Текст книги "Harrow Duet"

Автор книги: Scarlett Finn

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Текущая страница: 28 (всего у книги 38 страниц)

Chapter Twelve

Spending the rest of the night at Dax’s apartment was stress-free for the first time. It had been a long night, so by the time they got back from the Stark mansion there was nothing else to do but go to bed. Making love with Dax had been slow. Much of the tension that he’d carried over the last few days had waned, and he didn’t mind taking his time to explore all of her.

It was reassuring when Dax slept in the following day. This was just like at home where she would get up and work out then shower and tidy up before making breakfast. Today, it was almost noon by the time Dax fumbled his way out of bed and into the shower. Ivy had already eaten and cleared up, but she brewed a fresh pot of coffee for him, which was ready by the time he joined her.

‘Good morning,’ he grumbled and slugged great hulking mouthfuls of his coffee until the mug was empty, after which he held it out to her for a refill.

‘Afternoon actually,’ she said. She couldn’t even blame jetlag for his late hour because his shift at the club didn’t usually start until late afternoon, and if he was still on Eastern Time then he should’ve woken up earlier as opposed to later. ‘You missed your work out.’

‘Do we have plans today?’ he asked, accepting the mug she handed over.

‘No, but—‘

‘Then I’ll do it this afternoon, I could use a run.’

‘I thought we might be leaving LA today.’

He cleared his throat and yawned while placing himself on a stool at the other side of the breakfast bar. ‘I thought I’d call a realtor, get this place on the market.’

‘So we never have to come back. You’re serious about this, aren’t you?’

‘And you’re not?’ he asked, taking another mouthful of coffee then setting the mug aside. ‘I know that you want to get out of here. We can leave tomorrow, I’ll tie up my loose ends and—‘

‘What loose ends?’

‘You don’t have your shit from Mauri yet, do you? I’ll get it. I have to pack everything in the storage unit, we can have it shipped cross-country. And there’s my bike… unless you want to ride bitch back east?’

‘Uh, no,’ she said. Ivy loved his bike, but after more than three thousand miles on the back of it, she might feel differently. ‘So do you want me to start packing the apartment?’

‘Can if you want,’ he said. ‘But I figure we’ll just sell it furnished, let the new owners figure out what they want to keep.’

‘There’s nothing in here that you’re attached to?’

‘You,’ he said. Snagging her wrist when she came out of the kitchen, he pulled her into the space between his open thighs. ‘How do you feel about last night?’

She’d had some time this morning to think about everything that had happened at the Stark mansion. Time to think about what they were sacrificing by shunning the family who had saved Dax in childhood only to dragoon him into fulfilling their own nefarious needs later in his life. To say that she was angry at Mauri and the Starks for what they had put Dax through was an understatement.

Trotting out his mother and Ivy’s sister had been a low blow meant to manipulate the couple. Maurice Stark didn’t think about anyone other than himself. He would do whatever he had to in order to get what he wanted, which in this case was Dax.

‘I don’t like that my sister is staying in Mauri’s house,’ Ivy said. ‘She has no idea what’s going on or what the Starks are capable of.’

She and her sister hadn’t seen each other for years. Although they weren’t close, Ivy would never wish her sister harm.

‘We can get her out,’ Dax said.

Rosie did what Rosie wanted to and no one would tell her different. ‘She won’t do what we tell her to, she’s headstrong.’

‘I never would’ve guessed,’ he said, brushing her hair aside to kiss her neck. ‘Must run in your family.’

‘I’m a delight compared to my sister,’ she teased.

‘I love strong women, I’m sure she’s a scream.’

‘Her chest is smaller than mine,’ Ivy said, arching her back to present her breasts with a smile. He kissed the top of her cleavage, but his hands snaked around to cup her ass.

‘You don’t have to worry about me taking an interest in your sister. I found out recently that brunettes are my thing.’

‘Rosie is a brunette, the blonde came from a bottle.’

‘Oh, then I’ll definitely consider banging her,’ he said and stole her mouth when her jaw fell loose.

Dax wasn’t an easy man to rile, but he sure knew how to press her buttons, and here now in his arms she licked the roof of his mouth and urged her body closer. Calling the realtor could wait until after she got her rocks off with her rock hard man. Just to be sure that he was as willing as she was, she skimmed her palm down his torso to fondle him through his jeans.

‘You should’ve joined me in the shower,’ he said, sliding down the straps of her dress.

She grabbed the bottom of his tee-shirt, but before she could raise it, his phone made a noise indicating that he had a message. Resting an arm around her hips, he elevated his own to pull his phone from his back pocket, after he read the text, he slunk off the stool onto his feet.

‘Who is that?’ she asked, eyeing his cell.

‘My mistress,’ he said, kissing her brow then easing her out of his embrace to put the device back into his rear jeans pocket.

‘Your mistress is hanging from the reinforced beam in the spare bedroom,’ she said, drumming her fingers on the kitchen hutch.

His curious frown became amusement, and she rolled her eyes. ‘You just exterminate any woman who looks at your man, do you? ‘Cause I don’t remember fucking any other women,’ he said. ‘You sure meant it when you said no second chances, didn’t you?’

‘I meant your punching bag. Fighting is the only thing you love as much as you love me. Though I guess it would be bad if I did mean another woman.’

‘You’re all the woman I need, and now I’ve found out that there are two of you, I fear that the apocalypse is coming.’

She didn’t laugh at his joke though he was pleased with himself. Dax left the room then came back a second later donning his leather jacket.

‘Will you be long?’ she asked.

‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘I’ll call the realtor while I’m out, you pack up whatever you want to keep or whatever you think we need from here.’

‘Ok,’ she said and went to him. Taking hold of the open edges of his jacket she pouted up at him. ‘Will you call Mauri about my things?’

‘Yes,’ he said, kissing her quickly. ‘I’ll take care of everything. You just stay here.’ She nodded, but he took hold of her chin. ‘I mean it, Minx. Don’t leave the state, don’t get on any planes or buses. Stay. Here.’

‘As long as you do what you’ve promised to then we have nothing to worry about.’

‘Good,’ he said and kissed her again, then he left the apartment.

This wasn’t her home, and she’d never lived here, but getting the chance to root around in Dax’s possessions wasn’t an opportunity that Ivy would flout. She’d call and request that his gym equipment be shipped to the opposite coast, but that would mean finding a storage unit because it wouldn’t fit in their one-bedroom apartment back east.

Heading for the phone, she sought out a pen and paper then sat down to make her calls before she started packing. Keeping busy was a good distraction for her, she still wanted to quiz her husband on what Trystan had said to her last night. Yet once again her questions were left unanswered while Dax took care of his mysterious business. He had left without much of an explanation and in her past experience that never spelled anything positive for her.

Dax had taken a cab to the storage unit so that he could pull out his bike. It had been a delight to uncover his bike and stand astride her again. After a few basic checks and a trip to the gas station, he was on his way to the bar where Serg had asked to meet him. The two of them couldn’t be called close friends, but they had been through some trying times together. Serg had always been available when Dax needed him, and he didn’t ask questions, which was a major plus as far as Dax was concerned.

Being that this might be the last time that he was in California, possibly for the rest of his life, Dax didn’t mind taking the time to talk to his old associate. He doubted that whatever Serg had to say would take long because the man was usually one of few words.

Parking in the alley next to the bar, Dax went through the chain link fence past a bunch of the guys who were barbequing beside the picnic bench. With a nod of acknowledgement, he strode past them and into the rear entrance of the hang out he and his men used between jobs. Pushing aside the metal link curtain, he strode onto the red tile of the private back room that was usually full of people, today Serg was the only one here.

‘What’s up?’ Dax asked.

Serg hadn’t even lifted his head from the books he was poring over when Dax came in, which was a stupid mistake. He should always be aware of his surroundings because in their line of work no one knew who was out looking for payback.

When Serg did raise his attention it didn’t stop on Dax, he stood up to get a better look behind him, which made Dax glance over his shoulder, but there was no one there.

‘Where’s Ivy?’ Serg asked.

‘Why would I bring Ivy here?’

‘You brought her here before.’

‘Once and she’s not with me this time,’ Dax asked, Serg wasn’t making any sense to him. Serg seemed agitated, which wasn’t at all like him. ‘Why would you want to see Ivy?’

‘You haven’t heard?’

‘Heard what?’ The conversation made him sigh, but his colleague’s sudden interest in Ivy, coupled with his odd conduct, was disconcerting.

‘Shit,’ Serg said, falling back down into his seat. ‘Maybe it’s just bullshit.’

‘What’s just bullshit?’ Dax asked, coming deeper into the space.

There were couches around the perimeter of the area, but it was the large metal table in the middle that dominated the room, and it was at the head of this table that Serg currently sat. The walls were a kind of yellowing brown that had probably once been white. The gradient of the grimy colour deepened the higher that it went, due to the slick layer of nicotine that had built up over the years.

Serg nodded him over, and Dax went to the seat at Serg’s side. Serg put a forearm to the table and leaned in close to Dax, closer than the two men had ever been before. ‘I could get my ass handed to me for telling you this, maybe, I think… I don’t know.’

‘Tell me already, I’ve got shit to do—‘

‘There’s a bounty out.’

‘A bounty on what?’ Dax asked.

They had never been the type to chase money, so he had no idea why this information was relevant. Serg was paid well for what he did and as far as Dax knew the guy had no vices that would eat up his income. So Dax already knew that he was going to refuse whatever offer Serg was about to make about hunting down this bounty.

‘Ivy.’

Her name changed his whole thought process, his whole demeanour. Sitting back, away from Serg, Dax tried to consider who may wish his wife harm. But it was Serg’s question on Dax’s entry that spiked his fury.

‘Is that why you were fucking asking about her?’ Dax asked, standing up so abruptly that his chair clattered onto its back.

‘No!’ Serg said, leaping up ready to defend himself and trying to calm Dax at the same time. ‘I was worried if you left her somewhere that she could be spotted.’

‘What’s the bounty?’

‘Half a mill for her dead.’

Dax could defend Ivy against anyone who came after her in person, but this was a different ballgame altogether. It might take a day or two for word to spread throughout the community, but when it did, Dax would have every lowlife scumbag from far and wide on their tail. That kind of money was appealing to even the most loyal or cowardly of men. It would make anyone believe that going after the bounty was a risk worth taking.

‘Who the fuck is on it?’

‘I don’t know,’ Serg said. ‘I got word this morning. I heard it, and I sent you that message to meet me. I thought you would want to know.’

‘Yeah,’ Dax said. With eye contact and a nod, he gave his thanks.

‘Who would want this? Does she have enemies?’

The only enemies he knew her to have were ones relating to him. His thoughts briefly went to their time in Vegas, Trudi was pissed at her and probably Carlos too if he’d heard that his name had come up in conversation. But they wouldn’t flout five hundred grand on something like this, they just wouldn’t have that kind of cash to burn.

Saul could have savings, but he hadn’t struck Dax as the vengeful type. Though Saul did have friends in every walk of life from what Ivy had told him, so he would be able to set something like this up.

But pinning this on someone from Ivy’s past was ignoring the obvious. Those angriest with her now were his adopted family. Mauri might blame her for Dax’s choices. Trystan was pissed that she had rejected him again. But it made no sense why they would come after Ivy and not after him directly.

‘Is this Mauri?’ Serg murmured. ‘Does he think you’ll come back to the family with Ivy out of the picture?’

The man could be that deluded. Though it wasn’t much of a delusion, Dax had shown a precedent for believing what Mauri said. Mauri probably believed that he could talk Dax into just about anything and without Ivy there to keep him balanced, Dax might just be broken enough to let the old man win.

‘I’m gonna find out,’ Dax said.

Spinning around, he set his destination as the Stark mansion where he was determined to get answers. If this was Mauri’s bidding then Dax would find a way to have him call it off. Except word was still spreading, and it would take twice as long to call off the minions who would chase Ivy down.

Before getting on his bike, he took his phone from his pocket. He couldn’t tell Ivy what was going on, not over the phone, and not before he had all of the information. But she was in danger and liked to defy his authority, so she could be out on the streets now, a walking target.

Dax called the apartment and was relieved to hear that the line was busy. If she was home then she wasn’t outside presenting an opportunity for every psycho with a gun. Opening his texts, he typed in his commands.

Stay home. No messing, Minx. Danger outside. Stay in the apartment.

He expected her to call as soon as she read the message and sure enough before he had started the engine of his bike his phone buzzed. For a few seconds, he debated with himself as to whether or not he should answer the phone because he wanted to get to Mauri and get some answers of his own. But if he ignored her she was likely to ignore his message, so he picked up.

‘What kind of message is that?’ she asked before he had a chance to speak. ‘Are you being a dick?’

‘I just got some information,’ Dax said. ‘There’s trouble.’

‘What kind of trouble?’

‘The kind that means you have to stay inside.’

‘Since you asked so nicely and all—‘

‘I mean it, Minx,’ he said, throwing a leg over his bike he kicked away the stand. ‘Just stay inside.’

‘Tell me what happened,’ she said.

‘I can’t. I don’t have all the facts yet. I’m going to find out what’s going on, and then I’m going to come home, hear me?’

‘Dax,’ she exhaled. In bed, she could say his name like she was worshiping an idol of pleasure. But that breathy whimper was absent now, this was a wife with a gripe she wanted to complain about.

‘Yeah, I know you’re pissed, babygirl. But I’m keeping you safe, I’ll explain everything when I get home and then you can bitch at me all you want.’

‘We didn’t talk about what happened last night, and now you’re giving me more questions without any answers. We can’t keep going like this, you have to trust me and hear me out. You can’t just issue orders and expect me to follow them without any kind of explanation.’

‘Yeah, I can,’ he said. ‘Because I’m not going to give you half of a story, which might scare you, while I’m not there to reassure you. I don’t care how pissed you are. I’m telling you to stay inside for your own good. I could’ve said nothing at all and just assumed that you’d stick to what you told me earlier, but I wanted to let you know that something serious was going down… I will explain, babygirl. Just trust me, stay in the apartment and don’t let anyone in.’ When she didn’t say anything, his concern burgeoned. ‘Ivy?’

‘Ok, I’ll stay inside, but when you get back here we are not doing anything else until you fill me in on everything, and I do mean everything, Dax Harrow.’

‘Ok. You got it.’

She didn’t hide her anger, but that was one of the things that he loved about her. When Ivy was happy or aroused, she just glowed. But when she was pissed off, like she was now, she made no secret of it.

She accepted who he was and had never tried to change him, although she had. The changes that he’d gone through had been those he chose for himself, and he preferred the man he was now to the one he’d been before. Except without Ivy, he wasn’t sure there would be anything left of himself worth saving.

Chapter Thirteen

Dax didn’t wait to be announced. He went into the mansion and up the stairs to head for Maurice’s private suite. The old man liked to be the man behind the curtain, so even if there was business to conduct he would leave Brad to deal with it. Mauri only came out for the important matters, and it had been that way for a few years now. That didn’t mean that his influence was any less, he still pulled all the strings. But he didn’t tire himself by dealing with those lower than him, which included pretty much everyone.

Security was tailing after Dax through the house, they were paid to take down any threat to Mauri. But it had been so long since anyone had threatened this man in his own home that security had become complacent about their role. As a result, Dax was able to enter the outer room of Mauri’s suite, with its fireplace and red upholstered armchairs, while the two security men were still running toward him along the corridor he’d just traversed.

‘Mauri!’ Dax called out.

If he had to go into the bedroom, then he would. But if he went in there he was likely to end up murdering the man, and he couldn’t do that, at least not until he’d called his dogs off Ivy. The security men burst in at his back, and Dax spun around to defend himself. Taking one out with a punch, the other lunged at him and he got hold of the guy’s arm, twisting it around and up his back, using it to toss him back out into the hall. The first security guard got up again, but Mauri’s voice stalled the action.

‘No more!’ Mauri declared and despite a few growling glares, the security men receded, closing the door to give Mauri and Dax their privacy.

‘You—‘

‘I heard,’ Mauri said. ‘We found out about the bounty an hour ago, and we’re doing our best to trace it.’

Mauri was calm, but Dax couldn’t hear himself think beyond the blood gushing at high speed through his body. ‘You expect me to believe that you had nothing to do with this?’

‘What would we gain? You lose your wife and blame me for the rest of your life? I want you with us and that means working together.’

‘Convenient.’

‘If this was my order then I wouldn’t be making you the offer that I’m about to,’ Mauri said. He stayed where he was in front of the bedroom door and for now Dax was happy to keep his distance and maintain his position near the exit.

‘What offer?’

‘Take Ivy to the beach house, she will be safe there, no one will approach it without us knowing. I can post security outside, they will make sure that she is safe.’

‘And she’s supposed to live the rest of her life there?’

‘She can remain there until we uncover who is behind this. We neutralise the threat and then she can move freely again. You know yourself that it will take a day or two to trace this to the real source, chances are he’s using a middleman, we find that middleman and then we coax the information we want out of him.’ Dax would enjoy the coaxing part. ‘Once we know, we take him out.’

‘It will take time to spread the word that she’s not to be harmed,’ Dax said. Once the word of a bounty was out there, it spread, and putting the genie back in the bottle was no easy feat.

‘She can stay in the beach house for as long as she needs to. You know that we can easily stock the place, and she can hole up there for months if she has to.’

Ivy would despise the idea of being back there and of hiding out, but Dax couldn’t come up with anything better. Moving her to Nevada or North Carolina wouldn’t necessarily mean her safety, it just meant that it would take longer for the crooks to find her. Until they could stop the threat at the source, it would remain. They didn’t know the threat’s motive for wanting Ivy dead or if he could be reasoned with. It was just as possible that whoever had started this would rather die than retract the bounty.

‘I can hide her,’ Dax said, trying to think of where he could take her and look after her alone while still trying to trace the threat.

‘You can’t do it alone,’ Mauri said. ‘You can’t hide the girl and ensure her supplies remain fresh, you will lead the hunters directly to her. You’re not naïve. You will be the first person others try to get to in order to find her. If she’s at the beach house, then you can stay with her. It doesn’t matter how many people follow you there, my security will keep them out.’

Mauri had resources and manpower, which were two things that Dax didn’t have. ‘I have to find out who is doing this.’

‘And you can do that while my security men keep her safe. If you stick her in a cabin in the woods, you can’t stand sentry twenty-four hours a day alone. You can’t keep her in your sight and find out who has put up the bounty at the same time.’

‘No, I can’t,’ Dax said, his rage was cooling. Every word that Mauri said was correct, these were thoughts he’d had himself.

‘You will have all the men that you need to look after her, and you can use my help in uncovering who this heathen is. You know that Starks stick together. We’ll find out who is doing this, and we will take them down, together.’

‘She won’t want to go,’ Dax muttered. Mauri was coming closer, but he posed no physical threat, so Dax remained loose while he considered his options.

‘I appreciate that the location may not hold happy memories for her. But you two found your love there, didn’t you? She may appreciate a chance of a break and some peace, it is certainly preferable over the alternative of being on the run or hidden somewhere alone. This is just like the vacation I suggested to you last night, you can sell it to her that way.’

His head came up. ‘The others, her sister and…’

‘They are both there,’ Mauri said. ‘They travelled to the beach house this morning… Ivy would probably like to have some company while you are out hunting down the threat. She and her sister haven’t seen each other for a long time.’

Ivy had worried about Rosie being close to Mauri and staying in his house. If Ivy had time with her sister, she might be able to explain her concerns. ‘Ok,’ Dax said. ‘We’ll leave tonight, that should give me time to talk her round.’

‘Good, I will prepare everything and send a car for you. It will be safer that way. I’ll make sure that there is a full security team out there. We will keep her safe.’

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.’