Maze (The Ballerina Series #2)

by Ursula Sinclair

  “Let us take care of this first. We just need to get him out of here. Then I’ll come back in about fifteen and take her. Where am I taking her?”

  I gave him the address then shut the door. I leaned against it for a minute to get my breathing under control. Trying to get my thoughts together. Oh God, she could have been killed. I knew she abhorred violence. She’d told me once about overhearing her parents talking about how her biological father almost beat her mother to death while she was pregnant with her. Her stepfather actually saved her mom. It was only now I remembered Phil was her stepdad. I ran to the bedroom door but stopped before I pulled it open. “Ivy, baby, it’s me.”

  She opened the door and fell into my arms sobbing. She circled her arms around me and held me like she didn’t want to let go. I didn’t want her too nor did I want to let her leave. But we had little options before and absolutely none now. What happened proved that. I lowered my arms and grabbed her hands holding them in mine. “It’s okay, baby. Everything is fine.”

  “Maze, that man…he…he had a gun.”

  “I know.”

  “Are the police on the way?” she sobbed.

  I shook my head. “No. Will’s taking care of it. The man’s gone. He won’t bother us again.” I walked past her and saw the gun on the bed. I ignored it and grabbed the bags I’d put in there earlier. The minute I picked them up she seemed to find her voice.

  “Maze, what’s going on? I don’t understand. What do you mean Will’s taking care of it? What happened to that guy? Is he going to be okay?”

  I came over to her and looked into her eyes. “I need you to listen to me very carefully. That man tried to kill me. Maybe you, too. I don’t know for sure, but I’ve put you in danger. I swear I will not put you in the middle of this shit any more. Forget about that guy. Forget about seeing him tonight. Forget about everything that happened here tonight. In fact, you were not here.”

  “Maze.”

  Her lips turned down at the corner and her entire body trembled. I dropped the bags and just held her while she cried on my shoulder. All she did was say my name. “Shhh, babe, I know. It’s going to be all right. I promise. You will be fine. I will not put you in danger again. I’m sending you to Dante. No argument.”

  I stepped back and wiped the tears off her face but more fell on my hand. Burning straight through me. “Damnit, baby, please. You have to go. You know you do.”

  The look on her face damned near dropped me to my knees. I wanted to bawl like I haven’t since I was five years old and my mother died. Even more recently when Joe was killed. That’s what sending Ivy away felt like. Like I’d killed a part of Ivy and me. And that shit hurt like a bitch.

  “Call…call Dante.” I could barely choke the words out past my pain. “Now. Do it now.”

  “My phone is in my purse on the coffee table.”

  “Okay.” We moved out to the living room just as there was a knock on the door. At the same time my phone buzzed. I glanced at the phone, and saw a text from Mark letting me know Will was on the way up. I moved over to the door and checked the peephole. After seeing Will on the other side I opened the door. I handed him the bags. “We’ll be down in five.”

  He took the bags and walked back down the hall. I turned around to see Ivy on the phone and I heard her say, “Dante…I…I need to take you up on your offer.”

  What fucking offer was that? I supposed I had no right to ask.

  “I’ll be there in fifteen.” Then she hung up the phone and looked at me. Hurt, fear, love all shone in her gaze. “Okay,” her voice wobbled.

  I had to be strong for us both. I went to her and took her hand, and we walked out of our apartment. I didn’t know if we’d ever be together there again. Mark led the way down the stairs. He opened the entrance to the street level but paused, checking the area before letting us exit the building. He walked us to the limo parked right in front and opened the door. After we got in, Mark closed the door and put the suitcases in the trunk. He got into the front passenger seat. Will was already behind the wheel and we took off. I set the privacy glass and sat back taking Ivy’s hand. She wouldn’t look at me. She stared out the window but at least she didn’t pull away from me. I don’t think I could have taken that.

  “How long?” Her voice was soft and hoarse from crying but I heard her question and understood it.

  “I don’t know. Until you’re safe.”

  “And I’ll be safe if I’m not with you?” she whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “But what about you?” She turned in the seat to face me. “I can’t lose you, Maze.”

  “I can’t lose you either and that’s why this has to be done.”

  “I’m supposed to go to the doctor tomorrow to have my cast removed. You’re …you’re supposed to help me with my ankle.”

  God she was killing me. “And I will. I promised you. If the doctor says you can begin therapy on it then we’ll start work on it next week. But I only want you coming to the gym with Dante. Do you understand? Only with Dante. And you and I... You and I will be casual with each other.”

  The look of shock on her face at my statement was worse than when she’d seen me kill the delivery guy. “What? What are you saying, Maze? Just fucking tell me straight out.”

  My Ivy cussing was just all wrong. I wanted to take her in my arms and tell Will to turn around and take us back home. But I didn’t, I couldn’t. I let the ice invade my veins. “They have to believe we don’t mean anything to each other, Ivy. There can be no us for a while. Your life depends on it.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ivy

  It all happened so incredibly fast. It took my mind a minute to catch up to what my eyes had seen. I was never more scared in my life and didn’t know how to process it all. The only thing I understood was Maze was sending me away. With every turn of the wheel the car took me farther from the home Maze and I had created for each other. I knew there was something going on that he was somehow involved with the Triad. I should be glad to leave. To know he wanted to keep me out of it and safe. Instead, terror for him and a deep sadness invaded my soul. He could have died tonight. He still could. I turned back around to look at him.

  “What do I tell Dante?”

  “Don’t tell him about what happened tonight. It’s safer for him that way. Just tell him we had a fight. That you can’t trust me, and you left me.”

  I shook my head. “No. No.”

  He took both my hands in his. “Yes, babe. You must. It’s true. I can’t be trusted right now to keep you safe.”

  The tears didn’t want to stop falling. My emotions were going haywire. “When will I see you again?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe next week, but call me after you talk to the doctor tomorrow.”

  The car pulled up in front of the building and the doorman recognized me and opened the door for us. Maze walked me inside holding my bags. Mark came behind us but left us at the entrance. We took the elevator up to Dante’s floor. “I’ll send the rest of your stuff over tomorrow,” Maze said.

  His words were like a knife through me. I still wasn’t sure what was going on. Only somehow I was moving out. He was throwing me out. “No.”

  “I have to. You have got to go. I’ve made too many mistakes.”

  “Am I a mistake?” I sobbed. “Are we a mistake?”

  “Shit. Never think that. This is on me.”

  The elevator halted and we stepped off. I turned and led the way down the hall and stopped in front of Dante’s door. Maze knocked on it. Dante opened the door and the look of worry on his face cracked my already brittle façade. I threw myself into his arms and bawled.

  “Fuck.”

  I heard Maze say.

  “What the fuck, man?” Dante growled. “Ivy, are you all right?”

  But I couldn’t answer him. My heart was breaking.

  “She’s fine,” Maze answered as he placed the bags inside the door and turned to leave.

  I swung around.
“Maze.”

  Air pressed in and out of my lungs as I waited for him to say something, anything. To hold me, take me into his arms and tell me everything would be all right. He’d take me home and we’d be together forever. But it wasn’t happening. I watched him freeze. For a moment I thought he’d reconsider and realize we had to be together. We needed each other. I couldn’t lose him. But he didn’t.

  Instead, without turning around to face me, he replied, “It’s for the best, babe.”

  I watched him put one foot in front of the other and walk away from me. Dante closed the door, and if he hadn’t been holding me up, I would have crumbled to the floor. He carried me over to the couch and sat down with me, holding me close against his side.

  “I’m sorry, hon. So sorry. What happened?”

  I shook my head. “Please. I can’t talk about this right now. Tomorrow, okay? We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “Just tell me are you all right. He didn’t hurt you or anything?”

  I snorted. How do I answer that? Yes, he hurt me. He ripped out my heart but not the way Dante meant. “No. He didn’t hurt me. Not that way.”

  I pulled away from Dante. “Thank you for taking me in. I’m sorry if I upset any plans you had tonight, but please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” I grabbed my crutch and stood. Dante did as well.

  “Don’t you worry about it. I had no plans for tonight and even if I did you’d come first. Here let me get your bags and take them to your room. I haven’t touched a thing in there.”

  “What would I do without you?” I asked. I put one arm around his waist and hugged him before stepping away and going to my old bedroom. He placed my things on the floor by the bed and I sat down on the comforter. I’d left all of my sheets behind.

  “You’ll never have to find out,” he replied in answer to my question. “Are you hungry? I ordered a pizza earlier and there’s some left.”

  “No. I just want to go to sleep. I’ve got to get up in the morning and go to the doctor tomorrow.” I spoke the truth. I was no longer hungry. It had been sucked right out of me.

  “Oh, that’s right. You get the cast off tomorrow. What time?”

  “Nine-thirty.”

  “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

  “You don’t have to do that, Dante. I can take a cab.”

  He moved his head from side to side. “I want to. We’re partners as well as best friends. I’m always there for you.”

  He bent down and kissed my forehead then before I could say thank you he closed my door behind him as he left. I pulled myself up on the bed until I could stretch the full length on it. The tears came again. For a while I feared they wouldn’t stop. I still didn’t know what had happened tonight, but I did know Maze was in danger and I couldn’t be with him. He didn’t even give me the option. He didn’t want me with him. I curled up into a ball and cried some more. The chime on my phone had me sitting up, rushing for the purse I’d dropped on the floor beside the crutch. It was a text from Maze. Three words but they meant everything. He was everything.

  Maze: ‘I love you.’

  I texted him back I loved him too, begging him to come and get me.

  When nothing else came through I knew he was gone.

  I cried myself to sleep that night. And I still wasn’t sure why he had to send me away and pretend we weren’t together. I could never pretend I didn’t want him. Love him.

  I got up early the next morning in the clothes I’d fallen asleep in. My head hurt, my eyes were puffy, and my heart still felt like it had shattered into a hundred pieces.

  Maze... How could he send me away?

  I got off the bed and opened my suitcase, taking out a change of clothes. It’s a good thing I still had a few clean things in there. When Dante and I were in Philly, we stayed with his aunt and uncle, and his aunt washed clothes for me.

  I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I opted for a long hot shower. It took awhile because I had two crying fits in there. Finally, I finished washing up and got dressed. I found my way into the kitchen and made myself a bowl of oatmeal.

  Sitting at the table, I tasted nothing I placed into my mouth. I might as well have been eating air. I choked down another spoon full of the oatmeal and made sure I finished the bowl. I hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday and I needed to eat. So I forced it.

  My thoughts focused on Maze and what had happened last night. Why I found myself back where I’d begun so many months ago without Maze. Well, not quite. Even a couple of weeks ago, dance was everything to me. Being able to dance again was at the forefront of my thoughts. The goal I set for myself and facing an alternative if I couldn’t. But suddenly, none of it mattered. The most important thing in my life was missing. Maze alive and well took prominence in my thoughts.

  Dante came out of his room stark naked. As soon as he saw me he froze. “Sorry,” he said. “I forgot.”

  “Don’t mind me.” I smiled.

  He really had nothing to be sorry for. I’d forgotten he liked to walk around in the buff and had only curbed it after we started living together. I see he went back to old habits. He was slender yet muscled like Maze, but his thighs were a little bigger and his chest a bit wider. Typical of male dancers who had to do a lot of lifts. They needed that little extra touch of strength. Yet I had no doubt Maze could lift me with ease.

  I was sorry to put Dante out again but relieved when he turned around and went back into his room. It didn’t escape my notice his dick twitched as he watched me watching him. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea my being here. I knew how Dante really felt about me. But he also knew how I felt about Maze. Maze. All roads led me back to him.

  I heard the shower in Dante’s room go on and I cleaned up the small mess I’d made in the kitchen. Then I went back to my room to unpack my stuff and put them away. The few clothes that were still dirty I left on the floor to wash later. I remembered Maze saying he’d have the rest of my things sent over today. The thought brought another pang to my already arching heart. I grabbed my purse and by the time I’d returned to the kitchen Dante was seated at the table eating his bowl of cereal.

  He pushed the chair across from him out. “Sit. Talk,” he said.

  Reluctantly, I sat down. Knowing I wasn’t going to get out of this but at the same time not sure what I should say. Maze already told me I couldn’t tell him the truth. And while I didn’t want to lie to Dante, I would not betray Maze. But I owed Dante an explanation. I frowned as a thought occurred to me. Dante owed me an explanation, too. “I know you’re not gay and you’re not bi either.”

  He grinned sheepishly.

  “Why lie to me?”

  “I didn’t exactly lie. I just let you continue to think a certain way. I wanted you…to live with me. I liked you, but I knew you’d never go for it if you really knew how much.”

  I sighed. “I’m sorry…”

  He shook his head. “No, apologies. You never lied to me or made me any promises. I always knew where your heart lay. Even before Maze came back into your life. And after he did it was damn obvious. So please, don’t be sorry. Now, tell me what happened between you and Maze.”

  I took his hand and held it tightly for a moment before releasing it. “We had an argument and we thought it best that I move out. At least for now while Maze figures out a few things.” There I said it, like it made sense and with a straight face. While inside my heart cried.

  Dante frowned. “Is he fighting again?”

  Dante knew damn well how I felt about that. He was also aware Maze had retired. “No. That’s not it exactly. He’s only training fighters.”

  “So he’s still involved with the Triad. Is that what this is about?”

  Damn, I didn’t want Dante going down that road. “I don’t know but I don’t want him in the ring, cage, arena whatever, again. He’d promised me but he’s signed on a couple of new fighters.” All of those things are true.

  “Wow, Ivy. You left the guy over that?”

  “Stu
pid, huh?” The uncertainty in my voice bled through.

  He leaned forward and gave me a hug. “No. Not at all. I’m not going to quibble over getting my best friend and roommate back.”

  “This is only temporary, Dante. Maze and I just need a little time apart.” At least that’s what I needed to keep telling myself.

  Dante held up his hands. “You take all the time you need.” He glanced over my shoulder. “I told my limo service to pick us up out front in five minutes, so if you’re ready we can head downstairs now.”

  “I’m ready.”

  ****

  Dante didn’t need to help me back into the limo. No more crutch or cast. Well not like I had before. I now had a walking cast or boot, and permission to do some light exercises for my ankle. The nurse had given me a sheet of exercises I should begin doing and a list of things I should not do. I had to wear the walking cast anytime I left the house, and even at home I had to keep pressure off my ankle as much as possible. Baby steps. As we sat in the car, I texted Maze my news but I got no reply from him.

  “Well, at least you’re cleared for some exercise. We can go to the gym…”

  I assumed he meant our regular gym, but that’s not where I wanted to go. “Okay. We’ll go to Maze’s gym next week.” He promised me and I intended to hold him to his promise of helping me.

  “What? Are you sure?”

  “Yes. He put aside a room for us. He’s got it all set up like a mini ballet studio. Complete with wood floors for pointe, a ballet bar, and mirrors.” Just the thought of those mirrors caused my stomach muscles to clench in memory of how we christened that room.

  “No, shit?”

  I grinned. “Yeah. I’ll let him know when to expect us next week. I’ll give him the sheets the nurse gave me so he’ll know what not to do.”

  Dante shook his head. “Are you sure about this, Ivy? Being around him like that?”

  Something told me going to the gym was the only way he’d let me near him. And as pathetic as it might be, if that was the only way to get near Maze, then that’s the way it had to be.