Fighting Back (Harrow #2) (28 page)

‘You’re jealous that I listened to her instead of you,’ Dax said. ‘That’s it?’

‘She deserves it,’ Bruno growled. ‘No stinking bitch is gonna ruin me. I should’ve kicked you out of that beach house, taken over, trained that bitch to sit, heel, and beg. You were weak, but I could’ve done it. She’d have done fucking tricks for me if I’d been in charge.’

So it was Bruno’s wounded pride that made Dax almost lose Ivy. ‘You were left alone out there because you were trusted,’ Mauri said. ‘You were the two men in the world I trusted more than any other… You let me down, Dax.’

‘I don’t give a fuck about disappointing you,’ Dax said. ‘The only thing I’d do differently if I did it all again would be to get Ivy out of there the first chance I got.’

‘You’re a fucking asshole,’ Bruno said.

‘You’re gonna call it off. The bounty, it’s done,’ Dax said to Bruno. ‘Get out your phone and call Benny, you tell him to call off the hunters.’

‘They want their money, and I can give it to them!’ Bruno exclaimed. ‘I made a mint off this family and using some of that dough to blast a hole in your fucking happiness is worth it. No kid of mine will be a mushy fucking lovesick pup. You need to be angry, bitter, out to hate the world, then you’ll fucking know what it is to be respected.’

‘I’m not interested in being your kid,’ Dax said. ‘Take out your cell and call it off, or I’ll put a bullet between your eyes right now.’

Bruno’s lips squeezed together, he didn’t like to be given orders, but Dax would guess he’d like losing his life less. So Bruno reached into his pocket and took out his phone. Punching in a phone number, he lifted the phone to his ear.

‘Put it on speakerphone,’ Dax said, and again Bruno grumbled something, but lowered the phone and did as he was told. ‘You tell him it’s over, and that Ivy isn’t to be harmed.’

The four of them listened to the ringing until Benny picked up. ‘Bruno? What the fuck is going on?’ The guy sounded panicked, his panted words were rushed. ‘Ravager was here, him and that big fuck he hangs with, they were looking for you… they know about—‘

‘I know,’ Bruno said. ‘Call it off.’

‘What?’

‘The bounty, it’s over, send out word, the girl isn’t to be touched.’

‘Are you…? Are you sure?’ Benny asked. ‘You were sure about—‘

‘Yes, I’m fucking sure,’ Bruno said. ‘Don’t question me you little fuck, just do it.’

‘Ok, boss, whatever you say.’

‘Happy now?’ Bruno asked Dax.

‘One more thing,’ Dax said before Bruno hung up.

‘Who…? Who is that?’ Benny stuttered.

‘It’s Ravager,’ Dax said. ‘You tell anyone who thinks about trying to collect anyway that they’ll have to face me.’

‘Oh… ok,’ Benny said.

‘You tell them the money train isn’t capable of delivering,’ Dax said.

‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ Bruno asked probably ready to go on another rant about how much money he had.

‘Where Ivy’s safety is concerned, I’m not gonna take any chances,’ Dax said and squeezed the trigger.

The kick didn’t move him, he kept his eyes trained on Bruno whose stunned expression froze. Carina wailed and dashed across the room. The phone clattered to the floor before Bruno’s body followed and the blood seeping from his head spread on the floor. Carina threw herself down on Bruno and began to sob, but Dax turned his attention to Mauri, he wasn’t interested in her dramatic display.

‘You’re gonna make sure that no one comes near Ivy again. You’re all going to leave us the fuck alone, and if I so much as see Trystan or Brad again they’ll hit the deck just as fast, understand?’

Mauri nodded, his jaw slack and his eyes wide, he obviously hadn’t expected Dax to shoot the threat to Ivy because of their relationship. Dax didn’t care about blood, it hadn’t done him any favours; Ivy was his family, his future, and that was all he needed.

Carina lifted herself from Bruno. ‘Why? Why did you do this? Why did you hurt him?’

‘You’re a sucker for it,’ Dax said. ‘He didn’t love you. He heard you were back in town and could give him information, and you handed it out because you thought it would gain you his approval. Have some self-respect. Don’t ever come near me or Ivy again, we’re not interested, you had your chance and it’s done.’

With one last look at Mauri, Dax went to the door and moved through the house. Numbness took over the adrenaline. When he’d walked out of the mansion after the midnight meeting, he’d thought he’d never be back. His purpose then was to hunt Ivy down. Now he knew exactly where she was and getting to her was all the purpose he needed. This chapter of his life was finished.

Ivy wanted to do what Dax had told her, but as the minutes ticked by she began to think up all sorts of terrifying scenarios. He might need her, he might need back-up, and she couldn’t sit here doing nothing. So when she finally couldn’t take it anymore, Ivy whipped up her jacket and keys and began to head for the front door.

Just before she got there, it opened. Running into the entryway she was so relieved to see Dax nudging the door closed. But when he closed his eyes and rested back against it, relief became concern.

‘Dax?’ she asked. Dropping the items in her hands she rushed to him and began to run her hands all over him. But there was no blood or injuries. The lump she discovered in the front of his jeans made her lift the edge of his tee-shirt. When she identified what it was, she gasped and stumbled back. ‘Where did you get the gun from?’

‘From the man I shot with it,’ he said, taking the weapon out of his waistband. ‘It’s ok. I’ll get rid of it, I just didn’t want to leave it on the scene. I didn’t trust those bastards not to set me up.’

His hand came to the back of her head, and he pulled her forward for a kiss, then shoved her aside to go into the bedroom where he began to strip his clothes off. ‘Grab whatever you need, we’re getting out of here.’

‘In a hurry?’ she asked. ‘Who did you shoot?’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said, throwing the gun onto the bed. ‘I had to take care of it, we won’t have to worry about bounty hunters anymore.’

He had told her that it would take time for that information to get out even after it was called off by the source. ‘Are we going on the run?’

‘They’re not going to call the cops, I know too much,’ Dax said, moving into the bathroom. ‘I’ve told you before that Mauri doesn’t want anyone looking too closely. The Starks get rid of bodies all the time. It’s no big deal.’

Ivy followed him and watched him turn on the shower then retrieve a towel from the top shelf above the mirror. ‘Did you see Carina? Did she say what… what happened to Saul?’

‘She was feeding Bruno information,’ he said, hanging the towel over the corner of the shower screen, then stopping to take her hands. ‘Saul died trying to protect her. Bruno showed up at his place, I guess he and Carina were going to hook up.’

‘Saul thought he was keeping her safe,’ Ivy muttered. ‘She told me that she didn’t see who had done it.’

‘I doubt she called the police about it either.’

‘Why would she come back to Mauri’s?’

‘Mauri can’t have known that she and Bruno were communicating again. Mauri is the best person to go to if you’re in trouble. Either Bruno sent her there to set Mauri up for something, or Bruno dumped her and took off, so she went there because she had no other choice.’

‘Where is she now?’

‘I don’t care,’ he shrugged. ‘I left her there and told her not to contact us again.’

Much as Ivy wanted Dax to have a mother he could be secure with, if Carina had so easily succumbed to Bruno’s coercion, she wasn’t a person who could be relied upon to act with integrity. They knew what they needed to know about his past, and it was Dax’s decision to cut his mother out, so Ivy would support that.

He kissed her again then went into the shower to wash off the exploits of the day. Dax could do no wrong as far as Ivy was concerned because he acted in the best interest of their relationship. His actions taught her just how much he valued her and their marriage. She trusted Dax to do what was necessary, he didn’t take any pleasure in the suffering of others. So if someone needed to be extinguished, then it was through necessity not depravity.

‘So where are we going now?’ Ivy called over the drum of the shower spray.

‘Back to North Carolina,’ he replied. ‘We have friends there, a life.’

‘But they know how to find us there!’

‘If they wanted to find us, they would. Mauri doesn’t have much time and Brad isn’t interested in us being a part of his future.’

Going over to the shower, she slid back the stall door to look at him. ‘It was Bruno, wasn’t it?’

He’d referred to everyone else. If Dax was going to kill Trystan, then he would’ve done it already. Bruno was the only one left.

‘Come here,’ he said. Reaching forward, Dax took hold of her wrist and pulled her into the spray with him.

The cotton of her dress clung to her as it absorbed the moisture falling on them. But when he cupped her face and angled her head up to join their mouths, Ivy forgot about her clothes. All of the negativity that had plagued them circled the drain beneath them.

Dax peeled down the straps of her dress and stepped back to draw them down her arms to expose her breasts. Locked in place with the fabric tight around her elbows, she couldn’t manoeuvre in the wet fabric, shaking and wriggling didn’t free her. So when he pushed her back against the wet tile and crouched to bring his mouth level with her chest, she could only experience the sensation of his tongue swirling around her tight, wet peak.

Without the ability to touch him, he took advantage of touching her, cupping and kneading her breasts until the humidity of the space made her throat tighten. ‘Dax,’ she said.

His body went lower and with it went her dress. Pulling it down, he freed her arms then stripped it away from her hips and dropped it behind him in a sloppy heap, saturated with water. He didn’t waste his time removing her panties with any finesse. The frail lace tore away with a single yank and then with the rough fabric still coiled in his fingers, Dax pressed his hands to her and used his thumbs to part the folds between her legs.

‘I’m starved,’ he said, delving his tongue into her, he squeezed her clit between his lips and rubbed the tip of his tongue up and down.

The rhythm of the motion increased and her hands splayed on the tile, the clack of her wedding and engagement rings against it fed into the frenzy of sensations consuming her. His skilful mouth worked on her, and the heat of the shower made her skin sweat while it was cleaned in the cascade of fresh, clean steam that made her breathing grow shallow.

‘Dax,’ she said again, and he sprung to his feet, hooking his arms under her knees in the process. Before he was at full height, he was sliding into her. His thick shaft forced its way into the tunnel reserved for his pleasure.

Sliding out, he came back in and kept pumping until climax was inevitable. Hissing out her orgasm, Ivy coiled her fingers into his hair and made him look at her.

‘I love you,’ she said. ‘Goddamn it, Dax, I fucking love you.’

Maybe it was all they’d been through, or the knowledge that he’d just killed to protect her life, but all of her love for him came out in a long scream. Her body spasmed into another crescendo of pleasure, and he forged his way in deep to fill her.

Dax lowered her onto her feet and with the shower still battering each of their shoulders she rested her hands on his chest. ‘I’m never going to make you sorry,’ she said. ‘You picked me. You gave up everything. I won’t forget that.’

‘I won’t forget the risk you took,’ he said. ‘You didn’t have to marry me, you could’ve run for your life.’

‘You are my life,’ Ivy said. ‘We’re going to pack up here, and we’re going to go home, to where we belong.’

‘Next to you,’ he said. ‘That’s where I belong.’

‘You don’t have to fight anymore. You won. We both did.’

‘Well,’ he said, taking her hair in his fists behind each of her shoulders like they were arranged in bunches. ‘Fighting for our lives is done, now we can just fight for fun.’

‘At least until we have some little fighters running around.’ She grinned and rose to her tiptoes to kiss him.

‘You’re hung up on this kid thing, aren’t you?’

‘Family is important to you. It’s time you started one of your own and got it right this time. Maybe we can help each other find what neither of us had growing up.’

‘What was the one thing of particular importance in your backpack that Mauri mentioned at the party? You never told me what it was. Did you check inside, is it there?’

‘Yes,’ she smiled. ‘And it wasn’t something for me, it was something for you and our little fighters.’

‘What is it?’

‘My grandfather’s pocket watch. My grandfather gave it to me before he died because I adored him. He gave me my morals, taught me why it was important to live right. I didn’t get why it was so important back then, but I looked after it like it was the most important thing in the world. When he was sick and came to stay with us, my mother tried to pawn it, but he would never let her. So when it came to me, I looked after it, took it from place to place all my life. It’s the only possession of mine that I valued because it could never be replaced and carrying that piece of him with me kept me honest.’

‘And you want me to have it?’ Dax asked, stroking his fingertips down her spine to the dimples above her ass.

‘Yeah, I do.’

‘Why give it away now? If it’s the only thing you’ve ever owned that you love then—‘

‘But it’s not anymore,’ she said. ‘You’re the only thing I own now that can never be replaced and I value you more than anything else on this earth; giving it to you is giving you a part of me.’

‘I want more than a part,’ he said, pinning her to the wall. ‘I want all of you, and I’ll fight every day until I have it.’

‘Oh, Master,’ Ivy said, sliding her hands up to the back of his neck. ‘Every inch of me is yours; you own all of me.’

‘Good,’ he said, lowering for a kiss. ‘Get used to it, because I am where you belong.’