the night away. Currently, I was sandwiched between Cam and Void, a combination I had no idea would be so explosive. Hands and mouths were everywhere on my body. I couldn't tell who belonged to what. Never once did I ever think I would be engaged or even find a man who would be my partner in life. Now seven of them had a piece of the puzzle that made up my heart. I’d locked it away, believing it was better to keep things shallow and meaningless. Each and every one of these men decided to show me differently, chipping through the ice wall I’d made to take their prize.

Every so often, another glass of champagne would be placed in my hand that I threw back, desperately thirsty from all the dancing. Ha, who was I kidding? We were practically having sex with our clothes on. If one of them were to even touch my clit, I’d come so fast, and I wouldn’t even be ashamed of it. These men were working me up into a frenzy, and all I knew was they better damn well deal with the aftermath.

“What do you say we slip out of this party, beautiful? I think there’s some celebrating that should be done all on our own without the public eye,” Cam suggested as if he’d read my mind.

Not needing any more encouragement, I slipped out from between them and grabbed their hands. “Let’s blow this joint.”

As we weaved through the crowd of bikers, their women enjoying the night as much as we were made me smile. This was what they needed, a reason to let loose and forget the hardship that was going on around us. There was still life to live and those around us to live it with.

Tilly and her men were so intertwined I couldn’t tell where either one of them started or ended. It was the first time I’d seen them all throw caution to the wind and revel in their choice of love. Another part of me questioned if her men didn’t seem far more comfortable than I’d ever seen mine when playing together. Guess some secrets were for them and them alone.

I spotted Eagle and Sprocket chatting at the bar with someone I didn’t recognize, but they’d called everyone in for this meeting. Some people chose to live off the compound, especially if their partner had a job in or near the city. While a majority decided to make this their entire life, others were loyal, coming whenever called but had other obligations as well.

The two of them spotted me dragging the others, and I just cocked a brow at them before continuing on. Cognac was playing pool, bent over aiming up his shot when I released my grip on Void to slap his ass.

“Fuck,” Cognac swore totally botching the shot. “Do you have a death wish, asshole?” he snapped as he turned around, stopping short when he saw it was me.

“Sorry, just saw that juicy peach of yours and had to know if it would jiggle or not,” I teased, grinning from ear to ear.

“Well? Did it?” Cognac asked, a cheeky smirk on his lips.

I tilted my head to the side, trying to see it again. “You know what? I couldn’t really tell, mind bending over for me again to check?”

Cognac’s head fell back as he laughed, then he grabbed me around the waist, tossing me over his shoulder. “Here, feel free to check all you want, but I must warn you, it's far more fun with less clothing on.”

I heard Void say something, but it was drowned out by the music. When Cognac started to walk off with me, I figured they filled him in on the plan to have some alone time. Setting my hands on his tight ass, I pushed up so I could see what was going on. Laughter bubbled out of me as a trail of men followed after us like I was the Pied Piper of hot-ass bikers. I wasn’t sure where Wes or Picasso appeared from, but they’d clearly caught wind of what was going on.

“You sure you can handle all that, girly?” one of the older Saints hollered after me.