Fighting Back (Harrow #2) (12 page)

The midnight meeting. ‘Yes.’

‘Dad floated an idea that I think Dax would have agreed to if it wasn’t for the big bombshell he dropped at the same time.’ She didn’t like letting Trystan know that he had power over her, and that was what he was trying to exert by not just coming right out with what he had to say.

‘Nothing you can say will interest me,’ she said.

‘You sure?’ Trystan pushed out his lower lip and took his eyes from her for a brief moment. ‘Seems you’d want to know when your husband agreed to share you.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Yeah,’ Trystan said. ‘I guess we could’ve worked out a timeshare or something. I mean you were mine first.’

While he sauntered closer, she backed away until the dresser blocked her retreat. Though they were in shadow, she made out the unmistakable line of a scar on his cheek; that had to be the place she’d bitten him, the way she’d freed herself from him in Vegas. She’d left a mark on him, which would mean he would think of her every time he looked in the mirror.

‘I was never yours,’ she spat out. ‘And Dax would never share me.’

‘I guess not, I mean he’d probably worry that after you got a taste of me, you would never go back to him.’

‘Unlikely,’ she said, resisting the urge to laugh in his face. Trystan was a volatile sort, as displayed when his grin fell away and he grasped the top of the dresser to lean down into her face.

‘Dax would’ve given you to me. I’d have had you and everything would have stayed the same. You took him from dad, from me, from all of us, this is where he belongs.’

‘No, he’s not your lackey anymore,’ she said. ‘Dax follows his own orders now, not yours.’

‘I’ve been locked up in this damned building for weeks. Weeks and weeks of nothing, all because of you and that damn betrayer.’

‘He’s a better man than every one of you.’

‘Still think that, knowing that he would’ve handed you over to me? You’d have been in my bed, for me, for my pleasure and nothing else. He’d have given you up to keep me happy because he’s a Stark underneath all the rest of that bullshit. He’d have done it if Dad hadn’t revealed that Dax was the spawn of the guy he despised.’

‘I don’t understand what—‘

‘Bruno,’ Trystan said. ‘Have you seen him around since you got here? No, you haven’t. He took off a few days ago. Dad told Dax the truth, told him that Bruno was his father and that the bastard never wanted a thing to do with the squirt. Imagine that? Your father turning his back on you.’

The snarl in Trystan’s voice made her go cold, but she wouldn’t let tears form. She wouldn’t let him see any weakness or let him know that her heart was pumping so fast she could feel it in her throat.

‘You’re lying.’

‘No, I’m not,’ Trystan said. ‘Dad signed Bruno’s share of the will over to Dax, Bruno took off a few days ago after he and Dad had this huge blow out about it, we haven’t seen Bruno since. You better watch your back, Lucky, Bruno holds a grudge.’

‘Like someone else I know,’ she said, trying to pass his arm, but he brought his hand to her hair and stroked downward until his fingers reached her breast. Unable to hit him, or use her hands in any way because she was still using her dress as a shield for her body, Ivy remained tense and used her tone to convey her disgust. ‘Get the hell off of me.’

‘Dax isn’t here to save you now, Lucky,’ he breathed, leaning in to whisper in her ear. ‘You’re all alone, why don’t you drop that dress? You give me what I want and all the trouble goes away.’

‘You’re the only trouble here,’ she said. As much as she wanted to push him away, Ivy didn’t want to touch his body with her own for fear he would take it as an invitation.

‘You give yourself to me once, and Dax can have everything that he wants. He can have the family back, he can have the life that he was supposed to have, the life that you stole from him.’

The stifling weight of Trystan’s body vanished. Bewildered by the sudden turn of events, Ivy opened her eyes to witness Dax hitting Trystan so hard that he staggered back and hit the floor, unconscious. This was another first-hand example of why living with a fighter could be advantageous.

‘Did he touch you?’ Dax had hold of her now, but he couldn’t capture her attention, the prone man spread out on the floor behind them transfixed her.

‘Dax,’ she whispered, he’d come in and taken care of business like it was nothing to him. Still caught in the adrenaline of having Trystan up close, it took her a few seconds to rest her hands on Dax’s arms, and be reassured that she was back where she was supposed to be.

‘Tell me,’ he demanded, shaking her, forcing her attention onto him.

‘Yes,’ she said but dug her fingers into his arms to stop him from going back to Trystan to finish the job. ‘His hands on me were enough to make me feel sick, but he didn’t… he didn’t assault me.’

Pushing Dax aside, she dropped to her knees beside Trystan to check that he still had a pulse. Sorry that he did, she got back to her feet and stood over him with her hands on her hips.

‘What do we do with him now?’ she asked.

‘He’ll wake up soon,’ Dax said. ‘Get dressed. We’re getting out of here.’

‘You can’t… I mean… are you just going to leave him like that?’

‘Are you sorry I hit him?’ Dax asked, snatching her dress from the floor. He bent so he could lift her feet into it, then he pulled it up and forced her arms into the garment.

‘Dax,’ she said, grabbing his arm when he tried to pass her. ‘What did Mauri say?’

‘That he’d have your things brought over to our apartment. I already told him that we weren’t staying.’

‘You’re sure?’ she asked, touching his jaw. ‘You’re sure that you’re ready to walk away from this, from the Starks, and the fortune that Mauri is offering.’

Linking his fingers with hers, he lowered her hand away from his face. ‘I’ve got my fortune right here.’ He kissed the back of her hand, waited while she slipped on her shoes, then they went back downstairs.

Dax knew his way around, and they exited the building through a side door, which prevented them from having to run the gauntlet of party guests. Mauri would figure out that they were gone eventually, probably sooner rather than later.

Ivy was proud of her husband for making such a bold decision, and he didn’t seem uncertain of it at all. But something told her that the Starks weren’t about to give up on their prized asset quite as easily as Dax had given up on them.

Spending the rest of the night at Dax’s apartment was stress-free for the first time. It had been a long night, so by the time they got back from the Stark mansion there was nothing else to do but go to bed. Making love with Dax had been slow. Much of the tension that he’d carried over the last few days had waned, and he didn’t mind taking his time to explore all of her.

It was reassuring when Dax slept in the following day. This was just like at home where she would get up and work out then shower and tidy up before making breakfast. Today, it was almost noon by the time Dax fumbled his way out of bed and into the shower. Ivy had already eaten and cleared up, but she brewed a fresh pot of coffee for him, which was ready by the time he joined her.

‘Good morning,’ he grumbled and slugged great hulking mouthfuls of his coffee until the mug was empty, after which he held it out to her for a refill.

‘Afternoon actually,’ she said. She couldn’t even blame jetlag for his late hour because his shift at the club didn’t usually start until late afternoon, and if he was still on Eastern Time then he should’ve woken up earlier as opposed to later. ‘You missed your work out.’

‘Do we have plans today?’ he asked, accepting the mug she handed over.

‘No, but—‘

‘Then I’ll do it this afternoon, I could use a run.’

‘I thought we might be leaving LA today.’

He cleared his throat and yawned while placing himself on a stool at the other side of the breakfast bar. ‘I thought I’d call a realtor, get this place on the market.’

‘So we never have to come back. You’re serious about this, aren’t you?’

‘And you’re not?’ he asked, taking another mouthful of coffee then setting the mug aside. ‘I know that you want to get out of here. We can leave tomorrow, I’ll tie up my loose ends and—‘

‘What loose ends?’

‘You don’t have your shit from Mauri yet, do you? I’ll get it. I have to pack everything in the storage unit, we can have it shipped cross-country. And there’s my bike… unless you want to ride bitch back east?’

‘Uh, no,’ she said. Ivy loved his bike, but after more than three thousand miles on the back of it, she might feel differently. ‘So do you want me to start packing the apartment?’

‘Can if you want,’ he said. ‘But I figure we’ll just sell it furnished, let the new owners figure out what they want to keep.’

‘There’s nothing in here that you’re attached to?’

‘You,’ he said. Snagging her wrist when she came out of the kitchen, he pulled her into the space between his open thighs. ‘How do you feel about last night?’

She’d had some time this morning to think about everything that had happened at the Stark mansion. Time to think about what they were sacrificing by shunning the family who had saved Dax in childhood only to dragoon him into fulfilling their own nefarious needs later in his life. To say that she was angry at Mauri and the Starks for what they had put Dax through was an understatement.

Trotting out his mother and Ivy’s sister had been a low blow meant to manipulate the couple. Maurice Stark didn’t think about anyone other than himself. He would do whatever he had to in order to get what he wanted, which in this case was Dax.

‘I don’t like that my sister is staying in Mauri’s house,’ Ivy said. ‘She has no idea what’s going on or what the Starks are capable of.’

She and her sister hadn’t seen each other for years. Although they weren’t close, Ivy would never wish her sister harm.

‘We can get her out,’ Dax said.

Rosie did what Rosie wanted to and no one would tell her different. ‘She won’t do what we tell her to, she’s headstrong.’

‘I never would’ve guessed,’ he said, brushing her hair aside to kiss her neck. ‘Must run in your family.’

‘I’m a delight compared to my sister,’ she teased.

‘I love strong women, I’m sure she’s a scream.’

‘Her chest is smaller than mine,’ Ivy said, arching her back to present her breasts with a smile. He kissed the top of her cleavage, but his hands snaked around to cup her ass.

‘You don’t have to worry about me taking an interest in your sister. I found out recently that brunettes are my thing.’

‘Rosie is a brunette, the blonde came from a bottle.’

‘Oh, then I’ll definitely consider banging her,’ he said and stole her mouth when her jaw fell loose.

Dax wasn’t an easy man to rile, but he sure knew how to press her buttons, and here now in his arms she licked the roof of his mouth and urged her body closer. Calling the realtor could wait until after she got her rocks off with her rock hard man. Just to be sure that he was as willing as she was, she skimmed her palm down his torso to fondle him through his jeans.

‘You should’ve joined me in the shower,’ he said, sliding down the straps of her dress.

She grabbed the bottom of his tee-shirt, but before she could raise it, his phone made a noise indicating that he had a message. Resting an arm around her hips, he elevated his own to pull his phone from his back pocket, after he read the text, he slunk off the stool onto his feet.

‘Who is that?’ she asked, eyeing his cell.

‘My mistress,’ he said, kissing her brow then easing her out of his embrace to put the device back into his rear jeans pocket.

‘Your mistress is hanging from the reinforced beam in the spare bedroom,’ she said, drumming her fingers on the kitchen hutch.

His curious frown became amusement, and she rolled her eyes. ‘You just exterminate any woman who looks at your man, do you? ‘Cause I don’t remember fucking any other women,’ he said. ‘You sure meant it when you said no second chances, didn’t you?’

‘I meant your punching bag. Fighting is the only thing you love as much as you love me. Though I guess it would be bad if I did mean another woman.’

‘You’re all the woman I need, and now I’ve found out that there are two of you, I fear that the apocalypse is coming.’

She didn’t laugh at his joke though he was pleased with himself. Dax left the room then came back a second later donning his leather jacket.

‘Will you be long?’ she asked.

‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘I’ll call the realtor while I’m out, you pack up whatever you want to keep or whatever you think we need from here.’

‘Ok,’ she said and went to him. Taking hold of the open edges of his jacket she pouted up at him. ‘Will you call Mauri about my things?’

‘Yes,’ he said, kissing her quickly. ‘I’ll take care of everything. You just stay here.’ She nodded, but he took hold of her chin. ‘I mean it, Minx. Don’t leave the state, don’t get on any planes or buses. Stay. Here.’

‘As long as you do what you’ve promised to then we have nothing to worry about.’

‘Good,’ he said and kissed her again, then he left the apartment.

This wasn’t her home, and she’d never lived here, but getting the chance to root around in Dax’s possessions wasn’t an opportunity that Ivy would flout. She’d call and request that his gym equipment be shipped to the opposite coast, but that would mean finding a storage unit because it wouldn’t fit in their one-bedroom apartment back east.

Heading for the phone, she sought out a pen and paper then sat down to make her calls before she started packing. Keeping busy was a good distraction for her, she still wanted to quiz her husband on what Trystan had said to her last night. Yet once again her questions were left unanswered while Dax took care of his mysterious business. He had left without much of an explanation and in her past experience that never spelled anything positive for her.

Dax had taken a cab to the storage unit so that he could pull out his bike. It had been a delight to uncover his bike and stand astride her again. After a few basic checks and a trip to the gas station, he was on his way to the bar where Serg had asked to meet him. The two of them couldn’t be called close friends, but they had been through some trying times together. Serg had always been available when Dax needed him, and he didn’t ask questions, which was a major plus as far as Dax was concerned.

Being that this might be the last time that he was in California, possibly for the rest of his life, Dax didn’t mind taking the time to talk to his old associate. He doubted that whatever Serg had to say would take long because the man was usually one of few words.

Parking in the alley next to the bar, Dax went through the chain link fence past a bunch of the guys who were barbequing beside the picnic bench. With a nod of acknowledgement, he strode past them and into the rear entrance of the hang out he and his men used between jobs. Pushing aside the metal link curtain, he strode onto the red tile of the private back room that was usually full of people, today Serg was the only one here.

‘What’s up?’ Dax asked.

Serg hadn’t even lifted his head from the books he was poring over when Dax came in, which was a stupid mistake. He should always be aware of his surroundings because in their line of work no one knew who was out looking for payback.

When Serg did raise his attention it didn’t stop on Dax, he stood up to get a better look behind him, which made Dax glance over his shoulder, but there was no one there.

‘Where’s Ivy?’ Serg asked.

‘Why would I bring Ivy here?’

‘You brought her here before.’

‘Once and she’s not with me this time,’ Dax asked, Serg wasn’t making any sense to him. Serg seemed agitated, which wasn’t at all like him. ‘Why would you want to see Ivy?’

‘You haven’t heard?’

‘Heard what?’ The conversation made him sigh, but his colleague’s sudden interest in Ivy, coupled with his odd conduct, was disconcerting.

‘Shit,’ Serg said, falling back down into his seat. ‘Maybe it’s just bullshit.’

‘What’s just bullshit?’ Dax asked, coming deeper into the space.

There were couches around the perimeter of the area, but it was the large metal table in the middle that dominated the room, and it was at the head of this table that Serg currently sat. The walls were a kind of yellowing brown that had probably once been white. The gradient of the grimy colour deepened the higher that it went, due to the slick layer of nicotine that had built up over the years.

Serg nodded him over, and Dax went to the seat at Serg’s side. Serg put a forearm to the table and leaned in close to Dax, closer than the two men had ever been before. ‘I could get my ass handed to me for telling you this, maybe, I think… I don’t know.’

‘Tell me already, I’ve got shit to do—‘

‘There’s a bounty out.’

‘A bounty on what?’ Dax asked.

They had never been the type to chase money, so he had no idea why this information was relevant. Serg was paid well for what he did and as far as Dax knew the guy had no vices that would eat up his income. So Dax already knew that he was going to refuse whatever offer Serg was about to make about hunting down this bounty.

‘Ivy.’

Her name changed his whole thought process, his whole demeanour. Sitting back, away from Serg, Dax tried to consider who may wish his wife harm. But it was Serg’s question on Dax’s entry that spiked his fury.

‘Is that why you were fucking asking about her?’ Dax asked, standing up so abruptly that his chair clattered onto its back.

‘No!’ Serg said, leaping up ready to defend himself and trying to calm Dax at the same time. ‘I was worried if you left her somewhere that she could be spotted.’

‘What’s the bounty?’

‘Half a mill for her dead.’

Dax could defend Ivy against anyone who came after her in person, but this was a different ballgame altogether. It might take a day or two for word to spread throughout the community, but when it did, Dax would have every lowlife scumbag from far and wide on their tail. That kind of money was appealing to even the most loyal or cowardly of men. It would make anyone believe that going after the bounty was a risk worth taking.

‘Who the fuck is on it?’

‘I don’t know,’ Serg said. ‘I got word this morning. I heard it, and I sent you that message to meet me. I thought you would want to know.’

‘Yeah,’ Dax said. With eye contact and a nod, he gave his thanks.

‘Who would want this? Does she have enemies?’

The only enemies he knew her to have were ones relating to him. His thoughts briefly went to their time in Vegas, Trudi was pissed at her and probably Carlos too if he’d heard that his name had come up in conversation. But they wouldn’t flout five hundred grand on something like this, they just wouldn’t have that kind of cash to burn.

Saul could have savings, but he hadn’t struck Dax as the vengeful type. Though Saul did have friends in every walk of life from what Ivy had told him, so he would be able to set something like this up.

But pinning this on someone from Ivy’s past was ignoring the obvious. Those angriest with her now were his adopted family. Mauri might blame her for Dax’s choices. Trystan was pissed that she had rejected him again. But it made no sense why they would come after Ivy and not after him directly.

‘Is this Mauri?’ Serg murmured. ‘Does he think you’ll come back to the family with Ivy out of the picture?’