Page 11 of Desired

My feet find the floor of the pool, and I stand upright. My voice is flat in disbelief. “You’re fucking kidding me.”

He shakes his head. “No, man. It all came out when they went at it over the lass nearly getting shot. Da tore his head off because he told him to take security off her. He also found out about the two-bit security guy that Maverick didn’t bother to check out first. Turns out her da wasn’t just questioned, man.”

I find my way to the side of the pool, resting my hands on the deck. “What are you talking about?”

“The dude’s behind bars. Da fired the new guy. Almost backhanded him, actually. He just about took a round out of Maverick, too. It’s just thank God that the old dude shot that motherfucker Mike, because if Trudy died, I think that your da would have fucking killed Maverick, too.”

“Back up, Malcolm. What do you mean he’s behind bars?”

“He’s not convicted yet, but he’s in custody, and from what I understand, he’s fucking desperate. The asshole is in the poorhouse. Apparently, he lost all his money trying to pay some son of a bitch to off someone, and the plan went belly up, and buddy ended up in jail. They’re just trying to build a case against him, but his darling daughter is a key witness, and she won’t testify against the guy who offed the other dude for her father, so her da’s on the fucking chopping block.”

It all starts to make sense. “And that’s why she fled. That’s why she moved to the states.”

He nods. “Bingo.”

“But I don’t understand why she won’t testify if it means setting her da free.”

He shrugs. “Your guess is as good as mine, dude. All I know is that Uncle Dougall is having a shit right now, because he knows that you went out with her, without his knowledge or consent. You know how your da is when he’s not kept abreast of shit, man.”

I swallow, eyes fixed on a spot in the grass. “Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter, anyway, Malcolm. I’m not seeing her again.”

He rises from his knees, where he was squatting to talk to me up close. He goes to sit inside the gazebo, mere feet from me. I feel a twinge of worry, as I recall not having checked to make sure that nothing was amiss from this afternoon. As he sits, he leans sideways, and pulls something out from the side of the cushion. When he lifts it in the air, I lower my head onto the concrete deck in defeat. “Fuck.”

He chuckles. “This what I think it is, man?”

I lift my head. “What the fuck do you think, stupid.”

“Well, I’d say that she left quite an impression on you, lad...and she left her bra, too.”

“Fuckoff.” I pull myself out of the pool, dripping all over the deck, and as I walk towards him, aiming to snatch her bra out of his filthy hands, I see another piece of evidence outside of the pool house. Her ripped panties.

“And what the fuck is that?” He laughs out loud as we both see it at the same time.

“Not seeing her again, huh.” He laughs. “At least she left you with enough to remember her by.”

“I said fuckoff, Malcolm.” I warn, ripping the bra from his grasp, and then leaning down to pick up her panties off the ground. “You tell anyone about this and you’ll die with these both shoved down your fucking throat.”

He lifts both hands in mock defense. “Hey, your secret is safe with me, man. But I don’t get how you’re never going to see her again, if you two did the deed on the first date.”

“It’s easy, Malcolm. It’s called casual sex. Ever heard of it?” My irritation is evident in my voice.

“Well, I have, dude. But I know for a fact that that’s not your style.”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. It doesn’t matter. I’m not seeing her again, so you can forget everything that we’ve discussed here.”

“Is this your doing or hers?”

I round on him. “What the fuck does it matter! I said I’m not seeing her again and I mean it!”

“Hey, take it easy.” He lifts his hands again. “I’m just saying that maybe you can find out from the horse’s mouth what her story is. Sure, Uncle Dougall had a shit and pulled everyone off Nathan Mackenzie watch, but that doesn’t mean that they know the whole story.”

Her bra and panties get thrown into the pool house and I shut the door. “Well, that’s as sexy as hell, Malcolm. Oh, hey, Moira, can I see you again? But this time it isn’t to fuck you, it’s just to be a fucking weisenheimer and ask you about your da that’s behind fucking bars! How do you think that shit’s going to do down, Malcolm!”

He shrugs. “Declan, I don’t know, man, but it’s sure better than never seeing her again. You’ve got to at least try.”

“What the fuck for? I’ve already violated her privacy...twice! Do you think that she’s going to trust me?”

“You don’t have to tell her that you know.”

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