The Fighter's Block (39 page)

She chuckled. “I have a guardian angel.”

He scoffed and said, “No, hardly an angel, but I’ll let you pretend.”

She eyed him for a few seconds, familiar with that same type
of self-doubt, but she didn’t quite know this stranger enough to debate it. Instead she pointed to turn at the corner, and once they’d rounded it, she
motioned
ahead and said, “Two coffee shops, a bakery, a minute mart, and a Chinese restaurant on this street.” She pointed to her left as the
y
came to a cross street and said, “Grocery store, pizza, and a few taverns
the
three blocks that way.”

Cole nodded his head, pretending to log it into his memory. “I heard Irv’s Bar and Grill is a good place. Do you agree?”

Dani nodded and replied, “Yeah, that’s Van’s preference. And Irv likes you boys. You know, Mickey’s boys. He and Mickey are good friends.”

Cole nodded again and decided it was time to ask Dani a little about herself. He knew everything about her already, but he had to keep it
convincing
.
She easily shared all the basics—her job as a graphic designer, the size of her family, and she especially mentioned her husband a lot. He got the point—she was very much in love with him and would stand by his side no matter what. She didn’t talk about the charges against him, or that his bail hearing was that morning, and she didn’t mention anything about her ex-boyfriend. He would have plenty of time to pick up tidbits here and there, sure that the case was going to go through a lengthy trial
, so he wasn’t too eager to push for more
.

They grabbed coffee together, and then Dani gave him a few bakery suggestions. He didn’t exactly plan on eating anything there, but he had to follow through with his story.

“Well
I need to get going,” she said before they’d even entered the
bakery. “
It was nice chatting with you. I hope you h
ave a good morning.”

“Wait, you’re gonna walk home alone? Is that safe for, uh, someone like you?”

She smiled and said, “Someone like me? Weak and defenseless?” she teased. “Well I’ve come to l
earn that sometimes
the
people
you know
are the ones
that you can’t trust.”

“Well that doesn’t sound very good. I’m sorry.”

She shrugged and said, “But out here I just don’t look at anyone directly, and walk quickly.”

He chuckled and said, “Everywhere you go? Well let me walk with you at least. I’d rather you not be on the streets by yourself.”

“It’s fine out here. Now if it were nighttime, yeah I would make you walk me home,” she
smiled.
 

She’d taken a few steps away but he came with her and said, “Well I’m not going to wait for an invitation. I saw my sister get beat up in broad daylight, just for ten bucks in her purse. I was fourteen years old and too stupid to do anything about it.”

She gave him a side-glance as they walked. “Well it wasn’t your fault, but okay, I understand. I’ll let you walk me home.”

“Good, because I thought I was going to have to make a big scene.”

She laughed and shook her head. “No, I’m not stubborn about being safe.”

“That
’s
pepper spray on your keychain?” he asked, eyeing the set of keys in her hand.

“Yes it is,” she chuckled.

“Just a thought, but maybe your husband should
teach you some self-defense. I mean it couldn’t hurt to learn how you can protect yourself if you have to.”

She
felt
he meant well, but the statement hurt a little bit. She thought back to that night with Brian and she wasn’t able to do a thing about it. What do you do when you have another person’s life at stake in the other room? Even though she wasn’t aware of Quincy’s involvement, it was
a
major reason why things happened the way they did. She was trying to keep him safe
,
too.
And
with
Brian’s threats towards Van… She had no choice.

“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” Cole asked after a while. She looked deep in thought,
but he already
knew what she was thinking about.

“Oh, uh…” She sighed and said, “
Yeah, my husband made me learn
some things just after we met.”

Cole glanced at her with a smile and asked, “And? You don’t look too thrilled. Not your thing?”

“Oh, um… No, it was fine. I liked it. I’m not really too good with it though. I’m kind of a wuss.”

He laughed and looked her over for a second. “Well I bet if you put some meat on your bones you would be tougher than the average chick.”

That made her smile and she shrugged. “I’m not opposed to it, but it’s kind of discouraged for, um…”

He watched her for a few seconds and waited. “For what?”

“Um, for work.”

He pretended to think for a mo
ment. “Uh, it’s discouraged for a graphic designer to have a muscular frame?”

When she smiled again and changed the subject, Cole realized for the first time how truly beautiful she was as a person, not as a model. He’d seen all of her work, perused through a list of all the prestigious jobs she’d done, the people she’d worked with, and the places she’d
been
. But it really didn’t do her justice. She was genuinely a nice person, pure of heart, and the fact that she married a prizefighter pretty much summed that up. She looked for what was on the inside, and when he thought of Van with the same loyalty that Dani did, he knew that he had a personal insight to the kind of person the guy was.

They returned to the apartment complex, and once they were on the fourth floor, D
ani thanked him for the company
and they went their separate ways. She closed the door behind her and took a deep breath of air. She knew why she’d spent
thirty minutes
of her morning with Cole and it made her feel guilty. The distraction she’d been searching for ha
d shown up in her hallway
and she took advantage of it. Her thoughts had barely left her husband, but now there was nothing else to distract her.

She took a shower and
got dressed, and when she knocked on Paul and Marnie’s door, they were ready to go to the courthouse with her.

Van wasn’t naïve, but he was tired of Jack coaching him on proper courtroom behavior. He only planned on saying the minimum, but he knew to be polite, cooperative, and make eye contact with the judge. He felt no hope for bail because the evidence
had stacked
against him. At the beginning he was angry—pissed that he was arrested for something he didn’t do—but he
was innocent
,
and
he thought it would all get cleared
up.
Now he felt completely betrayed, like justice was never going to be served, but also stabbed in the back
and hung out to die
. Whoever was doing this to him
couldn’t possibly hate him that badly, could they?

He thought about Quincy, and like he always did, felt ill that he’d gone down such a dark path. Van thought for sure that Quincy—the kid that he’d literally pulled out of the street because he’d been left to die by a bunch of drug dealing thugs—
would continue on a straighter path. But something had turned Q against him, and Van knew that person was Brian. It was a good thing he was already dead because Van wasn’t sure how long it would have been before he finally came face to face with the guy
himself
.

When Van entered the courtroom he was prepared to see Dani. He knew it was going to be difficult to see her there and not be able to hold her or speak with her.
She was sitting with Paul and
Marnie
, and behind them was Mickey with Cody and a couple other brothers from the
Divehouse
. A
n unexpected chill went up his back. He couldn’t even imagine anyone from The Block being so disloyal, but then again, Quincy had. It made him sick to think he couldn’t trust anyone now.
The disappointment and heartache he felt
even stopped
him
for a second
,
and the
guard
had to
push
him along.

Dani was startled to see him look so stone cold, but her heart went out to him, knowing that he was not in a good state of mind. The world had screwed him over, and it kept on screwing him over to
no avail. Life didn’t seem fair
and
Van looked hardened
from
it.

He sat down next to Jack and faced forward, even though he heard Dani say that she loved him. He wanted to turn around and speak to her, but not with
Paul and
Marnie
there. He had no idea what would come out of his mouth.

The judge entered the courtroom and the occupants stood. As soon as she was seated and the audience was as well, the
bail
hearing began. Van felt beaten from the very first word, and after both sides presented their messages for Judge Abernathy to consider, it was no surprise to Van to hear that bail was being denied. He was a flight risk; after all, he’d been trying to run when he was arrested, right?
And as an ultimate fighter, he was dangerous and considered to be a deadly weapon.

Dani was crying. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t hold it in. She had been hoping and praying that he would be home with her that night, but she was subjected to a trial date of
the
4
th
instead.

That was ten days away.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Dani, what can I do to help?” Cole asked her quietly.

Her back was to him and he could tell he’d startled her, but her shoulders slumped again and she took in a slow breath of air. So far no one had even attempted to speak to her at the Divehouse while she sat in a chair by herself, observing the scene around her while thinking about her husband. It was almost as if Van were there with her, keeping her guarded with his invisible presence.

She didn’t answer, so Cole took a few steps until he was facing her. “Is there anything in particular that you’re thinking about?”

She automatically shook her head no.

“Well...how long have you been here?”

She glanced at the clock and shrugged. “Since
eight
or so, I guess.”

Cole wasn’t surprised since Mickey had told him that, but he said, “Four hours?”

He grabbed a chair from a few feet away, and set it next to her. When he sat down he was aware of all the eyes upon the two of them. He also knew what it was going to look like to some, but that was just the price he had to pay.

“Dani, I think you should go back to work. Don’t you think you should keep your mind busy?”

With a sigh she said, “I can’t concentrate at work. I try but I just… I can’t focus. All I can think about is Van.”

“I know but…” He glanced at the clock and said, “A
re you hungry? I’m starving
and you look like you need to eat a few meals.”

She barely cracked a smile.

“How ‘bout you introduce me to the menu at Le Fleur?”

She raised her eyebrows at him with an actual smile. “You want to eat French cuisine?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, kinda. I mean it’s not something that’s been on my list or anything, but since you happen to be a convenient introduction to it…”

That made her chuckle. “
And what makes you think that?”

“Uh
,
because you were swearing at Mickey in what I thought sounded like French.”

She smiled again. “I was not swearing at him…” But she was embarrassed, knowing that people had heard her raise her voice in Mickey’s office the day before. Van had been sent back to his cell until his trial, and she was beyond devastated.

Cole rested his elbows on his knees and gave her a side-glance. “Look, I know how hard this is for you
,
Dani. I’m really sorry about Van. I am. And I know you’re having a hard time with it, but getting angry over it isn’t going to help anything. Trust me, I know
. And I realize I have no place lecturing you or telling you what you should and shouldn’t do, but I don’t think you should be spending your time on things you have no control over.”

“Well you’re correct about one thing,” she finally said. She looked at him as she stood and said, “You have no right to lecture me.” She left him sitting there by himself and then entered Mickey’s empty office.

Cole sighed and shook his head. He wa
s sure he’d screwed up big time
and he had to think of a way to fix it. He was about to follow her into the office and play a different card—the pitiful I’m-a-stupid-jerk-and-don’t-know-what-I’m-talking-about card—but she came out before he could even stand.