‘Nothing serious,’ she answered. ‘Have you?’
‘Don’t be surprised if Mauri knows everything that there is to know about you when you do meet him.’
He hadn’t answered her question, but his statement about Mauri was enough to make her forget about her concerns relating to Dax’s exploits. ‘How would he—‘
‘Mauri’s family have made a lot of money doing what they do, so he has the resources to do pretty much anything he wants. If you filled out information for that phony job, they’ll have your full name and social security number. The rest is just leg work, and most of that can be done at a desk these days.’
She hadn’t considered the personal information that this family had about her. ‘Why would they want to know about me?’
‘Because they chose you,’ he said. ‘And Mauri is particular about knowing everything about people he welcomes into his family. He’ll want to know if you’re bringing any trouble with you.’
‘The only trouble I’ve been around recently is you.’
‘And they know all about that,’ he said, squeezing her thigh then sliding his hand further up under her sundress.
‘Just how much do they know?’ she asked. ‘They know that we’re sleeping together, but do they know the details of that? How does Bruno fit into all of this?’ It was great to finally feel free enough to ask all of the questions she’d been too afraid to ask while in the environment of her captivity.
‘Mauri and Bruno have been friends for years, they worked together for Mauri’s old man when they were kids. Bruno knows everything that Mauri does… just about.’
‘And you? How do you fit in?’
‘I’ve been working for Mauri since I was a kid. He caught me trying to pickpocket him, which was amazing in itself because I was pretty good. I’d been doing it to feed myself for years. Stealing from spectators at fights then getting in the ring to fight for money, that’s how I kept myself alive. Mauri caught me, pinned me down, I thought I was dead. I had no idea who he was.’
‘Did he hurt you?’
‘Took me home with him and fed me, asked about my family, my history, and kept on asking until he knew everything about me. After that, I never left, I grew up in the mansion, not out front with the Stark boys as an official member of the family, but in back, with the household staff. They trained me up and looked after me. As soon as I could, I started to graduate through the ranks of Mauri’s team.’
‘Doing what?’ she asked.
‘Anything he wanted of me, I sold, I couriered, I did everything.’
‘And now you do this?’
‘I do what Mauri asks me to,’ he said, and he must have sensed her aversion.
‘Why didn’t he send you out here alone to deal with me? How many other women have you beaten into submission for him? Do you treat them all like you treat me? Or do you follow Bruno’s methods?’
‘You’re the first, I mean it’s the first time I’ve ever been involved in anything like this. I enforce a lot, and I do interrogate for information and that can take days, sometimes a week. But like this, a woman, no, I’ve never done this.’
‘But Bruno has?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know. I am trusted in the family and I know a lot of their secrets. But there’s no way I know everything, that’s for damn sure.’
‘So why now?’ she asked. ‘Why did they get you doing this now? Why not just leave me out here with Bruno if he’s more trusted than you are? He’s obviously more sadistic.’
‘Your purpose is unique, so to the best of my knowledge no one has ever had to do this before. As for Bruno, I told you, he can’t get a hard-on.’
‘So your purpose was purely sexual? You were selected because your dick functions?’
He shrugged, still watching the road. ‘Best I can figure, yeah, and because they trust me. I’ve had Trystan’s women before, so it’s not like the punk will get queasy about it, you know?’
‘Trystan’s women?’ she repeated and his jaw ticked. ‘What has he got to do with this?’
‘Trystan’s the guy you met in Vegas.’
‘Yeah, I know who he is,’ she said, picking up his hand by the wrist and tossing it back to his own lap. Twisting in her seat, she pinned her glare on his profile because from the prickle encircling her spine, she didn’t like the trajectory of this conversation. ‘I figured out that he was the one who wanted me snatched, but I’m not his woman. I haven’t even seen him for the whole time we’ve been out here.’
‘He’s in Europe,’ Dax said. ‘He has been since the day we brought you here. He’ll be back in a week or so.’
‘The deadline,’ she said. ‘The deadline for going back to the city?’
‘What are you talking about?’ he asked, flashing her a frown.
‘I overheard you and Bruno talking, he said that we were going back to the city, that after we went back we’d be off the hook. I thought you were here against your will too, that they were forcing you to do this.’
‘Forcing me to fuck you? Yeah, it was a hardship.’
‘Dax, be serious, what is going on here? I thought you were teaching me a lesson. I thought that Trystan wanted us to go through all of this so that I would be taught a lesson, just like you said about him holding a grudge.’
‘He does,’ Dax said. ‘He picked you because he felt disrespected by your rejection in Vegas, he wouldn’t stop going on about it.’
‘And the deadline? I thought that by then I was supposed to have learned my lesson, that I’d be turned free.’
When he did a double take, she knew she’d misinterpreted. ‘Freedom is subjective,’ he said. ‘At some time we will get the call to take you back to the city.’
‘And then what?’
‘You move into the mansion.’
Her chest tightened and she shrank back against her side door. ‘No,’ she exhaled. ‘Am I supposed to service his men? Be another Rita who will follow the commands given by anyone in that place?’
‘No, Rita is sport, a Stark employee there for the guys’ pleasure, or whatever,’ he said. ‘Everything that you were told is true. You’re going to live a life of luxury and privilege.’
‘And you? What are you going to do?’ she asked. ‘We move into your room in the mansion and then what?’
But he was already shaking his head. Breathing grew more difficult for her as panic began to take hold. ‘I don’t live in the mansion.’
‘Wh… wha… why not?’ she stuttered.
‘Because I’m a grown man and Mauri isn’t the only guy I work for. I couldn’t live like Brad and Trystan do, in the mansion, always under supervision.’
‘So you’re going to take me to the mansion and just leave me there? What am I going to be? Some kind of homecoming gift for Trystan?’
‘I don’t know what I’m gonna do with you yet,’ he said, clearly he wasn’t ready for this discussion and it was getting away from him. She couldn’t believe that she’d been kept in the dark about this when they’d been sharing a bed for weeks.
‘You’re not considering leaving me there,’ she said. ‘What about all that crap about caring about me? Didn’t you mean it?’
‘I meant it,’ he snapped. ‘But this isn’t as easy as—‘
‘I already told you to make a choice,’ she said. ‘And I’d appreciate you telling me up front if that choice isn’t me.’
‘Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’m gonna figure this out.’
‘How exactly?’ she asked, crossing her legs away from him. ‘And how many times will I have to swallow his spunk before you do that?’
The car jolted forward when he sped up in what appeared to be an involuntary motion. ‘He’s not gonna lay a finger on you, and you’re not gonna let him if he tries.’
‘Forgive me, but isn’t that how we got into this mess?’ she asked. ‘I’ve been playing the role of brainwashed Manson girl in front of Bruno because I believed I was doing both you and me a favour, biding my time until I
was getting out. I didn’t even mind being your fuck-bunny, it was fun, and you’re incredible in the sack. Screwing you sort of broke up the monotony of what I went through downstairs, but all this time you were playing with me?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Why would I do that?’
‘Maybe because it would be fun to see what Trystan would do to me when he found out I wasn’t as obedient as you and Bruno made out to him I would be? Was that the point of this? To make me so pliable that you could just hand me over to him? What was your plan? Were you going to tell me to do whatever Trystan asked of me just to save your hide? Did you expect me to do with him all of the things I do with you just because, why? I’m such a slut?’
‘You’re no slut. I’ve been around sluts all my life and you’re sure not one of them.’
‘Don’t change the subject or try and flatter me now,’ she said. ‘I want to know, were you expecting me to go to him willingly just to do you a favour?’
‘This isn’t my ideal scenario either, Minx. Do you think I planned on falling for you?’
‘So what did you plan?’ she asked. ‘You’d just steal some woman, fuck her up as much as you could and then hand her over to that pervert?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Maybe. I don’t know. Do you know how long it’s been since I cared about anyone? Or even really cared about myself? You go through the motions… you just… you…’
‘Survive?’ she sighed, remembering what he’d said to her about breathing in and out. He’d been following the orders of Maurice Stark for so long that he never wasted the time to stop and consider if those orders were moral or if he even agreed with them.
‘Look, the way I see it, you’re fine until Tryst gets back. We’ll get this worked out before he’s back on US turf, ok?’
‘Great,’ she said, not feeling very reassured. ‘You’re not the one with the prospect of a lifetime of rape hanging on the horizon. I’m telling you now that I won’t submit to him, no, I won’t. I don’t care if they get pissed at you because you didn’t do your job right. I will not have sex with him, not voluntarily.’
‘Good,’ Dax said. ‘I don’t want you to. If you ever find yourself in that situation with him, or with any other guy, then you fight your damndest, babygirl. This is mine.’ He grabbed her knee and digging his fingers into her he hauled her toward him. ‘From the tips of those toes to the roots of your hair, Minx, even that damn clever mouth.’
‘So that’s your strategy? I fight them off? Wow Dax, you’re really not a planner, are you?’
‘You’re giving me a hard time?’ he asked. ‘I’ve kept you safe and let you off the hook. I could’ve taken you down to that basement anytime and given up on you, but I didn’t.’
‘While you were getting your balls played with you had no reason to,’ she said. ‘Now that you’re being held to account it’s not so much fun, is it?’
The car was going faster now, but being stopped by the cops wasn’t going to do her any harm, only him. ‘I have time,’ he said. ‘We play it cool and keep it together for just a while longer. I’ll talk to Mauri and he’ll see—‘
‘What? That you want to play with the toy a little bit longer? Then he’ll tell you that it’s nice to share, Dax, and you’ll do what your surrogate daddy tells you to and I’ll be the one sailing down the river on my own.’
‘I’m not going to let that happen! I’m going to keep you safe!’ His outburst was so abrupt that she was stunned into silence and they must have covered five miles before she spoke again.
‘You want us to keep doing what we’ve been doing,’ she said, trying to be logical and not let herself be conquered by fear. ‘I’m supposed to trust you and one way or another you’re going to keep me safe, is that it?’
‘Yeah,’ he murmured. ‘That’s it exactly. Just give me some time to figure this out.’
‘Ok,’ she said, resolved to the fact that as angry as she was, she didn’t want to walk away from Dax. ‘I’ll give you three days, after that, if we’re not safe together, I’m on my own.’
‘Ok,’ he said. ‘That’s fair…. You’re not going to run now? You’re not just saying this to keep me from…’
‘From what? Tying me down?’ she asked. ‘No, I’m not just saying this. But if you don’t trust me anymore then I have no reason to trust you.’
‘I trust you,’ he said.
‘Then we’ll both have to have some faith in each other, or else we’re going to cause the demise of each other.’
‘So we stand together or we die,’ Dax said. ‘Can you play the game for a little bit longer, Minx?’
‘My stamina is better than yours.’
He laughed. ‘Now we both know that’s not true, but there will be time to prove it later.’
‘If I let you,’ she said, wondering if they were going to turn into Bonnie and Clyde.
‘You’ll let me,’ he said. ‘I know how to work you now, Minx. I know all of your buttons.’
‘What we have, Dax...? Is there a future?’ If there was no future then hanging around for another three days wouldn’t be worth it.
‘I don’t want you to go anywhere,’ he said. ‘Having you around is… cool.’
‘Cool,’ she said, taking her eyes to her window. ‘Typical man speak for not wanting to reveal too much of yourself. Fine. Let’s just get through today.’
‘Mauri will understand,’ he said, skimming his hand to her inner thigh. ‘I’ll talk to him and work this out and then we’ll be together.’
‘And Trystan?’
‘He’ll be a little shit because he always is. But Mauri will keep him in line.’
She didn’t know if that was true, but she didn’t know the dynamics of the family. All she had to rely on was Dax’s word. With the knowledge that she wasn’t ready to leave him came her own realisation of just how much she cared about him. Fitting into life with the Starks’ as Dax’s girl might be difficult, but she’d rather do that than try to fit into it as Trystan’s girl, as far as she was concerned, that would never happen.
Chapter Fourteen
Dax had driven her to the Stark mansion, but she hadn’t seen anything except a broad wooden gate. Knowing its location seemed to be the goal, and maybe he was trying to make her more comfortable with the idea of spending time there. But when he offered to take her inside and show her around Ivy refused without any hesitation. If she went into that place then she had no guarantees that she would ever get out.
After a brief spell parked outside Dax drove on and they eventually ended up in an industrial area, pulling up alongside a grey concrete warehouse on a lot that appeared to be vacant.
‘What’s this place?’ she asked when he turned off the engine and got out of the car.
‘This is where we prepare our product. Come on, get out.’
‘I don’t want to go in there, Dax,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Who is in there?’
‘No one who will hurt you. There’s nothing you have to worry about, I already told you that. Come on, you have to know what it is that we do.’
‘Why? Why would Mauri want me to know this?’
Dax came around the car and crouched down, resting his forearms along the top rim of her door. ‘Because as far as he is concerned you’re gonna be part of the family and he has to be sure that we can trust you. He also thinks that you’re gonna be the mother of his future grandchildren who will one day take over the family business.’
‘I’m supposed to give birth to felons,’ she said. He backed away and opened her door, then took her hand to help her out of the car. ‘I’ve heard of planning for the future, but that idea takes the cake.’
‘Do you want kids?’ he asked, leading her towards a dusty brownish red door on the side of the building.
‘I don’t think that now is the time to talk about this, tough guy. We could get our heads blown off at any second.’
He laughed. ‘I do this almost every day. Any guy who takes a shot at me will have his kneecaps removed. These gu
ys aren’t going to hurt me.’
‘That’s you,’ she said, looking all around, worried that there may be some kind of sniper or security guy who might take a disliking to her. ‘I’m just some chick that they don’t know.’
‘The guys in here aren’t what you’re expecting,’ he said, pushing open the door and taking her inside.
There was noise and the air was pungent, but it was the humidity, or rather the lack of it, that she noticed first. The space they entered was almost empty. He took her through into another room that was some sort of recreation space, except now it was empty.
‘We’re at the end of a shipment, everything was taken out last night. We’ll get another one in a few days, there’s been a bit of a hiccup, but Mauri’s sorting it out.’
‘Thank goodness for that,’ she said, absorbing the details of the well-kept space. There was air conditioning in here, it was cool and she saw a fridge in the corner. There was a series of mismatched couches and a wide screen TV. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if they could hang out here together, alone, for a while. A far door opened and a guy came in, he was tall but quite weedy. He certainly wasn’t the thug that she had been expecting, just as Dax had warned her.
‘Hey, Zoom,’ Dax said. ‘You need to be quicker off the mark. You don’t have company back there, do you?’
Dax sounded severe, it wasn’t exactly anger in his tone, but an aloof authority that carried an unspoken warning – just like in Vegas when he’d threatened her without using negative words.
‘No,’ Zoom said. ‘Wasn’t expecting you today… I called Serg.’
‘Why?’ Dax asked. Zoom’s statement carried some sort of weight that she didn’t understand.
‘One load wasn’t picked up,’ Zoom said, scrutinising her, then letting his attention flick back to Dax before it came back to her. ‘Who is she?’
‘Not a perk for you,’ Dax said, leaving her to march forward and grab Zoom by the shoulder. ‘Who was it? Who missed it?’
‘I… I gave Serg all the details, you said, you said to report to him while you were… I would’ve called you but—‘
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