The Fighter's Block (16 page)

“Yeah, I saw you there and couldn’t stop staring at you.”

“Seriously?”
she smiled.

“Yeah. I thought I had a chance when you smiled at me, but then I realized you had a boyfriend and—”

“
I what?
You were the guy I smiled at
!?
” she exclaimed with disbelief.
She quickly tried to piece the night together and asked,
“So Brian was right?”

Van gave her a curious look. “Well I don’t know which guys you smiled at but—”

“Just
one
apparently
. And it
must have been
you
.” She almost couldn’t believe it. It really was true.
She thought Brian was just being an ass, but if
Van
said she had smiled at him…

“Wait a minute,” Van said. “You told me that you broke up with Brian that night because he got upset with you about something
.
”

Dani laughed out loud, mainly
because she couldn’t believe the irony
. “
He accused me of smiling at a guy in the club.”

She looked at Van for him to see the significance and he
laughed
.
“No way. I caused you to break up with your boyfriend?”

“I guess so.”

“Well…in the parking lot…you didn’t even remember me.”

“No, I didn’t put it together.
In the club it was from a distance,
and I was busy dealing with Brian so maybe it didn’t even register,
and then
I guess I was just…a little shaken up and…”

Van slightly shook his head, letting her know she didn’t have to think about that part of the night. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “Well, at least we ha
ve fate on our side,” he smiled, and he knew Dani would laugh.

“I guess so,
”
she chuckled.

For the most part, Van put
Cody’s
call out of his mind and enjoyed the rest of the day with his girlfriend. But as they got closer to home that evening, he knew he’d have to face the situation sooner or later. On
one hand
he wanted Dani to remain aware of all the things Brian was capable of, just so she kept up her guard. On the other hand, he knew the incident could cause
a lot more problems between he and Dani, and he
wasn’t willing to sacrifice anything
he had with her
at that point.

He decided that lying to her was the best choice at the time, and
Cody
was willing to back it up
,
claiming he got in an accident
while driving Van’s truck and totaled it
. When Dani went to work the next morning, Van
got a ride
to Jimmy’s to take a look at the damage.

It was exactly how he imagined it.

Jimmy could tell Van was pissed. He’d
know
n
the guy for eight years and knew him well. He didn’t say anything as Van silently walked around the F250 with his jaw clenched together.

“That fucker has lost his mind,”
Van
finally said, shaking his head.

“You know for sure it was him? Her ex?”

Van scoffed. “Oh, yeah. No doubt.”

“Maybe it was Matson, or Devlin, or someone else you’ve slaughtered in the ring,” Jimmy
offered.

“Oh, no. This isn’t a fighter’s vengeance. This is…this is cowardly. This is just…”

“The guy has
gotta
be fucking crazy,” Jimmy murmured.

Van gave him a look but didn’t say anything. Finally he sat on a stool next to his friend and shrugged. “
Well, go ahead and part her out—what you’re able to, at least—
and I guess I’ll look for a new set of wheels.”

“You sure?”

“Do I have another choice?”

“No. I mean it would take
months
to restore it…
”

“Then just do it,” Van said, standing up.
“Part it or fix it, whichever you want.”

“What about your girlfriend? What’s she got to say?”

“She doesn’t know
about it
and I don’t want her to.”

Jimmy looked him over, unsure of the reason. “Why not? I mean I kind of know the story
with the ex
, but why do you have to keep it from her?”

“It’s complicated. Look, just don’t let anyone know, okay? I don’t want Dani to stress out over it because it’ll cause problems. I just want this
fuckup
out of our lives, and if it comes down to it, I might have to handle things my
own
way.”

Jimmy didn’t like the sound of that. He res
pected his friend more than any
one
—Van was just that kind of guy—but he was worried for him. Van wasn’t one to make idle threats, and this time, Jimmy was afraid of the outcome.

“Paul, look at this!
” Marnie called from across the room. “Come here, come here! Take a look!”

“What?” Paul grumbled, barely glancing up from fixing the television. “Can’t you bring it here?”

All she had in her hand was some stupid fashion magazine she’d been looking through for the past hour.

She sighed. “I just painted my toenails,” she replied. “Please?”

Paul
eventually
stood and came across the room where she was sitting at the kitchen table with her feet on a chair. “What is it? Some five thousand dollar dress you want me to buy for you?”

“No,” she smiled. “But Connie gave me a pile of her old magazines and I’ve just been looking through ‘em the past couple days.”

“And? Last year’s dresses are now at the new low price of a thousand bucks?”

“No, stop it,” she waved at him. “
Look at the picture
,” she instructed, pointing at the page that was open.

Paul angled his head to get a look at it, and since he’d been joking about dresses, that’s what he was focused on at first. But Marnie gave him a few seconds before she asked, “Well? She looks kind of familiar, huh?”

“That’s Dani,” he chuckled with
surprise
. He turned the magazine to face him better and looked at it again. “That’s her, right?”

“
Yeah
, that’s her,” Marnie
said
. “I knew she used to do some modeling, but I had no idea it was to this extent. I mean look at her
in this picture
. She’s gorgeous.”

“She’s gorgeous anyways,” Paul shrugged.

Marnie gave him
a
scowl, although she didn’t disagree. “There’s more,” she added.

“More
pictures
?”

She slid another open magazine to him and showed him a different photo that advertised the same perfume.

“Wow,” he replied after a few seconds. “Does she model for
them
?”

“I have no idea. I mean Van said she doesn’t
model
anymore—these magazines are
three
years old.”

“I don’t even think he knows she does this sort of stuff. Or did, I guess. Does he know?”

“I don’t think he does.
” She thought about it for a second and then chuckled.

“What?” Paul asked.

“I don’t know, isn’t it kind of weird? I mean the two of them.
Van and Dani.
A fighter and
a
prissy
model?”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being a fighter.
And Dani does computer design stuff.
”

“I mean the differences between them?
Van’s just this laid-back, easy-
going guy th
at could break anybody in half.
He came from nothing
and practically raised himself—
”

“He had Mickey.”

“Okay, Mickey helped Van raise himself.”

Paul chuckled.

“And I guess I don’t really know Dani that well, but isn’t her family rich? I wonder if those are dresses her mom even designed,” she shrugged. “Shit, maybe her dad took the picture
s
,
”
she practically scowled.

“I thought you liked Dani?” Paul asked her. He studied his wife for a few seconds, wondering why she seemed so
cynical
all of a sudden.

“I do like her. What do you mean?”

“I don’t know
,
you’re starting to make it sound like she doesn’t belong here or something. Like she thinks she’s above us or something.”

“I did not say that.”

“Well you’re
pretty much glaring at that pic
ture. T
hat’s not the Dani we know, baby
. It’s just a picture. She’s not into all that hoity
toity
New Yorker shit. She’s hardly even got an east coast attitude. She’s even friendlier than we are.”

Marnie sighed. She knew he was right, and it wasn’t Dani that she wanted to pick apart. She touched the page in the magazine and ran her finger along the satin dress. “I know. Sometimes I just…”

She didn’t have to finish her thought for Paul to understand. Four years of marriage had made him pretty familiar with her feelings, and the fact that they were even still together after so many financial struggles was a miracle in and of itself.
They weren’t that close these days, but they knew each other well.

He took her hand and sat at the table with her. “A
little bit longer
,
Marn
, and we’ll be out of the hole
. My leg is getting
stronger
and I’ll be able to take on some paying fights again. Probably never gonna afford that shit,” he said, waving to the magazine, “but one of these days I’m gonna take you out for a big steak dinner, okay?”

She smiled and shook her head. “Nah, I think I’m getting used to
living on pork and beans.”

He chuckled. “Hey, it’s not that bad anymore.”

“I know. Thank God Van is such an angel.”

Paul nodded his head. If it hadn’t been for Van, both he and Marnie would be on the streets.

Chapter Nine

“So are you sure you’re okay with this?” Van asked Dani for the third time. They’d just pulled up to the
Divehouse
and
she
looked a little nervous.

“Yeah, sure I’m okay with it. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Van shrugged, uncertain of what to say. He was only going to introduce her to Mickey and nothing more. It wasn’t like she was going to watch him fight or anything, right?

“You just seem a little unsettled, that’s all,” Van admitted.

Dani
did feel
a little unsettled, and she let out a breath of air
with a shrug
. “I guess he’s the only family you have right now, and this is just like meeting the family. I’m just afraid that he won’t like me or something.”

He
smiled at her insecurity. “Well
I’m
the one that loves you. Mickey
don’t
have a say, and even if he did, what would I care? Besides, what’s not to like?” he wondered sincerely.

She shrugged again but didn’t reply. Things had been great with Van, especially since their trip to Atlantic City two weeks ago. It was a great feeling to be in love with
him
, and everything else seemed to fall into place. Things were going great at work,
her siblings seemed to be doing well,
and she hadn’t heard a word
from
Brian since the restraining order.
Life was good.

No, life was amazing.

“Okay,
pretty
lady,”
he
finally said. “Let’s see what awful things he says about you so we can get it over with.”

Dani scowled at him while Van chuckled and got out to open her door.

“At least this truck doesn’t have the funny smell,” Dani told him
, just to be ornery for his comment
.