Page 128 of More Tricks

“How dare you.” Cam snarled, shoving his gun into the man’s chest. “Do not speak of things you don’t understand, or you’ll never live long enough to meet any future grandchildren.”

My body shook with rage and panic. No one knew about that. With Wes’s help, I made sure we wiped all my records when I started building the Hidden Empire. Dax Blackmore needed to be a ghost. There shouldn't have been a spec of evidence regarding that left in the world. Reaching down to my boot, I pulled the gun I had tucked there, stood, and aimed it at Valter.

“How does he know,” I demanded. “No one should have been able to find that information.”

Void was right behind me, the warmth of his body telling me he was protecting my back as I focused on this. If they wanted to see what would make me snap, give up caring about my morals—well, good for them, they’d done it. Now they were going to suffer the consequences because I wouldn’t let anyone use that information against me.

“I don’t know how that information was discovered, but I do know it was one of my moles in the De León Cartel,” Valter informed me. “If you’d tried to make a move to take over by proposing a marriage where no heir could have been produced, it was useful information to know.” Valter glanced at the man Cam was currently choking out, watching Sergio’s face turn purple, fighting to free himself. “Truly, I don’t know why he even brought it up. You’ve made it clear that was the last thing you wanted from us.”

Not believing a word that came out of his mouth, I shook my head slowly. “It’s obvious to me you wanted to push me to the brink. Your stunt with Betta didn’t work, nor did lying and manipulating me, then throwing it in my face. So here we are. How does it look to stare into the eyes of the person who will be your death?” I asked. Even to my ears, my voice sounded emotionless, empty of any humanity that I’d had.

“This isn’t what I had planned, Dax,” Valter said, his tone urging me to understand. “Tommaso and I are on the same page with him taking over the De León Cartel, some not so much. You have to understand, he acted on his own. Take his life if that’s what you feel will make us even for the mess he’s made.”

I let out a bitter laugh, dropping the gun to my side. “Whatever deal you wanted to make with me is over. I won’t work with a bastard who feels the need to drudge up the past that has nothing to fucking do with anything. As you said, I wanted nothing to do with merging our empires together. It was a low malicious blow, and if I ever see your face or Serio’s again, I will kill you instantly. Cam, let the man go. I won’t be the one to give them a reason to start a war when we’re already in the middle of another one.”

Shoving the gun down the front of my pants so I could get to it easily, I charged out of the conference room. I threw the glass door open so hard it shattered into a million pieces on the floor. Fucking bastard was lucky that’s all he had to suffer. The only reason any of them were still alive was that it would create more complications that I didn’t need before taking down Diego. Let’s hope they know I keep my promise no matter the fallout it could cause.

Chapter eighteen

Dax

No one spoke as we descended in the elevator, which I was grateful for because I wasn’t sure I could keep from lashing out even at them right now. Rage, unlike anything I’d experienced before, put me in a fog to the point I wasn’t sure I knew what my body was doing. All I knew was I needed to get out of this building, or I was going to burn it down with everyone inside. There had been many moments where I thought I’d seen the worst of myself, but the way I was feeling right now was darker than any pit I’d been in before.

“Void,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Little demon,” he answered, concern clear in his voice. “What do you need?”

“Find me a fight, one where they won’t miss the body after I’m done with it,” I stated as I pushed through the front doors and headed right down to the pier.

What I needed right now was space, not to be trapped by my past or the pain I’d endured through that. When I reached the end of one of the docks, I sat staring into the water, my own reflection staring back at me. I didn’t want images of that time flashing through my mind. It was too much. They’d been locked away deep in my soul in a metal box wrapped up in chains, tossing away the key to never be found. Those memories didn’t exist. I’d buried them away in a small hole that I never once visited.

“Dax,” Cam rasped as he came up behind me, shaking me out of my thoughts with no concept of how long I’d been sitting here.

I shook my head. “No. Don’t you fucking dare say one more goddamn word.”

“You’re right. I have no right to say anything. I wasn’t there,” he agreed, his own pain clear in his voice. “Void found what you’re looking for, and we have a ride waiting.”

Standing, then spinning on my heel, I headed back up the hill and found the ride in question was a Hummer limo. “What the fuck is that?”

“Mr. Three says he’s looking forward to seeing a sample,” Void answered.

Glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, I saw he wasn’t thrilled with this gesture. “Did you warn him there will be clean-up needed?”

“Yeah, he said, not a problem. They had trash to take out as it was.”

Not needing to hear anything else, I climbed into the limo and took a seat. I spotted a row of liquor bottles, but I didn’t need what that would offer me. What I wanted right now wasn’t to be numb and lost in a drunken haze. The clarity I had about my life and how this was going to end was all I needed to keep me in control. If the criminal world thought they could fuck me over and use the one moment in my life I was weakest, I would show them the hurt that came after it.

“Dax, I think it just needs to be said, we will never ask you about what was mentioned,” Sprocket said once we’d gotten underway. “If you choose to share that part of your life, so be it, but we won’t be asking for it. The woman we love is you here and now. Whatever happened in the past won’t affect that, so it doesn’t matter if we know or not.”

My rage had reduced enough for me to absorb what was happening around me. I looked at all of them, the men who loved me and all my sharp edges. They didn’t question or fight me on this. They wanted to be there for me, however I needed them. Right now, they were doing everything right, just letting me process from this blindside and affirming we were alright. How I ended up this lucky when so many others don’t was simply a miracle.

“Thank you,” I whispered and turned to look back out the window.

We drove for what seemed like a half hour, heading more inland. The contrast to the nice polished Hummer we were riding in to the area the driver brought us to was quite drastic. Most of the houses were boarded up, covered in spray paint with gang tags and other randomness. The cars were older models, dented, paint peeling, and rust chewing away at the sides. The driver turned off the main road and brought us to what seemed like an old factory area that had been shut down when work was sent overseas.

When we came to a stop in front of one of them, the overhead door rolled back, and two thugs stood in the entrance. Shoving open the door I was closest to, I hopped out of the Hummer, landing with a thud on the broken asphalt. My guys poured out using both doors and came to flank me as I approached the two lackeys.

“Mr. Three sent us,” I stated.