‘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!’
‘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.
C
arina 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.
Chapter Twenty-Five
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.’
Fighting Back (Harrow #2) Page 27