Fighting Back (Harrow #2)

by Scarlett Finn

  ‘Right,’ Saul said. ‘This is Brittany, Ivy, Brittany.’

  ‘Nice to meet you,’ Ivy said, reaching over to shake the girl’s hand. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt your morning, but I… Saul and I are old friends.’

  ‘Whatever, I’m going to shower,’ the brunette said wearing a scowl, then she spun around and disappeared back the way she’d come.

  ‘She’s cute,’ Ivy said.

  ‘I have great taste in women,’ Saul said.

  Ivy laughed. ‘Yeah, I suppose that you do.’

  ‘Look, Ive, I’m sorry that you’re mixed up in some shit, but Harrow will kill me dead if he finds you here.’

  ‘I imagine that he’s already on his way,’ Ivy said. She hadn’t checked her messages, but had read Dax’s name twice on her phone screen, so he’d certainly texted her. Ivy hadn’t gone so far as to open the texts because she was sure they weren’t just random, “thinking of you” messages.

  ‘Exactly my point,’ Saul said and tried to walk away, but Ivy put herself in front of him.

  ‘He’ll be grateful,’ she said, and he glowered at her. ‘No, really, Dax knows about the bounty, he’s been trying to figure it out. I can’t go to a hotel because it’s not safe, but if you kick me out, then that’s where I’ll have to go. If Dax finds out that you’ve sent me into danger, how happy do you think he’ll be?’

  Saul thought about this for a second then lifted his hand and growled out loud. ‘Ok, fine, damn you, stay if you want… Let me go and talk to Brittany.’

  ‘Ok. I’ll get his mom.’

  She turned, but Saul snatched her shoulder to pull her back. ‘Whose mom?’

  ‘Dax’s,’ she said. ‘It’s a long story and not important right now.’

  ‘You want to move in here with your mother-in-law?’

  ‘I’m not moving in, don’t be dramatic. We just need somewhere to freshen up and make phone calls. It would be great to sleep for a couple of hours too. But the sooner I find out where Rosie is, the sooner we can get out of here.’

  ‘The sooner, the better,’ he said. ‘And don’t accuse me of being dramatic, you’re a fucking wanted woman, I’m one step away from harbouring a fugitive.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid, the cops aren’t looking for me.’

  Saul folded his arms. ‘Yeah? So this bounty, someone wants you dead, right?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Is it a big bounty?’

  ‘Half a mill.’

  Saul whistled. ‘So every gangster and his bitch are going to be looking for you… I’d rather hide you from the cops.’

  ‘They won’t look here. I’m wanted in LA.’

  ‘Yeah, ‘cause that’s a million miles away.’

  ‘Go and talk to your woman and then call the GoldSpring for me, find out if they have a reservation for Stark.’

  ‘I’m playing secretary again?’ he asked.

  ‘Not so much fun when someone else is calling the shots, is it?’ she asked and spun around to get Carina from the car.

  Saul was being nice, and he didn’t have to be. He could’ve kicked them out, though what she had said about Dax was true. If she got hurt in an unsafe place because Saul hadn’t offered a sanctuary, then Dax would visit his wrath on the nearest person and her husband was just looking for an excuse to beat on Saul anyway.

  After retrieving Carina from the car, Ivy took her into the spare bedroom and set her up in the adjoining shower room. While Carina was busy freshening up, Ivy sat on the bed and opened the first message on her phone.

  I’m thinking about collecting the bounty myself. Are you fucking insane? Where are you?

  Someone had to have told Dax that the cars had left the beach house. Either he was told by phone while he was investigating in LA, or he showed up at the beach house and got the skinny when he discovered that the place was empty.

  Much as Ivy knew he’d be mad no matter how he found out, she hoped he’d been called in LA. If he’d gotten all the way to the beach house before he was told it would be worse for everyone involved. He would already be tired and hoping to slip into bed with his willing wife, so finding out that everyone had fled would have riled him.

  She was holding her breath when she opened the second text.

  Vegas. Again? On my way.

  So what she had said to Saul had been right on the money: Dax was on his way, and he was pissed. She fired off a quick message to tell Dax where she was; he’d been to Saul’s before so he knew the route to get here. Holding her phone, Ivy waited for it to ring, Dax wouldn’t be happy that she was hanging out with an ex-boyfriend.

  The timestamp on Dax’s second message was two hours ago, meaning he was probably still a couple of hours away if he was driving. Through the wall, Ivy could hear the muffled voices of Saul and Brittany. Ivy decided that if her cell phone hadn’t rung, she’d give the couple another two minutes then she would go through and apologise to Brittany, hopefully distracting her for long enough to let Saul make the phone call that Ivy needed him to make.

  If Saul confirmed that Trystan and Rosie were at the GoldSpring then Ivy could ride over there and persuade her sister to come back with her, meaning that by the time Dax arrived the problem would be resolved, and they could all go back to LA as one happy family.

  As Ivy predicted, her cell phone began to buzz in her hand, and she widened her smile before she picked up.

  ‘Hey, sexy man, how are you?’ Squeezing her eyes shut, Ivy braced herself for his reaction.

  ‘You know I could do a lot with half a million dollars,’ Dax said. ‘Maybe I’ll kill you myself and pick up the bounty, then I could find myself a nice easy woman who’d be happy to stay chained to my radiator for the rest of her life.’

  ‘You’re a true romantic at heart, Dax,’ she said.

  ‘I can’t fucking believe that you did this. I told you that you wouldn’t be safe in Vegas.’

  ‘We don’t know that. I came to Saul’s because no one will look for me here. We’ve figured out that whoever put up the bounty knows me through you, through the fighting circuit, so there’s no way that they’ll know anything about Saul.’

  ‘He’s an ex, all they have to do is ask a few questions and—‘

  ‘We had to come. I couldn’t leave Rosie here with Trystan, you know what he’s like…’ Ivy got up and wandered to the bedroom window, which looked out on Saul’s pool and shed. ‘Who told you we’d left?’

  ‘I was at Mauri’s when he got a call that security at the beach house had been left stranded. Someone had to go pick them up because someone else stole their car. That was when they said Trystan had come to the beach house and taken off with one of the women.’

  ‘You know what he’s like, Rosie was already drunk, and now he’s brought her here to Vegas. If he asks her to take drugs… I don’t want her to get mixed up in that again, he’ll drop her as soon as he’s bored.’ Ivy lowered her voice. ‘Rosie only came here, only met Trystan because of us. God only knows what he’ll do to her, she’ll have sex with him, Dax, and he’s never struck me as the missionary position type.’

  ‘I get why you’re worried,’ Dax said. ‘Why didn’t you call me?’

  ‘You’re already dealing with one drama,’ she said. ‘I knew you would tell me not to follow her, but this is my sister, Dax. I can’t leave her to a guy like Trystan, I had to act. You don’t have to come out here to Vegas, I appreciate that you’re on your way, but I can handle this. You stay in LA and—‘

  ‘And what? Track down the person who wants to kill you?’ Dax asked. ‘Keeping you safe is the priority, remember? I could only be sure that you were safe at the beach house because security was there keeping an eye on you. But you ditched them and took off, again! Not every mess can be fixed, and I’m sorry, but your sister getting fucked up because she screwed the wrong guy is not my problem, you are my problem.’

  She smiled and returned to the bed. ‘You’ve told me that before.’

  ‘And nothing has changed,’ he said. �
�I am coming there, to you, stay where you are, don’t go outside—‘

  ‘But Trystan—‘

  ‘Is a problem that I will take care of because you’ve forced my hand, understand? You can’t go to The Strip, you can’t hang out in bars and clubs looking for them. Someone will see you, and you’re more recognisable there because you lived there, people in Vegas know you. All it takes is for one person to say your name and you’ll have every criminal in the state parked on Saul’s front lawn, get me?’

  ‘I know you’re worried about me, but you’re overreacting, I know that I’ll be safe here—‘

  ‘Ok. Fine. If you think you’re safe at Saul’s, then stay at Saul’s until I get there. I’ll come and check on you, get the story and then I’ll go after Trystan. What are you planning to do with him anyway? Do you think that he’ll just hand over your sister and admit defeat?’

  ‘What if she says no to him?’

  ‘You just told me that she wouldn’t,’ Dax said. ‘She’s a party girl, so she and Trystan are a perfect match. She’ll be fine until I get there. I’ll go to the GoldSpring and find her then I’ll bring her back to you. After that, I’ll be driving you back to the beach house and if I have to crack open the cell in the basement to keep you there, Minx, I will fucking do it.’

  His worry might be understandable, but that wasn’t a threat that she took kindly. ‘Don’t even joke about that, Dax. I’m sorry that I upset you, but… that’s not funny.’

  ‘I wasn’t joking,’ he said. ‘I don’t give a damn about your memories or about your fears. If I have to do it to keep you safe, to trust you to be safe, then I will do it, and I don’t care how loud you scream. You’re my wife, and it’s my responsibility to ensure your safety. No matter what lengths I have to go to, I will keep you safe, Minx.’

  Pushing up from the bed, she rolled her lips and tried to calm her seething, but it was no use. ‘You fucking jerk, you would, wouldn’t you? You would let me rot down there.’

  ‘No, I’ll come back for you when I’ve taken care of the threat. But it’s the only place I know where there are chains attached to the concrete foundations.’

  ‘I won’t go, I won’t go back there if—‘

  ‘If you go to Trystan now alone, he’ll bait you. He’ll ask you inside and rile you, he’ll take pleasure in seeing you upset. He’ll ask you to have a drink, you’ll say no, but he’ll make you a deal, you drink, and he’ll send Rosie home with you.’

  ‘Fine, then I’ll have a drink.’

  His laugh startled her. ‘That’s what he wants, then it’ll be “have another drink, take a line of coke, take off your shirt, dance,” where do you stop? You gonna get naked for him? Kiss him? Suck him off?’

  ‘Stop it,’ she hissed. ‘I won’t do any of that. I can’t stand the guy. I wouldn’t be able to touch him or—‘

  ‘Then he’ll force you, you’ve seen it before. You’ve fought him off once.’

  ‘And I’ll do it again if I have to, Dax,’ she said.

  Angry as she was, she knew that facing Trystan would be difficult for her, and she wouldn’t hold up well if Trystan tried to ruffle her. Having Dax at her side was the only way to be sure that she would come out of the scenario intact and unviolated.

  ‘I don’t know what drugs he has, he could have anything,’ Dax said. ‘If he injects you with something then he could do whatever the fuck he wanted with you while you were unconscious. Do you want that?’

  ‘No,’ she whispered.

  ‘For all I know he’ll kill you and collect the bounty for kicks, you don’t know him like I do, Minx. Please, just wait there, and I will deal with Trystan.’

  ‘And if he hurts you?’

  ‘I’ve been looking for an excuse to kill the guy for a long time, maybe today he’ll give it to me.’

  ‘I don’t want you to kill anyone,’ she said. ‘I’ll wait here, and then we’ll go over there together.’

  ‘Wait there,’ he said. ‘That’s what I want you to do.’

  Whether or not they went over there together was a fight they’d reserve for when he was here. For now, Ivy had given him what he wanted, and they would both have time to recharge their batteries and rethink their arguments before they were together again.

  ‘Drive safe,’ she said, worrying that Dax on the road in a rage might not end well. ‘I’ll be here, at Saul’s, I won’t go anywhere, I promise.’

  ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Try not to get into any more trouble.’

  ‘I’ll try my best.’

  They hung up, and Ivy returned her phone to her purse. She wouldn’t go looking for trouble, but for some reason it always managed to find her.

  Chapter Twenty

  Although she hadn’t intended to, Ivy had fallen asleep on the bed in the second bedroom after she’d enjoyed her shower. A hand pushed her bare shoulder, she moaned in protest, but it kept on shaking her.

  ‘Dax,’ she said, throwing out an arm to toss aside the one prodding at her. She blinked up at the person sitting on the edge of the bed to see that although she’d still been asleep her subconscious had guessed right.

  ‘What the fuck do I do with you?’ Dax asked, but didn’t expect an answer. Whipping her towel out from beneath her, he stood up to throw it aside, then pushed her onto her back. ‘I know you like to challenge me, but for fuck sake, Minx.’

  ‘Can I have my towel back?’ she asked, stretching. ‘Anyone could walk in here.’

  ‘Saul told me that Carina went for a walk, and he’s tied up with the piece of ass he picked up last night. So that gives me some time to teach you a lesson.’

  Digging a hand under her shoulder, he rolled her onto her front and smacked her ass. ‘Come on, Dax we don’t have time for this.’ Much as she complained, it was nice to be together again. The sting of his hand on her ass warmed more than just the flesh he’d touched.

  Climbing onto the bed, he knelt over her thighs and rested his weight on her. Despite her trying to hit him, he got hold of her wrists in one of his hands and held her imprisoned hands against the small of her back. Leaning down, he swept her hair away and licked the back of her neck, around to her ear, where he whispered to her.

  ‘We have all the time I say we do, Minx. You ran away from me, again, came here to this place and put yourself in danger. You want to be hurt, you want to be punished, it’s the only way I can figure it.’

  Sitting up on her thighs, he spanked her again, then rubbed his flat palm up and over the globes of her ass. Pushing her still locked wrists higher, he smacked the other cheek then leaned down again, urging the thick length of his erection, which was still enclosed in denim, into the mounds he was punishing.

  ‘I came to help my sister,’ she said, biting into the pillow to try and stop herself from whimpering out the pleasure it gave her to be dominated by the man she loved. ‘You would’ve done the same thing.’

  ‘The only thing I care about is you,’ he snarled and smacked her one more time.

  Rising on his knees, Dax released her wrists and flipped her over, while keeping her inside the triangle formed by his thighs and the mattress. ‘I’m safe. You can see me, there’s nothing wrong with me. Nothing happened to me.’

  ‘It’s about to,’ he said, throwing off his tee-shirt, he unbuckled his jeans and took himself out of his underwear. ‘You think that you can lie around naked in other men’s houses and I’ll just let it slide?’

  ‘I fell asleep after my shower, it’s been a long night.’

  ‘No more excuses,’ he said.

  Still holding himself, he showed her two fingers then lowered them to her crotch. Massaging her clit as he passed it, Dax parted her lips and eased his fingers into her. There was no hiding her enjoyment now, it was coating the digits that he worked in and out of her.

  ‘We don’t…’ she exhaled. ‘We don’t have time for this.’

  Bowing down, he caught her lower lip between his teeth then licked her upper lip before he delved his tongue into her mouth and
kissed her. Their breathing was loud, each desperate breath was needed to maintain the fervour of this joining.

  Her hands caressed his body, working their way around to his ass, which was still half in his jeans. He hadn’t gotten naked, but already he was pressing the head of his dick into her. Widening her legs, Ivy elevated her hips, begging him to move into her, to fill her now.

  Just when she was giving up hope and believing that he wanted to tease her, he eased himself inside, and she smiled at him, touching her fingertips to his lips. His lips parted, and he caught one of her fingers in his teeth. He bit her with just enough force to be uncomfortable, but he didn’t break the skin, then he opened to free her fingers and concentrated on pumping his dick in and out of her pussy.

  A quick fuck was all they had time for, and he was on his way to climax already, bringing her along with him.

  ‘Yes, Dax,’ Ivy gasped out. ‘Oh, yeah.’

  This wasn’t their house, and they weren’t alone, but Dax wasn’t asking her to be quiet, and she had no intention of subduing herself. With her eyes locked to his, Ivy matched his thrusts, his depth massaged each secret crevice within her sending flames licking up through her womb, to her abdomen and into her heart.

  A steady moan pulsed out of her as he took her closer, then just when she was on the edge of the precipice, he kissed her, swallowing the cries of orgasm she released into him. With a few more thrusts, he was right there with her, finishing himself and filling her with his precious nectar.

  While she was still glowing and twitching through the aftershocks of orgasm, he rolled off her and flopped down onto his back beside her. ‘They’re at the GoldSpring,’ Dax panted. ‘I called before I got here. They’re not in their suite now, so I’ll have to keep trying. You’re staying here until I’ve got Rosie, and then I’ll take you both back.’

  ‘She won’t go with you,’ Ivy said, rolling to her side and supporting her head with her hand. ‘She doesn’t know you. Trystan won’t let you take her either. He’ll have plenty of snide jokes about you stealing another of his women.’