The Fighter's Block by Hadley Quinn Page A

grabbed Brian out of his car, threw him up against it and held him there. “You still stalking her? Huh? You just sit here, waiting for her to come and go?”
    Brian refused to answer, and his smug smile made Van even angrier.
    “There’s something wrong with you!” he yelled, banging him against the car. “You stay away from her, you understand me? If anything happens to her you will have me to deal with, you got that? This is done, asshole ,” Van growled , pulling out his phone . “You won’t be coming by here again, I’ll make sure of it.”
    Van didn’t trust himself to handle it any further, so he grabbed Brian’s keys from the ignition and decided to make a phone call.
    “Doug, I gotta situation here that I need someone else to handle…”
    Van wa s glad that he had enough sense to allow somebody else to intervene. As it was, he already wanted to beat the shit out of this guy .
     
     
     
    Dani was upstairs reading a book when Marnie called her.
    “Van cornered your ex on the street,” was all she got out before Dani jumped up to look out the window.
    “Oh, no ,” she moaned after she stuck her head out the window to see the commotio n. Yes, there was Van’s truck on the street and there was Brian, surrounded by Paul, Eddie, a couple of guys in suits , and two uniformed cops.
    She left the apartment in an instant, made it downstairs in a matter of seconds, and flew out the front door. Paul saw her coming first and said something to Van, and Van took a deep breath to decide the best way to handle the situation .
    “W hat the hell is going on?” she asked, out of breath.
    “Just walk with me,” Van said, intercepting her before she got any further.
    “Dani!” Brian called. “Come on, I just need to talk to you!”
    The officers at the scene discouraged him from saying any more, and Van led Dani to the passenger’s seat of his truck .
    “Where are we going?” she asked.
    “Just… hop in, please. I have to at least move my truck for now.”
    The police had just informed him to do so, and with Dani’s arrival, it was the perfect opportunity. He pulled around to the other side of the street and turned off the ignition, and then just sat there in silence.
    Finally Dani asked, “What happened?”
    “He was parked on the street.”
    She thought about that for a second. “And?”
    “And what? Dani, there’s no reason for him to be here!”
    “I understand that, so what happened? You just saw him there and…and what?”
    “I had a talk with him, and then decided I needed to let someone else do it. I didn’t want to do anything I would regret.”
    She was thankful for that, assuming that he hadn’t done anything to Brian that would cause her ex to press charges. The last thing she wanted was for Van to get in trouble because of her.
    She moved closer to him and slid her hands behind his neck, leaning her forehead against his. She wanted to cry because things had gotten so out of hand, and she just wanted everything to stop. But she remained composed and took a few seconds to think.
    “Van, I think that I should just…move on for now, okay? I’m going to go stay somewhere else; somewhere that doesn’t put you in the middle of all of this—”
    “Don’t do that, Dani. I mean it. You are not to blame for any of this, and you don’t have to worry about keeping me out of this to- to protect me, or whatever.”
    “I can’t handle all of this, Van. It makes me really uncomfortable having all of these people now a part of this. Not just you, but now Eddie, and Cody, and Paul and Marnie… It’s not fair, and I feel that Brian is just doing this because he’s pissed, you know? I broke up with him, you step in at the club, you break his hand… And th en I end up going home with you, now I’m living with you…” She sig hed. “It’s just a mix of things and I think he’ll settle down if I just—”
    “You’re completely catering to his wishes,” Van interrupted.
    Dani closed her