That means focusing on Becky. I’m ready to sacrifice nearly everything for her. There’s no way a shallow fuck like Darian could possibly make a similar choice. He needs to see that. Becky needs to see that.
Then she’s mine and damn the consequences. As long as I have her, there’ll be plenty of good to savor amidst the shit, to take a page from Darian’s perspective.
Oh, wait, fuck Darian’s perspective.
“Let’s get down to business, here,” I say, settling in a chair of my own.
“Ooh, let’s,” Darian says.
Is there a hint of something in that? Something almost… No. I’m reading into things.
I ignore the tone in his voice. I press on.
“It’s very simple, Peter,” I say. “Becky is mine.”
“Interesting. Like the strip club property is yours?”
“It’s going to be.”
“But it isn’t yet.”
“That’s just a technicality.”
“A lot of things turn on technicalities.”
“Becky is mine,” I repeat, emphatically.
“Yeah. No can do, bro,” he says. That fucking grin is back. “Besides, I’m sure you don’t want tainted goods.”
“Excuse me?” I think I know what he means. But I need to hear it from him. Even though, really, I don’t want to hear it.
I guess Ineedto hear it. So he tells me.
“Thing is…” He runs his thumb over his lips and leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees. He’s building the drama of it, the fucker. He tells me the next thing in a sort of loud whisper, like a stage whisper. More fucking drama.
“Thing is,” he repeats in that fake whisper, “I fucked her already.”
My stomach drops a little. It takes me a second to find my voice.
“When?”
“Oh, just the other night at the Real Estate Gala.” He sits back, the grin turning into a smile. He looks triumphant.
Except now it’s my turn, motherfucker.
“That is interesting,” I say, mirroring his phony dramatic tones. “But you see, it turns out thatyou’rethe one who had tainted goods.”
“What do you mean.” His smile freezes on his face. That’s heaven to me.
“I mean,” I say, putting a little bit of pity into my tone, “that I fucked her the morning after you and I both met her.”
I watch Darian process that for a moment. Then, he shrugs.
“Yeah,” he says, “but I think I have you beat anyway.”
“Oh?”
“See, I was everywhere. The pink. The stink.”