Tough Love

Chapter Eighty-Four

Chapter Eighty-Four

Eli

Dani has been home a week now and she's been a bit more closed off. She seems to be battling something in her mind, so I'm trying to give her some space to process. We have someone at Interpol checking to see if the same MO has been used to link Babkin's murder to the Bratva. Obviously, something like that is going to take some time, so Flynn is reviewing Dani's attack case before she approaches Avilov, Goraya and Zhabin with deals. Dani hasn't mentioned therapy or the case, so I'm just waiting for her to talk to me about it.

It's Saturday evening and my mom is grocery shopping while my pops and I are training together. I left Dani in the living room, reading. She assured me she'd be fine with her books, and she's trying to learn Chinese, seeing as she never got around to it in the hospital.

My pops and I have just finished hand to hand combat, when I hear the front door open and shut. I think it's my mom, but when I hear Dani's frightened voice shout my name, I'm at the bottom of the stairs before I can even process the thought.

I know it can't be Ash, because Dani wouldn't react that way, even if she wasn't comfortable. As I enter the living room, I see Tyler standing near her, red faced and angry.

He spins round to face me and he seethes, “It's her fault, isn't it?! Why is she staying at mom and dad's house?”

Despite the anger that is surging through me right now, my voice is calm and cold as I say, “Dude, you need to stop right there... Don't you dare talk about Dani that way. She's a person, not some object you can just talk about like that. None of this is her fault.”

“How is it not?! You get mixed up with this girl and then Artur dies... it can't be a coincidence, can it? Come on, Eli, give me some credit. What did she do?”

“She did nothing wrong. Are you in on it as well?”

I see Dani's eyes widen and I hear the breath catch in her throat and I silently throw her an apology for saying those words. I need to see Tyler's reaction to them to gauge how much he knows. The confusion on his face shows he's not involved and I know that expression isn't lying.

“What are you talking about?!”

“Dude, just get away from her.”

“Artur wasn't involved in anything... He was a good DA...”

I scoff at that. Through my anger I manage to hear Dani's quiet voice pleading with me, “Please Eli, don't.... Please...”

I clamp my mouth shut, not willing to give Ty any information.

“What, Eli? What doesn't she want you to tell me? You're going to just let her tell you what to do?!”

My voice shocks even me when I bellow out, “ENOUGH!”

Dani's gasp doesn't go unnoticed by me, but I'm fuming with Tyler right now. I grab him by the collar of his shirt and drag him away from Dani.

“Don't you ever talk about her like that again. I will take you outside and give you a beat down if you so much as look at her the wrong way. That is my girlfriend you are talking about and I expect you to treat her with the respect she deserves. If you can't do that, then stay away. You have no idea what you are talking about on this one Tyler. Babkin wasn't who you think he was and if you don't believe me, then speak to ADA Flynn. Get out of this house and don't come back until you're ready to apologize to Dani...”

My tone and demeanor leave no room for questions or arguments, so Tyler makes the wise choice of walking away. I will hit him if he doesn't take the smart option, and he knows this. As soon as he walks away, I take a few deep and calming breaths before turning to Dani. She's crying and I can tell she's frightened. I hear her whispering, “It's my fault. It's all my fault. This shouldn't have happened... It's my fault...”