The Fighter's Block (42 page)

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Cole only shrugged, and that made Paul angry. Before he knew it
,
he had Cole by the shirt and slammed him up against the wall.

Chapter Twenty-Three

A
few of Dani’s guests heard the commotion and they stepped into the hall to see what all the yelling was about. Dani was confused at first when she saw people leaving all of a sudden, but then she realized something was going on in
the hall. S
he
rushed to
j
oin
them, only to find a
full-blown
fight happening outside of her apartment.
There was punching and grunting, blocks and takedowns…

And blood.

“Hey!” she yelled.

Cody was there and she gave him a look to break it up, but he didn’t want to get involved.
He would step in if his buddy needed him, but it was better to let Paul get his point across.
Gary and Scotty held their hands up too, signifying that they’d rather not interfere either.

Dani
marched over to the two m
en, now tangled up on the floor. She couldn’t tell who was submissive to whom and decided they were probably in an equal lockup.
“Hey, knock it off!”
she yelled.
Paul was within her reach so she shoved him as hard as she could to separate the two. “I said knock it off!” she screamed.

When Paul paused, Cole pushed him away and the two of them returned to their feet. Dani didn’t know what to say—grown men could take care of their own problems, right? —
but
she’d noticed tension between them before and decided
to
get it out in the open.

“
What is your problem with each other
?” she asked.

Paul brushed away the blood on his busted lip with the back of his hand and Cole worked his jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken. But neither of them said anything. She realized there was still an audience at her doorway, so she motioned for them to
go back inside
. Once it was just the three of them
Dani
looked at Paul and said, “Tell me why you were fighting.”

Paul sighed and looked at Cole for a second. Finally he said, “Just a misunderstanding.”

Cole was good with agreein
g to that, but Dani said, “Bull
shit. I don’t buy it. You two
have had this thing between you
and I want to know what it is. And you,” she growled, pointing at Paul. “You followed him out here. I want to know why, and you will tell me why
right
now
.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” he replied.

“Try me.”

He sighed, and he was going to answer, but Cole cut in when he said, “It was nothing. He’s just being a good friend to you, and to Van, and that’s all it was.
Message received;
I won’t overstep my bounds.”

“Overstep what bounds?” she asked, looking between the two of them.

Paul decided to speak when he said, “It’s a guy thing, Dani.
I’m just trying to keep an eye on the homestead, you know?
Look, I’m
gonna
head out. Thank you for dinner,
and the food for Marnie when she gets off work.
I’m really sorry if I ruined your night.”

He gave her a
brief hug
, which was totally within his right as Van’s best friend, and he turned around and left for his apartment. Dani was confused. Did Paul imply that he needed to warn Cole to stay away from her?

“Tell me the truth,” she said to Cole when they were alone.

“I didn’t want to embarrass him, so I didn’t disagree.”

“I understand that, but I want to hear you say it.”

With a sigh Cole responded, “He warned me to stay away from you.” She groaned to herself and he added, “I told him we were just friends, he accused me of feeling differently about that if you weren’t married, I didn’t disagree and countered the same thing…”

He wanted to be completely honest with her because he knew she’d be talking to Paul about it too. She didn’t say anything right away because she was contemplating his words, but
she really didn’t know
how
to respond
. Finally she
said, “Van wouldn’t have said anything.”

“Excuse me?”

“To you,” she clarified. “He doesn’t react like that to other people. I don’t know why Paul did that because it’s not what Van would have done.”

“Are you sure? Because according to Paul, Van would have fucked me up.”

He said it with a tiny smile, so that made her smile as well. “He could have, yes. But he would
not
have. There’s a difference.
Van tries to avoid any type of conflict if he can. I know you probably think he’s— Well I don’t know what you think since he was arrested for murder…
”

Cole examined her features for a moment, and although he could read her pretty well, there was actually one thing about her that
he wasn’t certain ab
out. “Can I ask you a question?” he finally said.

She met his eyes and nodded her head. “Sure. I guess.”

He paused briefly
as he shifted his weight to the other foot. “I don’t want to embarrass you.”

“What?” With a shrug she added, “I don’t think anything would matter, but just ask.”

“Okay. The other day you said something about everything going back to normal,
so
that you guys could be a happy family. In and of its self that sounds
fine
, but there was something about the way you said it… I got the impression that… Well, Dani, are you pregnant?”

She was shocked to hear him say that. Nobody knew, not even Van, and Dani herself had just found out a few days ago.

“See, I shouldn’t have asked,” he said.

“How did you know? I mean… I’m barely a month along. How would you even…?”

“I just read people,” he shrugged. “I shouldn’t have said anything, but I’m just concerned for you. Already you don’t seem to be doing very well, and I just want to make sure you take care of yourself. Van would want you to take care of yourself.”

“Van can’t know. Not now. Not yet.” He gave her a curious look and she added, “I don’t want him to feel worse. I don’t want it to be one more thing
that he has to think about not
having in his life
or whatever
.
I want to tell him when it’s the right time. Now isn’t it.
”

“Yeah, I understand. But like I said, I just want you to take care of yourself.”

“I know, and I am. I’ve already quit one bad habit.”

He chuckled and asked, “You have bad habits?
I don’t believe you.”

She smiled but in a low voice said, “I used to smoke.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really.”

“Yep. When I lived in New York it’s the one thing that kept me from overeating. Well, according to my mom I was overeating. I realize now that I wasn’t, but smoking was a bad habit I picked up from the industry. I’m not proud of it.”

“So you don’t smoke anymore?”

“No. Well… Every so often I would have a cigarette. Just when I was feeling really stressed. But since I found out I was pregnant, no way. Van knows I used to
have an occasional
smoke, but
I haven’t done it since we’ve been married.”

Cole thought about that for a second, but instead of asking
what
he really w
anted to ask, he said, “Yeah,
I used to smoke too. But I couldn’t just have a cigarette and be done. If I had one, I think I’d be hooked again.”

Dani smiled and said, “I’ll be sure not to tempt you.”

“Well of course not, you’ve got a baby on board.”

“Oh, right,” she chuckled, and she barely tou
ched her hand to her stomach.
“Well, I’d better get back to the party,” she motioned behind her.

“I think I’ll just hang out in there,” he replied, pointing to his own apartment.

“I’m sorry about Paul. He really is devastated about Van. He’s taking it really hard.”

“Yeah, I understand
. I don’t hold it against him. B
ut just so you know, you’re too in love with your hubby and I had zero plans to make a move on you.”

She laughed at that and nodded her head. “I know. You’re a decent guy, Cole. Have a good night.”

He turned for his own apartment and entered without looking back
. Decent guy? Would she think that if she found out how much he actually lies to her? Would she think that if she knew what he truly thought about her and the images that recycled in his head? He didn’t even understand himself when he felt jealousy nudge him at
the
thought of her carrying another man’s baby.

B
ut as soon as he was alone he pulled out his phone a
nd
made a call.
“I think you need to find someone else for this job. I’m done.”

Jack was not in the best mood when he showed up to visit with Van the next day. Van was already
waiting for him when he arrived
and Jack didn’t waste any time when he said, “The bullshit
is over. It’s time you tell me something useful
and you’re gonna tell me now.”

Van was surprised at his tone
but glared at him
.
“Wha
t
the fuck
is it that
I should tell
you?
”
He didn’t like his integrity challenged and he was going to let Jack know it.

Jack sighed and realized he was barking up the wrong tree. “Sorry, kid. I’m just…
Damn
it, I’m your lawyer. I’m supposed to be reassuring you that I can do this.”

Van’s heart fell a little but he was sympathetic. “I understand the challenge, Jack. All I expect is your best. I know you want to help me.” Jack only sighed again and rubbed his face with his hands. “What’s got you bothered this time?”

Jack didn’t want to tell him. He couldn’t. But he knew he had lost his composure and owed him an explanation. “My best investigator is no longer on the job. He, uh… Well, something came up.”

Something between his pants,
he wanted to add. Damn
it, of all people… Cole?
Cole
was having a hard time separating his emotions from a case? It just didn’t make sense.

“So what does this mean?” Van asked. “There’s no one else to help?”

“Yes, yes there is,” Jack assured him. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean for it to sound like we were without options.”
Just slightly fucked over…

“Hmm,” Van said. He could tell Jack was truly agitated. Van didn’t see what the big deal was. Jack had plenty of investigators to pick through. “How’s Dani?” he decided to ask.

Jack barely nodded. “She’s hanging in there. She’s been cooking and stuff again, at the insistence of friends. She’s trying to keep busy.”

“She still doesn’t know about
the anonymous caller
, right?”

“
No, she doesn’t.
Don’t you guys talk about the case?”

“
I’ve be
en allowed to see her two times
. I don’t really want to spend it interrogating her
. She knows the evidence against me, minus
the caller’s
lie.
And Jack,
I don’t like
her in that building without me
.”

“I understand, but she’s safe. Nothing’s gonna happen to her.”

“How can you be sure? You don’t even know what’s going on.”

He almost faltered when he remembered that Cole was backing out. But he couldn’t let Van know that. He had to intervene somehow and he would make things right.
“
Of course I do.
I have s
omeone keeping an eye on things
, and Dani is just fine.”

“Yeah, who is this guy, anyway?
And what exactly is he
doing to keep an eye on my wife?
”

“I don’t want you to worry about it, Van. Right now I need to
figure out what my next step is
.
The handwriting analysis proved that the writing wasn’t yours, but
I need more to go on for a dismissal
.
The prosecution could just say that someone else wrote it down and gave it to you.
We’ve got to keep this from going to trial.”