The triangle of men scrutinised each other, each waiting for the other to act. All of them were the alpha types who liked to be in control, but Dax was the only one with a weapon, Bruno’s weapon. Mauri would have a weapon somewhere in this room, but he wasn’t revealing its location, yet.
‘Tell me why you put the bounty on Ivy,’ Dax asked Bruno.
He grumbled but did respond. ‘Because she’s a bitch who took everything away from all of us! Look at this shit! We’re ready to kill each other because of her!’
‘Not because of her,’ Dax said.
‘If you had stayed, done what you were told, Mauri would’ve let us run the show. But I fucked up, my reputation is in the shitter because you had to fall for that cheap piece of ass. Taking her out meant you had no reason not to come and work for Mauri… I was doing you a favour!’
‘You’re jealous that I listened to her instead of you,’ Dax said. ‘That’s it?’
‘She deserves it,’ Bruno growled. ‘No stinking bitch is gonna ruin me. I should’ve kicked you out of that beach house, taken over, trained that bitch to sit, heel, and beg. You were weak, but I could’ve done it. She’d have done fucking tricks for me if I’d been in charge.’
So it was Bruno’s wounded pride that made Dax almost lose Ivy. ‘You were left alone out there because you were trusted,’ Mauri said. ‘You were the two men in the world I trusted more than any other… You let me down, Dax.’
‘I don’t give a fuck about disappointing you,’ Dax said. ‘The only thing I’d do differently if I did it all again would be to get Ivy out of there the first chance I got.’
‘You’re a fucking asshole,’ Bruno said.
‘You’re gonna call it off. The bounty, it’s done,’ Dax said to Bruno. ‘Get out your phone and call Benny, you tell him to call off the hunters.’
‘They want their money, and I can give it to them!’ Bruno exclaimed. ‘I made a mint off this family and using some of that dough to blast a hole in your fucking happiness is worth it. No kid of mine will be a mushy fucking lovesick pup. You need to be angry, bitter, out to hate the world, then you’ll fucking know what it is to be respected.’
‘I’m not interested in being your kid,’ Dax said. ‘Take out your cell and call it off, or I’ll put a bullet between your eyes right now.’
Bruno’s lips squeezed together, he didn’t like to be given orders, but Dax would guess he’d like losing his life less. So Bruno reached into his pocket and took out his phone. Punching in a phone number, he lifted the phone to his ear.
‘Put it on speakerphone,’ Dax said, and again Bruno grumbled something, but lowered the phone and did as he was told. ‘You tell him it’s over, and that Ivy isn’t to be harmed.’
The four of them listened to the ringing until Benny picked up. ‘Bruno? What the fuck is going on?’ The guy sounded panicked, his panted words were rushed. ‘Ravager was here, him and that big fuck he hangs with, they were looking for you… they know about—‘
‘I know,’ Bruno said. ‘Call it off.’
‘What?’
‘The bounty, it’s over, send out word, the girl isn’t to be touched.’
‘Are you…? Are you sure?’ Benny asked. ‘You were sure about—‘
‘Yes, I’m fucking sure,’ Bruno said. ‘Don’t question me you little fuck, just do it.’
‘Ok, boss, whatever you say.’
‘Happy now?’ Bruno asked Dax.
‘One more thing,’ Dax said before Bruno hung up.
‘Who…? Who is that?’ Benny stuttered.
‘It’s Ravager,’ Dax said. ‘You tell anyone who thinks about trying to collect anyway that they’ll have to face me.’
‘Oh… ok,’ Benny said.
‘You tell them the money train isn’t capable of delivering,’ Dax said.
‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ Bruno asked probably ready to go on another rant about how much money he had.
‘Where Ivy’s safety is concerned, I’m not gonna take any chances,’ Dax said and squeezed the trigger.
The kick didn’t move him, he kept his eyes trained on Bruno whose stunned expression froze. Carina wailed and dashed across the room. The phone clattered to the floor before Bruno’s body followed and the blood seeping from his head spread on the floor. Carina threw herself down on Bruno and began to sob, but Dax turned his attention to Mauri, he wasn’t interested in her dramatic display.
‘You’re gonna make sure that no one comes near Ivy again. You’re all going to leave us the fuck alone, and if I so much as see Trystan or Brad again they’ll hit the deck just as fast, understand?’
Mauri nodded, his jaw slack and his eyes wide, he obviously hadn’t expected Dax to shoot the threat to Ivy because of their relationship. Dax didn’t care about blood, it hadn’t done him any favours; Ivy was his family, his future, and that was all he needed.
Carina lifted herself from Bruno. ‘Why? Why did you do this? Why did you hurt him?’
‘You’re a sucker for it,’ Dax said. ‘He didn’t love you. He heard you were back in town and could give him information, and you handed it out because you thought it would gain you his approval. Have some self-respect. Don’t ever come near me or Ivy again, we’re not interested, you had your chance and it’s done.’
With one last look at Mauri, Dax went to the door and moved through the house. Numbness took over the adrenaline. When he’d walked out of the mansion after the midnight meeting, he’d thought he’d never be back. His purpose then was to hunt Ivy down. Now he knew exactly where she was and getting to her was all the purpose he needed. This chapter of his life was finished.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ivy wanted to do what Dax had told her, but as the minutes ticked by she began to think up all sorts of terrifying scenarios. He might need her, he might need back-up, and she couldn’t sit here doing nothing. So when she finally couldn’t take it anymore, Ivy whipped up her jacket and keys and began to head for the front door.
Just before she got there, it opened. Running into the entryway she was so relieved to see Dax nudging the door closed. But when he closed his eyes and rested back against it, relief became concern.
‘Dax?’ she asked. Dropping the items in her hands she rushed to him and began to run her hands all over him. But there was no blood or injuries. The lump she discovered in the front of his jeans made her lift the edge of his tee-shirt. When she identified what it was, she gasped and stumbled back. ‘Where did you get the gun from?’
‘From the man I shot with it,’ he said, taking the weapon out of his waistband. ‘It’s ok. I’ll get rid of it, I just didn’t want to leave it on the scene. I didn’t trust those bastards not to set me up.’
His hand came to the back of her head, and he pulled her forward for a kiss, then shoved her aside to go into the bedroom where he began to strip his clothes off. ‘Grab whatever you need, we’re getting out of here.’
‘In a hurry?’ she asked. ‘Who did you shoot?’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said, throwing the gun onto the bed. ‘I had to take care of it, we won’t have to worry about bounty hunters anymore.’
He had told her that it would take time for that information to get out even after it was called off by the source. ‘Are we going on the run?’
‘They’re not going to call the cops, I know too much,’ Dax said, moving into the bathroom. ‘I’ve told you before that Mauri doesn’t want anyone looking too closely. The Starks get rid of bodies all the time. It’s no big deal.’
Ivy followed him and watched him turn on the shower then retrieve a towel from the top shelf above the mirror. ‘Did you see Carina? Did she say what… what happened to Saul?’
‘She was feeding Bruno information,’ he said, hanging the towel over the corner of the shower screen, then stopping to take her hands. ‘Saul died trying to protect her. Bruno showed up at his place, I guess he and Carina were going to hook up.’