Over the Middle: A Sports Romance (28 page)

He turned and walked off into the darkness. Just as I was about to get back into my BMW, and he was nothing more than a black shape against the slightly less dark of the surrounding area, he turned back. “Hey, D-man?”

“Yeah?”

“I like the new look. Makes you look less stuffy, more like a badass. I bet the ladies like it too.”

“Fuck off, Adam,” I said with a good-natured wave. “Now excuse me. I have to get to work myself.”

I
'd recovered
from my scare, but I was going stir-crazy. The college administration, still more worried about covering their asses than trying to stop Vincent from harassing me, wasn't very helpful when Mom went in to talk to them the day after the threatening email. They said that without direct evidence that the message was sent by Vincent, there was little they could do. Mom at least got them to agree to let me take the rest of the week off, forwarding my assignments to my school email. Since I didn't have any tests for the next two weeks, I was okay there at least.

Still, being kept in the house, even one as luxurious as the Bertoli mansion, was driving me nuts. Everywhere I looked, I saw the same faces, the same people, the same things that I'd seen a million times before in my life. To make it worse, Uncle Carlo took away my phone and computer, telling me that Daniel would now have screening of my communication added to his duties. So I was stuck watching daytime TV, reading books in the library, and trying not to be bored out of my mind. I wasn't even allowed outside, except to the small garden that was built into a section of the mansion that was surrounded by other buildings. I was being kept a prisoner for my own damn protection.

Friday, though, Daniel was back, and after a long, private conversation with Uncle Carlo, he found me in the gym. “Well, it looks like you're giving it a bit more effort than you were the last time I saw you in here,” he said as I heaved my way through another set of chest presses. “Trying to beef up on me?”

“More like I'm bored and pissed, and this is the best way to work it off,” I said, pushing. The handles of the machine moved away from my chest for a second before pausing, stuck at the halfway-point. I gritted my teeth and grunted, very unladylike and totally unavoidable, but I couldn't complete the motion. The handles crashed back to the stop point as gravity won out over my muscles, and I hissed in frustration. “Shit.”

“Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about yesterday. I'm back to sticking by your side now, but you're not going to like one thing.”

“What's that?” I said, rolling my shoulders. I didn't lift very often, and I knew I'd be sore the next day because of it, but I didn't really care. It was better than being bored out of my skull. Actually, just having Daniel nearby helped.

“Carlo told me that you’re to live in the house. So starting next week, when you go back to classes, we're going to have to leave earlier to make it on time.”

“What about you?” I asked. “It’s going to be even more of a pain in the ass for you.”

Daniel shook his head. “Actually, I'll be getting a bit more sleep, since I'm going to be staying here too. The housekeeper’s making up my old room.”

“That thing? It's the size of a broom closet!” I protested. “Seriously, the pantry is bigger than that!”

Daniel shrugged it off. “I don't need it for much more than a mattress and to store a few clothes. We've got a shower over here, after all. Speaking of which, if you just happen to wander down here at six fifteen in the morning and hear the hot water running, feel free to join whoever is in there.”

“Yeah, right. Knowing my luck, it'd be the gardener. No thanks.”

Daniel laughed and turned to go, when I stopped him. “Dan?”

“Yeah, Ade?”

“Are you busy tonight? I'm going batshit crazy around here, there's far too many men in dark suits, and I need a break from all this heaviness.”

Daniel sighed and turned back. “We're here to protect you, Ade. He could never get in this place.”

“Still, I need to get out of here, even if it’s just for a few hours. Think of it as mental therapy,” I said. I went over to my next machine and adjusted the seat and pins, readying myself. “Come on, don't make me order you.”

Daniel chuckled. “I think you'd prefer me ordering
you
around. But I have to say no either way. Your mother wants me to do something. Also, I have some restitution to take care of. I don't like saying it, but I didn't exactly behave well the last time I stopped by the Starlight Club.”

I was surprised at the flare of anger and jealousy at the mention of the Starlight Club. I knew what sort of business that was, and I didn't like the idea of Daniel going there, regardless of whether it was his job. “You should frequent a better class of business, Daniel.”

“It's my job, Ade. In either case, I'm going to be leaving around six and won't be back until after midnight.”

“Fine. Then tomorrow night, you're protecting me while I go out to dinner and a movie. I need a few hours to feel like a normal girl, and not a fucking victim.” I sat down at the machine and started, pulling the handles this time instead of pushing them. “Got a problem with that?”

I think it was the first time I'd seen Daniel uncomfortable in a long time. Sure, he'd been hesitant in the graveyard, but not uncomfortable. He wanted to say no, but another part of him wanted to say yes. “Fine. What time?”

“I'll tell you tomorrow,” I said with a smile. “It'll be fun.”

I don't think he knew that I heard his next comment. He was trying to keep it under his breath, but it still made me smile, knowing I was affecting him the same way he was affecting me. “It'll be my fucking funeral, more like it.”

* * *

M
om and Uncle Carlo
weren't happy about it, but they understood after enough convincing on my part. So, at six thirty Saturday night, I was dressed in my best jeans and t-shirt, freshly scrubbed. I'd taken the time to make sure that I didn't have any paint on my clothes or in my hair, even though I'd spent four hours that afternoon painting in the library, letting my stress out through the use of oils. The painting was shit, dark and violent and not at all like what I preferred to do, but it helped. It let me pour out my emotions in a safe and familiar way. At least Vincent’s fuckery hadn't robbed me of one of my primary joys.

Daniel met me in the foyer, looking for all the world like some of the guys who'd come to pick me up for dates back in high school. Well, except for the small bulge on his left side where he had his pistol under his shirt. “You ready?”

“Of course,” I said, trying not to skip down the steps. Mom stood there watching, her eyes filled with concern. “I'll be back by eleven.”

She looked at me, then at Daniel, and gestured with her head. Daniel nodded silently and stepped outside, his keys in his hand. Mom used the opportunity to lean in close. “You behave yourself, young lady. Do you understand?”

“I'll be fine,” I said, giving her my best innocent smile. “It's not a date. I doubt you’d want me to go alone—not that I’d want to—but I need to get out.”

“It had better not be, for both of your sakes,” Mom whispered. “Be careful.”

I kissed her on the cheek and gave her a hug, patting her back. “I will. Thanks, Mom.”

Daniel was already outside, standing next to his car, holding the passenger door open for me. “Should I ask what she said?”

“You're smart enough to know,” I replied with a smile, sliding into the passenger seat. We drove, heading out of town. I'd chosen a mall outside of Seattle, purely for the fact that we'd never been there before.

As we drove, Daniel relaxed bit by bit as we put miles between us and the house. “Dan?”

“Yeah, Ade?” he asked. He reached out with a thumb, jabbing the power button on his car stereo, and I was surprised as relaxing, mellow instrumental music, not jazz but something else, filled the car. “Just downloaded it today. Thought you could use the relaxation.”

“Thanks,” I said, leaning back into the leather seats. “I just wanted to let you know, this dinner is for you too. I know you've been doing your best, and you've been showing a few signs of stress too. Also, I shouldn’t have snapped at you about the Starlight Club. I know it’s part of your job.”

“Thanks, but you didn't need to,” Daniel replied. “Last night was purely business. I met my private eye there. He's helping me with tracking down Drake.”

“No more on Vincent tonight, please? For the next four and a half hours, I don't want to hear or even think about that man.”

“Deal,” Daniel said. “Just dinner and a movie for a stressed out girl. Too much cobalt blue and titanium white or something.”

I laughed. “Something like that. Although after today's painting, I think I need a few more tubes of black and gray.”

I was surprised when he nodded. “I saw. I liked it.”

“Really? I thought it was terrible,” I said. “Not realistic at all—too dark, just . . . not me.”

“Maybe not, but it's got a lot of intensity. You really poured a lot of yourself into it, and I guess it speaks to me that way.”

“Then it's yours,” I said immediately. “The best way to get through to an artist is to say you like their work, even if the she hates it herself.”

The restaurant lived up to the reviews, with some of the best burgers I'd had in a long time. Daniel enjoyed as well, and ended up licking the barbecue sauce from his bacon barbecue burger off his fingertips, something I'd never seen him do before. At home, he'd always been the epitome of decorum, wiping his hands and mouth with his napkin even if everyone else was nearly under the table drunk. “Worth the thirty-minute drive, that's for sure,” he said. “What did you think?”

“Great. You know the only downer in this?”

“What's that?”

I took a sip of my soda and set my glass down. “You and I were good friends for about five years there, after I came to Uncle Carlo's house. But then we were kept apart.”

“For good reason, Ade. I haven't been the type of man who’s supposed to be friends with a classy girl like you.”

“I think I'm old enough now to pick who my friends are and who I want to spend time with,” I said simply, but I was touched by his compliment. “I guess what I'm saying is, when this is finished, I don't want you to drift away again. I know Uncle Carlo doesn't like it, but I want to talk to him about it later.”

“You can talk all you want, but he’s not going to listen. I'm not worthy of you in his eyes.” Daniel lowered his eyes to the table, and I could tell he wished it weren’t the case.

“And what do you think?” I asked, then shook my head. “Nevermind. That's an unfair question. Come on, let's see the movie. After all the terror of the past week, I need some fictional scares to put all of it in perspective.”

The movie was a remake of a Japanese horror flick,
The Ring vs. The Grudge
, and had plenty of creepy atmosphere. Sure, it was an amalgamation of two pretty worn out movies, but it was still fun. As the tension built, I pulled my legs up underneath me, my eyes wide and staring at the screen. The first time the ghost popped out to scare the first victim to death, I'll admit I jumped, a little bit of popcorn bouncing out of my tub to rain down on my lap, some of it falling onto Daniel's lap as well. “Thanks,” he said blithely, picking up a kernel and tossing it into his mouth. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I whispered back. “It's why we came anyway. It's therapeutic.”

When the next scare happened, I shrieked loud enough for those around me to jump too. Daniel put his arm around my shoulder, not saying a word.

I fidgeted some, the hard plastic of the arm rest in my ribs preventing me from getting comfortable before I realized that the arm rest lifted. Scooting to the side, I pulled it up and out of the way, snuggling back in closer to Daniel, who rested his arm on my shoulder for the rest of the movie. With his strong arm holding me lightly, I didn't have to jump for the rest of the movie, but I certainly enjoyed some of the scares that were left, and by the end, I was laughing at some of the cheesiness of the two ghostly characters and the idiotic people caught between them.

As the credits rolled and the lights rose, I reached up and gave Daniel's hand a squeeze. “Thanks, I needed that.”

“No problem,” he said, removing his arm, “but I think you and I need to set some ground rules. For our safety, especially mine.”

I nodded, reality poking its ugly head in, and sighed. “I guess so, but can we at least save it until we get to the car?”

Daniel looked like he was about to protest, then just nodded. He reached over and took my hand, entwining our fingers. “Let's go.”

The three hundred and twenty-three steps from the theater to Daniel's car were the best part of the evening, as for the first time in nearly a year, I felt totally like a normal girl, free from all the stress and worry of what I'd been through. I imagined that it was like what girls who weren't Mafia princesses felt like most Saturday nights when they were out with a cute guy.

Daniel held my door open and got in afterward, sticking his key in the ignition. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“I did,” I said with a smile. “You know, Daniel, when you want to be, you're a pretty decent guy.”

“Don't let the secret out,” he said with a chuckle. “But Ade, we're pushing a very dangerous line, one that I don’t think we should cross.”

“I know,” I said, sighing and looking out the windshield. “The problem is, I like spending time with you. Beyond what that could mean, I'm just saying that going out with you is a lot of fun. Even when we've been bumming around campus, just you taking me to classes and stuff, I've enjoyed myself. I keep wishing you were an actual student.”