Fighting Back (Harrow #2) Read Online Free PDF

seconds, just looking at each other, but there was nothing threatening in the exchange. Mauri came in and went to the Waterford in the corner to pour two fingers for each of them, neat.
    ‘Brad said you were reluctant to come home,’ Mauri said, taking the glasses to the table between the two burgundy upholstered armchairs to the left of the fireplace. Mauri sat down. ‘Sit down with me, have a drink.’
    ‘I’m driving,’ Dax said. He wasn’t driving at all, but he wouldn’t sit and drink like they were buddies, and he wanted to keep his wits about him. Mauri knew about Dax’s fighting skills, so he wouldn’t set just one guy on him. If Dax pissed Mauri off enough to call security, then he’d have a dozen guys up here within a minute.
    ‘One won’t hurt,’ Mauri said. ‘And we can get you a driver if—‘
    ‘This isn’t a catch-up,’ Dax said, going over and seating himself where Mauri wanted him to sit. ‘I came here because Brad said you were sick. Why didn’t you tell us?’
    Mauri took a sip of the liquor. ‘Why do you think? If men like us show weakness, the vultures close in, don’t they?’
    ‘Men like us…? I’m nothing like you.’
    ‘That might be a convenient thing to say now,’ Mauri said. ‘But a few months ago you were exactly like me, and proud of it too.’
    ‘Things have changed for me. I told you that—‘
    ‘How is Ms. Dune?’
    ‘It’s Harrow,’ Dax said. He’d bet that these men deliberately used Ivy’s maiden name, but he hadn’t yet discovered why that might be. Did they want to belittle the marriage? Or did they want to remind him that to them she would never be a part of him? ‘And I didn’t come here to talk about her.’
    ‘Are you having trouble?’ he asked, settling himself back in the chair. ‘Marriage is a big commitment. If you are struggling—‘
    ‘We’re just fine,’ he said. ‘Marriage is easy.’
    ‘Either you truly have found your soulmate, or things between you and your other half are more strained than you will confess to me.’
    ‘I wouldn’t have walked away from this if I hadn’t been sure about her.’
    ‘You did give up a lot for her, your whole life, is she appreciative?’
    ‘Every damn day,’ he said with innuendo and sarcasm. ‘Now you want to tell me why the fuck I’m here?’
    ‘I don’t know. You chose to come. Why did you do that?’
    He came because Mauri meant a lot to him and because Mauri had always looked after him. Dax wasn’t ignorant to what Mauri had done for him as a child, and it still troubled Dax that he had flouted that generosity by disappearing with Ivy. He didn’t like to owe any man anything.
    ‘Brad said you were sick, said you wanted to talk to me, so I came.’
    ‘Just like old times,’ Mauri smiled. Now that his face was more slender the grooves on his cheeks were more prominent and after taking a closer look, Dax could see that Mauri was tired. But that wasn’t unusual if business was busy.
    ‘Have there been any shipment issues?’ Dax asked, curious if the man was overworking himself. ‘Is everything running smoothly?’
    ‘We’ve had nothing but problems,’ Mauri said, putting his glass down and rubbing his fingers across his forehead. ‘Since you left, no one else has been able to keep the men together, there has been tension in the ranks.’
    ‘Serg was respected—‘
    ‘And the men seemed happy to take his orders,’ Mauri said. ‘But he is not as efficient as you were. Things have been missed. We almost got fucking busted because Serg gave one of the courier’s directions that ended him up in a police station parking lot.’
    Dax could laugh because he hadn’t been there, but Mauri’s frustration was obvious.  ‘That’s Cecil’s run,’ Dax said. ‘You miss that third turn and you’re right there at police headquarters.’
    ‘Yes,’ Mauri said, leaning closer. ‘See, you know it all so well, you just… it’s second nature to you.’
    ‘I did it for a long