by Hadley Quinn
“I prefer it. And I was born here, so I am an American citizen,” she clarified.
“And you think that would make a difference with me? I’m up for having a French hottie.” She laughed and Van added, “Well I’m American through and through. No refined culture in my blood whatsoever. I’m Jersey all the way, baby.”
“And I like Jersey all the way,” she smiled. “And for the record, I am not a stuck up French snob.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “No, you are not. Which is why I would never have guessed you came from the land of berets.”
She laughed again, but on a serious note added, “But my parents are. They even refuse to call me Dani.” Van nodded, seeming to understand her hesitation to deal with her parents much. But he regretted even bringing them up when she added, “So tell me about your family.”
Van’s heart dropped into his stomach. He’d rather face five of his toughest opponents in the cage at the same time…
Chapter Six
Dani could sense his hesitation immediately. She was sure there were things about his family and about his life that he’d been reluctant to share since she first met him. She didn’t know what it could possibly be since he was such a sweet guy, but obviously there was something there.
She decided not to press it, and instead, began sharing a little more about her own family.
“My father is a photographer in Manhattan,” she said, taking Van’s hand and lovingly tracing it with her finger. “My mother is a fashion designer—she designs wedding dresses and other formal attire. They kind of make quite the working duo. None of us are really close to them, though.
“Simon has had the most trouble with them. They were pretty pissed when he told them he was gay,” she smiled. “But even though it didn’t really surprise them or anything, it was still just a tiny part of…much bigger drama later on. Simon had a relationship with one of my dad’s clients and it didn’t end very well. Long story short, it cost my dad a pretty major account and a ‘tarnished’ reputation. But the bottom line was that the rest of us just wanted everyone to get along, and when my dad was unwilling to lend a hand to Simon when he needed it the most… I guess we just banded together and made our own support system. Fontaine is the only one that really talks to them at all, but that’s mainly because she still lives in New York and still works in the industry.
“But the sad part about Simon’s relationship with my parents—the aspect of it that I’ve always felt my parents were the most upset about—was that Simon helped me out when I wanted to quit modeling. He encouraged me to fix my eating habits and he was there for me when I registered for college. My family has been pretty divided for the past few years, and even though I blame that on my mom and dad for not being very supportive of us, my brother and sisters and I do what we can to put all of that aside.”
Van nodded slightly, intrigued with Dani’s personal life. “So remind me the order of your siblings. You’re the youngest, right?”
“Um, I am now. Jaime is the oldest—she’s thirty—then there’s Simon who’s twenty-seven, and Fontaine who’s twenty-five. I also had another brother—Julian—but he died in a skiing accident when he was fourteen. He’d actually be the youngest if he were still alive—he’d be twenty.”
Van was very surprised to hear that, and all he could offer was, “Wow. I mean…I’m sorry you lost your brother, and I’m sorry your parents have been difficult to deal with over the years.”
She shrugged. “It is what it is. We all have the lives we were given.” She decided to add, “Besides, life is about balance. If it’s not one thing we struggle with, it’s something else. We all have things we’re meant to learn from.”
Van thought that to be interesting. He wasn’t sure what kind of struggles he’d have if they weren’t what he already had, but she was right. It is what it is.
“Well I have problems with my family too,” he decided to say. “Your family sounds fairly normal.”
“Normal?” she smiled. “Hm, well is that to make me feel good, or are you just trying to prepare me for what you’re going to tell me about your family?”
He eyed her for a moment, realizing that was her invitation for him to share. He was afraid to, and even though Dani had shared a little of her background, it kind of intimidated him a bit.
“Van, you have nothing to worry about,” she finally said, squeezing his hand. “I can tell you don’t want to tell me, and for whatever reason that is, I wish you would change your mind. Whatever you tell me isn’t going to make a difference with you and I.”
“You might want to hold off on thinking that way,” he told her.
Her eyes met his and she sighed. She really was worried at that point, and she heard her own words repeat in her head: life comes in balance. Van was amazing, but there could be something else to counter it. She was prepared for something terrible, but she desperately hoped that nothing interfered with her newfound happiness.
“Van, it’s probably better that you just share it. Relationships are about give and take, and I think we do a pretty good job of that. And even though we’ve barely gotten to know each other, I just feel like…we work.” She kind of chuckled. “I don’t know, does that make sense?”
He had to smile because it made perfect sense. “I think you spoke my mind.”
Dani was very happy to hear that. She was afraid of saying too much sometimes, but she really did feel like she and Van were a good match.
“So,” he sighed. “All that’s supposed to get me to open up, huh?”
Dani knew he was going to when he smiled, but she could tell it wasn’t something he was comfortable with. However, she softly took his hand to her lips and kissed it, prepared to hear the worst.
“Well, I guess I should start when I was about seven or so, which is as early as I can remember. My parents fought all the time, my dad was abusive, and we were pretty poor and moved around a lot because he couldn’t hold a job. But when I was sixteen…my dad killed my mom.”
Dani could feel her heart sink, but she remained quiet as he continued.
“He went to prison, and the kids—me and my brother and sister—went into foster care. I went to a different home than they did because I was older—they were eleven and ten at the time—and I never got to see them. When I turned eighteen the courts wouldn’t let me take custody of them. I didn’t have a steady job—well, they decided that competitive fighting wasn’t an appropriate career—and after that, they both got moved around to a few homes and I wasn’t able to locate them. I finally saw my brother about…two years ago. He was eighteen at the time and just…” Van sighed. “Well, he’s got a great drug-dealing career right now. He wanted nothing to do with me once he found out I wasn’t going to support him financially while he continued on with his lifestyle.”
Van shrugged, unsure of what to say, and Dani thought she frowned but hoped it didn’t show.
“What about your sister? And what are their names, by the way?”
“Uh, Darren is my brother, and my sister’s name is Leah. And I haven’t seen her since she was ten years old. It’s actually her birthday next week… She’ll be nineteen.”
“Do you want to find your sister? I mean is that something you still want to do?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I tried for years, but the state didn’t exactly care to help me out. My dad was in prison for manslaughter, and I guess that meant I should be kept away.”
“Have you heard anything about your sister? Anything at all might be the start to tracking her down.”
Van thought for a few seconds and said, “Well, one foster family—not the last one she was with but the one before—mentioned that she talked about cosmetology school. I have no idea if she ever found a way to pay for something like that, but I guess it’s the only thing I know about her. I looked into it the best I could, but wasn’t able to track her down that way. I feel like someday I’ll meet up with her, but for now…I have no idea who she even is.”
Dani thought about Van’s family all weekend, and by the time he went to work the next afternoon, she decided that she needed to help him find his sister. She spent Saturday night at Jaime’s house—two heads were better than one—and Sunday she continued to do what she could research-wise on the computer. She didn’t get much done over the phone that day, but Monday came around and that was a better opportunity for getting a hold of people. She didn’t have any results by the end of the day, at least not in the way that she hoped, but she felt optimistic if she just kept at it.
The other side of it was what bothered Dani. If Leah really wanted to get a hold of Van, it wouldn’t be that hard. He’d lived in the same place for the past seven years—since he turned eighteen and left the foster system. He’d known Mickey since he was fourteen—Van used to hang around the Divehouse watching the guys spar, wishing he could do to his dad what those guys were doing to each other. Mickey used to let the kid stay, even letting him learn a little bit of the craft. Once Mickey found out what Donny Kemp had done to Van’s mom, he took a special interest in Van. He didn’t want him to be consumed by certain influences in the world, and he convinced Van’s foster parents to let him work with Van.
And that’s how Mickey Tate became a surrogate father to Van, so when Mickey stopped by the firehouse on Monday, Van was happy to see him.
“When you gonna come in and watch my newbies?” Mickey asked him. He stood next to Van at the bench press.
Van finished his last two reps and sat up as he exhaled. “I don’t know; I’ve been pretty busy lately.”
“Yeah, I guess, since I haven’t seen you for a couple of weeks.”
Van grinned. “Went and found me a girlfriend. It’s more fun grappling with her than with you.”
Mickey chuckled and nodded his head. “Yeah, I guess so. Well, bring her by. I wanna meet her.”
Van thought about it, but he wasn’t sure what Dani would think about the gym. She flinched just from watching violence on TV. “I’ll have to see. I don’t want to scare her away too soon.”
“Fair enough. But one of these days you need to come back, Van. You’re too good to let your youth go to waste.”
“My youth, huh?”
Mickey chuckled but studied Van carefully. Yeah, the kid missed it. He could tell. “So tell me what’s going on with your dad,” Mickey said.
Van moved over to the wall and picked up a pair of free weights. “His lawyer is trying to convince me to come to his parole hearing. That bastard doesn’t deserve to get out after ten years.”
Mickey slowly nodded. “You still don’t want anything to do with him.”
“Hell no. He ruined sixteen years of my life, and tore the rest of us apart. You know he had Gus get me to the meeting by telling me Darren was gonna be there? And then he said, ‘Oh, I meant for the hearing…’ ” Van scoffed and shook his head. “There’s no fucking way he’d show up for that, either.”
“Darren still won’t talk to you, huh?”
“Nope.”
“And no word on Leah?”
“Nope.”
Mickey sighed. “I’m sorry, kid, but I’ve tried everything to track her down. I don’t know what else to do.”
“If she wanted to find me she could—”
“Van, I’ve told you a dozen times. You don’t know what she’s heard over the years, okay? Kids in foster care, when they’re as young as she was, don’t know one end from the other when it comes to their families. And Darren has no clue where he is, let alone his sister.”
Van didn’t want to talk about it anymore and Mickey could tell. Instead he asked about Van’s new girlfriend, and that got more smiles out of the kid than Mickey had seen in a lifetime.
***
“So? What’s the news?” Brian asked his brother, entering Andy’s apartment.
“What news? I told you I didn’t have any.”
“You’ve got to have something,” Brian scoffed.
“Well…not really. I mean all of her mail is still going to her sister’s house, like it always has, but I haven’t found anything that’s linked to the Jefferson Apartments.”
“What about the phone?”
“I got nothing, man.”
Brian groaned but then asked, “Okay, where’s she working?”
“Oh,” Andy replied, remembering that he did get that much. But he suddenly grew a conscience and didn’t want to tell him.
“Well? Where is it? What’s the name of it?”
Andy didn’t want to deal with Brian so he just said, “Flegal Design. –On Benson.”
Brian smiled, glad to finally have something new. He had followed her one morning, but he lost her in traffic. And then the next time he tried following her she’d made a few stops along the way, and then he had to get to work.
“So what are you gonna do with the information?” Andy asked him.
Brian looked him over, debating whether or not he should talk to him about it. But all he said was, “Nothing. I just wanted to know where she works.” He remembered what he’d been considering before and added, “But I do need one more thing from you…”
***
When Van got home that night, Dani was there as well. He liked that, and when she had dinner in the works, it made him feel even more grateful.
He kissed her hello and Dani loved that. She pulled him closer to prolong the affection, pressing against him as she slid her hands up his shirt.
“Are you hungry now or do you want to wait until later?” she smiled, continuing to kiss him.
“That depends on which appetite you’re referring to,” he replied, picking her up and setting her on the counter to kiss her more.
She laughed, but really didn’t have to answer that. He spread her knees apart with his hips and forced her against him. She could feel his bulge instantly and it made her smile. He brushed his lips over hers to tickle them and then she kissed him hard. She lifted his t-shirt and went through her usual ritual of appreciating his body with her eyes and hands. She couldn’t get enough of it, especially when he’d been gone.
“Well the jeans are kind of a brick wall,” Van joked, groping at her crotch but hardly getting anywhere. He unbuttoned them, but since they were pretty tight fitting, he knew he had some work to do before he could have his way with her on the counter. “I’m gonna grab you by the ankles and shake you out of ‘em.”
She laughed out loud and said, “Next time I’ll wear a skirt, I promise. But this time…” She smiled as she slid off the counter.
“This time…?” he coaxed eagerly. He couldn’t wait to find out what idea was in her head.
With a bite of her lower lip, she winked at him and used a finger to make him follow. She didn’t even have to motion twice. He stared at her ass as she purposely wiggled it down the hall, luring him easily while his lower anatomy led the way.
“Those jeans look nice on you,” he said. “Tight and just… Mmm, I’m jealous of them.”
She smiled again when he entered the room behind her. She slammed him up against the wall and the stupid smile on his face grew even bigger. Pressing her lower half against his, she began to kiss him. Then she said, “These jeans will be gone in five…four…three…” She continued to slip them off until she said, “Zero,” and tossed them on the floor.
He watched her the entire time, especially since she’d turned her backside to him to remove the pants, revealing a very sexy thong with a little bow at the top.
“Oh my God,” he practically panted, wanting to grab her and take her right there.
“Nuh-uh,” she warned, wagging a finger at him. “No touching.” He tried to protest and she warned him again. “You touch me, I stop. You want to play or not?”
He swallowed and took a deep breath to control his breathing. “Play,” he answered with narrowed eyes. But he was trying not to smile. He liked this side of her but damn…she was going to make him suffer first.
She started to unbutton her shirt,
slowly. One button, she rubbed against him… Two buttons, she turned around to pressed her ass against his crotch… Three buttons, she faced him again and opened her shirt all the way.
He sucked in his breath to admire a sexy lace bodice that pushed her breasts up nicely. The shirt dropped to the floor and he wanted to grab her. She gave him a warning look before he caught himself and pressed his hands against the wall again. He almost wished he had something to restrain him, just in case she was serious about playing hardball.
Speaking of balls… His were aching.
She looked at him through sultry eyes beneath thick lashes and gave him a seductive smile. He had on his normal attire of athletic clothing. She toyed with the band of his Nike pants, sliding her fingers inside, closer…closer…closer…
She sunk down to her knees and his heart began another cage fight. She looked up and gave him another wickedly sexy smile but…she started to take off his shoes.
“You are evil,” he murmured, exhaling a breath of air. He hoped it would relieve the ache between his legs but it didn’t.
She only smiled again and continued to remove his socks, tossing them wherever they landed behind her. She rose to her tiptoes and placed her lips against his jaw. “I wouldn’t be mocking the mouth that’s going to eat you,” she whispered.
He wanted to laugh out loud but he was way too aroused. It came out as a pathetic plea for whatever she was going to do to him.
She lowered herself to her knees again, but this time she really did get into his pants. She could hear his shaky breathing as she slid her lips around him, and she went to work until his breathing turned into audible moans, mingled with her name. Her tongue teased and tickled softly in between harder play, and she sucked the tip of him while she gave his balls attention with her fingers.
He wanted to die of happiness at that moment. She stood with another smile and asked, “Still think I’m evil?”
“Fuck, no. You’re the most angelic creature I’ve ever had. I could just…”