‘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.