Page 92 of More Tricks

Sprocket nodded his head as he scratched his jaw deep in thought. “I think that will be solved once we tell Eagle about Elena. Dax doesn’t know anything about her, so there’s no connection. They can pull out the pictures and home movies and share how hard she worked to get into that school. If that doesn't work, I’m sure Wes has a list of shitty things they do. We can start running through them to see what hits home.” My jaw fell open as I watched them talk about this like I wasn’t standing right here.

Did they really feel like I wasn’t invested in this part of the plan? Fuck, I’m the one who made the plan. But did they have a point about me being so reluctant to make this happen? When it came to the Mad Dogs, I was willing to put myself in danger to get the end result I wanted. Did this mean Harper was safe? Or would Marco keep gunning for her until I brought him down?

The call from Harper last night told me they'd made contact with Prim, so she must be alright. Didn’t sound like it was a great experience, but what teenager is fun to be around? Would they be back in time to help? Maybe we did have more people at our backs than I originally thought.

“I think we lost her,” Cognac fake-whispered as he waved a hand in front of my face. “Loba, are you in there? Earth to loba.”

I batted his hand away and scowled. “What the fuck, man?”

“Ah, there she is,” he cheered, grinning at me like a fool. “Did these two take away your coffee or something?”

“Why does everyone think I haven’t had my coffee?” I snarled.

Cognac booped me on the nose and answered, “Reaction like that, and the fact your mug is barely touched and sitting on the counter cold as ice.”

“What?” I blurted as I pushed past him to find that he’d been correct. “How did that happen?”

Another mug appeared before me, steam rolling out, signaling it was fresh. I glanced up to see it was Cam offering up the beverage. “It’s better for all our sakes to ensure you drink all of it,” he stated, his face blank of expression.

Rolling my eyes, I took the happy bean juice and made a show of taking a big gulp even though it scorched down my throat. “Ah, good as new,” I announced. “Now, is there anything we need to deal with before Eagle gets back?”

Before anyone could answer, there was a knock on the door, then seconds later, Gabriella Rossi walked in with her son. I hadn’t seen her since the party the guys kidnapped me at but seeing as she’s the older sibling to Eagle and Picasso, it was inevitable.

“Oh, do come in, don’t mind the fact I’m not wearing any pants,” I greeted, then hid my smirk at her glare by taking another sip of coffee.

“Mom, I told you to wait for them to answer the door. It’s not just the guys anymore,” Demitri muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

She turned on him, pointing a finger in his face, making him flinch back. “Not a damn word out of you, boy. You’ve done quite enough to this family by flapping your lips.”

The cool, calm, and collected woman I met back at the tattoo shop I owned with Wes and then again at the party was gone. She might be wearing the business suit of a high-powered lawyer, but the energy that was coming off her was erratic and ready to snap at whoever got in her way.

“Gabby, what are you doing here?” Picasso demanded. “We told Demitri to stick to the normal routine because he’s probably being watched.”

“Don’t you talk to me like that, Teo, you might be the vice president of this club, but when it comes to my children, I will do what I see fit,” she shot right back. “Where is Eagle?”

“He’s not here right now, which is why you should have called or let us know you were coming,” Picasso pointed out, not backing down. “If anyone finds out that we know about Demitri and Elena, then it only puts Ellie in more danger.”

“You don’t think I know my baby girl is in danger,” she screamed. “They sent me her motherfucking finger, Teo, a finger. They wanted to know who Tricks was, and if I’d known it was that bitch all along, I would have never let you get involved with her. Now hell is coming down around our ears, and there’s nothing I can do about it. They have me by the balls, Teo, do you get that?”

Picasso didn’t even flinch under the attack. Instead, he just took it, knowing his sister was a mess. “Gabby, we’re working on a plan to get Ellie back. You need to trust us. This is far bigger than any of us realized.” He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, turning away from her. “How could you not tell us what the fuck was going on? There might have been something we could have done to prevent this.”

“You have a child kidnapped and a finger cut off for not giving them what they want, then you can talk to me about not telling you what was going on,” Gabriella snarled. “I did what I thought was best. It worked out for you in the end, didn’t it?” She added, waving her hand in my direction.

“Don’t make this her fault. She’s a victim of this as much as we are,” Sprocket cut in.

Setting the coffee down, I hoisted myself up on the counter so I could get a better view of the family feud going on.

“Really, and what has that bastard done to her?” Gabriella demanded.

“Oh, I can answer that,” I interjected, waving my hand like a kid in school. “Let’s see, he tried to kidnap my best friend, sent assassins after me multiple times, blew up my house, and wants my head on a spike in his front lawn,” I shared, counting off each event on my fingers.

This seemed to shake dearest Gabby out of her self-pity. “What?”

“Oh yeah, this asshole is trying to take me out so I stop ruining his business. So he’s going after anything or anyone I care about. Seems like a good thing you’re on my shit list for setting Harper and me up at that party,” I reminded her. “It wasn’t very nice. She really believed you might become her client and spread the word about her business.”

“If you’d just given me the information I wanted to know, then none of it would have needed to happen. I would have my daughter back, and you wouldn’t be dragging my brothers down with you,” Gabriella countered. “You are one cold-hearted bitch to let them take the fall for you.”

My brows shot up so far that I thought they would be lost in my hair. “Wow, okay, you’re going to need to explain that to me. How the hell have I become the cold-hearted bitch when they fucking kidnapped me, put a shock collar on my ankle, and tried to use me as bait for Two Tricks?”