Free The Fighter's Block by Hadley Quinn Page A

seconds and then added, “I like Eddie. He’s kind of a funny guy.”
    Van chuckled. “Yeah, he is.”
    “Why does he keep referring to this building as ‘the block’?”
    Van smiled. “Well, he’s actually referring to my floor. The entire fourth floor has been referred to as ‘T he Fighter’s Block ’ because of me. I was the first fighter to move here, and people just started referring to it that way . When I used to fight down at the Divehouse, Mickey used to manage this building as well. When I turned eighteen and was on my own, he set me up in this place. After that he started to house other fighters here and…it’s just stayed that way ever since. Now the whole floor consists of former or current fight-clubbers. But this is still considered my block, ” he winked with a smile.
    Dani returned the smile and slowly nodded. “Ah, I see . The original fighter to reside here, and still the block leader,” she teased. “ So Paul and Cody are MMA fighters?”
    “Yep.”
    “And Quincy ?” she asked with a surprised smile.
    Van laughed. “Yeah, Quincy used to fight but he’s taken too many hits to the head—too many concussions over the years. Now he mainly sticks to, uh, supervising.”
    “Supervising?”
    “Yeah, he’s mo re of the guy in the corner for moral support. He loves the sport and has a hard time staying away. I don’t blame him. But yeah, he sticks to coaching and stuff. ”
    “Ah, gotcha, ” she nodded .
     
     
     
                                                                         
     
    Brian was pissed that Dani had changed her phone number. If she thought she could shake him that easily, she was sadly mistaken. For now he’d let her have a little freedom, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to keep tabs on her. Sooner or later she’d realize that she’d made a mistake, and he could pretend to be patient and understanding until she came crawling back for a place to stay. She was still helping to pay for her brother’s medical expenses, so there was no way she’d have the money for her own place. And she didn’t like staying at Jaime and Steve’s because all they did was bitch at each other , so Brian was sure his chances were good. For now he’d just play it cool until Dani created another mess for him to bail her out of .
    Friday he drove down Willet Street, his cu rrent route from work to home. It was almost seven o’clock, so he knew Dani was done with work. He s aw her car parked on the street and he parked his own another block down. He didn’t know what he expected to get out of this routine, but he just liked knowing where she was. He sat there for an hour, expecting that she might be going out sometime soon. But her car remained, and there was no sign of her. He thought about going into the building, getting on the elevator, and just picking a floor to meander. But after his last visit, he was sure that Dani figured out it was him . After all, she did change her phone number the next day.
    He called up Andy and told him he had a job for him. He wanted him to get Dani’s new phone number.
    “Come on, man,” Andy replied. “Just leave it alone. If you want her back, harassing her isn’t gonna do it.”
    “Just get the fucking number, Andy. Do you want your shit this month or not?”
    Andy sighed but finally agreed.
    “And if you happen to find me an apartment number to the place she’s staying at, I’ll double your pay,” Brian added before hanging up with his brother.
    He looked ahead to the apartment complex. There wasn’t a chance he’d be able to enter the lobby again without someone getting suspicious. He was lucky the first two times, but he wasn’t going to push it for a third. But that didn’t mean someone else couldn’t get some information for him… He thought about that for a minute, but he decided he first needed more to go on , and h e left for home around