Page 6 of Two Tricks

“What was the issue?” I asked, even though I had a guess.

“He wanted more money for having to go behind Tricks’ back,” Sprocket interjected, seeing that Void really didn’t want to answer my question. “Seems that something’s set the crime boss off, and he’s combing through his people looking for infractions. Word on the street is the enforcer is handling it personally.”

“This bastard is blocking us off at every turn!” I roared, slamming my fist into the wall, cracking it. “What bastard MC fucked this up for the rest of us? There’s no way we can gain any more ground without getting Tricks on our side or taking the dick out once and for all.”

Picasso’s phone rang out, breaking the tension in the room. He quickly answered and put it on speaker for the rest of us to hear. “Go ahead, Gaby. We can all hear you.”

“Enzo, when I tell you what happened, I need you to know I already have a backup plan ready,” Gaby said, her voice sharp in warning.

“Understood,” I bit out. Damn sister knew me too well.

“Using Kimber was a major backslide—the bitch lied to me. Dax hates her and doesn’t trust anything that has to do with her,” Gaby stated. “I left her my card and a copy of the terms that you guys came up with, but I’d be surprised if she didn’t throw it out the moment I left the building.”

“Is there any good news?” Picasso asked, reading my mind.

Gaby sighed. “Yes and no. Dax is definitely a good connection; she knows exactly how Tricks operates and thinks, so it wasn’t a complete bust. I invited her best friend to a party I’m having tonight. I want you all to be there in case she shows up with Dax.”

I had to hand it to our sister—she was a crafty bitch. I never would have thought to use the best friend.

“You sure it won’t seem odd for her to just happen to show up to your party the same day you ask her for a meeting?” Sprocket asked.

“From what I gather, her best friend has no idea about this side of her life. Dax won’t risk saying anything or attracting attention to why we would know each other,” Gaby said, making it a nonissue. “All I need is for you all to show up and keep a low profile, and I’ll see what I can do about getting her on her own for you all to talk to.”

“Any chance you found a picture for us to go off of?” I inquired.

It was almost like Dax was a ghost. She had no social media of any kind, and no pictures anywhere on the internet. Almost like someone was keeping her hidden, confirming my suspicions of her being Tricks’ old lady.

“She won’t be hard to spot, believe me. A girl like her could never be overlooked,” Gaby said, laughing.

Something about that made me grin. I couldn’t wait to meet this mysterious woman.

“Harper, it might surprise you to know that Miss Blackmore and I have met before,” Gabriella said, giving me a warm smile. “It is nice to see you again. If you could excuse me, I have a few other people that I have to go greet.”

“Of course,” Harper said, keeping up her smile until Gabriella had disappeared back into the house.

Then she turned on me.

“How the fuck do you know Gabriella Rossi?”

Harper had no clue of my connection to one of the biggest arms dealers and smugglers in the US. I never wanted to have my personal life and business cross, keeping Harper clean from all ties.

“We have a mutual acquaintance,” I said vaguely.

Harper gave me a searching look but let the issue drop. “Let’s go grab a drink.”

Following after her, I searched around to see if I could find Gabriella, but she had vanished in the crowd. I pulled out my phone and texted Wes what was going on. I didn’t like that I’d ended up at her house, of all places, after we had a meeting today that didn’t go her way. Seconds later, I got a response that he would look into the situation, making me feel better. If she had anything hidden from us, it wouldn’t be for long.

“Oh look, there’s dancing on the lower patio!” Harper pointed out excitedly as she sipped her wine.

Knowing that I wasn’t going to get out of dancing, I took a double shot of whiskey before I was yanked away from the bar. Passing her glass off to a server that was cleaning up a table, she tossed her hands in the air and joined the masses. Feeling the burn of the whiskey in my stomach, I decided to take Harper’s advice and just let myself relax and dance. I was at a party, not a shady back office deal where I needed to worry about who was here and if they were going to attack me. It had to be just a fluke that I ran into Gabriella again. If Wes found anything, he would let me know, and I would deal with it at that point.

Slipping into the gyrating bodies, I found a space for myself and let the music wash over my skin. Since dancing was Harper’s favorite pastime, I’d gotten fairly good at it over the years and knew I wouldn’t embarrass myself. Letting my hips move, I watched the dancers around me. There was the typical circle of girls brushing off any attempts to have guys join, wanting “girl time.” Off to the side were the solo males lurking until they could find their next victim. Then, to finish it off, were the couples where you weren’t sure if they were actually having sex or not. I kept my eye on the few single guys that were watching me to see if I was open to the idea. None of them caught my eye, but I knew I was hella picky about who I let touch me. Just as one of them started to make his move, he stopped, his eyes going wide before he filtered back into the crowd.

What had chased him off?

That’s when I felt someone step up behind me.

I had to hold myself back from striking out at the unsuspecting guy who was trying to dance with me. After years of looking over my shoulder, it was instinct to react first and ask questions later.