‘I thought the same thing,’ Dax said, forcing himself to leave his position by the door. He went to the chair beside Mauri’s and sat. ‘But see what I can’t figure out, is why you don’t have a handle on what’s going down. Nothing like this, nothing this big, goes down without you knowing someone who knows something.’
Mauri exhaled what was probably supposed to be a laugh, but it became a wince. ‘As you might have noticed, I’m not quite at my full strength.’
‘No, but you’ve got Brad running the show. If he was to ask around—‘
‘I haven’t given Brad all of the information about this,’ Mauri said. ‘He’s not happy about the offer that I made to you. He would never contradict me in public, but behind closed doors… Ivy’s war is not the only one being waged now, and I no longer have my favourite son to protect me.’
‘I wasn’t your favourite,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I was just the most pliable.’
‘Brad is proud and cannot be told, he thinks that he knows best and does not understand how wisdom comes with experience.’
‘He doesn’t listen to you,’ Dax said. ‘That’s not new.’
‘And Trystan… well, you know what he’s like.’
‘Yeah,’ Dax said. ‘You spoiled him, he thinks that he’s invincible, which is why he thinks he can take whatever he wants.’
‘He was unhappy about you leaving the party,’ Mauri said. ‘I assumed from the bruising on his head that you and he had words.’
‘Not so many words, but action was taken. He puts his hands on my wife again and next time he won’t bruise, he won’t breathe either.’
‘I’ll talk to him,’ Mauri said. ‘Do you believe that he could be behind this bounty?’
‘He has the means,’ Dax said. ‘I’m not taking anyone out of the running, including you.’
‘Me? I thought we’d discussed this,’ Mauri asked. ‘Why would I want to harm Ivy?’
‘Could be that you think I’ll take you up on your offer if she’s not around, maybe you just want to take someone with you when you go.’
‘Well,’ Mauri said, examining the fireplace. If Dax didn’t know him any better, he would think that Mauri was hurt. ‘I’m sorry that you believe me to be so callous. I wouldn’t take your happiness from you. If I wanted to do that, I could have used the many other opportunities that I’ve had with Ivy.’
‘You wanted us around, in the beach house, spending more time in California, and you’ve gotten your wish, that’s a hard fact to ignore.’
‘Maybe,’ Mauri said. ‘But as you pointed out, I won’t be around for long. If you don’t have me, and you don’t have Ivy, what would you do?’
Dax would tear apart every person who had harmed his wife and anyone that those people cared about. He’d dedicate his life to avenging her, because he would no longer care about his own life. There would be no future for him because Ivy was his future. Without her, nothing else would hold the same value.
‘Like I said,’ Dax said, brushing aside those thoughts of revenge. ‘It’s hard to ignore that you got exactly what you wanted.’
‘What I wanted was for you to develop a relationship with your mother. If you’re running around in the city trying to track down the threat to Ivy you’re not spending time with her, are you?’
‘Why do you care about my relationship with my mother?’
‘I realised after the meeting we had, before you left to retrieve Ivy… I realised that telling you about Bruno, that he was your father, it must have raised questions for you. I can tell you everything that I know, but that doesn’t substitute what those in the relationship will tell you. Your mother will be a valuable source of information for you.’
‘What does it matter where I came from?’ Dax asked, propelling himself out of the armchair.
‘It matters because you have a future with Ivy, and you can’t embrace that until you understand where you originated. I worry… about you… I know how your temper can get you into trouble. The fighting, it seemed to give you a purpose and prevented you from getting into scrapes that could have landed you in jail.’
Dax spun around, Mauri was brighter now that he was discussing the past. ‘What are you talking about?’ Dax asked.
‘You used to fight, with the staff children here, then at school… it’s why we started to school you from here in the mansion. You were always quick with your fists. Your father, the man you believed to be your father, had trained you to release that energy in the ring. As soon as we allowed you back into that ring, you began to excel at school again, you got along better with the other children.’
Dax didn’t remember a time that Mauri had tried to stop him fighting, the ring had always been a sanctuary for him, a way to get rid of the fury he often felt toward the world as a teenager. ‘I don’t remember that.’
‘It was only a few months,’ Mauri said. ‘But it escalated quickly, Brad and Trystan feared you. That was why it made sense for you to live with the staff children in the back of the house, we kept you apart for their safety.’
The control he had over his urges to lash out was something he’d struggled with in his late teens and twenties, but he’d overcome that erratic side of his nature. ‘I’m going to fight tonight,’ Dax said.
‘I’m not surprised, you often need that vent when you’re feeling overwhelmed.’
‘I am not overwhelmed,’ Dax snapped. ‘Winlow described Ivy as Ravager’s girl, for someone to use my fighting name, in this city…’
‘They must know you from those circles,’ Mauri nodded. ‘Tell me where it’s taking place and I’ll have men there to back you up, in case things get out of hand.’
‘I can handle myself,’ Dax said, he’d called up his scout on the way over here, so he didn’t know where the fight would be yet. But he would in a couple of hours.
‘I understand,’ Mauri said. ‘You should take Serg at the very least. While you are in the ring others will be on the lookout for Ivy, someone should be watching for those people.’
‘I’ll talk to him,’ Dax said. ‘He picked me up at the beach house, he’ll need to give me a ride back over there.’
‘You can take any of the cars here that you need. It might make sense for you to have your own mode of transportation, just in case any unforeseen circumstances arise.’
‘Security still at the beach house?’ Dax asked. Mauri nodded. ‘Any incidents?’
‘Not that I’ve heard about,’ Mauri said. ‘And I have had regular updates, last one was around an hour ago, and Ivy had just gotten into the pool.’
It was reassuring to know that Ivy was safe, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about other men watching his wife and reporting on her movements.
‘Good,’ Dax said, heading for the door.
‘Where are you going now?’ Mauri asked him. ‘Do you have more leads?’
‘Right now I’m going back to the beach house,’ he said. ‘I told Ivy that I would be back tonight, but if I’m fighting, I won’t be.’
‘So you’re going to break the news gently,’ Mauri smiled.
Dax reached the exit. ‘Gently and Ivy don’t go together.’
‘You know,’ Mauri said, rising from the chair and moving around it to rest his hands on the back. ‘I didn’t consider how you would change by finding the right woman. Brad has always been a serious person, and Trystan has always been wild. I hoped that he would settle down with the right woman at his side and some kids running around. But you… marriage and children weren’t things I considered for your future.’
‘I was supposed to die young,’ Dax said causing Mauri to frown. ‘I remember you telling me when I was in my twenties that if I kept tearing around on the damn bike and walking into the ring night after night that I was inviting death. Back then I didn’t care, I never considered my future.’
‘Until you met Ivy.’
Shaking his head, he took his eyes to his hand on the door handle. ‘I married her to stop Trystan from getting his hands on her. I knew she was special… that I… that I felt something for her but… it wasn’t about the future, it was a solution to my problem.’