Page 187 of The Holy Grail
He looked down at his hands, as if not wanting her to see that he didn’t fully believe her. “I know we’re supposed to be moving in together in a few weeks, but what if this shit with his dad isn’t resolved—and by resolved, I mean Mal telling his dad to fuck off?” He took a deep breath and released it in a rush. “What if Mal really isn’t able to do it? I mean, I never had to cut off a parent, so I don’t know how hard it is, but what if it’s too hard for him? When he talked about his dad probably severing ties, it was still hypothetical, right? Well, that changed tonight and the reality is much uglier than Mal thought it would be, so if he isn’t able to go through with it, then I’ll have to reconsider moving in with you two … which means I’m fucked.”
“You’re not going to be fucked, because if you are, then I am, too.”
“You?”
“Of course. If he isn’t able to choose you, then I can’t choose him.”
“You’d … walk away?” His eyes were wide in surprise.
“It’s one of those options I don’t like. So, we’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn’t become an option we have to choose. We’ll go to the fucking mattresses if we have to, won’t we?”
Evan nodded, somewhat slowly, but seemingly with a modicum of conviction.
Seeing how exhausted he was, she led him to his bedroom, where he immediately crawled into bed, still naked. As she was undressing down to her panties, she noticed he had a movie poster ofThe Godfatherhanging on his wall, this one with Marlon Brando holding a cat.
“I can’t believe we all have posters ofThe Godfather. All different, but still …”
“You have one, too?” Evan asked.
“Mine is the one with Marlon Brando sitting in his office on Connie’s wedding day,” she said as she got under the covers with him and curled up against his back, uncaring that the bathroom light had been left on. “So, you see … we really are all meant to be together.”
Chapter 62
Snickerdoodles make everything better
After feeding Dawn Corleone and pouring himself a cup of coffee, Malcom sat down at the kitchen island. It was just after 9:00 a.m., and after staring at his phone for several moments, he took a deep breath and FaceTimed his mother.
Not surprisingly, she picked up after only two rings. “Good morning—” she broke off abruptly as she got her first good look at him. “Oh, my God, what happened to your face? Were you in a fight?”
“It wasn’t that much of a fight, to be honest,” he replied dryly.
“Is this where you tell me I should ‘see the other guy’?”
He gave a soft snort. “The ‘other guy’ is Evan, and I’m sure he doesn’t look nearly as bad as I do.”
“You got in a fight with Evan?”
“Sort of, but like I said, it wasn’t much of one.”
“He seemed so … sweet when I met him.”
“He is sweet, but he also has a hell of a right hook, apparently. Me, not so much.”
“What happened?”
That was a loaded question, if ever there was one. “That’s why I’m calling—not to talk about the fight, but to talk about Dad.”
“What about him?” Her gaze sharpened. “Oh, did you tell him about Jules and Evan?”
“No, but I saw him last night at a restaurant, when he came in to meet some colleagues from the firm and, uh …” Malcom cleared his throat, finding the words extremely hard to get out. “It didn’t go well.”
“What does that mean?”
He told her about the ugly scene with his father, sharing everything that had been said, and what had happened in the parking lot with Evan afterward. When he was finished, she looked both angry and oddly resigned. “I had planned on telling him everything very soon, but … I just hadn’t gotten to it.”
“I’m so very sorry.” Beverly bent her head and wiped at her eyes. “About everything, but especially about the way your father treated you last night. It’s unforgivable.” She sniffed and cleared her throat. “So, now what?”
“Well, I won’t be making the decision which will make him happy, that’s for goddamn sure. It’s ludicrous for him to think I would, but maybe he’s thinking I will, to avoid his displeasure?” He tilted his head in thought. “And you know, it just occurred to me since I haven’t told him about the triad, and Jules wasn’t there, he might be assuming I’m not with her anymore, and am only with Evan, which makes me wonder how disappointed he’d be if he knew I was with both of them? Pretty fucking disappointed, I imagine.”
