Fighting Back (Harrow #2) (27 page)

‘Call him? You mean you’re not together?’

‘Just stay there, Carina,’ Ivy snapped. ‘Worry about yourself.’

Disconnecting the line, she immediately dialled Dax. He answered on the second ring like he too had been holding the phone waiting for it to ring.

‘Dax?’ she said the moment the line was active. ‘Carina called, she's back at the Stark mansion. Saul is dead, the bounty hunters got to him.’ She hated the panic in her voice but guilt came with clarity; Saul was dead because of her and the people who had done it could be right on their tail. ‘What do we do? Mauri said we should go over there, but—‘

‘Listen to me, babygirl, I need you to stay where you are. I need you to stay in the apartment.’

‘Are you coming here? Is everything ok? You sound like... Like you're on a mission.’

‘I am. It's a mission to keep you safe. We got him. We know who's behind this.’

‘You do? Who?’

‘It's Bruno, babygirl. He’s been hiding out at Benny's that worthless piece of shit. Bruno just left there, but we're on his tail. We’ve got him. This will be over soon. I need you to stay right there. Get naked and get into bed, ‘cause when I get home, I'm gonna expect you to be very grateful to me for saving your life.’

‘Don't flirt with me when you're walking into danger, tough guy. I love you.’

Gratitude didn't begin to cover the maelstrom of emotion warring in her now. Her love and guilt swirled together because the danger wasn't over yet. There was still a chance that Dax wouldn't make it through this and if she lost him it would be her fault.

‘I can meet you, help you,’ Ivy said, trying to quell her desperation. ‘I don't want to lose you, Dax. I can’t.’

‘You won’t. Have faith and trust me. Of every time I've told you to stay put, this is the most important one. Please, babygirl, will you do as I say?’

She didn't know where he was or where he was going. But he was asking for her faith and she wouldn't give it to anyone else. Through her life, Ivy had believed that she was the only one who would act in her best interest. Altering that mind set wasn't so hard when she heard the hope in his.

‘I'll stay here. Just be safe. Come home to me.’

‘I will. I'm not giving you an escape route because I plan to be at your side again. Soon.’ The line went dead. She’d been dismissed. Now all she could do was wait.

Bruno had been one of his top candidates, but Dax hadn’t wanted to spend the time chasing down the guy until he had a clear lead that indicated him. Bruno could’ve been sunning himself in Barbados this whole time, and he would have loved for Dax to show up ready to take him down for something that he had nothing to do with. Bruno would take great pleasure in hearing that Ivy was in danger and that Dax had wasted his time chasing down Bruno.

But now he knew it for sure, that piece of shit Benny had folded like origami the moment Dax and Serg closed in on him. Benny had never had the stomach for keeping secrets, and he loved his face too much to risk having it rearranged.

Bruno had put up the bounty after he and Mauri had their fight. According to what Benny had told them, Bruno had gotten a call from Mauri less than an hour ago, and he was on his way to the mansion, which was where Dax was going right now.

Dax had told Ivy that he wouldn’t go back to Mauri’s mansion, but this was a one off necessity. Hoping that Ivy heeded his advice and remained at the apartment, Dax prepared himself for this to be wet. He didn’t want Ivy to have any blood on her hands. It could get messy enough that Dax would worry about his own safety, and he didn’t need to be worrying for Ivy’s too.

‘I’ve never seen you this pissed,’ Serg said from the driver’s seat.

It was a good thing that Dax wasn’t driving, he didn’t have the inclination to adhere to any speed limits and if a cop thought about stopping him now… He was too in the mood for a fight for that to go down well.

Serg had never seen Dax this angry because nothing had been personal in the past. When they went after guys who needed to be taught a lesson, it was all business. This situation involved his wife, the woman that he loved, and their future. Someone thought that they had the right to take that future from them, and now that someone had a name.

‘Just get there,’ Dax said, judging from the time and speed they were less than a minute away.

It wasn’t smart of him to go in there ready to combust, but Dax couldn’t calm himself enough to be reasonable about this. Ivy would tell him to have a plan, to be prepared for different contingencies. But the only occasion in which he spent time predicting his opponents’ next move was in the ring and it was never a bad idea to be adrenaline-pumped in that location.

Security let them through the gate, and Serg drove up the driveway at a pace that made Dax consider practising his craft here. ‘Think about what you’re going to do before you get in there,’ Serg said.

‘Fuck that,’ Dax said. ‘You stay out of it.’

The car stopped, and Dax jumped out. Going straight to the front door, he was happy to dispense with anyone who wanted to get in his way. But there were no guys on the door to obstruct him, which was unusual.

He found out why security was absent from the rest of the house when he got up to Mauri’s suite. There were ten security guys in there, forming a barrier around Mauri and pinning Bruno to the wall near the door. Carina was on the couch, wailing about something, but Dax blocked it out. As far as he was concerned, Bruno was his prey and that was all he was focused on now.

Snatching a handful of the first security man’s shirt, he hauled him back and decked him. While that guy was rolling on the floor, Dax pulled the other one off and landed a knockout punch on him. Bruno was freed, Dax could hear Mauri’s protestations and the thunder of security men closing in on him.

Bruno’s smug face deserved a punch of its own. Dax delivered, knocking the man back against the wall with a thud. He’d had to contain the power of his fist because he wanted answers before he ended the man.

‘Why?’ Dax asked, balling his fists in Bruno’s jacket and slamming him back against the wall. ‘You tell me you fucking piece of shit why my wife was the—‘

‘The slut’s got you on a leash,’ Bruno said, showing his teeth in a grin. ‘Here pussy, pussy—‘

‘Jealous you motherfucker?’ Dax asked. Bringing one arm back, he clenched his fist and thought about how much he’d enjoy ending this bastard’s life.

‘Wait!’ Mauri exclaimed. ‘Dax, don’t!’

‘Why the fuck shouldn’t I?’ Dax asked with his eyes pinned on Bruno, who was still grinning.

‘Daddy wants you taking over the organisation,’ Bruno snarled. ‘That double-crossing bastard needs you to be squeaky clean.’

‘He is your father, Dax,’ Mauri said. ‘Family is—‘

‘Bullshit,’ Dax said, thrusting away from Bruno he turned to face Mauri. ‘You wanted me as long as I did what I was told. You don’t want me now, you don’t want me running the racket; you just want me to agree, so you know that you still have me.’

‘You’re here now,’ Mauri said. ‘This is where you’re supposed to be.’

‘It was you he wanted all along,’ Bruno said, coming close enough to mutter in Dax’s ear. The sound of a gun being cocked made Dax leap back a step, but when Bruno raised the gun it was trained in Mauri’s direction. ‘I gave you my life, and you favour this piece of shit!’

Dax was forgotten in Bruno’s mist of psychosis. Bruno strode toward Mauri. Some of the security men backed off, while others closed in around Mauri. Carina bounced up to her feet, and Dax kept backing away, widening his field of vision so no one could take him by surprise. There wasn’t a person in this room who he trusted, but the only person in the world he did trust was locked up in his apartment far from this danger.

‘You won’t even face me like a man!’ Bruno screamed. ‘You get these bastards out of here and we’ll settle this.’

‘Dax is your son,’ Mauri said. ‘You should be proud of what he’s accomplished that he can take over an empire like the one we built.’

‘We! We built it,’ Bruno said. ‘You betraying fuck—‘

‘Betraying?’ Mauri asked. ‘You slept with my wife for half a decade!’

Dax hadn’t been sure that Mauri knew that before Ivy brought it up, apparently he had. ‘You forgave that!’ Bruno said. ‘That was years ago!’

‘I caught you together, I had no idea that it had gone on for as long as it had. I let you walk away from here alive because of our history and now you do this? You come in here and threaten me in my home! Kill me, yes, you can do that, but it will change nothing. My assets are still bequeathed to Brad and Dax, a bullet will not change that.’

‘Please,’ Carina said. ‘Everybody calm down, someone will get hurt!’

So Mauri had been happy to have Bruno at his side as long as Mauri was still running things, but the betrayal of Bruno and Winnie had come out, and that had changed things for Mauri. He wouldn’t give the reins of all that he had built to the man who had stolen his wife.

‘Is that why you wanted to take Ivy out?’ Dax asked, seeing his chance to get the answers that he wanted. ‘You found a wife you couldn’t fuck?’

Bruno whipped around but kept the gun waving in Mauri’s direction. ‘I could fuck your wife if I wanted to, she’s a horny little bitch who likes it rough, I’d fuck that tight pussy, and she’d never come back to your bed!’

Storming over, Dax was ready to finish this; Mauri was shouting, and security had no idea how to act. Until a few weeks ago, Mauri and Bruno had been on the same team. It wasn’t so long ago that Dax was a part of that team too.

The gun came around toward him in an arc and Bruno fired off a round. The bullet went wide, giving Dax plenty of room to duck it. Dipping down, he thrust his arm up to grab Bruno’s wrist and twist it down to free the gun from his grip. The gun fell, but Dax caught it in his lower hand and immediately backed away, bringing the weapon up to aim at the others in the room.

‘Well done, Dax!’ Mauri said with beaming pride, but Dax wasn’t interested in his pride anymore, and he proved that by aiming the gun at Mauri.

‘You all out of here,’ Dax said to the security men. ‘This isn’t your fight, and take those two with you.’

Security did as they were told, taking the two men Dax had hit out of the room with them. Dax had worked with many of them and didn’t want to see them sacrificed for the good of the two scumbag men who remained. The drawing room door closed and Dax waved the gun at the bedroom door.

‘Go and lock it,’ he said. It was unlikely that there was anyone in there, certainly anyone who would take a bullet for Mauri, but Dax didn’t want any surprises.

Mauri went over to the door and turned the key that was in the lock, then he about-faced to saunter back to his place behind his armchair.

‘You,’ Dax said to Carina. ‘Get up and go stand by Mauri.’

‘No,’ Mauri said. ‘She’s not welcome at my side. She has been feeding Bruno information.’

Dax glared at Carina, who hovered in front of the fireplace. ‘He called me,’ Carina said. ‘When we were at the beach house, I was so surprised and—‘

‘And you thought that you’d get in on the action,’ Dax said. ‘Why not claim the bounty for yourself?’

‘She’s no killer,’ Bruno said. ‘And I wanted to see Ivy go slow, the wait was worth it. I knew she was living in fear never knowing who to trust or when the bullet would come… I went to Vegas, we were gonna get together, and that fucking fuckwit of a boyfriend got in the way.’

‘Saul died trying to protect you from the man who wanted Ivy dead,’ Dax said to Carina. He wasn’t hurt or disappointed for himself, he had nothing invested in these strangers. But Ivy would be hurt to hear that the woman she’d been trying to trust had shopped them to Bruno.

‘What are you going to do now, boy?’ Mauri asked.

‘Now it’s time to tell a few truths. I’m not coming back,’ Dax said to Mauri. ‘I will never willingly work for you. Kidnap me, hold me at gunpoint, I won’t do it.’

‘You would if Ivy was at the end of that gun,’ Mauri said.

‘No,’ Dax said. ‘I’d do exactly what I just did, and I’d turn the tables on you. I’ll let you walk away from this today but only because your days are numbered, old man. Brad and Trystan can have your empire, they don’t want me to be anywhere near it and for once the three of us agree on that.’

‘So much for the experiment,’ Bruno said to Mauri. ‘You were so sure that he would come through for you, Mauri. So sure that picking him up at that shitty club when he was a squirt of a kid was going to benefit us all, now look at where we’ve ended up.’

The triangle of men scrutinised each other, each waiting for the other to act. All of them were the alpha types who liked to be in control, but Dax was the only one with a weapon, Bruno’s weapon. Mauri would have a weapon somewhere in this room, but he wasn’t revealing its location, yet.

‘Tell me why you put the bounty on Ivy,’ Dax asked Bruno.

He grumbled but did respond. ‘Because she’s a bitch who took everything away from all of us! Look at this shit! We’re ready to kill each other because of her!’

‘Not because of her,’ Dax said.

‘If you had stayed, done what you were told, Mauri would’ve let us run the show. But I fucked up, my reputation is in the shitter because you had to fall for that cheap piece of ass. Taking her out meant you had no reason not to come and work for Mauri… I was doing you a favour!’