Page 93 of Our Tricks

Looking back at the guys, I tapped my chin. “Did I forget anything?”

“No, those were the big ones,” Cam answered.

“Wonderful, now I’m going to partially sever your carotid because I’d like you to have time to think about what you’ve done. It will also ensure that you get to lay there in your own blood, knowing I won.” The last part, I leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “This mouse was never a mouse but a wolf stalking her prey. You picked the wrong fight, Marco, and now I’m going to make sure everything your family built here will never be remembered. The Tesoro Cartel will never be spoken of again.”

Marco tried to fight me, but I slammed one hand down and drove my blade through his palm into the wood flooring. I pulled out my other knife and did that to the other hand as well, making sure he couldn’t go anywhere. Taking my last blade, I pressed it to the wound I’d already made on his neck and pressed ever so gently until I saw the blood flowing faster but not to the point it was spraying all over the place. Wiping my blade clean on his shirt, I put it back in the sheath and stood.

There splayed out and bleeding like a stuck pig was the man who’d been haunting my nightmares for months. He would no longer be a danger to my family or me. There was still some cleanup, even after he was gone since he’d given people the bright idea they were a match for me, but that would be easy enough to fix. So much devastation all caused by one man who was too power-hungry for his own good. It was in a criminal’s nature to want more, but there was always a limit to what you could control.

Turning on my heel, I found all my guys standing there looking at me with pride, love, and relief. This was now over for all of us. Cognac held Tabby in his arms, her face tucked into his neck as he’d covered her ears so she couldn’t hear what I was saying.

What the hell was I going to do with a niece? Nope, we were going to have to deal with that another time.

“Let’s go,” I said, nodding to the doorway. “Harper, the moment we get our people out, I want you to blow this fucking place down.”

“Roger that,” Ghost answered, sounding way too pleased.

The fighting had come to an end but for the odd clean-up here or there. They hadn’t been ready to handle the massive amount of people I’d recruited for this mission. When we got outside, I found Martin tied up and on his knees between Gator and Mutt. Now I had the choice of letting him live or saving myself the trouble of future revenge.

“Cognac, get Tabby somewhere safe so when the tank starts shooting, we don’t scar her for life more than we already have,” I said, not taking my eyes off Martin.

He did as I asked and headed over to the large group of our people gathering around the trucks they’d used to get here from the drug farm. Stepping up to Martin, I looked him in the eye, needing to know if he was being honest when I asked this question.

“Did Marco make you turn on your mother and brother, or did you choose to do that on your own?” I inquired.

“Caring about people only makes you weak,” Martin spat. “Marco taught me that. He showed me how they were holding me back, and I needed to be free of them to get the power I rightfully deserved.”

His gaze was cold and calculating, telling me he believed every fucking word he said. His answer gave me no choice because I wasn’t going to allow him to be a monster lurking in the darkness for Mariana or Alvaro to fear. “Then join your uncle in hell.”

At my words, Gator turned and shot Martin in the head. Bound, he slumped forward then flopped to the ground, his blood seeping into the dirt. I wasn’t taking chances this time. I had to end it once and for all. Hating that I was going to have to tell Mariana another of her sons was dead sucked, but it was better in the long run.

It didn’t take long for Harper and her guys to take out the rest of the home leaving behind a pile of rubble, smoke, and ash. If Marco had still been alive, he wasn’t now, having been crushed under all that debris.

We piled into whatever vehicles we could find and headed to the airstrip for Billy to come get us. The rest of our people would be making their way back to the port, where they would be picked up and brought back to LA where we’d have a massive meeting at the Phantom Saints’ compound.

Eagle and Sprocket were right.

We needed a fucking vacation.

Chapter 32

Epilogue

Dax

The crystal blue water lapped at my feet as the warm breeze brushed against my naked body. It was still early in the evening, the sun’s rays beating down on me without a cloud in the sky. While it had taken me a bit to be comfortable being mostly naked for the past few days now, I saw its appeal.

Arms wrapped around my waist, and lips kissed along my shoulder. “What’s got you so deep in thought?” Sprocket asked.

Twisting in his arm, I placed my hands on his tanned skin and smiled at him. “Guess I’m a little worried about leaving for so long. I know Cam keeps telling me Corbin won’t cause trouble for us since he never wants the CIA to know about us drugging and stranding them in Mexico. I realize it helps they got to claim all the credit and pretended we were never brought into it at all, but I still don’t like it. Then there’s the fact that Wes could find Mariana and Alvaro way too easily for being in witness protection. I realize it’s only been four months since we took down Marco, but there’s still a lot of shit to deal with.”

“Little rebel, that work is never going to be done,” Sprocket pointed out with a sigh. “There will always be someone fighting to take the top spot away from you. Removing Marco left a power gap that we filled for the most part, but everyone under us is figuring out where they fit now. Tommaso is still getting his feet under him, although that’s going way better. Tell me this, when would have been the right time for us to take time for ourselves?”

I opened my mouth to answer and shut it when he made his point. “Fine, you make a good point. Still, are we sure two weeks out here isn’t too long?”

“Loba, it was the last two weeks the builders needed to finish the house. Then when we get back, we can move right in,” Cognac said as he joined us.

Cognac’s already glorious bronze skin was a deeper tone from all the sun, making my mouth water at the sight of him. All of them going naked all the time had definitely flipped my sex drive into high gear, and we were well on our way to fulfilling Eagle’s dream of fucking all over our new beach house.