Safe from what, Dax had to ask himself. This morning they had been certain that they were leaving the Starks behind, and now they were about to walk straight back into Stark territory.
Murder was nothing to trifle with. After the shock of what Dax had told her subsided, Ivy was faced with the horrible truth that someone wanted her dead, and they were willing to pay big money to see her corpse. She didn’t want to die and wasn’t stupid enough to think that she could defend herself against everyone who would now be looking for her.
Only now their freewill had been taken away. One of Mauri’s lackeys was now standing outside the apartment, he had arrived not long after Dax had come home. But by the time she found out that the lackey was there, Dax had revealed what he knew, and she was still languishing in the news.
Dax had tried to question her, but she needed time to absorb the development. His questions had been about her enemies, about anyone who might wish her harm, anyone that she’d upset or angered recently. After some thought, she came up with a big fat zero. The only people she’d had run-ins with recently were the Starks, and they were apparently going to act as saviours.
She had made dinner, but they’d eaten in silence, and now she was packing up their things to go on this forced vacation.
‘Are you pissed?’ Dax asked, loitering in the bedroom doorway. ‘I can’t get a read on what you’re feeling.’
She folded a sundress from the pile of clothes they’d dumped on the bed. She placed it into the suitcase open beside the mound of clothes. ‘No,’ she said, carrying on with the folding to pack everything into the case.
‘You’re not saying much,’ he said, coming a few feet into the room. ‘If you want to get out of here… I mean if you would rather I protect you alone—‘
‘You and Mauri figured it all out,’ she said. ‘I don’t want anything happening to you either, so it makes sense to take advantage of Mauri’s offer. I would prefer one of his thugs take the bullet than you.’
‘Not so long ago that I was one of his thugs,’ Dax said. ‘He’s not doing this just out of the goodness of his heart. He wants something.’
‘He wants you.’
‘I don’t think that’s it.’
‘Are you willing to bet our future on that?’ she asked, placing his shorts into their luggage. ‘We’ll just go out there, play nice, and think of it as a vacation, just like Mauri said. We stay there for as long as we need to and then we get the hell out of there.’
‘Ok.’
She carried on packing, and he sauntered toward the closet, he went in and came out, then retrieved some things from the bathroom before going back into the closet. Ivy kept turning over her questions in her mind, letting her thoughts grow until they reached critical mass, and she dumped an unfolded top down.
‘You know what? I am pissed,’ she confessed.
‘There’s a surprise,’ he said. ‘Doesn’t it feel better just to say it?’
He left the closet and strolled out of the bedroom, leaving her to gape at his disappearing act. Not one to let him get away easily, she followed and found him in the kitchen retrieving a beer from the fridge.
‘You can’t ask me a question and then walk away when I answer,’ she said.
Lowering the bottle from his lips, he took a breath. ‘I think I can. Do you want a beer?’
‘No, I don’t want a beer. Don’t you want to ask me why I’m pissed?’
‘I would think that was obvious after the night we’ve had,’ he said. ‘But if you want to rant at me I guess you’re entitled.’
‘Rant at you?’
Leaving the kitchen, he went to the couch and picked up the TV remote. But before he could turn on the television, she rushed over and grabbed it from his hand. ‘I guess you want my attention while you rant,’ he said, flattening his hands on the couch at each of his sides. ‘Go for it then, babygirl.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me that Bruno is your father?’
With everything that he’d revealed that day she guessed that he wasn’t expecting that question. Ivy knew how to get his attention, and she had it now. He’d picked up the remote because he expected her to shout at him for getting her into this mess. But she didn’t blame him for the actions of the crazy person who wished her dead. She blamed him for concealing information that he had, for lying to her by saying that nothing had happened at the midnight meeting all those weeks ago.
‘That is why you’re pissed?’ he asked after he got over his surprise. ‘I come home and tell you that someone is trying to have you killed, and that we’re going to a place where you were held against your will for months, and you’re pissed that I didn’t tell you something?’
‘Trystan said—‘
‘And you believe what he says?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘That’s why I’m talking to you about it. I want you to know that I know. And I want to know why you didn’t tell me.’
‘Because it’s embarrassing,’ he said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees so that he didn’t have to look her in the face. ‘It’s disgusting. It’s a fucking joke, that’s why.’ Dax got up, looming close to her now that their bodies were both upright. ‘That sick motherfucker had his hands on you and if I think about—‘
‘Ok,’ she said, his fists clenched, so she stroked his arms until she saw them loosen. ‘I understand why you’re upset. But if this was what Mauri told you, how do you know that he wasn’t trying to upset you? Now, at the beach house, you’ll have the chance to talk to your mother and—‘
‘Do you think she’ll be honest?’ he asked. ‘We don’t know her, we can’t be sure that anything she says is the truth. I don’t know anything about her.’
‘We can find out who she is. Trust takes time to build, so I guess Mauri is giving us a chance to do that. I doubt that you’ll get to know her enough to trust her in the short time that we’re at the beach house with her.’ She hoped it was a short time. ‘But… it’s a start.’
‘You’re into this?’ Dax asked. ‘You want me to let her into our lives?’
‘I think it’s worth taking this opportunity. Yeah, we were going to turn our backs on it, but things have changed, and now we’re in it whether we like it or not. We might as well make the most of it.’
‘You don’t have a great relationship with your mom, you haven’t seen her since you were a teenager. Why do you think my mom will be different?’
‘We’re talking about two separate things,’ she said. ‘We don’t know that our mothers are the same. Besides, I’m not talking about having cosy Christmases together, all around the tree in jammies opening presents. I’m talking about having a conversation and finding out the truth about your past from the horse’s mouth.’
‘Keeping you safe is number one, babygirl,’ he said, placing his hands on her waist. ‘How do you feel about going back to the beach house?’
‘I think that explaining the jail cell in the basement might take some dancing.’
‘Mauri knows that we’re going, he asked us to go there last night. He would have assumed that he was getting his way so would’ve set the place up to receive guests. That cell wasn’t always there. So don’t be surprised if it’s gone now.’
‘My sister probably wouldn’t notice anyway, she’s not had the best luck in life… kind of like me I suppose, until I met you.’
‘You said she used drugs.’
‘The last time I saw her, she was staying with my aunt again, and she was with a guy… Rosie is always with a guy, but, yeah, this guy was bad news, and he got her mixed up in all sorts.’
‘Do you think that she’s cleaned herself up? She looked healthy enough last night.’
‘If she has, then being part of a family whose product is her vice might cause some problems. I can’t see the Stark world being good for her.’
‘I’m not sure it’s good for anyone,’ he said. His tune had changed so much in the time that they’d known each other, Ivy had to smile. ‘We’ll keep an eye on
her.’
‘What about Bruno?’ she asked.
‘What about him?’ Dax asked.
‘Trystan said that he and Mauri had a fight, then Bruno took off. Do you think that’s true?’
‘I don’t give a fuck about him,’ Dax said. His form grew more rigid, so she encircled him in her arms.
‘Use this time with your mom, tough guy, see if her story matches Mauri’s. If we’re going to be stuck there anyway, then you might as well gain something.’
‘You see it as gaining something. I see it as nothing more than another hassle we have to deal with. My focus is on finding out who wants to hurt you, then I take the guy down, simple.’
‘You know… you can’t discount that Mauri is the one behind this.’
She didn’t like to be pessimistic about Mauri because she knew how much Dax respected him, so she was always expecting a negative response when she said anything less than favourable about the man.
‘I haven’t. I’m going to be keeping my eye on him. As long as you’re safe at the beach house I’ll keep investigating.’
‘He wanted us there, and now he’s getting what he wanted.’
‘Yeah,’ Dax agreed. ‘But if he wanted you dead he’s had plenty of chances. He could have done it last night, at the party, or while we were alone in the drawing room. He told his man to threaten you but not to harm you.’
‘Which was before we left there in the middle of the night without a word.’
‘He knows where I live, and he knew that we’d be here,’ Dax said, she closed her hands together at his spine. ‘He could have sent someone here as soon as I left to meet Serg, before either of us knew there was a threat. Putting out a bounty isn’t his style, there are plenty of guys on his payroll who would do that kind of work for him. He doesn’t need to put the word out to the world, he’d keep it quiet and get it done… if that was what he wanted.’
‘I trust you, Dax,’ she said. ‘But you are the only one I trust. You’ve trusted Mauri before and look how that turned out. If he was as reasonable as you thought, if he had been as understanding, then he would never have asked you to share me with Trystan, would he?’
‘What?’
‘Trystan told me. Why didn’t you tell me that piece of tantalising information? You didn’t trust me to deal with it?’ she asked.
No longer feeling like she wanted to be this close to a man she trusted with her life, she tried to walk away, but he caught her shoulder and brought her back. ‘Babygirl—‘
‘Don’t,’ she said, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. But her writhing prompted him to throw his arms around her and haul her body into his, giving her no choice but to accept his embrace because he was far stronger, so she had no way to free herself. Releasing her weight, she made no attempt to hold him as he held her, she just hung there in his arms letting him kiss her hair.
‘I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to upset you,’ he said. ‘What does it matter? I told them that was never going to happen. You’re mine, you know that. I don’t care what Trystan said, you know I would never share my female with another man.’
‘Do I get a say?’
Now his embrace did relax, he stopped trying to squeeze the life out of her. ‘You wanted to spend the night with him?’
‘No, of course I didn’t. But we’re supposed to make decisions together, I… I don’t know why you keep withholding information from me. What else aren’t you telling me?’
‘You know everything else,’ he said. ‘We don’t have to deal with Bruno or Trystan anymore, and I guarantee you that after I’ve dealt with this mess, you will never have to deal with Maurice Stark or Brad ever again.’
‘You’re so sure?’ she asked, trying her best to lean back and look up at him. ‘That you don’t want to take over Maurice’s enterprises?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘We’re going back to our lives on the East Coast as soon as this is over.’
She probably shouldn’t be pleased to hear that, but she was. Dax had a chance to get to know his mother, to find out where he came from, but whether or not his mother would be a part of their lives after this mandated vacation remained to be seen.
Dax would dedicate his time to getting rid of the person who had made Ivy a pawn in a very dangerous game. It might be selfish of her, but she was looking forward to returning to the life they’d built together. Though at the moment, that life seemed incredibly far away and in more than just distance.
Chapter Fourteen
The first time Ivy had come to this beach house, she had been carted there in the trunk of Bruno and Dax’s car. When she was hauled out, she’d been bound and blindfolded. So this was her first chance to get a good look at the place, except it was dark, and there were internal lights blazing, which obscured the façade.
The waves crashed against the cliff far below, reminding her of how secluded the property was. Set out on a clifftop, they were surrounded by the ocean on three sides and were so far from the road on the other side that it would be a trek just to get there. During her first stay, the isolation had terrorised her, it kept her prisoner, away from the world, against her will. Now it was a blessing, and she needed the seclusion to keep her safe against those who wished her harm.
They’d been chauffeur driven to the beach house this time. The motion of the car, coupled with the drama of the day, sent Ivy rocking to sleep in Dax’s arms during the journey. But when the car stopped, and she was jolted awake, the crashing reality made her extremities tingle.
They exited the vehicle, and she stood beside her husband on the driveway while the chauffeur gave Dax their suitcase, and then they turned toward the house.
‘You want me to knock this guy out and steal the car?’ Dax mumbled into her hair as the driver went around to his side and got back into the vehicle.
‘Why? So we can run off together and get married? We’ve already done that, remember?’
The lights that were on downstairs in the house displayed an empty room, and the light upstairs came from behind a curtain, so as yet, they didn’t know who was here or where the occupants were located within. But she would assume that her sister and Dax’s mother were already present because they would have been brought here straight from the Stark mansion after the party.
‘He shouldn’t have picked this place,’ Dax said. ‘He has a place in Washington too.’
‘Are you kidding?’ she said. The car that had driven them here reversed and turned, leaving them alone in the moist sea air. ‘He picked this place on purpose.’
‘Yeah, does it bring back memories?’
Recalling her first arrival here hadn’t been a pleasant memory, but Ivy didn’t want to bring Dax any further distress by telling him that. ‘It makes sense for us to be here,’ she said. ‘It’s close enough to LA for you to do your digging and still come home to me every night. I wouldn’t want to be isolated from you that wouldn’t make me feel good… Do you think Rosie and your mom know what’s going on?’
‘Let’s get inside and find out.’
The nearer they got to the property, the tighter his arm around her shoulders became. Dax couldn’t protect her from her own mind, but his tight hold reminded Ivy of what they were now in spite of what they were then.
‘At least you don’t have to give me instructions this time,’ she said, trying to help him relax.
Putting down the suitcase, he opened the front door. ‘I don’t?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m used to being naked in bed with you now.’
Dax lifted their luggage, then ushered them inside without responding to her quip. The abode looked the same, smelled the same, felt just the same, and her subconscious made her body tense. The sound of the door closing made her gasp. Spinning around, Ivy opened it to reassure herself that it hadn’t automatically locked as it had done when she was first here.
‘You’re ok,’ Dax said, kissing her head and linking his fingers into hers while he closed the door.
Once th
at door was locked, there was no way out. Ivy was all too aware of that fact because she’d tried to get out of here before without a key, and it had proved impossible. The positioning of the house on the cliff meant there was no way around from the back deck and pool area, which was reached by the kitchen on the other side of the house. Ivy felt better knowing that because the front door was unlocked, she could get out; she wasn’t a prisoner this time.
‘Hi.’
Whirling around, she saw the slight woman just inside the room, having come from the kitchen. It was the woman that Mauri had identified as Dax’s mom. Her dyed blonde hair matched her complexion and wasn’t garish as Rosie’s hair was.
She still had youth about her, though lines around her eyes and mouth betrayed her real age, which had to be at least in her fifties, though Ivy didn’t know how old she would’ve been when she had Dax. Ivy doubted that Dax knew either.
‘I’m Carina,’ she said, examining the couple. ‘I don’t know if either of you knew my name, we’ve never been introduced… Rosie and I are outside on the deck by the pool having a drink if you’d like to join us?’
‘We’re going to go upstairs first, get settled in, you know?’ Ivy said, looping her arm around behind Dax, using their physical connection to reassure him. ‘We might join you later.’
Dax didn’t speak. He kept his arm around her and guided them both down the hallway and up the stairs into the bedroom they’d shared when they were last here. It stood to reason that Mauri would want them in this room, or maybe this was just the room that Dax always chose when he stayed here, not that it mattered.
He took her into the bedroom, and she closed the door while he disappeared into the closet to stow their suitcase.
‘We have to talk about this,’ she said to Dax when he came back into the room.
‘About what?’
‘What do you want from her? If she wants to make the effort, you could get the chance to get to know her.’
Fighting Back (Harrow #2) Page 14
