Page 97 of Sticky Fingers
Chapter Thirty-Three
Malcolm
Well,this situation couldn’t have been any more fucked up. It’s like a twisted author writing a climactic finish to an otherwise funny romance novel.
I mean, leave it to Dominic to ruin my morning. As cool of a guy as he might be, he sure has some fucking bad timing.
He could’ve waited till I had lunch or some shit, but no. He had to come running and deliver the fucking bad news to my doorstep. I could be enjoying a morning in bed with Sonia, but no—now, I have that fucking issue with the painting hanging on my mind.
Still, I don’t give a fuck.
No matter what Dominic says, no matter what’s hanging in the balance...they’re fucking insane if they think I’m going to turn Sonia in to keep my condo at Clarendon Tower. Blackmail me at gunpoint and still I wouldn’t do it.
I’d take a bullet for that woman. I’d give my whole fucking life for her.
Think that shit with the strip clubs is as far as I’m willing to go? Well, you’re fucking mistaken. I’m willing to go as far as is needed.
If I have to declare war on the whole fucking world, that’s exactly what I’m gonna fucking do.
As I let Dominic out and close the door behind him, I take a deep breath and pray to God that Sonia hadn’t listened to anything. She’s always so fucking worried about Detective Strong and that fucking painting.
If she listened to anything Dominic said, she’s gonna be freaking the fuck out.
Stepping inside the bedroom, I stop under the doorway as I notice Sonia hidden under the sheets, the fabric softly taking up the shape of her naked body.
“Sonia?” I ask softly, and her body stirs under the sheets.
In a second, her head is peeking from under the sheets. She tries to hide it, but there’s no bullshitting me—she’s been crying. Fuck me, she listened in on the conversation.
“I’m sorry, Malcolm,” she sobs, bunching up the sheets with her two hands. “This is all my fault...I put you in this situation. If I hadn’t been this stupid…”
“Hey, hey,” I start, rushing towards the bed and sitting on the edge of the mattress. “What are you talking about? Everything’s going to be alright. I promised you that, didn’t I?”
“I know you did,” she replies, her voice weak and quivering. “But I don’t want to put you in danger... You’ve come so far to become legit, and now this stupid bullshit with the painting is putting all that on the line.”
“Do you think I give a fuck about the painting?”
“I know you don’t...I truly do. I know you love me, and I love you as well, Malcolm. And I know none of this is about the painting.”
Gently, I reach for her and wipe the tears streaming down her face with my thumb. Tucking a stray lock of hair over her ear, I lean in and rest my lips on her forehead.
“It was once...but that was until I realized I loved you,” I admit. “But now, that painting…that’s history, Sonia. I don’t care about it, and I sure as hell am happy to die without ever finding out what happened to it.”
Sonia’s lip trembles as I continue.
“Nothing or no one can ever take away my love for you, Sonia,” I tell her. “You mean more to me than anything else I’ve ever encountered in my life. No one else has ever or will ever mean more to me than you. Nothing else has ever been or shall be as important as you.”
A single tear rolls down Sonia’s cheek as she looks at me with amazement.
What? I may have been an asshole in the beginning, but I’m still a man capable of deep emotion. And all my energy, all my emotion, all of it is for Sonia at this point.
“I know that, Malcolm. Truly,” she whispers softly, wrapping her arms around me and laying her head on my shoulders. “But you know it’s true... As long as that painting is hanging over our heads, we’ll never be happy.”
“Says who?” I ask, frustration coating my words.
I’ll be fucking damned if I’ll allow that painting to ruin what Sonia and I have. Shit, you can send the Four Horsemen of the fucking Apocalypse my way, and I’ll fucking throat-punch each and every one of them if that means I get to be with Sonia.
“The world, Malcolm,” she whispers, fear in her words. “If we don’t find a solution, we’ll never have a day’s rest.”
