‘Is that for Dax?’
‘The fruit salad?’ Ivy smirked. ‘No, he likes his fruit whole, and the only breakfast he has is tar thick coffee and the occasional donut or three when they’re around.’
‘He didn’t look like the type to enjoy deep fried food.’
‘I don’t think he’s met a junk food that he doesn’t like,’ Ivy said, taking another mouthful of fruit. She chewed and sucked out the juice but eventually swallowed. ‘He runs and works out all the time, so he needs the energy. And he’s a believer in everything in moderation.’ As she said it, Ivy immediately thought of at least two things he didn’t mind overindulging in, one of which was her.
‘You must think that this is odd,’ Carina said, smoothing a towel that lay folded on the counter. ‘I’m his mother, but I don’t know a thing about him.’
‘Dax isn’t an easy guy to get to know,’ Ivy said. ‘Why are you doing this? I mean, why are you here?’
‘I haven’t heard of him for so long and—‘
‘Look,’ Ivy said, shoving her bowl back so that she could lean on the counter. ‘You won’t win any points with me or Dax by bullshitting us, we have quite an accurate radar for that kind of shit.’
‘You’re a tough woman.’
To go with her tough guy, yeah, that made sense. But it wasn’t her job to make friends with the mother of her husband, Ivy knew her job now was to protect him, not to prioritise building bridges.
‘You came here for money,’ Ivy said. ‘Mauri said it to us at the mansion. You’ll get a lot further with both of us if you’re honest.’
‘Mauri tracked me down,’ she said. ‘But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get to know my son… and the woman he loves of course.’
The kitchen door swung open again and her sister, Rosie, swanned in with a grin on her face. ‘This place is immense! Your husband is related to zillionaires!’
The house only had three bedrooms, but the rooms were huge and the furnishings screamed wealth. Rosie was older than her by two years. They were the same height, but Rosie’s hair had been the same bleach blonde for as long as she could remember.
‘Where did Mauri find you?’ Ivy asked her sister who had already bounded over to snatch up Ivy’s fruit salad.
‘I was in Texas, singing in a club in Dallas,’ Rosie said, munching on an orange segment. ‘Where did you find that hunk of a husband? I didn’t really believe the guy who picked me up in Dallas when he told me you’d got married. But, wow, Ive, you did good. He’s a great guy.’
Typical that Rosie would say such a thing having never exchanged a single word with Dax. ‘You don’t know anything about him,’ Ivy said.
‘Well, where is he? Bring him in.’
‘He’s not here,’ Ivy said. ‘He got called out to work.’ She wasn’t going to be the one to tell Rosie and Carina about the gangs of people possibly looking to cause her harm. Mauri might have let them know, but until she talked to Dax about the merits of full disclosure, she was keeping her mouth shut.
‘To work?’ Carina said. Something about the shift in her shoulders told Ivy that she knew exactly what Dax did, or rather had done, for the Stark family.
‘He’ll be back tonight,’ Ivy said, tidying up the mess she’d made.
‘Do you know that for sure?’ Rosie asked, polishing off the last of Ivy’s breakfast.
Yes, Ivy was confident in Dax’s return, he wouldn’t want to leave her alone with all these variables floating around. He was also aware that he wouldn’t get laid for a month if he abandoned her here.
‘How do you know your way around this kitchen so well?’ Carina asked.
‘I’ve spent time here before, with Dax… and Bruno.’
Ivy didn’t have to wait long for Carina to react. The woman left her stool and took a hand to her chest. ‘Mauri said that I wouldn’t have to see him.’
‘You don’t have to see him,’ Ivy said. ‘He’s not been around, he wasn’t in the mansion. Trystan said that he and Mauri had an argument.’
‘Trystan is cute,’ Rosie said, taking the empty bowl to the sink to dump it there.
‘Don’t even think about going there,’ Ivy said. Rosie went back to her stool. ‘You don’t want to get mixed up with him.’
‘Could be fun,’ Rosie said. ‘He’s a rich guy with class, I could do worse… hell, I have done worse!’ Rosie laughed. Carina was polite enough to smile, but the mention of Bruno’s name had rattled her.
‘How did you and Bruno meet?’ Ivy asked, crossing to the sink to wash up the dishes.
‘I don’t… I’m not sure that I should talk about that… should I?’ Carina asked.
‘I met my last serious boyfriend in a public restroom,’ Rosie said, pulling the jug of freshly squeezed orange juice from the fridge. ‘And yes, that story is as distasteful as it sounds. Where did you meet Dax?’
‘Vegas,’ Ivy answered honestly. ‘Why were you in Dallas? I thought you were staying with Auntie Jo?’
‘I was until she got this letch of a boyfriend, yuck, he thought he owned the whole place, and Jo just let him take over. I was out of there as soon as he started laying down rules like I was some dumb kid.’
Some dumb kid was exactly how Rosie came across. It was a bit rich of Rosie to pass judgement on how Jo was with her boyfriends because Rosie was exactly the same. She let her boyfriend’s rule the roost and would let them get away with anything as long as they gave her attention. Rosie and Jo were just the same, their self-worth was directly tied to how much attention they got from the opposite sex.
Carina was tough to get a read on. She seemed kind of classy but was uneasy around others, and uncomfortable with direct questions, something Dax could be guilty of too.
‘Have you heard from her recently? Is she ok?’ Ivy asked.
‘Last I heard, yeah,’ Rosie said, pouring out a full glass then putting the jug on the island while she sat on a stool and slurped from her glass. ‘I want to hear more about Dax.’
‘You’ll hear about Dax from him,’ Ivy said.
It was unlikely that Dax would come back tonight and open up to a room full of women, but Ivy wasn’t going to give away information about him when she knew how private he liked to be. They were married now, and his secrets were her secrets, which was just the way she planned to keep them.
‘What’s downstairs?’ Rosie asked. Ivy’s hands went limp in the dishwater, and she drew in a breath at the reminder of what she’d endured in the space beneath their feet.
‘Yes,’ Carina said. ‘Rosie and I had a look around last night, and we couldn’t find the basement entrance.’
‘I think it’s that door by the stairs,’ Rosie said. ‘It’s the only one that wouldn’t open.’
‘It is,’ Ivy said. ‘Dax will have a key.’ Though there was a chance that door was locked for a reason.
‘It’s weird that they’d lock us out of just one place,’ Rosie said. ‘What do you think is down there?’
Possibly another woman who inhabited her cell, though Ivy prayed that wasn’t the case. ‘Last time I was here it was just a gym.’
‘A gym? Well isn’t that monumentally disappointing? I was at least hoping for the family fortune, or maybe a private nightclub or something,’ Rosie sagged and dropped her head into her hands. ‘Can we even get down to the beach?’
‘Not from here,’ Ivy said. ‘But talking of the beach, I think I’ll go for a swim in the pool, then I’ll whip up something for lunch, does that suit everyone?’
She was draining the water from the sink and drying her hands, but didn’t wait for responses. Ivy went back upstairs to her bedroom and flopped face first onto the bed. This experience was draining her already, and Dax had only been gone for an hour.
As soon as Dax got into the car, Serg updated him. Late last night, Mauri had called Serg to fill him in on their new arrangement. Having Serg on the case was reassuring, Mauri had chosen a point man who Dax could trust. On the downside, Serg didn’t excel at taking initiative, so Dax would have to drive this wagon.