Page 56 of Dare to Dance
Tommy rested his elbows on his knees. Trent took a long pull from the bottle.
“So, talk,” I said as a dull pain throbbed in my chest from the morbid anticipation of what they had in mind.
Trent set down the beer bottle on the desk, the folder still clutched in his other hand. “I have a client I want you to entertain.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “No fucking way.” I shook my head violently as I darted for the door. “I’m out of here.” I wasn’t about to jump from illegal fighting to illegal “entertaining,” whatever he meant by that. I wasn’t stupid, though. He meant sex for hire. That type of work wasn’t in my vocabulary. Norma had prostituted herself. I understood why. But I wasn’t Norma. I stole to survive, and I would continue to do so before I entertained anyone by using my body.
“What about your daughter?” Trent asked as though he knew he’d won the battle.
Blood rushed out of me. I flared my nostrils as I gripped the doorknob. “What about her?”
“If you don’t do as I say, then I’ll make sure your case to get your daughter back falls on the bottom of a judge’s docket for months or longer.”
I spun around. “You can’t do that.” No way he had a judge in the palm of his hand. Then again, my mom’s boss had had relationships with people in high places.
Trent removed a piece of paper from the folder and extended it to me. “See for yourself. I can also inform social services of your illegal fighting.”
My heart crashed against my bruised ribs, heightening the pain. I shuffled over and took the paper with a trembling hand. The heading read, “Ruby and Raven Lewis, case file number 5218.” The words on the paper blurred. “You’re bluffing.”He isn’t bluffing. He has a copy of my file, which means he knows someone in the family court system.
Ms. Waters’s name came to mind. No. I refused to believe he knew her or manipulated her. She’d seemed sympathetic to my situation and didn’t strike me as someone who would take a bribe. She had given me pointers on the legal procedures to prove Kross was the father. “How did you get this?”
Trent’s fat nose widened as he smirked. “I’m a highly respected businessman with a judge on speed dial. Do you want to call my bluff?”
If I hadn’t been in a sinking ship before, I was now. I could go to Ms. Waters and ask her if Trent could do something like this. But then she would know I was illegally fighting, which would show I wasn’t a responsible mother, and further slow the process. I couldn’t go to the cops. I had nothing to prove that Trent was threatening me with a judge. I didn’t even know who the judge was.
It was more important than ever to tell Kross about Raven. I had to speed up the process of getting her out of foster care, especially if a paternity test was a faster route. Not only that, Trent didn’t know Kross was the father. So Trent couldn’t screw with Kross’s case.
In the meantime, I would do anything to get my daughter back.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
16
Kross
Isatin the locker room at the gym, lacing up my boots. With the exception of Kody and me, the locker room was empty. Jay was closing up at noon for the Thanksgiving holiday, which was when I was due to meet Ruby. My stomach was in a ball of knots, tightly wound and ready to snap open. Since I’d seen her fight, my body, my mind, and my soul hadn’t been the same.
Her beauty had done things to me in high school, like give me flutters and butterflies and sweaty palms. Those same feelings were back, only at a heightened state. I’d thought watching her dance ballet was a sight to see. How wrong I was. I was in awe as I watched her dance in the ring, driving her fists into Vickie over and over again. Pride had risen in me as Ruby had continued to fight despite the pain she endured from Vickie’s fists. I knew how bad it hurt to get a fist to my gut. I knew how hard it was to fight through the pain. In that moment, in that fucking disgusting basement, I’d wanted to claim her as mine. I’d wanted to shout from the rooftops that she was my girl.
“What are you and Ruby doing this afternoon?” Kody asked as he stood at the locker across from me, buckling his belt. He’d been sparring with me since Liam was home with his family for Thanksgiving week. Jay had me on a workout regimen so I wouldn’t lose momentum before my fight with Reggie Stockman.
“Not sure. At first, she’d wanted me to take her home to the Berkshires. But when I told her I would take her, she’d said another day. So I’m not sure what we’re doing today.” I didn’t care if we ended up at that warehouse she’d taken me to or if we roamed the streets. As long as we were together, we were building that highway of trust between us.
Kody combed his hair. “So she hasn’t mentioned a kid?”
“You sound like Kelton.” Even though he’d advised me to give Ruby space, he’d been grilling me every chance he had. “No.” I believed she was close to opening up, which was why she’d asked me to take her to the Berkshires. Although if we weren’t going up there, I wondered if she had changed her mind.
“Is she joining us for Thanksgiving?”
I stuffed my gym bag in my locker. “No.” I’d asked her, and she’d said no. I wasn’t pushing her, mainly because I wasn’t ready to be bombarded with questions and grilled at the dinner table. “Look, I’ve got to meet with Jay before I leave. I’ll meet you guys at home later this afternoon.”
We were all gathering at my parents’ house. We had a Thanksgiving tradition in which we gathered down by the lake around a small campfire and told each other what we were thankful for. Before I’d learned that I could be a father, my Thanksgiving speech was dedicated to family and how thankful I was for all of them. While I still was grateful for them, I was now thankful that fate had brought Ruby and me together.
I prodded through the gym and into Jay’s office. I hoped our conversation was swift. Ruby would be there in less than ten minutes.
Jay glanced up from the TV. He was going through tapes of Reggie Stockman. I’d seen them about a hundred times. Reggie was considered a slugger, his style similar to that of the famous George Foreman. Sluggers had raw power and often went in to attack their opponent with one hard punch. Whereas a fighter like Reggie lacked mobility, an out-fighter like me was quick on his feet, making a slugger work for his punches, and in turn, he tired easily. I wasn’t getting cocky. I knew all too well how a slugger’s punch packed some severe heat. The fighter I’d met in the ring a few weeks ago had knocked me the fuck out. I still had work to do, but seeing Ruby fight had given me some of my mojo back. I had been concentrating more, and my punches were spot-on.
“You see what he does,” Jay said without taking his eyes off the tape.
