Page 55 of More Tricks

Tommaso had the courtesy to look apologetic as he rubbed the back of his neck. “No, I've got that information. He should meet you there or arrive shortly after our driver gets you back there.”

Eagle grunted and turned to head out the door. Once more, we all climbed into the limo, only this time, Eagle snagged me and plopped me right between him and Void. Both of them cuddled up against me offering their support physically and emotionally without a word. The drive back to the hotel was much faster, making me think the driver had been stalling for time on the way to the warehouse.

“What do you think?” Eagle asked in a low voice. “Is it worth taking the risk to trust them?”

Void grumbled something under his breath only to settle my legs over his lap, so I leaned more on Eagle. “If he’s willing to betray his own father and their Don, what makes you think he won’t do the same to us? A traitor is always a traitor.”

“Not that I don’t feel the same way, but would you say the same thing about Demitri? He’s betrayed us countless times, but yet you still seem to trust him?” I countered.

Void seemed to chew on that for a moment. “I think I trust him because the motivation was to protect someone else, not for his own gain, if that makes sense.”

I nodded. “That makes sense, but you have to admit the fact that he gave us this whole plan in writing means he’s putting trust in us that we won’t turn on him and sell him out to Valter.”

“She makes a good point,” Eagle agreed. “If we took that and gave it to Valter, he would know exactly what was going down and how to stop it.”

“What if it’s another game? They could be testing us to see if we would support a coup,” Picasso interjected. “Yeah, he said no games, but who the fuck is willing to believe that? He also said that guy was the one who got the information from Diego and his men. There’s no way to check that out since he was already dead.”

“Wes,” I called over to where he was absorbed in reading over the contract again. “You mind calling our best buddy, Magnus, for me when we get back? I’d really like to check in and see how things are going for them.”

It had been a while since I had to speak in the code we’d made up for texting so no one would pick up on what we were really saying. He gave me a thumbs up and went back to his reading like it wasn’t all that important. What I’d really asked him to do is see if Magnus had the four-one-one on our new friends. If they could tell us that this fighter was one of Diego’s pet fighters, that would help further the proof they were being honest. Right now, going back to California wasn’t an option for us. So instead, I felt like it was time to pay a visit to my bestie and her new boos.

When we got to the hotel, the doctor was already waiting for us in the lobby. He made quick work of stitching Cam up, giving him some meds I made him inject into himself first. If it was antibiotics and a slight pain killer, it shouldn’t cause any harm, right? Wes reached out to Magnus and was told he’d get a call back when they had information to share. I took a much longer shower in scalding hot water scrubbing from head to toe, making sure all the blood was gone. If I was going to try and get some sleep, I needed to know I was clean before curling up with Cognac and Picasso. My sins couldn’t taint them. That was the last thing I wanted.

I’d been afraid nightmares might start to plague me after reliving that moment again, but thankfully, I slept the sleep of the dead. When I got up the following morning, I was informed we were going to New York to stay with Harper and the Wright brothers. My men decided it was best to hash out this offer not being in their territory.

This ought to be fun. It was the first time all my guys would meet them. I knew I should’ve brought Dani along on this trip.

Chapter twenty

Void

The FBI needed the jet back, and we decided it was better to stay in the area than to go back to California only to come back a few days later. While Dax slept, the rest of us talked, trying to figure out the best plan going forward.

“Doesn’t it seem like things are falling into place too easily?” Picasso asked, joining us once he knew Dax was fast asleep. “I mean, come on, they just happened to send us the documents hoping we would think of the same plan they were about combining forces? They had to be working on this for far longer than we even knew about Marco.”

Wes leaned back against the bed’s headboard in the room we’d gathered in next to Dax’s. I hated the setup of this. It was hard to keep an eye on things with us all spread out over four rooms, even if they did connect. Next time we would just take the penthouse and not worry about drawing attention. I’d rather know we could control the setting than keep a low profile.

“You make a good point, Picasso, but the only part I want to push back on is that everyone seemed to know Marco was gunning for Dax except us. He’d been building allies around the world and making his moves in such a way it didn’t draw her attention. Like Betta was saying, our woman has more pull in this criminal world than she understands,” Wes pointed out. “Hell, even the Wright brothers knew, but they aren’t ones to get drawn into what's going on in the world since they work for the highest bidder. Well, they did. I feel like since they are now apparently engaged to Dax’s best friend and soul sister, their team Dax all the way.”

“Fair, I will admit, as we’ve been dealing with this, it’s clear we were late to the party,” Picasso agreed. “So maybe this is all legit, and I’m just the one being overly guarded.”

Cam shook his head as he waved his glass of whisky at the same time. “No, it’s wise to be that skeptical. Nothing in a deal like this should be taken at face value. There is something in the contract they’re trying to hide. Now I’m not saying it’s something we’ll have an issue with, whatever it might be, but everyone is always looking out for themselves.”

Eagle shifted through the pages that Tommaso gave us, looking over the contract portion. “This shit is so full of legal bullshit I don’t know how anyone knows what it says. Dax has to have a lawyer on hand we can send it to and will give us an opinion.”

“Yeah, I already emailed it to him,” Wes answered. “He should have an answer for us tomorrow at some point. This guy has helped us on tons of business deals and caught small changes that could have a big impact later on down the line, so I trust if it’s there, he’ll find it.”

Sprocket ran his hands through his hair, scrubbing at his scalp, telling me he was fighting off one of the migraines he got when stressed. It’s one of the only times he can’t stand to have his hair up in his typical messy bun.

“We can’t stay in Boston,” he muttered. “It would be stupid for us to be here like sitting ducks as we try and figure out what to do. Besides, as far as the big bosses know, the deal is off, and Dax isn’t interested in trying to fix it. If we leave for New York City and hang out with Harper, then it shows we aren’t waiting for them to make an offer. From what I understand about those guys, no one is going to fuck with us while we are there.”

“I was going to say even if we wanted to stay, we can’t in this situation,” I voiced. “It's too hard to monitor.”

“Got to agree with you on that, man,” Wes added. “Alright, it’s settled, I’ll tell the triplets we’re coming, and we’ll leave whenever Dax wakes up. I don’t think we should wake her up. After that kind of blow and the emotional upheaval that happened today, I say let her sleep till her body is ready.”

Everyone mumbled their agreement, and Picasso went back to join Cognac, who’d stayed with her. Out of all of us, he was more than happy to go with whatever we decided, not one to feel the need to be involved in all the choices as long as we told him what the plan was.

“I think we need to keep it to two rooms,” I stated. “As well as one of us staying awake to keep an eye on things. I just don’t trust that the big bosses won’t try to pull some crap with how things ended. Not to mention if they get wind of what went down at the fighting ring.”