Blake: A Bad Boy Romance (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Go away,” Blake said. “Leave now, or you’ll regret it.”

Ivy could see how tense he was. He looked like he was about to snap while Darryl lounged in the chair like nothing was happening. It was frustrating and Ivy knew Darryl was acting like that on purpose. He was trying to provoke Blake into hitting him.

“Ignore him, Blake,” she said, coming out from around her desk and walking over to him. She ignored Darryl, pretending he didn’t even exist. She went to Blake and put her hand on his chest and her other around his back; she looked up into his eyes until he finally looked down at her. “He’s trying to provoke you, ignore him,” Ivy said. She slowly pushed him back and away from Darryl. In the last few minutes Blake had inched closer without realizing it. She could feel his heart beating in his chest beneath her hand. “I love you,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. Only Blake could hear her. “I love you and I hate him and we just have to ignore him until he goes away. The police will be here any minute and he’ll be arrested. We can charge him for violating his restraining order. But you can’t touch him.”

She stared up at him as he finally relaxed and looked down at her with a nod. His hands came around her and she closed her eyes and relaxed. The police would be here soon and Darryl would be led away in handcuffs. This was his second offense; he might actually see jail time. Ivy would finally be able to relax. Maybe jail would put some fear into him and he would finally stop harassing her.

“What are you two whispering about over there,” Darryl asked lazily from his chair.

“Why are you still here?” Ivy demanded turning to look at him.

“Because if I leave, Brutus there is going to smash my face in. He said so himself.”

“You don’t have to leave for me to do that,” Blake called over Ivy’s shoulder.

“If I leave, you won’t know why I came. I have something I want to tell you, Ivy dear,” Darryl said. He turned to look at them a smile snaking across his face. He looked dangerous at that moment.

Ivy’s stomach dropped; what was it now? What new horror was he visiting upon her?

“We don’t care,” Blake answered.

“Yes, you do. It involves you, too, Blake,” he said, stretching out the name. “I um...I did something very naughty.” He smiled over at them and waited for a moment before continuing. “I like your apartment, Blake. It has a lovely view. It also has incompetent security. All it took was an empty pizza box to get into your building. I picked the lock in under a minute and then I was inside. I like the layout. It’s classier than I expected.”

“You were in my house?” Blake demanded.

“Oh yes, more than once,” Darryl said with a nod. “I left a camera in your bedroom...”

Ivy felt herself get lightheaded; she leaned heavily against Blake. The other night. They had made love over his dresser. Had Darryl seen that? Did he have it recorded right now?

“That was quite a show you put on the other night.”

Ivy felt him leave her arms but she was numb and powerless to stop him.  He knew what he was doing. He took two confident steps towards Darryl. Ivy recognized the sudden fear in the other man’s eyes as Blake grabbed Darryl by the collar. He reared his fist back and aimed at the center of the other man’s nose and then punched him right in the center of his face. Ivy heard the bone crack and saw Darryl’s head snap back as she screamed at Blake to stop.

Blake’s fist came back bloody as he finally let go of Darryl’s collar and the other man fell back in his chair, blood pooling on his face and dripping down onto the floor. He was crying and holding his face and gasping for breath as the police appeared at the door.

No!
Ivy thought to herself as she looked at the scene before her. She had been so close, but then...the video. She couldn’t think; she couldn’t move. The police were racing into the room and they were holding back Blake as if he were the dangerous one.

“Stop!” Ivy cried out and in an instant everyone froze. Blake relaxed and Maria let him go as Miller stood over Darryl confused.

“What is going on in here?” The voice came from the door and Ivy closed her eyes and tried to think of what to say. It was her boss, Mr. Robinson. He was older, in his mid-seventies with white hair, but he was still young and spry and he walked without a cane. “Ivy McCormick, this is a place of business. Who are these men?”

“Arrest him!” Darryl shouted from his seat, pointing at Blake. He was covering his blood-soaked face with his hands as he spoke. “He just attacked me; you saw it. I’m charging him with assault.”

“No,” Ivy said. But it didn’t matter, no one stopped.

Maria looked at her sadly and then took out her handcuffs. “Hands behind your back,” she said. Blake slumped over and put his hands behind his back.

“No,” Ivy said. “This is wrong. Darryl is stalking me; Blake was just trying to protect me. I have a restraining order against him. He’s trying to ruin my life.” She was talking to everyone all at the same time, trying to explain her situation to her boss and the police all in one breath. But it didn’t seem to be working. Blake was being led out of the building and Mr. Robinson was watching him go and shaking his head.

“You’re under arrest, too,” Miller said, hauling Darryl up by his arm and getting out his cuffs.

“What? No!” Darryl cried. “Look at me. I need to go to the hospital. I need medical treatment.” His voice was a weak, high-pitched wail. He sounded pathetic and ill and Ivy hated him at that moment. How dare he complain about being treated poorly. After everything he had done to her, he deserved this.

“You look fine to me,” Miller said. He cuffed Darryl and read him his rights as he escorted him out of the office.

Ivy stood and looked out at the crowd that had grown in the hallway. Everyone was staring at her; her office was a crime scene. She felt frozen in place with no idea what she should say or do.

Maria walked back into the office and closed the door behind her. “Are you all right?”

Ivy nodded, “he said he put a camera in Blake’s apartment.” The words came out suddenly as she remembered them. “He said it was in the bedroom.”

“Let’s go check,” Maria said with a nod.

“What about this?” Ivy said, looking around her office. There was blood on the floor and the chair and her boss was standing outside of the office.

“We’ll call someone to clean up and I’ll have an officer explain the situation to your boss. You can call him later to talk about it, once you’ve calmed down.”

“Thank you,” Ivy said with a sigh. She didn’t know how to talk about Darryl with her boss. She was worried she would sound crazy. An officer came up to talk to Mr. Robinson and Maria took the opportunity to move and, together, she and Ivy hurried down the hall and out the office. Ivy avoided everyone’s eyes as she passed. This was so horrible. What was everyone going to think? What if she lost her job?

There were police cars lined up in front of her office, but none of them contained Blake. Had they taken him away, already? She followed Maria to a grey Ford and hopped in the passenger seat. She had no idea what she was supposed to be doing right now. She wanted to find Blake and make sure he was okay. She needed to go back and explain what had just happened at work. She had to get to Blake’s apartment and find the camera, if it existed.

“What do I do if he has a recording from my house. What if he puts it online?”

Maria glanced over at her and then back at the road with a grimace. There was nothing that could be done. If he did have a sex tape of her and Blake and he uploaded it, it would be out there forever and Ivy knew it.

She paced in the elevator until they reached the sixteenth floor. They had been silent on the ride over and they were silent in the elevator and the silence was starting to drive Ivy crazy. Finally, they reached the apartment and Ivy opened the door. Maria slipped into a pair of gloves and moved into the bedroom.

Ivy followed, careful not to touch anything. She looked around the bedroom and watched as Maria strode over to a bookshelf filled with books. She glanced at it for a second and the she found it. It was like a small, dark insect that had burrowed into their apartment. She pulled the camera out and cut the wires.

It was pointed from the corner and the camera had a view of the entire room. When had he put it there? How much had he seen? Ivy fought back tears as she shook her head and tried to quell her nausea. Blake, she needed to get Blake. There was nothing she could do about the recording, but she could get Blake out of jail. She had to.

“I’ll take this back to the lab and we’ll see what we can pull from it,” Maria said.

“Will you take me to lock up, to wherever they have Blake?” Ivy asked, her voice shaking with every syllable.

“Of course,” Maria answered.

Chapter Twenty-Four

He was back in a police car. Blake couldn’t believe that this was happening again. It had been almost four years since his last arrest. He had promised himself that he would leave that life behind. He knew it was the only real thing that could derail his career, and for years it had worked. Until he had finally broken. Darryl, that prick. He had pushed Blake too far.

Blake settled back in the seat and looked at downtown Seattle as it passed in the window. He could see people crane their necks to try and get a better look at him as he passed. He wondered how long it would take the press to pick this up. He knew there was at least one person at Ivy’s office that was a fan. What if he called in a tip to one of the bigger news sites?

He could imagine the headline on
BreakerSpin
, the premium sports blog that updated day and night, seven days a week. They were ground zero for scandals and stories. If they found out Blake had been arrested for fighting it would be big news. People loved to hate when MMA fighters got into real fights on the street. It would be all over the news, with talking heads decrying MMA as a modern day violent gladiator match that should be stopped. They would use this as evidence in their crusade to convince people that MMA fighters were nothing more than dangerous thugs.

It could ruin his career. His sponsors could drop him; his fights could be cancelled. It could all be over. He leaned back in his seat. Officer Miller had been kind enough to redo Blake’s cuffs so his hands were locked together in front of him. Even though the other man said nothing, he could tell he understood what Blake had done. They road in silence as he wondered where Darryl was.

He didn’t regret it. He kept replaying the hit over and over in his mind. He focused on the satisfying crunch when his fist broke Darryl’s nose. He had seen the fear and panic in Darryl’s eyes the moment before the hit and that made it all worth it. Now Darryl had some taste of what he had done to Ivy.

He walked with Mike into booking. The room was filled with detectives and officers filing paperwork with clerks and witnesses. It felt all too familiar to Blake. He couldn’t believe he was back here. His handcuffs were attached to an empty desk and Miller muttered a sorry as he walked away.

And older officer winced as he sat down at the desk. He rubbed his knees and looked at the paperwork Miller dropped off with a sigh. He looked up from the paperwork and at Blake’s face and then down again in confusion. “Blake Lambert...” The officer said looking over at him. The man was older and he had a tan and lined face and a thick white mustache and a full head of hair. He looked familiar to Blake, but he couldn’t quite place it. “It’s a shame to see you here, Lambert. You have quite the career as MMA fighter. You think this is good for your career?”

The speech pattern and voice sounded familiar. It sounded like the one his arresting officers from back home. His name had been Williams and he and Paulie had been buddies. Officer Williams had tried to look out for Blake, but he still had to do his job. In that second Blake recognized the older man. “Small world,” Blake said adjusting in his hard seat.

“Assault, Lambert?”

Blake didn’t know what to say. He looked down at the floor. He knew he was wrong, but, at the same time, he didn’t feel bad about it. He reveled in hitting Darryl. It had felt good and he was glad he did it. He was just mad he was being punished for it. “The guy’s been stalking my girl,” Blake said. “He follows her around, takes her picture, he nailed a stuffed animal to her door and wrote threats on mine. I was protecting her.”

“So this guy threw the first punch?” Williams asked.

“No, but he admitted to breaking into my apartment and putting a camera in my bedroom. What was I supposed to do? Nothing?”

“He’s charging you with assault and he says all your claims are lies and he didn’t do any of those things. He said he was talking to Ivy when you came barreling into the room and hit him.”

“And Ivy agrees with that? Her version is going to match up with mine, not his.”

“We haven't spoken to any witnesses yet,” Williams said. “But that doesn’t really matter. That boy came to rattle you, but you shouldn’t have fallen for the bait. In situations like this you need to let cooler heads prevail. You need to think about the long term, not immediate satisfaction. If you had just waited a few more seconds that guy would be arrested and you would be free with your girl.”

Blake sighed and shook his head. He knew Williams was right, but it was too late. “Just do what you have to do. I’m a little too old for a lecture.”

“I’ve kept up with you, Blake. I’ve been proud of your success. I tell everyone I see that you were some young punk I used to arrest and now you were this big success. I know the rules of the MMA; I know how strict it is. This could seriously ruin your career.”

Blake didn’t know how to argue with Williams; the other man was right. There were plenty of times when Blake had been arrested as a kid and had sat next to Williams while they waited for his mom. But Ellen was a court reporter; she knew the DAs and the judges and most of them were willing to look the other way when Blake was hauled in. But he had outgrown that. Now he would have to go to jail, potentially for a long time.

“I love her,” Blake said. “I couldn’t sit back and do nothing.”

“And now you’re not with her,” Williams said. “Had you contained yourself, you could be holding her in your arms, but, instead, you’re spending the night here with me.”

“What am I supposed to do when some guy has me cornered like that? He cheats and lies and tricks the system and I can’t do anything. I have to sit around and wait for him to attack her? I can’t do that.”

“But you can’t do this,” Williams said, pointing to the paperwork. “You can’t start physical altercations. He’s going to file charges against you. Are you allowed to participate in a match if you're on parole? I don’t think so. You’re only hurting yourself and her.”

Blake knew he was right. Ivy was scared and alone somewhere, and where was Darryl, was he still locked up somewhere? Or was he out already and terrorizing her? Blake went through the motions, answering the questions Williams asked as they went through the mountains of paperwork needed for an arrest. When he got his phone call, he called his lawyer who cursed for thirty seconds straight before finally saying he was on his way.

A door made of solid iron bars was opened and Blake stepped into the cell and heard the door close behind him. There was a small cot, a sink, and a toilet. It was the same as it ever was. He hated being trapped in here; he promised he would never end up back here and look what had happened. He sat on the floor of the cell, his back against the wall. He wondered how hard it would be to keep this quiet and out of the press. Maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal, maybe there was some way they could sweep it under the rug.

He explained the entire thing to his lawyer, every horrible thing Darryl had done to Ivy and to Blake. His lawyer nodded, but stayed silent as Blake talked.

“That may all be true, but you still assaulted him and he is filing felony assault charges. He claims it was unprovoked and that you’re dangerous. He’s got a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone. You wrecked him pretty good, Blake.”

His lawyer went to go deal with his bail and Blake waited alone in the interrogation room.

A felony charge was not good. It could ruin his career. It could restrict his travel to only the US. It would ruin his reputation. Hopefully his lawyer could get it down to a misdemeanor. Blake hadn’t tried to kill the guy and they did have a history. But they were holding him for forty-eight hours before pressing charges. It was at the request of the victim who needed time to decide what to do. Blake was trapped in limbo, stuck in prison with no way to get out for two entire days.

He spent the night in the county jail. His roomie was a guy named Taylor who had been caught drunk driving. It was his third arrest and he was facing real time. He spent the night facing the wall, leaving Blake alone to stare at the ceiling and wait for the time to pass.

Where was Ivy? Was she at her house, or maybe her dad’s? He hoped she was safe and able to sleep. He didn’t want her to blame herself for his mistake. He tossed and turned late into the night and fell into a fitful sleep somewhere in the early morning hours.