‘Darryl Kay is the guy who owned the house that I worked in, at least I thought he was, he’s the one that I worked for.’

‘That’s a good start. I can call Mauri and—‘

‘I don’t want us to owe them anything,’ she said, stepping back and dropping her hands. ‘If we ask them for help then they’ll expect us to do what they tell us to. I also don’t want them to know that this is important to me, it’s personal, and if they ask me to reveal… I don’t want them to have ammunition that they can use against me.’

‘I’ll deal with it,’ he said, reaching for her hand. ‘Your name doesn’t have to come up in conversation.’

‘So how will you get Mauri to—‘

‘To give up the man who tricked my future wife? Mauri teaches his kin young that disrespect is the greatest enemy. If I tell him that I want a face to face with the guy, Mauri will set it up. If he wants me to take over then he’s going to have to give me everything I ask for.’

‘Are you still considering taking over?’ she asked, hooking his belt loop to pull him back to the couch. ‘How did things go with Serg?’

‘It was… like old times.’

‘Is that a good thing or a bad thing?’

‘It felt good being out there again, I guess, you know, doing something. But once I knew you were here in Vegas, my mind wasn’t on the job.’

‘I told Bri I would call her and let her know that we arrived safely,’ she said. Though they had arrived in California days ago, Ivy’s newest friend had plenty going on in her own life, so she shouldn’t have spent too much time worrying. But Ivy did feel bad that she hadn’t phoned sooner.

‘Ok, you phone her. I’ll order room service then call Mauri.’

‘Can that wait?’ Ivy asked, climbing over him to straddle his lap. ‘I want you to myself for a night. Since Brad showed up, we’ve either been fighting or avoiding each other, least that’s how it feels.’

Her husband made no secret about the fact that he was on guard and distracted tonight. He hadn’t been in Vegas for long, and there had been plenty of drama already. She had to find a way to take his mind off the turmoil going on around them. Focusing entirely on each other might lead to a sleepless night, but it would be worth it.

Breakfast at the hotel was exquisite and far more extravagant than anything she’d had before. Waking Dax up had taken quite a while, but she was determined that they would share this meal together and then get to work. The food was delicious and the service impeccable, Ivy was disappointed to leave the table now that they’d finished.

‘Can we afford this?’ she asked when Dax handed her a takeout cup of juice that he’d had the breakfast staff bring them before they left the restaurant.

‘Sure we can,’ he said, raising the cup that she held up to his lips so that he could drink it while it remained in her grasp.

‘It seems so unnecessary, to waste this kind of money, we might need it someday.’

‘You’re the one who called this excursion our honeymoon,’ he said, throwing an arm around her. He dragged her body into his and slid his shades over his eyes when they walked out into the desert heat.

‘Is that why you bought the suite? Or are you overcompensating?’

He stopped, still under the hotel awning, and faced her. ‘You got a problem with the equipment you’ve been playing with?’

‘No,’ she said with a flash of a smile.

‘I’ll drop my pants and fuck you right here if you need the reminder.’

‘No, tough guy,’ she said, tucking herself under his arm, against his solid form. ‘I’m not talking about your dick. I’m talking about us going to visit my ex.’

‘I’ve got nothing to prove,’ Dax said, swaggering onto The Strip. ‘I know this loser doesn’t compare to me. He’s shit scared of me anyway, just like he should be.’

‘He used to give me foot massages after I’d spent a long day on my feet on a shift,’ she teased.

‘Hmm,’ he sort of grunted. ‘And since we’ve been married, have you been on your feet for a whole day?’

‘No, but—‘

‘Fuck foot massages, I massage the more interesting parts of your body.’ His hand opened over her breast and she nudged her hip into him.

‘I’ll take you over a foot massage any day,’ she said, kissing his arm. ‘Orgasms were hit and miss with Saul.’

Giving him that boost made her feel better because she knew when the men came face to face with each other again that the testosterone would fly. As grateful as she was to Saul for helping her out in her time of need, she wanted Dax to be secure in their marriage because there was no better man as far as she was concerned. Though she wouldn’t tell him that, his ego was already healthy enough.

‘I hit your mark every time, babygirl.’

Often more than once, it helped that their lives together served as constant foreplay. ‘Yes, you’re better in bed, does that make you feel like a stud?’

‘I fuck better than him and I fight better than him,’ Dax said. ‘Fuck yeah, I am the man.’

His arm came up to around her neck when she laughed, and she turned her mouth down to it. ‘Yes, you are.’

‘Now where is this lesser guy?’

‘We need to get a cab,’ she said. ‘And when we get there, I need you to say nothing, not a word.’

‘I do strong and silent better than other dudes as well.’

‘Yes. You’re quite the catch. I’d suggest that we run off together and get married, but…’

‘You’re too late,’ he said, wiggling his occupied ring finger in her face. He moved them off the sidewalk and hailed a cab. ‘Let’s get this over with then I’ll call Mauri.’

Dax was so eager to say goodbye to her past but at the same time he clung fiercely to his own. Letting go wasn’t so difficult for her, perhaps because she’d done it so many times before.

This Saul guy had a nice bungalow with a huge yard fit for entertaining. Dax had propped himself on a railing by the pool with a view into the concrete shed that Saul had opened for Ivy. Her things were in there, and she had gone inside to pick out her bags, so Saul had handed Dax an ice-cold beer and joined him in his wait.

‘You’re a lucky guy,’ Saul said to him.

Dax took a mouthful of the beer and watched Ivy’s ass as she bent into the shadow of the building to look in a bag. ‘Yeah,’ Dax said. Ivy had told him not to say much and that suited him, he had no intention of getting buddy-buddy with this prick who used to fuck his wife.

‘Ivy’s great,’ Saul said.

‘Yeah.’

They kept drinking their beer and Dax maintained his patient demeanour, but he was eager to get Ivy’s shit and get the hell away from here.

‘So… any fights planned while you’re in town?’

‘Nope,’ Dax said.

‘I could… you know, I could hook you up if you wanted…’

Lowering his chin, Dax peered over the top of his shades at this eager puppy. ‘You think I need help from a guy like you?’

‘No! No, I… I was just saying… I know people and I could… I could get you a good deal.’

‘Shit,’ Dax exhaled and didn’t hide his smile as he pushed away from the railing to cross to Ivy’s ass, which was still in the air. That skirt of hers licked the top of her thighs inviting him to whip it out of the way and slide into her real deep.

After all this time together, his dick shouldn’t react to her so impulsively, but it did. When he got there, he smacked her ass, and she immediately righted herself to peek over her shoulder. ‘Don’t do that in front of Saul.’

‘Why?’ Dax asked, happy that her body came to rest against him. ‘The guy’s a loser, what did you see in him? Forget it, I don’t want to know.’ The last thing that he wanted was to hear his wife talk about the positive attributes of her ex.

‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, bending again, this time she deliberately pushed her ass into him.

‘If you’d told me this needed to be done, I’d have sent guys over here. I don’t want you to be here.’

‘You don’t want to be here,’ she said.