Текст книги "Harrow Duet"

Автор книги: Scarlett Finn

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Текущая страница: 35 (всего у книги 38 страниц)

Chapter Twenty-One

The GoldSpring hadn’t changed. Ivy had been working here when she met Dax, which wasn’t all that long ago if she put it into real terms. But they’d both changed and been through so much together that it seemed like a lifetime ago.

It was difficult to be in this place again because it was also the place that Trystan had assaulted her. But that was part of the reason that Trystan was happy to keep coming here and spending his father’s money. In this hotel, the staff would let him get away with anything as long as he kept coming back to splurge as he did at frequent intervals throughout the year.

Dax parked in the private parking garage and then took her out of the car and up in the elevator to the floor where Trystan’s suite was located. With gold carpeting and gleaming white walls, the sweet smell of vanilla flowed down the hallway when the elevator doors opened. It was pumped in, Ivy knew that the housekeeping staff had a specific, and large, budget just for the air fresheners alone.

‘You stay quiet,’ Dax said, walking just ahead of her. ‘Stay behind me.’

‘I don’t care what you do to Trystan,’ she whispered. ‘Just don’t let him upset you.’

‘I know how to deal with Trystan.’

The suite had double doors and was right at the end of the corridor. When they got there, Dax handed her the car key. ‘Why are you giving me this?’ she asked, tucking it into the pocket of her dress.

‘Because I want you to get Rosie and get out. Don’t wait for me. Just go.’

‘But how will you—?’

‘I don’t need you to look after me,’ Dax said.

‘We can go back to Saul’s and meet you there after—‘

‘No, go back to the beach house. You’ll be safe there. All of your things are in the car downstairs.’

‘I’m not leaving you here with him,’ Ivy said.

‘I’ll be right behind you,’ Dax said. ‘If it goes smoothly we’ll all be riding back together. But I’ll give you cover if you need to—‘

‘You didn’t bring this up until now, because…?

‘Because now there’s no time to argue about it,’ he said. Turning to face the door, he knocked, then pushed her behind his back again.

The GoldSpring-provided private attendant opened the door. She was blonde and in the same black and white uniform that Ivy had worn when she worked here.

‘Mr Stark is expecting you,’ the blonde said.

Ivy was pleased that the attendant didn’t appear any worse for wear, but the night was young, and the more Trystan indulged, the more unbearable he became. Her experience with Trystan Stark obviously hadn’t prompted management to make any changes – like to ensure that when Trystan was here only males were allowed to act as private attendant.

Though Trystan would probably request a female attendant, and when a guest was willing to pay the kind of money that Trystan did, management would cater to their every whim. Trystan knew it too, which was how he got away with his abominable behaviour so often.

The rounded window of this suite living room provided a space for couches, which were arranged to face each other. The private attendant pointed to the furthest couch. ‘If you’d like to take a seat, I’ll tell him that you’re here.’

The attendant left by way of a side door, behind the bar area of the suite, which Ivy knew led to a bedroom. Dax threw an arm around her and took her to the couch, seating himself in the corner and keeping her pressed to his side.

Scrutinising every detail of the room, Ivy’s attention eventually came to land back on him. ‘What?’ he asked.

‘You’re sitting exactly where you were the night I first saw you.’

‘Don’t think about that night,’ he said, yanking her closer so that he could kiss her head.

‘Trystan might have been a jerk that night, but I am sort of pleased things played out like they did. Being with you is the greatest thing that ever happened to me, I had to go through all the crap that I did in life so that when I found you, I would truly appreciate you.’

Bringing her hand to his face, Dax lowered his lips to hers. While this wasn’t the time or place for fervent romance, she wouldn’t shy from loving her husband just because Trystan might take exception to it.

It took a lot for Dax to be open with her, and Ivy savoured each time he trusted her and showed her affection, as he was doing now. Spoiling her with gifts and soppy words wasn’t where Dax excelled, he excelled in these moments where with the slightest touch he conveyed to her just how much he valued her.

A door opened, signalling that someone had come in. The private attendant appeared first, she nodded and then disappeared out of the suite giving Trystan the time to make his entrance. Trystan came in wearing a hotel-monogrammed bathrobe, strutting and displaying a smile that conveyed his pride in his actions.

He was a handsome guy with sand coloured hair and a square jaw. His cheekbones were sharp and still graced with the scar of where she had taken a bite out of him to free herself from his assault. But that mark, and the bruise he’d received at Dax’s hand, didn’t dull his striking looks.

Trystan was taking his time to observe her and Dax, maybe he was trying to intimidate them into speaking first, but he’d never out intimidate Dax.  Now that she had the time, Ivy tried to pick out any of their host’s features that might match Dax’s. Carina’s story had opened so many possibilities, but Ivy didn’t want to raise them with Dax until she could reach a decision on the veracity of Carina’s claims herself.

Hearing that he might be blood-related to Trystan would devastate Dax, and he was still dealing with the idea that Bruno was his father. Adding anything new to the mix would send him into turmoil, and there wasn’t the time for him to fight his way out of that now.

Finding out if the men were related was irrelevant because Dax would still despise Trystan just as much if it were a proven fact. But Ivy didn’t like to withhold information from Dax so she would have to tell him that the possibility existed. She’d have to pick an appropriate moment to discuss it with him, and this sure wasn’t the environment to be thinking about it.

‘Well Mr and Mrs Harrow, what a surprise,’ Trystan said as he strolled the width of the room.

‘You called us,’ Ivy said, not missing the chance to show him up.

‘I heard you were in town, and we are all family, aren’t we?’

Trystan settled his focus on Dax, Ivy glanced around to observe the frost Dax returned to his surrogate brother. They would try to stare each other to death all night if Ivy let them. It was about as violent as Trystan would get with Dax, he wasn’t quite crazy enough to believe that he could conquer Dax in a fight.

‘Where’s Rosie?’ Ivy asked.

‘Still asleep,’ Trystan said. ‘We had quite an eventful night.’

When Trystan had emerged from the bedroom in his robe, Ivy had feared what that meant, but the glint in his eyes confirmed her suspicions.

‘You had sex with her?’ Ivy asked.

Dax’s hand closed around hers, he must have sensed her desire to leap across the room and throttle the smug bastard.

‘What can I say?’ he grinned. ‘She wouldn’t take no for an answer.’

On coming here Ivy had worried that Trystan would irritate Dax, but she hadn’t given full merit to how much he’d grate on her. Getting any kind of rise from another person as a result of his behaviour was what thrilled Trystan and Ivy was his chosen target tonight.

Dax body blocked her when they both rose at the same time. Breaking her view of Trystan was a relief but that didn’t quench her need to see him exposed for the cruel coward that he was. Ivy looked forward to the day that would happen, and she hoped to have a front row seat.

‘Since we’re all here,’ Trystan said. ‘What do you say to a swop? Hmm? Yours for mine, Dax?’

Grabbing for Dax’s waist, it was Ivy’s turn to hold him in place, silently reminding him not to rise to Trystan’s bait. ‘Not a chance,’ Dax said.

‘You were happy to do it before, when dad suggested it. You were happy to give up your wife to me then, just so you could stay in the family.’

Dax started to move forward, but Ivy wrapped her arms around his torso and pressed her breasts into Dax’s spine. ‘He wants to upset you,’ she murmured into him.

‘You didn’t tell her that?’ Trystan asked. The smile in his voice was the sugar meant to make the poison slither down their gullets. ‘Yeah, Ivy, it’s just one of those things, you know, Stark men share women all the time.’

So she had recently heard, if Carina was right, then Mauri shared his wife, though he might not have known it at the time. ‘It’s a good thing that Dax isn’t a Stark then, isn’t it?’ she said, loosening her grip on Dax to slink around his body and into Trystan’s view. ‘He’s nothing like you. He’s a better man than all of you.’

‘No way for you to know that unless you agree to the swop,’ Trystan said. ‘Rosie’s in the bedroom, all warmed up for you, Dax. Don’t you worry about the wife, I know just how to get her going.’

‘Going? Yeah, if you touch me I am likely to leave you in my dust, just like I did the first time you tried to touch me, remember that? Does anyone ever ask you about your scar?’ She pointed toward his face though he was still a good twenty feet away. ‘Do you tell them that it’s there because you tried to touch what wasn’t yours?’

‘I can have any fucking thing that I want,’ Trystan asserted. His smile was long gone, he didn’t appreciate it when the shoe was on the other foot, and he was the one in the spotlight being irritated.

Leaning forward, her ass pressed into Dax, and his hands slid onto her hips. ‘You can’t have me,’ she murmured and widened her smile. ‘You are a sick fuck who seduced my sister because you thought it would be like having me, didn’t you? But it’s as close as you will get, Trystan. You will never have me. I will never want you. And you will live the rest of your life knowing that you’re far inferior to the street rat who your daddy always preferred over you.

‘Dax was Mauri’s number one, and now he’s mine too. No one wants you, and no one ever will, because you are a spoiled, pathetic mess still living off your daddy. Women want a real man, and you are a joke, you can’t provide for a family or protect them. Why would any woman choose you?’

‘Your sister did,’ he snapped.

‘While she was drunk and possibly high, we know what you’re like. You love to drug your women and then take advantage of them. You are a child stuck in a man’s body. What are you going to do when Mauri isn’t around anymore to protect you?’

‘You’re a fucking bitch,’ Trystan snarled. When he stormed toward her, she didn’t recoil, she didn’t have to because Dax sidestepped and inserted his body in front of hers.

‘You think about touching her and you’ll regret it,’ Dax warned in a guttural tone. ‘I’ll take you to pieces, I’ve been looking for an excuse to do it for years.’

‘And how will you explain that to Mauri?’ Trystan barked. ‘You can’t touch me.’

‘I’m not on Mauri’s choke chain anymore, Tryst,’ Dax said. ‘For years I put up with your shit because I didn’t think that there was another way. Now I know that there is.’

The tone of his last sentence was a threat. Just like he’d done on the night they met, Dax had managed to make a threat without using a single negative word. Touching her lips to his arm, she grazed her fingertips down the back of his hand.

‘Mauri would take you apart,’ Trystan said.

‘You won’t have him to hide behind forever,’ Dax replied. ‘You shouldn’t be hiding behind him now. Ivy’s right, you’re spoiled and pathetic. Brad won’t tolerate you risking his operation. He’ll have far less patience for you than Mauri does. You’re going to find yourself in the street without anyone to watch your back.’

‘I don’t need anyone to—‘

‘Yeah, you do.’

‘Dad will look after me, when the will is read—‘

‘You’re going to get a shock,’ Dax said. ‘He’ll provide for you, but Brad will have the power and then what will you do?’

Trystan didn’t have an answer for this and Dax was happy to remain silent and let the truth sink in. When Mauri passed away, he might leave money for Trystan, but Trystan would have no control of the business or the house and other assets. Mauri had offered Dax what he would never give to Trystan.

The youngest Stark was too irresponsible to be trusted with anything that mattered. Maintaining the business and reputation of the family was what mattered to Mauri and Trystan wasn’t capable of that while his father was living and around to guide him.

For years, all of his adult life, Trystan had proved that the only thing he cared about was himself. His antics had jeopardised the family more than any of their business dealings. Being spoiled and selfish, Trystan was happy to push boundaries and keep taking what he wanted without considering the consequences, or how it would affect the Stark name.

‘I should go to Rosie,’ Ivy said. ‘I have to wake her so that we can get out of here.’

‘You’re welcome to join mine and Rosie’s party, I won’t say no to sisters in my bed,’ Trystan said. ‘I can handle two of you at once, piece of cake.’

‘Dream on,’ Ivy said. ‘I’m going in there to get my sister back. I’ll wake her up and get her dressed, then we’re going to get the hell away from here, away from you.’

‘She won’t want to leave,’ Trystan said. ‘She came here with me, and she’ll stay here until I’m finished with her.’

‘Until you’re finished with her?’ Ivy said, remaining behind Dax. ‘Do you think that we’ll just walk away and let you hurt her? You’re forgetting who you’re dealing with. We know what you’re like. I won’t let you pass her around to your friends after you get her high.’

‘You can’t stop it,’ Trystan said, trying to regain the upper hand, but the arrogance he’d maintained when he came in was waning. ‘She’ll want to stay right here. I can show her a good time.’

‘A good time? For as long as it suits you,’ Ivy said. ‘We came here to get her away from you, and that’s what we’re going to do.’

Trystan wouldn’t take on Dax, so Ivy left her shielded position to stand at Dax’s side. The tension radiating between the men was so charged that she told herself to hurry in retrieving Rosie. A brawl wouldn’t end well for Trystan, and she didn’t know how they’d clear up the mess that would be left if Dax started on Trystan.

Proving her previous point, Ivy walked forward and passed Trystan with her head held high, and he did nothing to stop her. Ivy went to the bedroom but paused before entering to look back at the men. Dax and Trystan were frozen in their stare off again, if so much as a hair twitched they were going to snap and start working out some of that conflict burning between them in typical male fashion.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Pushing into the bedroom, Ivy closed the door behind her to make sure that Trystan wouldn’t be able to sneak up on her without at least some warning.

The huge room had a full wall of windows displaying the glitz of this artificial city in full widescreen. But it wasn’t the vista that interested her, Ivy was focused on the centrepiece of the bedroom.

Crossing to the white and gold sheets, which gathered in waves on the bed, Ivy began to pull them aside to uncover her sister’s naked body.

Slumbering with her face pressed into a voluminous pillow, Rosie was out cold. Being in a slumber this deep made Ivy believe that her sister must have been high last night. ‘Damn it,’ Ivy said, giving Rosie a shake. ‘Come on, Rosie, wake up.’

The room was a mess, and she scanned around to see if any of the scattered items might belong to Rosie. Clothes were strewn across the floor, so Ivy left the bed and began to sweep up Rosie’s garments. The mess wasn’t Ivy’s to tidy, but it was a reminder of just how inconsiderate Trystan Stark was.

Empty champagne bottles clattered around, hitting each other every time Ivy lifted something to check for Rosie’s clothes. Ivy found her sister’s underwear, but couldn’t find a dress or skirt to go over the top of it.

‘Rosie!’ Ivy called out, catching sight of the white powder scattered on the dresser nearest the bed. So cocaine had been on the menu last night, as had lobster and something with a red sauce that was smeared into the carpet beside the fallen room service tray.

A flash of green near the bed drew Ivy across the room, and she fell to her knees to try and pull out the fabric, which was tangled in an electrical cable under the bed. ‘God damn it, Rosie!’ Ivy said, still fighting the cord for the dress. ‘Get up, get out of bed!’

A mumbling reply came from the bed, so she was reassured Rosie had heard her. But she had to wrestle with the dress for another minute before it came free. Exhaling, Ivy came out from under the bed and fell back to sit on her feet. Bra, panties, and the dress, it was a start. She would look for Rosie’s shoes while Rosie was getting dressed.

For that, Ivy would need her sister to be fully awake, so that she could comprehend what was going on. Using the bed for support, Ivy climbed onto the mattress, coming at her sister from the other side she had initially sat on.

Shaking the slumbering form again, Ivy pulled Rosie onto her back. Her sister groped around for the sheet, so Ivy pulled it away from her reach. ‘No, Rosie, you are not going back to sleep. You have to wake up, we’re leaving.’

Rosie’s eyes opened the smallest amount. ‘You’re not Trystan.’

‘No, I’m not.’

‘Where is he?’

‘In the other room with Dax,’ Ivy said. ‘You have to get dressed.’

Putting Rosie’s arms into her bra, Ivy slipped it up to her shoulders, but Rosie rolled onto her front again. ‘Go away, Ivy, we’re having fun.’

‘Doesn’t look like fun to me. You trashed this place and if Trystan ducks out and leaves you with the bill, how do you plan to pay for the room and all of this mess?’

Ivy didn’t think that Trystan would do that, he had the funds to pay for whatever he wanted, and he liked to fritter that money away any chance he got. But making the accusation was enough to make Rosie flip onto her back.

‘He wouldn’t do that,’ she said.

Ivy smiled, pleased that Rosie’s eyes were open now though her face was smeared with makeup. ‘Get your clothes on and then we can go out and check that the men are still here.’

Rosie sat up, and Ivy handed over the clothes she’d gathered from around the room. Leaving the bed, Ivy went to the bathroom and moistened the fluffy white face cloth she picked up from the vanity.

‘You should never have run off like that,’ Ivy called, wringing the water out of the face cloth.

‘Don’t start lecturing me,’ Rosie grumbled.

Ivy came into the bedroom to see that Rosie was in her bra and panties, but the dress was proving to be more of an ordeal.

‘I’m not lecturing you,’ Ivy said, sitting on the bed beside Rosie. Using the face cloth, she rubbed away the traces of last night’s makeup marring her skin.

Rosie put up no fight and flopped down to lie flat, she closed her eyes and let Ivy wash her face. Glad as she was that Rosie was accepting her help, Ivy recognised how tired her sister was. All the indicators suggested a come down, which led Ivy to believe that cocaine wasn’t the only drug they used last night.

‘You know, you should be careful,’ Ivy said, holding Rosie’s face as she washed it.

‘Trystan isn’t as bad as you think,’ Rosie mumbled.

‘He is,’ Ivy said. ‘But I’m talking about your recovery. You didn’t use drugs at all when we were at the beach house. You shouldn’t use them just because Trystan asks you to.’

‘He didn’t ask me, he offered them and I’m sorry, Ivy, but I like to have a good time.’

‘This is more than that. You can have a good time without running away with random men who you don’t know and using drugs again.’

‘He’s a good guy, and he’s not a loser, he has money and—‘

‘Just because he has money doesn’t mean that he cares about you. He’s using you.’

‘Using me?’ Rosie said, opening her eyes. ‘Using me for what? Sex? I don’t think so. We had sex at his father’s big fancy house, and Trystan still called me the next day.’

So after what had happened in the mansion bedroom, when Dax knocked Trystan out, Trystan had woken up and then gone on a mission to seduce Rosie. It shouldn’t surprise Ivy that he would be as callous as that, but she didn’t like to see her sister reduced to a piece on a game board.

‘He wants to have sex with you because he knows it will hurt me. He’s trying to lash out at me and Dax. We have history that—‘

Rosie swiped Ivy’s hand away and sat up. ‘You think that a rich, sophisticated guy would only be interested in me because he wants you? Are you jealous?’

‘No,’ Ivy said.

‘Do you want Trystan for yourself?’

‘Trystan attacked me,’ Ivy said. ‘The night he and I met, it was right here, in this suite. He was drunk and high, he was having a party with a bunch of friends and I was working here, I was the private attendant.’

‘In this place?’

‘Yes,’ Ivy said. ‘He tried to get me to drink and take drugs, I refused. Then he… he pinned me down and tried to force me.’

‘And Dax saved you?’

‘Not even close,’ Ivy smiled. ‘I fought Trystan off and I ran. I lost my job here because Trystan told management to fire me. He holds a grudge, and he’s a bad guy. I know that you think you’ve struck gold, but he’ll dump you as soon as he’s finished with you. I don’t want to see you hurt like that.’

‘It’s not like I’m in love with the guy,’ Rosie mumbled and returned to fumbling with her dress. Maybe they weren’t in love, but Ivy could hear the hurt in her sister’s voice.

‘He won’t make you believe he’s in love with you, maybe he’ll try and make you feel special, I don’t know what he does. What I do know is that if there comes a time when you want to say no to him, he won’t hear it. If he wants you to take drugs, he’ll make you take them. If he wants you drunk, he’ll force you to drink. And if he wants to have sex with you… he won’t hear no then either. He could hurt you, Rosie, and not just in your heart, but that beautiful face too… You see that?’ Ivy tipped her head back and angled it to point out the nick of a scar on the underside of her jaw.

Rosie touched the mark and lowered her hand. ‘He did that to you?’

‘Yeah, he did,’ Ivy said, taking Rosie’s dress and untwining the various straps that were meant to hang loose over the back. ‘And the mark on his face, that’s how I got away.’

‘You left your mark on each other.’

‘Yeah,’ Ivy said, opening the dress with wide splayed fingers she guided Rosie’s head and arms through the correct holes. ‘Every time I see his face I think about that night and how grateful I am that I got away from him before he could violate me. I can’t walk away from this room and leave you with a man who I know to be dangerous. I just can’t do it, Rosie. If he hurt you… I would never forgive myself.’

Rosie wriggled the dress down and pulled her feet out from under the sheet to swivel around and sit on the side of the bed beside Ivy. ‘Why do you care so much?’

‘Care so much?’

‘Yeah, I mean, it’s not like we’re close or anything. We haven’t seen each other for years.’

‘Yeah, but you’re still my sister,’ Ivy said, putting an arm around her. ‘I want you to be happy.’

Ivy wouldn’t leave any woman in Trystan’s clutches, much less her sister. She was too aware of his capabilities and how quickly he could turn on a person. Trystan didn’t understand the word “no” and any woman he set his sights on would have a tough time getting away.

This situation was worse because Trystan could turn his hatred and frustration onto Rosie. It didn’t matter that it was Dax and Ivy who riled him, Trystan would see Rosie as a way of venting those negative feelings.

‘Dax, does he…?’

‘Dax would never hurt me,’ Ivy said. ‘He and Trystan have history of their own, which is why I don’t want to leave them out there on their own for too long. Are you ready to go?’

‘Trystan might not let me just walk out of here,’ Rosie said.

In the sober light of day, Rosie was far more reasonable than she was when she was drunk. Until all of this was over Ivy would have to try and keep her sister away from the liquor cabinet in case she changed her mind and returned to Trystan.

Ivy had left the beach house to retrieve her sister, all she could think about was keeping Rosie safe and getting her away from harm. Ivy was grateful for Dax now, grateful that he had followed her to Vegas. It was only because of him that she could smile at her sister as they joined hands.

‘Trystan can throw all the toddler tantrums that he likes,’ Ivy said. ‘Dax is here, and he will have no problem taking Trystan down if he has to. Do you have anything here that you need to take with you?’

Ivy stayed on the bed while Rosie darted around the room to collect her things, there were just a few makeup brushes and items of jewellery, no real luggage. Rosie found her purse in the bathroom and stuffed everything inside, then tucked it under her arm.

‘Ok, I’m ready to go,’ Rosie said. ‘Wait, where are we going?’

‘Back to the beach house,’ Ivy said, joining her sister near the door.

With Carina gone it would just be her and Rosie, but Ivy was glad they would have the chance to get to know each other again. They hadn’t had a huge fight, they’d just drifted apart, each doing what they had to in order to get by. Ivy would like to hear Rosie’s story, and now she had the time for it, thanks to Maurice Stark and some as yet unknown bounty hunters.

A clatter from the next room startled the women. Ivy had known that leaving Trystan and Dax out there alone for too long would lead to trouble. She wasn’t concerned for Dax’s ability to defend himself, but she didn’t trust Trystan not to try and get Dax into trouble with the cops for doing it.

Grabbing Rosie, Ivy dashed out of the bedroom and came up short in the living room. Dax and Trystan weren’t the ones fighting. There were three other men in the room, two of whom were wrestling with a cursing Trystan on the floor, the other stood by Dax having a conversation as though the pandemonium on the floor at their feet was normal. That man, the one with Dax, was unmistakable, his height and stature gave away his identity; it was Serg.

‘What’s going on?’ Ivy asked. Serg and Dax turned. ‘Why are you here?’

‘Mauri sent us,’ Serg said. ‘We didn’t know that your man was here.’

‘You thought that I’d come here alone?’ Ivy asked.

‘Is he a bad guy?’ Rosie asked, pointing at Serg. The note of awareness in her voice was apparent.

‘I don’t know what he is,’ Ivy replied. ‘He’s never hurt or attacked me like Trystan has, but I wouldn’t say he’s warm and cuddly either.’

‘Mauri heard about the beach house exodus,’ Dax said.

‘He checked out Trystan’s credit cards and traced him here,’ Serg said. ‘We were sent to bring him back. Mauri’s not happy that he stole your sister from the beach house and caused you to leave.’

‘Does he know that I’m here?’ Ivy asked.

Serg shrugged. ‘No idea. I just go where he points.’

Making eye contact with Dax, she thought of when he had said something similar. ‘So if I hadn’t been here were you just going to leave my sister here with the check?’

‘It’s already been taken care of,’ Serg said. ‘We have to take Trystan to Mauri, Dax says that you’ll take Rosie back. But we can—‘

‘No,’ Ivy said. ‘I’m not leaving my sister with you guys.’

Serg, Trystan, and those two bulky guys lifting Trystan from the floor, might make for an interesting road trip, but it wasn’t a guaranteed safe one. Mauri usually put up with Trystan’s exploits and then chastised him for them afterwards.

‘Dax probably figured that,’ Serg said.

His men had Trystan up on his feet and despite the split lip, Trystan was unharmed, except he wore an expression of thunder. ‘You set this up, didn’t you, bitch?’ Trystan shouted at her.

Ivy ignored him and kept Rosie’s hand to lead her over to Dax and Serg. ‘Is this normal behaviour?’ Ivy asked. ‘For Mauri to intervene like this.’

‘No,’ Dax said. ‘Never heard of it.’

‘You’ve never heard of it because you were his check on the jerk,’ Serg said. ‘Mauri didn’t have to police him when he had you doing it for him.’

That made sense to Ivy. Dax put an arm around her, holding her body into his. She felt like an anchor though she was unsure about what he was trying to hold onto – his anger or his restraint.

‘Get him dressed,’ Serg said to his men who dragged Trystan into the bedroom.

Being told what to do was Trystan’s worst nightmare, and although he swore out his objections to how he was being manhandled, he did little to fight the men. That behaviour exhibited his true colours, he’d get physical with a woman who he could overpower, but with men who were stronger and meaner, his true cowardice flourished.

Dax’s phone rang, he let her go and walked to the window to speak to whoever was on the other end.

‘I want to get going,’ Rosie said to Ivy.

‘We’ll wait for Dax,’ Ivy said. With Serg showing up to cart Trystan off, they didn’t have to worry about travelling separately. Ivy had the car keys, but wouldn’t use them until she had her husband at her side.

‘I’m going to check on Trystan,’ Serg said and left them to go into the bedroom.

‘He’s a giant,’ Rosie muttered, watching Serg go. ‘Do you think he’s giant everywhere?’

Drawing her eyes to her curious sister, Ivy laughed. ‘Have you not learned your lesson about strange men? And they don’t come much stranger than him.’

‘Stranger than who?’ Dax came back to them, putting his phone in his pocket. Ivy raised the keys and dropped them into his hand.

‘Who was on the phone?’ Ivy asked.

‘Mauri,’ Dax said. ‘He wants us back at the mansion too.’

‘He snapped his fingers and thinks that we’ll jump? What did you tell him?’

‘That we were in Vegas and Serg had shown up to take Trystan home. We have to go back to California anyway, so I told him we’d stop at the mansion.’

‘We don’t have to go back, why do we have to go back?’ Ivy asked.

‘Because he says he has your things from Kay’s place and until we find out who is behind the bounty and put a stop to it, you’re in danger. I want this over before we go back home. Do you want to put our friends in danger?’

Appealing to her about their friends’ safety was purely for her benefit. Dax would sacrifice anyone, all of their friends and acquaintances, before he would let anyone harm a hair on her head.