Page 29 of Two Tricks

I let the silence hang between us as I decided what my next move was going to be. I had lost the fight. Did I really intend to hold my end of the deal up? Could I volunteer to stay here for a month?

Why the hell was I even thinking this was a possibility? I had a business to run and asses to beat. There was shit going on in the Hidden Empire, and I needed to be there to do my part.

“Did I break you? You’re awfully quiet,” Void said, jostling me with his shoulder.

“What did dear Weston say to you on the phone?” I asked, curious if he would even tell me.

“Did you teach him how to threaten people or is he that creative on his own?” Void mused as he set me down on the first step of the porch.

I raised a brow at Void as he kept his hands on my hips. “I would say that I started his education, but he took it to heart and really learned the finer aspects of dishing out threats.”

Void raised a hand and let his thumb brush over the cheek that he kicked with his biker boot. It hadn’t bothered me, but now that he’d reminded me about it, I could feel how swollen it was getting.

“Swelling isn’t too bad, but you’re going to have one hell of a bruise,” he said, caressing my jawline as he dropped his hand.

“Damn, Void, you’re about to be in major trouble when Eagle sees that,” Cognac said, appearing in the front yard.

Void just grunted and headed up the steps, leaving me with the smiling wet dream—literally. He was in swim trunks, and his skin was still wet and glistening in the fading sunlight. He took his towel and wiped off his face before throwing it over a shoulder, but that still left his bronze abs for me to gawk at.

“Careful. You’re starting to drool, loba,” Cognac said, leaning in close as he passed me. “Come on, dinner should be about ready.”

“Where is there a POOL?!” I finally managed to ask once he wasn’t in my direct line of sight.

Cognac turned and lifted a finger to his full lips. “It’s a secret. We only tell a select few people about our hidden oasis.”

“You mean the compounds pool behind the garage?” Sprocket said, wrapping an arm around my waist and herding me up the last few steps. “Don’t believe a word this idiot says, there is a huge inground pool just out back. Once we get you something you can swim in, you can check it out for yourself.”

“Oh, so you just want to see me in an itty-bitty bikini, hmm?” I taunted.

Sprocket paused and frowned down at me. “On second thought, shorts and a t-shirt would be better.”

My brows shot up as I gave him a wide-eyed look. “Seriously?”

Sprocket leaned in until I could feel the heat of his breath along my neck. “No one but us gets to see your delectable little body.”

Frozen in place, I watched him disappear into the house. “What the fuck is going on?”

After getting hung up on by whichever of the biker trash that was holding Dax, I chucked my phone against the wall. It shattered, flying into a million pieces as I let out a roar of anger. I paced back and forth in my office, which was filled with all the equipment I used to monitor the Hidden Empire, knowing it wouldn’t do me any damn good to get Dax back. I knew where she was and who was holding her, but I couldn’t find a way to get her out without starting an all-out war with one of the biggest biker gangs on the West Coast.

I ran over our brief conversation again, trying to see if she had left me any more clues to get her out. Together we had made backup plans for almost any scenario, but the Phantom Saints had played on my cockiness. Never once had I thought I would let her get taken—it was my job to keep her safe and watch her back.

They put a fucking shock collar on her!

The sound of my second cell went off, letting me know it was something to do with Empire business. Only Dax had the number to the cell I destroyed.

“What,” I snapped. There was a pause on the line before they spoke.

“Wes, we can’t get ahold of Dax, and we got a big problem.” It was Brian, one of Dax’s men.

“Are you going to tell me what the problem is, or do I have to guess?” I asked, unable to hold back my irritation.

Out of the two of us, Dax was the volatile one. I kept my cool for the both of us, but having her taken from me was proving to be my undoing.

“Right. Sorry, Wes. It seems that the De León cartel is claiming that Dax killed their son while he was in L.A. on vacation. They’re saying that if we don’t hand her over, they will make moves against us.”

“How the fuck am I just hearing about this now?!” I yelled into the phone. “This is not the sort of thing that we should be blindsided with.”

“I just found out myself. Dax was my first call, but her phone went right to voicemail, so I called you. They tortured Jeff and sent his body back with their demands,” Brian blurted, the panic clear in his voice.