‘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.’

‘Saul thought he was keeping her safe,’ Ivy muttered. ‘She told me that she didn’t see who had done it.’

‘I doubt she called the police about it either.’

‘Why would she come back to Mauri’s?’

‘Mauri can’t have known that she and Bruno were communicating again. Mauri is the best person to go to if you’re in trouble. Either Bruno sent her there to set Mauri up for something, or Bruno dumped her and took off, so she went there because she had no other choice.’

‘Where is she now?’

‘I don’t care,’ he shrugged. ‘I left her there and told her not to contact us again.’

Much as Ivy wanted Dax to have a mother he could be secure with, if Carina had so easily succumbed to Bruno’s coercion, she wasn’t a person who could be relied upon to act with integrity. They knew what they needed to know about his past, and it was Dax’s decision to cut his mother out, so Ivy would support that.

He kissed her again then went into the shower to wash off the exploits of the day. Dax could do no wrong as far as Ivy was concerned because he acted in the best interest of their relationship. His actions taught her just how much he valued her and their marriage. She trusted Dax to do what was necessary, he didn’t take any pleasure in the suffering of others. So if someone needed to be extinguished, then it was through necessity not depravity.

‘So where are we going now?’ Ivy called over the drum of the shower spray.

‘Back to North Carolina,’ he replied. ‘We have friends there, a life.’

‘But they know how to find us there!’

‘If they wanted to find us, they would. Mauri doesn’t have much time and Brad isn’t interested in us being a part of his future.’

Going over to the shower, she slid back the stall door to look at him. ‘It was Bruno, wasn’t it?’

He’d referred to everyone else. If Dax was going to kill Trystan, then he would’ve done it already. Bruno was the only one left.

‘Come here,’ he said. Reaching forward, Dax took hold of her wrist and pulled her into the spray with him.

The cotton of her dress clung to her as it absorbed the moisture falling on them. But when he cupped her face and angled her head up to join their mouths, Ivy forgot about her clothes. All of the negativity that had plagued them circled the drain beneath them.

Dax peeled down the straps of her dress and stepped back to draw them down her arms to expose her breasts. Locked in place with the fabric tight around her elbows, she couldn’t manoeuvre in the wet fabric, shaking and wriggling didn’t free her. So when he pushed her back against the wet tile and crouched to bring his mouth level with her chest, she could only experience the sensation of his tongue swirling around her tight, wet peak.

Without the ability to touch him, he took advantage of touching her, cupping and kneading her breasts until the humidity of the space made her throat tighten. ‘Dax,’ she said.

His body went lower and with it went her dress. Pulling it down, he freed her arms then stripped it away from her hips and dropped it behind him in a sloppy heap, saturated with water. He didn’t waste his time removing her panties with any finesse. The frail lace tore away with a single yank and then with the rough fabric still coiled in his fingers, Dax pressed his hands to her and used his thumbs to part the folds between her legs.

‘I’m starved,’ he said, delving his tongue into her, he squeezed her clit between his lips and rubbed the tip of his tongue up and down.

The rhythm of the motion increased and her hands splayed on the tile, the clack of her wedding and engagement rings against it fed into the frenzy of sensations consuming her. His skilful mouth worked on her, and the heat of the shower made her skin sweat while it was cleaned in the cascade of fresh, clean steam that made her breathing grow shallow.

‘Dax,’ she said again, and he sprung to his feet, hooking his arms under her knees in the process. Before he was at full height, he was sliding into her. His thick shaft forced its way into the tunnel reserved for his pleasure.

Sliding out, he came back in and kept pumping until climax was inevitable. Hissing out her orgasm, Ivy coiled her fingers into his hair and made him look at her.

‘I love you,’ she said. ‘Goddamn it, Dax, I fucking love you.’