Page 135 of More Tricks

By the nickname, I gathered that Maggie was Magnus leaving the other to be Jaxson.

“She makes a good point,” Jaxson interjected. “Now, let’s play nice as we meet the whole family for the first time. Think you can pull that off?”

“Can we at least take this up to the house? I don’t see why we need to make it easier for them to make a move standing out here in the open,” Magnus reasoned.

Stepping up to Dax, I rested a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at me. “He has a point. While we might not be able to keep our arrival quiet, it’s best if we don’t cause chaos the moment we get here.”

“That’s absolutely no fun,” Dax said with a pout.

I gripped her jaw and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “If you’re a good little demon for us, I’ll make sure it's worth the effort. Maybe we should play the game of how quiet can you be as I take you over the sink in the bathroom while they talk?”

Her whole body shivered at my words, telling me that I’d been right about what was making her so feisty. “Or are we to the point where you can’t wait? Should we take the elevator up by ourselves and give the security guy a show?”

“Fuck,” Dax whimpered. “How about all the above?”

“Hmm, I think we should see if you can even pretend to be good for at least an hour before you get your reward, little demon,” I decided, knowing I’d gotten her in hook, line, and sinker as I kissed her roughly before releasing her.

Dax’s expression was a little glazed over, then she shook herself out of it and clapped her hands together. “Right, so we were going up to the apartment?”

Harper hooked our girl's arm through hers and led the way with Ghost and Cognac hot on their heels while the rest of us grabbed bags from the car. Magnus grabbed one from me and knocked my shoulder with his. “You’ll have to tell me what you just did to get Dax of all women to comply.”

I grinned wide enough that it showed my teeth. “Some secrets you have to figure out on your own, and it absolutely wouldn’t work for you.”

Understanding flashed in Magnus’s eyes and he let out a bark of laughter. “Well played, Void, well played.”

Chapter twenty-one

Dax

When the elevator doors opened, and the apartment was revealed, my jaw dropped. “Holy shit.” I gasped.

“Yeah, we were in another one that you’ll be staying in one floor down, but when this became available, I made them snatch it up,” Harper shared. “I mean, look at that view, and it has direct access to the roof. The guy who owned it before clearly was an idiot to give up something this amazing.”

I gave her a sideways glance, then l turned to look at the brothers, who were doing everything possible to avoid making eye contact. “Totally, real stumper on why something like that would happen.”

“Come on, let me give you a tour,” Harper urged, dragging me up the stairs. “We have our room and two others for guests or whatever the future might bring for the four of us.”

That had me digging in my heels, looking at her strangely. “Are you?”

“Oh goodness no.” Harper laughed, waving off my question. “Is that what you think? They got me pregnant and now I’m marrying them? No, this is the real deal for us, I know it seems so fast and most people will judge us, but when you know, you know.” She grinned at me with a shrug. “What am I even explaining this to you for, Miss I Have Seven Husbands?”

Chuckling, I followed her into the master bedroom, finding it had pretty much just a giant bed in it. Dressers were built into the window seat along one whole wall giving them storage. It was an interesting concept and for New York, where every square foot counted, it was smart. The bathroom had me jealous, but we didn’t spend long in there before she was whisking me away to the next room.

This was clearly her sewing room with fabric lying all over the place with sketches pinned up on the wall. A large table with a sewing machine took center stage, and I could tell just by looking at it that it was no Walmart purchase.

“Damn, girl, do these men have any money left in the bank?” I teased since the whole room smelled new. “You’ve only been back for like what, a week and a half?”

“What can I say? I was inspired by all the traveling we did. Have you ever been to Bali? It’s amazing, and I hope we get to go back sooner than later after all this. There is just so much life, color, and sights to see there,” Harper gushed. “The guys took me cliff jumping in the most beautiful place.”

I grabbed Harper’s arm and looked at her from head to toe. “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

Harper rolled her eyes at me. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, very funny. I know I wasn’t all that into adventures, but the guys have made it their personal mission to make sure to try new things. Well, before we got back and I was once again hiding from Marco. Did you know he sent someone after us in Bali? Thanks to your mission, we got out of there just in time.”

That bastard is tying the noose tighter and tighter each day.

“Whoa, no need to go all dark and broody, Dax. I’m fine, we got Prim out of Russia, smuggled in your tank, and now we’re back together. To be honest, I’m glad we had to come back and face things head-on. There’s no way I can be on the run my whole life, and he’s going after my family too. You, Wes, and your other guys are my family besides the triplets. It’s been killing me not being able to fight. Always running and hiding is going to get us nowhere.”

I pulled Harper into a hug, realizing how much I needed my best friend right now. My guys had been right to make this call. Being here with her and the brothers was best. “God, I missed you, Harper.”