Fighting Back

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

Ivy put the last plate in the kitchen cabinet and glanced at the clock on the wall. Brad Stark coming back into their lives spelled trouble, no two ways about it. He’d crossed the width of the country to seek Dax out. The Starks were serious about wanting him back. It couldn’t be anything else, there was no other reason for Brad to be there.

If Trystan showed up, he’d have been hellbent on revenge. Brad wasn’t so shallow; he did his father’s bidding not his dirty work. If Maurice Stark wanted harm to come to her or Dax, minions would do it for him.

The image of Dax entering that car without looking back was imprinted on the inside of her eyelids, which was why she’d kept herself busy cleaning up their apartment.

Their new life was good, they were making friends, adjusting to life in their fresh environment. Dax had even found himself a couple of fights. Much as she didn’t like to see him come home bloodied, his love of the underground circuit was a part of who he was.

With Brad back and Dax willing to hear him out, their lives could be disrupted. If their new friends asked questions, answers wouldn’t be easy to give.

Wiping down the kitchen counters, she reminded herself how far Dax had come. Maybe he’d tell Brad to go to hell. If he did, there would be a major reward in it for him.

The living-kitchen area of their home ran the width the apartment, windows flanked the door. A narrow corridor at the rear led to the bathroom and bedroom. There wasn’t much left to clean up, keeping her mind off Dax was growing harder by the second.

The front door opened. Oh thank God. It was so difficult not to yelp in response to the relief that overcame her. Coming home so soon, when she’d half expected him to be gone for days, was a good sign. Going to the fridge to retrieve the dinner steaks, she’d be happy to forget ever casting her eyes on Brad again.

“I got these from a place Bri recommended,” she said of their female neighbor who she’d become friends with.

“That’s it?” Dax asked.

He came up behind her and slid a hand over her hip while the other scooped her hair out of his way. His warm lips touched the artery pulsing in her neck. Ignoring him, she carried on seasoning the steaks.

“The butcher is supposed to be amazing. The guys at the garage were jealous when I said I’d picked them up, and for what they cost…”

The hand on her hip carried on around to her belly, his other skimmed down her arm, and he pried her fingers away from the knife she’d just picked up.

“Dax,” she whined. When he unbuttoned her shorts, she smiled. “You have to be at the club in an hour, and I have to feed you before—”

“I stopped at Blaser’s before I came up, he’s giving us some time off.”

“For a belated honeymoon?” she asked, coiling her arm around her body to slip his belt from its restraining loops. “Somewhere hot and far away from these shores?”

“Actually, yeah, that’s one way to look at it. How does California sound?”

“Like my idea of hell,” she said, withdrawing her hand before it got to the good stuff. “You’re not much of a comedian, tough guy.”

“I’m not kidding. We’re going to California tomorrow.”

“Oh no we’re not,” she said.

“We are.”

With her hands on the counter, she used all of her weight to push her body back into his, giving her space to escape. After shoving him aside, she went to the sink and washed her hands, fighting to subdue the strength of her reaction.

Tossing the towel aside, she turned to face him. “You’re going back to them?”

“We,” he said, trying to encroach on her, but she removed herself from his path and headed into the living room.

“I am not going back to Maurice Stark. What about Trystan?”

“What about him?” Dax asked, his face set in a frown. “You’re not afraid of him, you’re not f*****g afraid of anyone.”

“It’s the f*****g part that I stick on. You didn’t tell me about what happened the night you walked away. At that midnight meeting. I can guarantee no one floated their congratulations, did they?”

“Maurice has taken care of it,” Dax said. “Brad told me that Maurice has told everyone about us and told them to keep their hands off you.”

“Oh well if Brad told you, I guess it’s okay.”

“Why would he lie?”

“Why would he tell the truth?” she demanded. “And Bruno, what about him?”

His eyes went one way, his chin went up and his tongue darted out to moisten half of his top lip. She didn’t like that tell, not one little bit.

“Forget about him.” Dax spoke in his company voice, in that blunt, intimidating tone, then stalked over to the living room window. None of his actions encouraged reassurance.

“There’s too much going on that you haven’t told me about,” she said. “I can’t go back there.”

“I can’t leave you here. If they want to divide us, me going to California leaves you wide open.”

“I thought you just said Maurice had taken care of things for us. Either you trust the guy, or you don’t.”

“Fine, if you want to stay here, stay here,” he said.

Whipping around, he began to march toward the bedroom, but she hurried over to block the head of the hallway. “You do still trust him? How can you—”

Grabbing her arm, he tried to wrench her aside. “Maurice never lied to me,” Dax said.

She got hold of him to keep herself in his way. “Maurice didn’t tell you that he took care of it, Brad told you he did. Do you trust him?”

“Brad? No. I don’t trust that bastard.”

“Then why should we get on a plane with him?” she asked, reaching up to cup his cheek. “He’s manipulating you. Whatever he wants you to do, it can’t be worth the risk, can it?”

“He doesn’t want me to do anything, Maurice wants to see me.”

“Then he can get his ass on a plane and come here,” she said, not wild about having Maurice Stark sniffing around in their new life.

“He can’t get on a plane.”

“Why not? Is immigration looking for him?” Her joke fell on deaf ears. He tried to look away again, so she slapped her other palm onto his other cheek. “What aren’t you telling me? How did Brad upset you like this?”

“He’s sick.”

“Brad?”

Dax shook his head. “Mauri is sick, he’s only got a few months.”

Lowering from her tiptoes, her hands fell away. In the same moment they lost eye contact, he put a hand on her elbow to move her aside. She let him walk away from her. If Maurice Stark was sick, it was understandable that Dax wanted to go see him. He had acted as a father to Dax, and Dax had always respected him.

Letting go of his relationship with Mauri was the hardest part of Dax’s decision to be with her. Something had happened at the midnight meeting on the night he left the Stark mansion for good. He had never told her about it, but she suspected more had been exchanged than her husband wanted to confess.

Mauri had thoroughly trained Dax to follow his orders without question. For twenty years, that was exactly what Dax did… until he got entangled with her.

Heading for the bedroom, she found him packing things into an open suitcase that lay on the bed. “Devil’s advocate,” she said, “what if this is all a ruse just to get you back there?”

“You’re not playing devil’s anything,” he replied. “You’re your own advocate.”

“Do you blame me? The last time I was with them—”

“Nothing evil happened, I kept you safe.”

“Yeah, the days I spent in the beach house basement were a ball, and Bruno—”

“You don’t have to worry about him,” Dax said, zipping the partially filled case. “And I promised you wouldn’t spend a night in that basement again, didn’t I? We’re going to my apartment in the city, you don’t have to go anywhere near the Starks.”

“You know it won’t work out that way,” she said. “I want to support you. We can’t show them weakness, we have to be united, or they’ll jump all over it and use it to their advantage.”

“So what’s your problem?” he asked. “You don’t trust me? You think I’ll hand you over to them if they ask?”

“You tried that before,” she said.

“I didn’t do it.”

“No, you let me walk out of your apartment and we were separated for seven weeks.”

“I stood up to them, that’s what happened at the midnight meeting. I told them to go to hell, that I wanted nothing to do with them.”

“They obviously didn’t believe you,” she said. “Otherwise, why are they here?”

“Mauri knew he was sick, he’s known for a while, but he didn’t tell anyone. It’s part of the reason he wanted to see Trystan settled before he…”

Dax wouldn’t break down; he wouldn’t reveal how losing Mauri would affect him. Mauri had been the only consistent man in his life. Mauri was the man that Dax respected above all others. She couldn’t ask him not to go. She could only hope it was true and that it wasn’t some elaborate plan to hurt them again.

“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, 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. “If I f**k this up, you’ll leave me?”

“I’m getting used to you being 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 you won’t admit to being scared; you won’t give an inch. That stubborn, willful front of yours—”

“Uh, Kettle? Pot is calling.”

“I am 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, 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, and you know it. I won’t bow to their pressure. We’re solid, babygirl. We’ve been together 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 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. When he told me 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.”

With his index fingers, he touched her temples and traced down to move her hair back over her shoulders. “Which I don’t think I ever thanked you for,” he said.

“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 f**k it up this time,” she said. “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. “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, staring down at his strewn clothes. Going back to California and the Starks was going to test them as individuals and a couple. Passing that test wasn’t guaranteed.