Maze (The Ballerina Series #2) (5 page)

Chapter Five

Ivy

I
took the elevator up to the third floor to Maze’s stepfather’s room. Something
was definitely up, and if Maze and I stood a chance of having any kind of a
future he was going to have to be honest with me. There would be no more
shutting me out. No more disappearing. I wasn’t stupid. I knew the sports
channels didn’t feature the kind of fighting he did. He told me he was done
with it and I believed him, but something more was going on. We weren’t being
chauffeured around by his uncle’s bodyguard for no reason. The elevator door
opened and I followed the signs. I walked through a set of double doors and
faced a nurse’s station. Two nurses sat behind the counter, and one stopped me.

“Can
I help you?” the blonde nurse asked.

“I’m
here to see Joe Chang.”

“I’ll
need to see some ID please,” she said.

The
nurse took it from me and checked her computer.

She
smiled. “Room 347, honey. Last one on the left. Follow the blue line.” She
raised her hand and pointed down one of four hallways branching off from around
the station. I’d already been there once before so knew where to go but his
room number had changed.

“Thank
you,” I said to her.

There
were four different colors, but the blue line turned to the right and the
others kept going straight. I turned right. As soon as I entered that hallway I
saw the other bodyguard that had been with Mr. Tsang the night of the fight. He
sat in front of one of the doors, reading a magazine. It was easy to tell these
guys were bodyguards; they were all muscled and always seemed super aware of
everything. I didn’t have to read the room number to know it was Joe’s door. I
wondered if Mr. Tsang was there. The man glanced up when he saw me, and he must
have recognized me.

“Good
evening,” he said, rising from his chair. He knocked on the door, before
turning the knob and pushing it open.

“Ah,
thank you,” I said, moving by him and entering the room. He shut the door
behind me.

Joe
sat up in bed when he saw me. “Hello, there. It’s good to see you again.”

He
looked much better than the first time I’d seen him. His skin wasn’t as pale
and there were no more dark circles under his eyes. A healthier glow radiated
from him and his thick white hair had been combed and framed his round friendly
face. The room wasn’t very large and the bathroom door hung open. I walked past
it toward a chair in the room. No one was in there except for Joe. Odd, what
was Tsang’s bodyguard doing at the door? Who was he guarding? Joe?
What the hell…

I
wanted to ask Joe what was going on, but he wasn’t the person to answer my
questions. I’d have to speak to Maze. So I sat down and plastered a smile on my
face. “Maze will be right up. He just saw someone he knew downstairs.”

Joe
grinned. “Thank you for coming with him to see me. How was dinner? Maze told me
you all had dinner with your mom tonight and some friends.”

I
smiled. Despite all of my concerns. “Dinner was great. I’m sorry my mom’s not
going to be in town longer to meet you, but she really liked Maze.”

“I’m
glad. I know he was looking forward to seeing your mom again. I’d enjoy meeting
her on another visit.”

I
nodded. “That would be great.”

“What
did you think of the fight?”

“I’m
not going to lie it was beautiful yet scary violent. The likes of which I’ve
never seen and never want to see again.”

He
chuckled. “Yes. That’s true. But Maze won’t fight any more. He’s agreed to just
train others now.”

“Yeah.”
I hoped it was true. “That’s what he told me and I’ll be glad if he does. From
what I saw, he should be really good at training, too.”

“He’ll
be the best,” Joe agreed. “He’ll put out champions in a year. Mark my words. In
a year’s time folks will line up to have a chance at training under Maze.”

I
smiled at his enthusiasm and thought he just might be right. For as long as I’d
known him, Maze had a certain way about him. Always in total control even when
things went out of control. He seemed to know what he was doing. Which made me
frown again. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but the information made me even more
uneasy about having Tsang’s bodyguards around us.

Just
then Maze walked into the room. “How you feeling, Joe?” he asked as he strolled
over to his stepfather, clasping his arm.

“Getting
there.”

Maze
picked up the only other chair in the room and placed it next to me, giving me
a quick kiss on the cheek before settling back into the seat.

We
stayed and kept Joe company for another hour. When he shut his eyes for the
third time, Maze got up. This time he kissed Joe’s forehead and stepped back. “We’ll
come check on you tomorrow.”

I
rose too. “Do you know when they’ll release you?” Joe had a massive heart
attack, but the surgeon had done a damn good job on him. I don’t know what Maze
would do if he lost Joe.

“The
doctor said he’d let me know tomorrow once he gets back some tests they ran
today. But everything looks good so maybe in another day or so.”

“That’s
great. We’ll talk again tomorrow then, and when you’re released, I’ll come and
get you.” Maze pulled out his cell and texted Terry.

“Sounds
good. Now you two leave an old man to his sleep. Go have fun.”

I
squeezed Joe’s hand but he gripped mine and pulled me closer to him, giving me
a kiss on my cheek. I beamed at him and straightened up. Maze wrapped his arm
around my waist and shook Joe’s hand, and then we left. The affection and love
these two men had for each other ran deep. It left a warm place in my heart. I
liked Joe and he seemed to have accepted me as being a part of Maze’s life. I
smiled thinking of Maze with my mom. I thought both of my parents would also
like Joe a lot. Especially after they found out about how Joe raised Maze like
a son after his mom died.

Maze
told me the story one night while we just lay in bed and held each other. Yeah,
Joe was a special person.

We
stepped onto the elevator and I circled my arms around Maze for the short ride.
I leaned against his shoulder and sighed.

“What’s
the matter?” he asked.

But
the elevator doors opened before I could answer, and in truth, I didn’t want to
begin this discussion here. I just shook my head.

He
placed his arm around my shoulder and we walked outside. Terry had the car
sitting right at the entrance, and he stood at the door holding it open for us.

I
smiled at him and got in.

“How’s
Joe?” he asked.

“Doing
well,” Maze replied. “He should be released in another day or so.”

“Good
to hear.”

Maze
got in and Terry shut the door.

Maze
activated the privacy window separating us from Terry, ensuring our
conversation would not be overheard. After he sat back in the seat he placed
his arm around my shoulders again. “Now, tell me what’s wrong?”

I
shifted away from him a little. “I’m not sure. Perhaps you need to tell me.”

He
frowned. “Is this because I wouldn’t let you wait for me earlier? Cause
seriously that was nothing. I just don’t want those guys anywhere near you. The
less they know about you the better.”

I
frowned now. I had no idea what he was talking about and told him so. “What
guys?” I asked. Then a light bulb went on. “Does this have something to do with
that fight in the alley? I thought that guy in the waiting room seemed
familiar.”

He
sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. “In a way. They’re part of the
world I’ve walked away from, and I don’t want you anywhere near it. Okay?”

“Maze,
what’s going on? Are you talking about underground fighting? What you did… Was
it illegal?” There’d I’d asked him. I didn’t want there to be secrets between
us. I loved him, and I wanted to understand him. I thought I did, he was trying
to protect me. But I needed him to know he could trust me. I’d never betray
him. But I also didn’t want him having anything to do with that side of his
life ever again either. I watched him cripple a man the other night. No, this
was no world for me, but Maze didn’t belong here either. No matter how much he
seemed to fit in. Maze fought when cornered.

He
put his hand on the side of my face and I leaned into the caress. “I don’t
deserve you. I know that. But I swear, as long as there’s breath in my body, I
will spend every day loving you. Making you happy.” He moved his hand to grasp
mine like he needed the contact.

Threading
our fingers together, he spoke again. “As much as I didn’t want you to, you saw
for yourself what I do is dangerous. And yes, it straddles the line. Hell, most
of the time it falls right into the other side. But I’ve always fought a clean
fight. I’ve never thrown one. The people who run these competitions wanted me
to throw the fight the other night.”

“Oh
my God!” I gripped his hand tighter. In fact, I placed my other hand over our
joined hands. “But you won. So you didn’t go through with it. You did the right
thing.”

Even
in the dimness of the car I still saw his slight smile. “Yeah, I did. I didn’t
hold back.”

A
thought occurred to me. “Wait. Is that why they changed fighters for the second
part? After the first guy got hurt I didn’t understand why the fight wasn’t
called then.”

He
nodded. “Normally it would have been but it wasn’t a normal fight. So they put
in a replacement.”

“Yeah,
one who had your uncle furious? I looked at Mr. Tsang’s face when they made the
announcement.”

“Yes.
Even though there aren’t many rules in the arena, that particular fighter who
challenged me pays attention to none of them. He’s been banned from most of the
underground groups, because of the way he fights. To kill or maim. But when I
faced him I couldn’t focus on any of that because I wasn’t going to lose. Not
with you sitting in the audience.”

“Don’t
say that.”

“Why?
It’s true.”

I
hugged him to me. “I don’t care. I never want you to fight again.”

“I’m
not. I told you that was my last fight. Uncle Tsang and Joe have seen to that.”

“So
what happens now? Since you didn’t throw the fight. Is that why we have the
bodyguards? Are you in trouble?”

He
shook his head. “That’s just Uncle Tsang being extra careful. They’re there as
more of a statement. Uncle Tsang is part of the group that regulates these
fights. It’s his way of letting them know that he supports me, and my decision
to fight clean. Besides, the fact my gym will be open to all will ensure they
leave me alone.”

Now
it was my turn to shake my head. “Wow. This is just not a world I really
understand.”

He
kissed my forehead. “No worries, babe. You shouldn’t, and you won’t have to.
It’s all good now.”

On
the one hand, I understood Maze withheld information from me in order to
protect me. But on the other hand… “I’m not a child, Maze. I get it, okay? And
I understand that you can’t go into details with me about what you were
involved in. Or even your uncle’s involvement. I get that he might operate in a
way requiring bodyguards. But I want us to be a normal couple with a normal
life. Well, as normal as a dancer who might not dance again and an ex-MMA
fighter can be.”

I
reached up to him and placed both hands on the sides of his perfectly chiseled
face. “That means no more secrets. I believe you when you say you’re out. But
we need to be honest with each other. Otherwise what we have isn’t real. We
can’t rely on each other if we don’t have faith in one another.” At my words
his body tensed against mine. “Are you in danger because you didn’t do what
these people wanted? And don’t you dare repeat what you just said. Tell me the
truth.”