Fighting Back (Harrow #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

time,’ Dax said. He’d been working for Mauri since he was old enough to see over the steering wheel. ‘Cecil is one of our oldest contacts, and he’s a real prick to get on the phone.’
    ‘We need you to come back, we need you at the helm.’
    ‘No,’ Dax said, already shaking his head. ‘Not a chance.’
    ‘Why not? I don’t see why there would be any problem,’ Mauri said. ‘I have taken care of the men, they know that you are married now; Ivy will be safe. She’ll be safer here than wherever you’ve been holed up. She’ll have full protection of the family.’
    ‘For how long?’ Dax asked. ‘Word is that with you on your way out, the hyenas are circling. When you’re gone the venture is going to be picked apart. Brad isn’t strong enough to hold it together on his own, he doesn’t have the respect of the men, and he’s sure not feared in the community. You ever seen him get blood on those fancy-ass Italian loafers?’
    ‘You have their respect and you’re feared. No one would cross you.’
    ‘Yeah, ‘cause I know better than to turn my back on them,’ Dax said. ‘I’m not interested in taking over.’
    ‘You could,’ Mauri said, locking his eyes on Dax’s and sitting back slowly. ‘Would you be interested?’
    ‘In taking over…? You’re offering me the business?’
    ‘There could be something worked out.’
    ‘No, Brad wouldn’t have it. He’s had his eyes on the company for years.’
    ‘He can still run things as the legitimate face of the Stark’s.’
    ‘Legitimate?’ Dax asked. ‘The haulage and dry cleaning firms are fronts, they clean the money, there’s nothing legitimate about that.’ Although they did have big haulage rigs and a few legitimate contracts, but those were meant to distract from the other cargo in the back of those trucks.
    ‘You and Brad are not enemies,’ Mauri said. ‘You always got along.’
    ‘We never had to deal with each other. It’s easy to be civil with the guy who’s just another cog in the machine.’
    ‘You understand that machine. You have an affinity for this industry, Dax. Don’t throw that away for a piece of ass.’
    ‘My wife is not a piece of ass. If you don’t show her some goddamn respect—‘
    ‘Respect? I have nothing but respect for the woman who managed to turn your head. I wasn’t sure you would ever lower your defences for long enough to let love in… Your choice might have caused difficulties in the family, but you showed your commitment to her when you walked away from us. I have to say, I was… almost proud of you for standing up for her like you did.’
    He didn’t want to be gratified, didn’t want his own humble feelings to diminish his ego until he was under Mauri’s boot again. Sitting straighter, Dax snatched up the Scotch and took a mouthful.
    ‘Ivy is the best thing I have, and I am not going to disappoint her again,’ Dax said.
    ‘Ivy is a clever girl, you shouldn’t refuse my offer before you have spoken to her. If she is as smart as you believe she is, then she’s not going to pass up a good thing when she sees it. She would be walking into a position of power and that is very seductive. To be by your side when you take over this empire—‘
    ‘What does Trystan say about this? Have you told him that Ivy and me are back in town? I don’t think that he’ll be happy with your proposals.’
    ‘Trystan will be happy as long as there is money to spend.’
    ‘So he hasn’t straightened himself out? Your plan didn’t work.’
    ‘We haven’t given up on it yet,’ Mauri said. ‘I still believe that if he can find himself the right woman, he will buck up his ideas. It worked wonders for you. Tell me, doesn’t love clear your perspective?’
    ‘It changes it,’ he said. ‘It changes a man’s priorities. But you’re not going to get Trystan to fall in love by beating a woman into submission.’
    ‘We realise that what we did with Ivy was… unsuitable.’
    ‘She’ll agree with you