Fighting Fate

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

Being Trystan’s minder wasn’t a job Dax requested. Despite his efforts to delegate the babysitting, somehow the role fell to him way too often.

Trystan, the youngest Stark son, lived at the Stark mansion with his father and brother. Plenty of staff ran around pandering to him, which was probably why he’d never grown up.

For most of the night, he’d been in Trystan’s private drawing room, listening to him go on about Vegas being a bust.

Dax glanced toward the window. “You’re letting it get to you,” he said. “It’s been a week, forget about it.”

“No,” Trystan said, refilling his Scotch. “That’s what she wants. It snowballs, you know that. My father always taught us—”

“Disrespect is the greatest enemy,” Dax muttered.

Over the years of cleaning up Trystan’s messes, he’d gotten used to the brat fixating. Usually, his obsessions were linked to getting his own way. Trystan just couldn’t keep his nose clean. He didn’t realize the attention he brought on the family affected the business. The last thing they needed was anyone in law enforcement looking too closely into how the family made their money.

Owing the Starks like he did, making sure Trystan didn’t get himself into too much trouble, obvious trouble at least, had become second nature. Seemed like the least he could do given he wasn’t blood, but Maurice Stark treated him as family.

“Women don’t say no to me. Do you know how long it’s been since one turned me down?”

Did it fall to him to point out that most of the women in Trystan’s life wanted to use him for his family connections, or were paid to enjoy his company? Sometimes both. No way those women were going to say no to him.

“You should think about settling down,” Dax said, though he was a year older than Trystan and it was the furthest thing from his own mind.

Trystan snorted and collapsed into the wingback chair opposite his. “You sound like Mauri. He said the same thing last night.”

“It’s not a bad plan,” Dax said. “You get yourself hitched then you’ve got a woman who’ll never say no to you, or disrespect you.”

“Yeah right, a wife would probably be worse!”

“Not if you get the right one,” Dax said, allowing a smile to twist one corner of his lips. “And train her right.”

Trystan swirled his drink then took a long gulp. “The only woman I’ll marry is one who’ll let me keep partying.”

“Who will let you screw around and sample the Stark family product? There are a bunch of women who would put up with that to get a taste of the high life.”

“I don’t want a cheap w***e,” Trystan objected. “She’d have to be faithful and obedient. I don’t want some whiny b***h on me all the time. She’d have to keep her mouth shut while I treat her like s**t but serve me and put out when I’m on a come down.”

Was that too much to ask? Geez. He tried not to shake his head or roll his eyes. “Mauri could hook you up.”

“An arranged marriage? I don’t think so,” Trystan said. “But it would get the old man off my back for a while if I knocked-up some girl and left her at home to bring up the kids. Dad thinks that kids will straighten me out.”

Trystan with children was difficult to imagine; he didn’t have much wise, worldly wisdom to pass on.

“Maybe it will, Mauri knows how to solve every kind of problem.”

“Think I’m a problem?” Trystan asked, teasing.

The way the playboy gazed out of the window betrayed he was cooking up a scheme.

“What are you planning?” Dax asked.

“To kill two birds with one stone,” Trystan said, knocking back the rest of the liquor and pouncing to his feet. “Wait here, I’m going to talk to Mauri, then we’ll hit the clubs.”

Great. Trystan left the room and Dax closed his eyes. He couldn’t be bothered with nightclubs and had hoped for a night off. He should’ve known better. Trystan had a way of sensing when he was getting fed up with him and, at that point, he’d push to have him around more often. The guy just couldn’t take a hint.

To say Tryst held a grudge was a massive understatement. Making others unhappy for his own benefit was Trystan Stark’s greatest pleasure and achievement.