Page 31 of More Tricks

I looked up and found Eagle, Wes, and Cam standing behind the couch, watching me with a mix of expressions. Some were impressed, while others seemed to be incredibly disapproving.

Giving them a small wave, I smiled. “Hey, guys.”

“How the fuck did you know all that?” Eagle blurted. “I didn’t think we had anything on those guys.”

“Ah, well, it seems that the one thing Wes found other than Ruban’s full name was his birthday because it was listed on his Snapchat. Then when I added him as my friend, I was able to see his location on a whole bunch of places that he goes to all the time. No clue if they are any of the locations that I referred to, but it seemed to freak him out enough,” I shared.

Wes just shook his head, smirking. “Damn kids and their apps.”

“Little demon, doing what you just did could ruin the whole thing,” Void scolded. “If Ruban decides he isn’t going to make the deal and let us talk to one of the four, they’ll just pass on the whole thing all together.”

“Yeah, I know, but it's a risk we have to take. I’m a big player in this world, and if they won’t take my phone call, then I’ve fallen to a point we might as well give up the fight and let Marco take over. This will tell us who is against or for us. While the actual battle might be between Marco and me, whoever wins will change the game entirely,” I explained. “If Marco wins and I’m kicked out, the whole West Coast is going to change. Power will shift, creating a vacuum, and since no one actually knows how much I control, they don’t realize how big that vacuum will be.”

Cognac jogged down the stairs and plopped on the couch, looking confused. “That doesn’t make sense. If he takes you out, then doesn’t he get the Empire?”

“If they’ll let him take it,” I answered with a grin. “See, the thing is, the people who aren’t in California that I oversee personally run their business like a store manager. They report to me, but they drive the ship and send me my dues. While I’m one person and the head of the snake, the body could still survive without me. I don’t keep records of everything all in one spot. It's scattered in many different locations on backup servers and such. Everything is renamed with numbers, so you can’t tell who it is or where they are.”

“So that’s how you did it,” Cam mused. “I always wondered why no matter how hard we dug and who we got to turn on, you didn’t have anything useful to tell us. It helped me from having to cover up stuff all the time. It’s quite brilliant.”

I yelped as the phone in my hands started to vibrate, scaring the piss out of me. Looking down at the number, it wasn’t saved, but it had a New York area code. Glancing up at Void, he nodded, so I answered it.

“Tell me you have good news for me, Ruby,” I said once the call connected.

There was a moment of silence before a voice cleared, then spoke, “This isn’t Ruban. You can call me Mr. Three.”

A smile bloomed on my face as I looked at the others and pointed to the phone as if proving my point. “It’s a pleasure to speak with you, Mr. Three.”

“Ruban said you had something you wished to chat with us about?” Three inquired.

I took half a beat before I answered just because, as far as I was concerned, we were equals in this world of ours. “Yeah, see, the thing is that I wanted to do this whole fight thing as a whole coming-out party. The world knew me as Dax, the enforcer, but what I need now is for people to see me as Two Tricks, the ruler of the Hidden Empire. The terms you laid out just aren’t matching with the respect I’m owed and why I’m even considering doing this.”

“Respect… I see,” Three mused. “What exactly did you have in mind? We are always interested if it can be made into a profit for us. What do they call it?”

“Mutually beneficial,” I offered, knowing full well he knew the term.

“Hmm, yes, that’s the one,” Three agreed. “Now tell me how you can help us and help yourself at the same time. Don’t think we aren’t aware of your feud with Diego. If you’re going to bring hell down around us, that isn’t going to benefit us in the slightest.”

“Diego and I have never liked each other, but for him to blame me for the son he killed is taking things a little too far. All I want to do is prove I can show up on his turf if I wanted to and leave still alive,” I explained. “As for what I can offer you, that depends on how many bodies you want to clean up after. The bloodier the fight, the more the crowd loves it. They drink, gamble, and fuck their way through the night. So that being said, the only thing I’m not willing to do is fight my own people.”

“You understand how things work here perfectly,” Three complimented. “I wasn’t in favor of you fighting Void as it was. One of you would die, and in my eyes, that would be a lose-lose situation. He is one of the most ruthless and blood-thirsty fighters I’ve ever witnessed, but word on the street is you two are matched in that.”

“My little demon and I are soul mates. We are perfect for each other in every way,” Void stated.

Part of me cringed at him saying that, knowing it would tell them we are also each other’s weaknesses. Men like Three would glean any information they could about people to use against them when the time was right. While it was clear I was with all these men, I wasn’t sure advertising just how far I would go to protect them or avenge their deaths would be wise.

“Delightful,” Three crooned through the phone. “Then let me propose a few different ideas. We still want fights with you two, individually. That will be expected. What I want to change is weapons will be allowed, not guns obviously but knives perhaps?”

I glanced at Void and he shrugged, not caring one way or the other. “Knives would be fine. Is there any other weapon just so we make sure to prepare to give you the best show? You wouldn’t want it to be over too quickly, now would you?”

“Oh, you are as sharp as everyone says,” Three said with a chuckle. “The other crowd favorite is bare hands with brass knuckles. People still bleed but don’t die quite as quickly.”

“Either of those options is fine with us. Just know if it ends up being something else, or you try to surprise us with a weapon out of left field, it won’t end well for you,” I warned. “What is the other idea?”

“Instead of you fighting against each other, we want you to fight as a team against an unknown number of attackers,” Three answered.

Hell, that was a piece of cake. We proved that when we fought the other day. I wanted to agree outright, but something told me to question it.

“Weapons as well?” I asked.