Page 130 of More Tricks

The thoughts went round and round in my head until I reached four months and past the chance to get it taken care of. During that time, I’d started to get attached to the little alien in my belly that made me have to pee all the time and crave weird things like dipping beef jerky in chocolate ice cream.

Our college town was safe enough, and I’d never once felt like I couldn’t handle my own. So when a dude jumped out of an alley with a knife in his hand that was shaking more than my vibrator—I ran. The problem was, I ran back toward the school, not to the shop which was closer. The tweaker pounced on me, screaming for me to give him all my money. I fought, kicking, screaming, clawing, anything I could do to get this bastard off and stop him from beating on me.

“Just give me the damn money, you bitch,” he screeched, spit flying in my face.

He landed a blow on my head, stunning me, allowing him to get to his feet and start kicking the ever-loving fuck out of me. I curled up, trying to do everything I could to protect myself and the little alien inside me. It was then I noticed he had dropped the knife, so I reached out and grabbed it, slicing out at his ankle. I must have cut just the right way to sever tendons or something since his leg gave out and he fell to one knee.

With a roar, I shoved myself up and launched at him, knife tip first. It impaled his chest, slicing through right between the lower ribs. He froze, stunned at the pain, but I was lost to the need to survive and protect what’s mine. Yanking the knife out, I slammed it in again. Missing, I’d ended up hitting his sternum, but it was a hard enough blow it knocked him to the ground. Crawling on top of him, I stabbed until he stopped moving under me. Tears streamed out of my eyes, and I could taste blood on my tongue, making me retch all over him.

Stumbling my way off his body, I leaned against the brick wall of a building and tried to pull myself together. Then a horrible shooting pain started in my stomach, and I noticed my sweatpants were soaked in blood. I have no idea who called the ambulance or what they even said to me as they got me on a gurney and took me to the hospital. By the end of it, I’d lost the baby, and the internal damage was so bad they needed to ensure I couldn’t have kids anymore, so they removed what they needed to.

A week later, I found out that Devin had been killed and two weeks after that, I left Cam to start my journey to become Two Tricks. I would become something this world feared and respected, allowing me to protect my loved ones. It’s probably why I always put myself at risk over others. If I could save them, then it would make up for not being able to save those I had already lost.

That’s why Valter and his goons digging up that fact about me hit so hard. Once more, everyone I loved and cherished in my life was in danger. Too bad for them, they dared to hit on the moment in my life I failed the one most important thing I had to keep safe, reminding me of the promise I made in that hospital while I was all alone.

I would never be a victim, and the world would fear the day they touched those who belonged to me.

“Enough,” Cameron snapped, grabbing me by the throat, and forcing me to look at him. “That’s enough, Dax.”

“Why weren’t you there? I needed you to be there that night, Cam,” I choked out, fighting back tears. “They made me deliver her because my body was already too far along in the process. I had to do it alone.”

Cam reached up and took my hand, removing from the knife that was protruding out of his bicep. “There isn’t an answer I can give you that will fix what you went through. Nor can I make up for not having my phone on at least vibrate while I was studying. I failed you, the woman I love more than anything in this whole world who was carrying my child. You’re one hundred percent right. I left you to go through that all on your own. I had no idea how to even start to atone for that sin. Truthfully, I still don’t. Is there even a way to do that?”

Tears ran down my cheeks, and I looked down to find the man under me, just like that night. Blood seeped out from under him and Cam kneeled right in the worst of it to get to me. This time he was here, right by my side, not letting the demons take me.

“You can make it up to me every day of your life. You’ll never leave my side in life or death. You will be right here,” I ordered, my voice cracking with the emotions I was struggling through.

Cam nodded, shifting his hold on my neck so his thumb ran up and down my pulse lovingly. “I made that vow to you when you carved your name over my heart, but I’d already planned to do it with or without your permission.”

“Asshole,” I muttered and yanked out the knife, making him grunt and rest his head on my shoulder for a moment. “Sorry I stabbed you.”

“You’re lucky I don’t mind pain when it's inflicted by you,” Cam reminded me as he scooped me up in his arms. “There’s nothing for you to continue to fight in here, so let’s get you out of this mess.”

When Cam stepped out of the ring, I found Tommaso and Betta standing there with my guys. My whole body froze at the sight, then, just as quickly, I twisted the knife still in my hand so I could throw it at one of them if needed. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Chapter nineteen

Dax

Tommaso raised his hands in a sign of surrender. “Trying to find a way that we can still be friends,” he admitted. “No games, no tests, no old men who don’t know how to play by the new rules. Just you and me… well… and them.” He gestured to my guys, then to his sister. “Betta is my right hand, so I brought her to prove we’re both invested in making amends. So what do you think? Is there a chance my father didn’t fuck this up as royally as I think he did?”

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you right here right now and save myself the trouble? At this point, I could just take you all down and rule over both East and West coasts?” I challenged, tapping on Cam’s arm to set me down.

He slid me down his body rather suggestively and kept one arm wrapped around my shoulders, keeping me close. To them, I’m sure it looked as if he was trying to protect me, but really, he was protecting them from me.

“That man you just obliterated with more vengeance than I’ve ever witnessed before in a person is who gave us the information,” Tommaso explained. “We found out from him that Diego learned about the event from a woman named Kimber. Seems she’s some woman one of Marco’s lieutenants is fucking.”

A growl seeped out of my lips as I once again wished I’d killed her the moment I had the chance. That woman had been nothing but a fucking thorn in my side since the day I met her. I loved my twin but choosing her was what killed him when it came down to it.

“So you think that since I got vengeance on a person who spilled my story to your boss makes us even?” I asked cocking my head slightly as I gauged how hard it would be to land this blade in this eye socket.

Tommaso shook his head. “No, but it's a start and something you would have asked for at some point. Since we already had him at the ready and you wanted a fight, it just seemed to make sense. I want to propose a different plan to you than was presented at the office.” Reaching into his inner suit pocket, he pulled out folded documents, then handed them over to me. “Written here is my personal offer that no one but Betta knows about.”

Reaching out, I took the papers, blood from my hand, smearing over the white surface. I unfolded it and scanned over the first page, trying to read through the legal jargon to figure out what he was really saying. Lawyers love to put in all kinds of different backhanded loopholes hidden in words you couldn't understand. When I finally got into the meat of the matter, my brows shot up in surprise.

“Wow, I have to say I didn’t see that coming,” I commented as I flipped to the next page that broke down a diagram of names, roles, and their place in Diego’s cartel. “You came to bat with all the right things to get my attention, but how are you going to pull this off?”

“That’s where you come in,” Tommaso said, gesturing for me to flip to the next page. “I wrote it all down, but if you think there is a better way, then I’m open to suggestions.”