Page 39 of Our Tricks

Ah, I really shouldn’t be surprised that this is what set off a nightmare. Right after she shot the man, she’d frozen at the realization she wasn’t the only intended target—all of us were.

“You did shoot him, and we are all still alive right here with you,” I told her, resting my head on hers. “Listen to the sound of my heartbeat, little rebel. It will tell you just how alive I really am.”

She didn’t say another word, just clung to me until I felt her finally drift back to sleep. There was no way in hell I was going to move other than to shift so I was lying down. She protested the movement in her sleep which had me smiling but didn’t wake. Slowly, I ran my fingers through her hair, cherishing this moment and the fact she’d come to me for help.

My fierce little rebel might actually be figuring this whole being-in-a-relationship thing out.

Chapter 15

Dax

Sleep had been awful. My mind plagued me with scenario after scenario that I failed and lost them all. It wasn’t just the bomb, either. No, my mind took great delight in just tossing out all the wild ideas it could possibly imagine. A dark shadow with Marco’s voice taunted me, telling me all of this was my fault. Finally, it had gotten so bad I woke myself up and felt too trapped to stay sleeping with my guys.

When I saw Sprocket on the couch, I knew he was up as I watched him rub his forehead like the weight of the world was stepping on it. Had I been wrong to ask him and Cam to take the lead? To me, it made perfect sense knowing how brilliant they both were. Then combining them would make them unstoppable.

I had every intention of talking to him about it when I climbed onto his lap. Yet the way he looked at me like he could see right into my fears had me crumbling. Right now, all I wanted was to not fear falling asleep and get the rest I needed. I’d done as he suggested and listened to his heart, counting the beats, and soon I was asleep once more.

When I woke up, the sun was well up in the sky, filling the room with sunlight. My face was buried in Sprocket’s neck as he held me, having placed his body in front of mine. If something had happened in the night, his body would have shielded me with my back against the couch. Honestly, I’m not sure anyone would even know I was here with how tucked away I was. I placed a gentle kiss on his neck right where his pulse was.

“So you’re finally awake,” Sprocket’s husky morning voice commented.

“You didn’t have to stay with me. I’m sure this wasn’t all that comfortable,” I pointed out.

Sprocket nuzzled a kiss on my head. “Little rebel, there isn’t anywhere in the world I’d rather be than right here. I think we both needed each other last night, and I slept far better than I thought with you safe in my arms.”

“Laying it on thick there, aren’t you?” I teased. “I still have nasty morning breath and probably drooled on your neck.”

He shifted back so he could see me better, then surprised me as he kissed the hell out of me. Taking advantage of my gasp to slip his tongue in, he made his point incredibly clear to me. Nothing was going to stop him from doing what he wanted with me.

“Now I can say good morning,” he whispered, followed up with a quick peck. “Sadly, we better get up. I know the others are already downstairs. They let us sleep, though, which was rather generous of them.”

“Hey,” I said, placing a hand on his chest, stalling him from moving. “I want you to know you can tell me no on heading up this shit show with Cam. It should have been your choice, not me forcing you to just because I think it will work.”

Sprocket’s eyes softened as he smiled at me. “God, when you put your mind to figuring something out, you really do learn fast.”

Confused, I scrunched up my brows. “What?”

He just chuckled and kissed my forehead. “Your plan is solid, Dax. No matter how I look at this, it’s going to take us all to pull this off. I think I needed to wrap my head around the concept that you aren’t stepping out of the equation, just adding in new factors to change the variable.”

“Ah… you lost me at math,” I pointed out.

Grinning, Sprocket sat up and pulled me with him so we were facing each other. “You’re not handing over control and walking away from the situation. Instead, you’re building a team that works together beside you to come up with ideas you wouldn’t normally think of.”

“Isn’t that what I said last night?” I questioned, super confused.

“Probably, I was just too in my own head to hear that. All my life, I’ve only ever been good at puzzles and fixing engines. You’re not the only one in this family with personal things they need to work on,” Sprocket explained, standing and offering me a hand. “You’re just the only one with an issue that could get you killed so it became the main focus.”

“Aren’t I lucky,” I muttered as I let him pull me to my feet. “You’re right, though. The only way we’re going to take Marco down is if we use all the tricks we’ve got. Thankfully, I’ve got plenty of them up my sleeve. I just need to find a time to use them.”

Shaking his head, Sprocket tugged me to follow after him as we headed downstairs. The rest of my guys were still in their pajamas, lounging on the couch with coffee. Clearly, we weren’t going to be doing anything fast this morning. Glancing at the clock, I was stunned to see it was almost eleven.

“You let me sleep in this late?” I gasped, clutching my chest as I turned to my guys. “This is an act of true love, isn’t it? Only utterly devoted husbands would cherish their wife enough to let her sleep well into the day, squandering all hope of an early start.”

Eagle twisted to look over the back of the couch just to roll his eyes at me. “Hellcat, you make it sound like we abuse you by expecting someone to be up before nine.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I countered. “But I still vividly remember all those mornings when you woke me up at six. What the hell could possibly need to be done so goddamn early?” I challenged.

Everyone laughed at my dramatics, not bothering to answer my question. A mug of coffee appeared in my hands, and I glanced up to find it was Cam. He dropped a kiss on my head at my smile. “Good morning, beautiful. If you want to take a seat, I’ll bring over breakfast. Hope you don’t mind we ordered an hour ago, but I kept it warm in the oven.”