Page 86 of More Tricks

“Why would I be eating an elephant?” I countered, not following this man's crazy tangent.

He gave me a look that told me I was being a brat and continued, “If you want to eat an elephant, you do it one bite at a time. First things first, we need to get all your delicious eye candy back under one roof, then we can start to figure out how to deal with the De León issue.”

“I think I need another beer.” I sighed, shoving to my feet. “Do you want anything?”

“Don’t happen to have a nip of brandy about, would you?” Dante asked, craning his head to watch me in the kitchen.

Feeling that sounded better than a beer, I opened the cabinet they kept all the liquor in and took a gander. “Looks like we’re in luck,” I answered, grabbing a bottle off the shelf.

“Hey now, spitfire, you’re not planning on drinking all of that yourself, are you?” Picasso asked as he spotted what I was holding.

Rolling my eyes, I set it down, grabbed two short glasses, and turned to Dante. “You want it neat or on the rocks?”

“On the rocks,” he called in answer, then spotted his favorite person to torture walk in the door. “Oh, Westin, come sit. We have so much to catch up on, now don’t we?”

I’d warned Wes a long time ago that I wasn’t going to rescue him from Dante because the sly fox would know what I was doing and ignore any effort. Instead, I left him to fight on his own, but secretly I think Wes liked the teasing game the two of them had going on.

“Dante,” Wes nodded in greeting. “Did you get dinner?”

“Child,” Dante drawled, stretching out the single word. “You know I don’t eat carbs like that. How else would I be able to fit into these suits I get custom made? No, I'll simply drink my calories and be quite satisfied.” he shared as he accepted the glass I handed him. “Tell me one thing, who made the move first?”

His knowing eyes moved back and forth between us as Wes pulled me to sit on his lap. I grinned and took a sip of my drink, aware Dante wanted to hear all the salacious details from Wes.

“That would be me,” Wes said proudly. “After I thought I lost her at that party when the Saints took her, I knew the moment I got her back, I would tell her everything.”

“I take it you were well received then?” Dante inquired.

Cognac let out a bark of laughter. “You could say that. The bastard fucked her on the counter right in front of me.”

Dante’s eyes went wide. “Goodness, they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Seems to have been true in this situation.” Then he turned to Cognac. “Tell me, sugar, was he as good as I think he’d be in my head?”

The poor man’s jaw dropped, stunned at the question.

“Dante, leave them be. They don’t know you well enough to ask them things like that,” I cut in. “Besides, the one you should be asking is me since I’m the one who got fucked.”

Dante pouted at me. “You’re no fun. I just wanted to make sure that this beautiful bronze statue of a man didn’t play both sides.”

The warm feeling in my stomach from the brandy was squashed at his words. I pulled out of Wes’s hold and stared down the man. “Dante, let me be clear. They. Are. Mine. Have I made myself clear?”

“As crystal,” Dante answered sincerely. “My apologies, sweet girl. I didn’t mean anything by it, but it seems my joke has gone too far.”

“Dad, didn't I warn you about pushing her?” Cam admonished, coming to stand behind me, resting his hands on my shoulders. “Times are different now. We are hers in every way, and none of us will take kindly to you messing around like that.”

“You’re right, son. I did push that too far,” Dante agreed, which had me far more surprised.

“Why?” I demanded. “You never give in and back off this easily.”

“Before, Weston wasn’t yours. Of course, I knew he would be one day, but during the time I was flirting shamelessly, he was unattached. Dax, my sweet girl, you are family to me, and I would never purposely do something to upset or hurt you. All the teasing was meant in jest, but as my son has pointed out, things are incredibly different now than they were when I last saw you.”

While it was hard to believe a con artist, I’d known him long enough to see the sincerity in his eyes. He was truly remorseful and that spoke volumes to me. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that either. This day has been nothing but one crisis after another, and I’m not handling anything that pushes my buttons well.”

“Regardless of that, I will do better by watching my words. You are the daughter I always wanted and the woman my son loves more than his own life.” Dante gave me a warm smile, then reached out and took my hand. “I’d hoped to offer you my help as you take down the De León Cartel, but if you don’t think that would be wise, I will be on my way in the morning, no harm no foul.”

I squeezed his hand in return. “Only an idiot would refuse your offer, Dante. I would love your help to bring these bastards down.”

“Good, good,” Dante muttered, releasing my hand and looking at the others. “My apologies to you all as well. You know what they say about in-laws and all that.”

“Don’t sweat it, man,” Cognac said, slapping Dante on the shoulder, making the man wince. “We’ve said worse stuff to each other and still managed to be family, so I think you’re in the clear. Maybe let’s leave our sex lives off the table. It’s just weird to talk about with any parent.”