“I thought you were adorable,” Pie said. “You talked a lot and you didn’t speak any shit. I liked that. I liked that you always knew what to say.”
The shower shut off, and he watched her hand reach for the towel. Seconds later the door opened, and she stood before him, wet, dripping, with only a towel between them.
“Did you have any intention of looking for a woman? Of looking for your Miss Right?”
“Yes.”
“Why have you made it so hard to find her?”
“Because every single woman doesn’t compare to you, Lindsey. You’re … different. You make me laugh, smile, and you’re just amazing. Don’t you see that?”
He watched as she licked her lips.
“I don’t know what to say to that right now,” she said.
“Just think about it. I’m not going to pressure you into anything. That’s not who I am, but know this is happening between us. I’m not going anywhere.” He took her hand, locking their fingers together. “And I never will.”
****
After a week away from her life and simply hanging out at the clubhouse, going through the motions, Lindsey was more than ready to get back to work. She needed to do something other than sit around all day.
She had to get back to work.
Go to her apartment and toss out the milk that would certainly be nothing more than curdled lumps by now.
Air out her place, and just try to move on.
“What are you doing?” Pie asked.
She’d already started gathering a few of her things together in a bag. “I’ve got to head home. I’ve already called Marie at work and let her know that I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“You’re not going to back to work.”
“Pie, I have an apartment to pay for, a life to get back to.”
“I’ll pay for your apartment.”
“I’m not going to sit around all day.”
“Look for another job,” he said.
She chuckled. “You’re so cute when you’re like this. Why do you think I stayed at the clinic?”
“I don’t know.”
“Because they paid good money, Pie. You think I would have put up with that crap for anything else?”
“I really don’t know.”
“Wow, okay, I don’t know what to say about that.” She rubbed at her temples. “If I quit now, Pie, you don’t think that is going to look suspicious?”
“I don’t give a shit what it looks like. You shouldn’t have to go back there.”
“I’m a big girl, okay? I can handle it. Nothing actually happened there right, and if I quit now, and the cops come calling as to where he was, I don’t want you or the club to deal with that.”
“They’ll deal with it for me,” Pie said.
She tilted her head to the side, pressing her lips together, not really knowing what else to say.
“I’ve already called Marie and told her I’m coming in. She told me that Richard took an extended vacation. No one has seen or heard from him. Just a call in that he’s gone away.”
Pie shrugged.
“Is that you?” she asked.
“Diaz is a very thorough guy. It’s why he demands so much to get the job done.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed.
“You mentioned the other day that you found some tapes.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what was on them?” she asked.
From the way he started to pace and rub the back of his head, she saw he was uncomfortable but also knew exactly what was on them.
“Please, Pie, tell me.”
“He … something wasn’t right with him or the whole situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“He cut the security feed and paid the guard to leave. You were both alone.”
“Okay.”
“He’s done it before, Lindsey.”
“What do you mean?”
“The dates, the attention. A woman doesn’t show him the right amount, he’s taken her home, raped her, and he’s filmed it.”
Lindsey couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “No, that’s not right. He always had women hanging off his arm.”
“Not the ones he clearly wanted. Diaz said it wasn’t the worst he’d seen, but it’s right up there with some of the stuff he’s encountered on the streets. He actually gave me my money back,” Pie said.
“The money you paid him?”
“Said it was a pleasure to get this kind of sick fuck off the street, and I don’t blame him. There were a lot of DVDs. Diaz has changed a bit in the last few years. He rules his streets, and no one gets anything past him.”
“But he’s a doctor. A respected plastic surgeon.”
“And no one is squeaky clean, Lindsey.” He sat down beside her, pushing some of her hair back from her face.
“It doesn’t seem to make sense.”
“There are people that are qualified in the most respectable fields and still have a dark side to them. Richard hid his for years.”
Lindsey felt tears spring to her eyes.
Over the years she’d thought there was something dangerous about him, but never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined this. It seemed almost too surreal to be true.