‘Did Bruno know?’
‘I don’t know.’
Fixated on the case, he balled his fists at his sides, which was the closest Dax would get to telling her he was upset. Crossing the room, she rubbed his back and pressed her lips to the dragon tattooed on his arm.
‘If you want to go then we’ll go,’ she said. ‘But don’t forget what I said to you at the garage.’
‘This is my last chance,’ he said, bringing his eyes to hers. ‘So you’re telling me if I fuck this up you’re going to leave me?’
‘I’m sort of used to the idea that you’re the only man allowed to touch me. If Bruno or Trystan lay their hands on me again—‘
‘Listen to me,’ he said. Twisting the quarter turn to face her, he took hold of her upper arms. ‘I know that you won’t admit to being scared, that you won’t give an inch. That stubborn, wilful front of yours—‘
‘Uh, Kettle? Pot is calling.’
‘I’m not going to let them hurt you.’
‘And how do I make you the same promise?’ she asked. ‘They’re hurting you already and most of them are still a continent away.’
‘I’ve been dealing with the Starks and their crew for twenty years, I can handle them now.’
‘You dealt with them while you were working with them and you were all on the same side. Neither is true anymore. What if they set you up with Rita or Fifi or—‘
‘Other women? You have nothing to worry about there, I won’t bow to their pressure, and we’re solid, babygirl. We’ve been together for almost five months, and the way I feel about you hasn’t changed. In that garage I told you I wouldn’t let you escape again, you made your choice my prison or theirs.’
‘Did you really think that you were holding me against my will? Did you doubt how I felt about you?’
‘I was used to Mauri being the one to tell me how it was, and when he told me that you were using me, it was easier to believe that and maintain the status quo than it was to believe you.’
‘Because I wanted to wreck your entire world.’
‘Which I don’t think I ever thanked you for,’ he said. With his index fingers, he touched her temples and traced down to move her hair back over her shoulders.
‘Thanked me?’ she asked. ‘You’re pleased that I…’
‘That we got together, yeah, I’m damn pleased about that.’
‘Good, maybe you won’t fuck it up this time,’ she said. ‘But if we get to a point where you have to make a choice, I’d appreciate it if you let me know if that choice involves dropping me.’
‘Not gonna happen,’ he said, pulling her body into his to hold her in his arms.
‘I should just ask you for a divorce now,’ she said, her lips squashed into his torso.
‘That’s not gonna happen either… You want me to pack for you?’
‘No,’ she said, pushing out of his arms and bending to unzip the case he’d put on the bed. ‘If I let you pack for me all I’ll end up with is lingerie and flip-flops.’
‘I trust you to handle it,’ he said, smacking her ass. ‘I’ll get the steaks on.’
He left the room and she flipped open the case then stared down at his strewn clothes. Going back to California and the Starks was going to test them and passing that test wasn’t guaranteed.
Chapter Two
Dax released the California apartment door, letting it slide back into the frame with its own inertia. Ivy was a few feet in front of him and the breath she expelled made her body sag. Coming back here to California might be a huge mistake, but Mauri knew everything there was to know about Dax’s past. If he ever wanted to find out who his mother was or how she ended up with Bruno, then Mauri was the only one he could hope to get that information from.
Bruno couldn’t stand him and the animosity was mutual. If Dax tried to open communication between them, Bruno would delight in taunting him. Dax would never be able to trust the information that Bruno gave him.
Ivy didn’t move further into the apartment, she just stood in the entryway. Putting down the suitcase, he curled his hands around her shoulders and squeezed. During the flight, she hadn’t said a word and Dax did his best not to talk to Brad either. Serg was on the flight with them as well, the whole experience had been too surreal to pretend that they were all buddies or happy to be in the company of each other.
Serg used to be his number two, and Dax used that lingering façade of authority to question Serg on the other men and the state of the operation. Ivy kept her attention out of the window, her scowl remained fixed on the clouds outside the aircraft. He caught Serg glancing at her with either confusion or concern throughout the journey, but Dax doubted that sentiment reached too deep; after all Serg had been sent to spy on them and report back to Brad. Serg’s loyalty went as deep as the person with the deepest pockets could afford.
Now that they were alone in his California apartment, he could put her at ease. Kissing her head, he bent his knees and traced his lips down her neck to her shoulder. Nudging the strap of her dress away with his chin, he insinuated his hand around to peel back her dress to expose one breast, which he quickly took into his palm.
The weight in his groin increased but when he tried to turn her toward the bedroom, she wouldn’t move. Assuming that she was ignoring him because of another marital tradition, he bent to scoop her up, but she pushed him off and walked away from his lower arm, preventing him from lifting her.
‘I can get rid of that scowl if you loosen up a bit,’ he said. Being short with her probably wasn’t fair, she would be nervous about what was to come, but he was sick of seeing her spitting fury.
She went into the living room, so he followed her. When she got into the middle of the space, she spun around and held open her arms. From this distance it was tough to tell, but he was sure that her lower lashes were barricading a line of unshed tears. Crying was so unlike her that his own eyes widened, and he took a step back. Quelling his urge to retreat, he swallowed his discomfort and told himself to stay put and not run like a pussy, it was just a few lousy tears.
‘The last time we were here… I walked away, Dax, you wanted me to walk away from you.’
He had refused the invite for them to visit the Stark mansion because he thought that coming back to the apartment would calm her, this space was safe from the Starks. What he hadn’t taken account of was their past, this place was safe from others, but not safe from their demons.
‘You want to check into a hotel?’
Tipping her chin toward the ceiling, she sighed. ‘Forget it.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘What do you want me to do? If you don’t want to be here, then we’ll go somewhere else.’
‘You don’t give a fuck?’ she asked. ‘You really don’t think about what happened between us here?’
‘I think about what happened in the bedroom,’ he said.
‘No you don’t,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Because when we had sex in there you thought it was the last time that we would ever be intimate, you were going to turn me over to them.’
‘But I didn’t, did I?’
‘No, you didn’t,’ she said, going to the window. ‘I’m sorry, I know… I know, I need to get over this.’ Pulling the band out of her hair, she flicked it around her wrist in an expert move and ran her hands through her long, luxurious locks. ‘Ok.’
‘Ok, what?’ he asked. Ivy was a great woman, the best he’d met, but she was still a woman, and one that often left him at a loss about what was going on in that head of hers.
‘Ok,’ she said, turning away from the window. ‘Just ok.’ Hooking her thumbs under the straps of her dress, she pulled it down, wiggling out of her panties in the same manoeuvre. ‘Come over here and fuck me.’
If that was a power play, it worked. He didn’t care that she’d refused him in the hallway, not now that she stood in his living room completely naked asking for action.
Shirking out of his clothes on his journey to her, he swooped down to pick her up, and she coiled her legs around his waist and welcomed his mouth. Directing them toward the couch, she broke their kiss and patted his shoulders.