Dutch, page 15
“I pay attention to shit like that.”
“Sure you do,” said Mantis. “This oughta be good. What kind of games?”
“Let’s see…plant a kiss on Mantis. That’s where we blow up a giant photo of you, and all the ladies take turns kissing it to see who gets closest to your lips.”
“I’d be willing to try that live, meaning no picture,” said Mantis, wiggling his eyebrows at Alegria and Malin.
When that got no reaction, Mantis encouraged him to go on.
“What about who knows the most about the groom? Bet I could win that one.”
“You don’t know him better than I do,” said Alegria, taking his bait.
“No? Wanna bet? Let’s see who among the three of us knows the other two the best.”
“How do you propose we do that?”
“We need a couple of pieces of paper. Four, in fact,” he said, walking up to the bar and grabbing four tasting sheets and pens.
“I hope you’re not suggesting I play along. I don’t know much about any of you,” said Malin.
“You just write down your answers for me, baby,” said Dutch, leaning over to kiss her cheek.
“Let’s get started. This is how it’ll work. Malin will answer just for me. I’ll answer for Mantis and Alegria, Al, you answer for me and Mantis. Get the picture?”
“Yes, I get the picture,” she spat. “And don’t call me that.”
Dutch smiled. “First question. Favorite food.” He took a minute to write down his answer for his two friends, and waited until they were finished before he went on.
“Next. How many siblings do each of us have?”
Again, he paused.
“Ready?” he asked when Alegria set her pen down.
“I don’t find this amusing, Dutch.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t care. Drop out if you feel like it,” he said, not even attempting to hide the sneer in his voice. She should’ve left Malin the hell alone if she didn’t want to deal with his wrath.
“Next question. If we could travel anywhere in the world we wanted to, what would be number one on the list?”
Mantis, sitting beside him, was chuckling, but only loud enough for Dutch to hear him.
“Last question, this one might be TMI, but if we could spend our time doing one thing, above everything else, what would that be?”
Instead of chuckling, Mantis burst out laughing.
“This isn’t funny,” said Alegria, throwing her pen at him.
Mantis scooted his chair closer to hers. “Let me see your answers.”
“No,” she said, putting her hand over what she’d written.
“I’m changing the rules of this game. Instead of the groom, let’s see who knows the best man better than anyone else.”
“First question. Al, what did you write down for me?”
She glared at him and didn’t say anything. He turned to Mantis.
“What did you get?”
“Favorite thing to eat—burgers.”
Dutch made a noise like a buzzer. “Nope. Malin?”
At first, he thought she wasn’t going to answer, but then she smiled. “Spaghetti and meatballs.”
Dutch leaned closer and kissed her cheek, murmuring in her ear. “Whose?”
When she said “mine,” the little spot on her neck he loved so much, turned red.
“That’s right. One for Malin, zip for Mantis and Al.”
Mantis laughed again. “Knock it off, Dutch,” he said, smiling. “You’re proving your point.”
“Let’s skip number two. I’m curious, though, what did Alegria get for number three?”
“I don’t think you’re the least bit funny.”
“Yeah, well, that really isn’t the point of the game. Malin, what about you?”
“Cokabow Island.”
“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner,” he said, kissing her cheek.
“Final question. What would I be doing if I could do whatever I wanted?”
Malin didn’t wait for him to look at her. “Eating,” she blurted. “This was too easy.”
“I guess what we’ve learned from this little game is that maybe we don’t know each other as well as we think we do, which means that maybe we don’t have any idea what’s best for each other either.”
“Dutch,” warned Mantis.
“No, I’m going to finish what I have to say. You,” he said, looking straight at Alegria, “stay out of my personal life unless I invite you into it.”
Dutch knew he was being hard on her, but part of him didn’t care. She had no business getting in Malin’s face about anything, but she had.
“Apologize.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me, Alegria. Apologize to Malin.”
“Dutch, this really isn’t necessary.” Malin rested her hand on his.
“It is to me.”
Mantis pulled back and looked between them. “What happened?”
“You wanna tell him, or do you want me to?”
“I’m not going to apologize for wanting the best for you, Dutch. We’ve known each other a long time—”
“And yet, you know nothing about me. Apologize.”
Alegria turned to Malin. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” said Dutch, standing and pulling Malin’s chair out. “I’ll RSVP for your wedding right here and right now. I’ll be there, and Malin will be my date. Any problem with that? I didn’t think so. Let’s go, Malin.”
“Wait a minute,” said Mantis, standing too.
“What?”
He came around the table and hugged him first, and then Malin.
“If there’s anything I can do to help with Abdul Ghafor, let me know. Although I think you may have a better relationship with him than I do at this point.”
Malin laughed. “At this point?”
“Sounds like you know more about his feelings than I do.”
Malin put her hand on Mantis’ arm. “Let’s just say that if Abdul finds out you’re here, one of two things may happen. First, he may refuse to talk at all. The other possibility is that the third world war will break out.”
Mantis laughed like Malin had. “Enough said.” He leaned forward. “Godspeed.”
“Thank you,” Malin answered.
“Unless you need us, we’re heading out.”
Dutch walked around to the other side of the table and pulled Alegria’s chair out. She stood and put her arms around him.
“I care about you,” she whispered. “I want you to be happy.”
“I know you do, but Malin is the last person you need to worry about making me happy. She does with every breath she takes.”
Alegria squeezed him hard and let go.
“Please, Al, make this right,” Dutch whispered.
She didn’t look happy about it, but Alegria walked around him to where Malin stood.
“I am sorry. I’ve known these two since we were teenagers, which sometimes feels like they belong to me. Only one does now. The other belongs to you.”
Malin thanked her and looked at Dutch. “Should we say goodnight to the others?”
“Let’s do that. I’m ready to call it a night. Take care, sweetheart,” he said, kissing Alegria’s cheek. “You too,” he said to Mantis, waving as they walked away.
“I’m sorry I put you on the spot like that. I didn’t plan for it to be more than a joke, but it didn’t play out as funny as I thought it would.”
“You weren’t very nice to her.”
“No? Well, she shouldn’t have called you out in front of a room full of people. There isn’t anyone here, Mantis included, who doesn’t think she was out of line.”
Dutch saw Doc sitting with both of his brothers and their three wives and led Malin over to them. When he saw them approach, Doc stood.
“We’ll see you both in the morning,” he said and then turned to Malin. “Damn good work, Kilbourne. I don’t know what your future holds, but I sure would like to see you on our team.”
Merrigan stood and put her hand on Malin’s arm. “I would too. You’re a fine agent and a very brave human being.”
“I’m Alex,” said one of the other two women. “I don’t know if you remember me, and I have no idea what Kade and Merrigan are talking about, but I know this, as badass as you sound, you’d fit in around here just perfectly. Wouldn’t she, Peyton?”
The other woman smiled and nodded. “Definitely.”
“What’re you thinkin’, Dutch?” asked Doc. “Maybe considering a move to the West Coast? Oh wait, there’s a little island off the coast of South Carolina with your name on it, isn’t there?”
“We’ll see. Right now, Malin and I are taking each day as they come.”
17
When they got outside the winery door, Dutch lifted her hair from her neck and put his lips on her nape.
“What’s going on, Dutch?”
“What do you mean?”
“That was fun and all, but aren’t you being more than a little presumptuous?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Malin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Was he really that thick-headed or was he dismissing her? “‘Malin and I are taking each day as they come,’ or how about ‘I’ll RSVP for your wedding right now. I’ll be there, and Malin will be my date.’”
“What about it?” he asked as they walked to the cottage.
“What if I don’t want to go to a wedding with you?”
“You don’t?”
“That’s my point. You don’t know if I want to or not because you didn’t ask me.”
“I’m sorry, I just assumed…”
She stopped walking. “Dutch?”
He stopped too. “I’m sorry, okay? I got a little ahead of myself.”
“A little?”
“I really don’t see what the problem is, Malin.”
“A few days ago, you shot a man who was holding me at gunpoint and forced me to flee an op I was in the midst of. If you remember, I did not go along with you willingly. Not only that, in that same time period, we’ve argued as much as we’ve had sex.”
“I haven’t made a secret of the fact that I want you in my life.”
“No, you haven’t, but I haven’t said that’s what I want.”
“Yes, you did.”
“When?”
“‘Oh, Dutch, can’t we pretend this is our life for just a little while?’”
“Are you mocking me?”
“I’m repeating what you said to me, Malin.”
“Tell me, once this op is done, how do you see us?”
“I don’t know. Taking some time off, going back to the island, figuring out what life might look like for us.”
“You’ve decided all of this without consulting me.”
“Hold on a minute, I said I didn’t know.”
“What if I see us going our separate ways?”
Dutch opened the front door of the cottage and motioned for her to go in ahead of him. “Is that really what you see happening?”
“Are you really asking me to make a decision about my future when I’m in the middle of the most important thing I’ve ever done? I mean, could you imagine if I’d showed up in Somalia when you were on your way to extract Mantis from the pirates, and I said, ‘Hey, Dutch? What do you say we move in together when this is all over?’”
“It’s a little different.”
“Is it? Are you under the impression that I don’t need to stay as focused as you had to be under those circumstances? Are you also under the impression that I’m not fighting for my life?”
“I think you’re exaggerating the situation.”
Malin couldn’t believe her ears. “I want you to leave.”
“Leave? Where am I supposed to go?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want you here.”
“What does that mean, exactly? Leave the cottage, leave the ranch, or leave your life?”
“For now, the cottage.”
“Jesus, Malin. Hold on a minute…”
“No, Dutch. I can’t be around you right now.”
—:—
Dutch stood by the front door and watched Malin walk up the stairs. What the hell had just happened? One minute he was kissing the back of her neck, and the next she was kicking him out of bed.
There was no point in arguing with her, so he walked out the door and back over to the winery.
“What are you doing here?” asked Onyx, who was standing just inside the front door. “I thought I saw you leave with the beautiful Miss Malin.”
“What the fuck, Onyx? You got a thing for Malin? ’Cause the way I see, she’s with me.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said, holding up his hands. “What did I do?”
“Quit with the ‘beautiful Miss Malin’ shit, okay?”
“Not a problem. Why don’t you tell me what’s turned you into such an asshole?”
Dutch walked over to the bar, wishing they had something behind it stronger than wine. Onyx came around and picked up a bottle.
“You want some of this?” he said, holding up what looked like a bottle of red wine. “Or this?” He held up bourbon.
“I love you so much right now.”
“It’s a damn fine line between love and hate with you, bro.”
“You know I hate it when you use that expression, bro.”
“Seriously? Damn, man. Show your brother some love. Ain’t we brothers? I sure saved your ass enough times to be considered part of your family.”
“I think you’re remembering things backwards. I saved your ass.”
“If that’s the case, then hell, I’ll call you whatever I want because, to me, you are my brother.”
Dutch rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “Sorry, man. Malin just kicked me to the curb.”
“Seriously?”
“You use that word too much, and yeah, she asked me to leave.”
“The country?”
“Even I don’t go that far. Although maybe I did. I asked her if she meant the cottage or her life.”
“What did she say?”
“The cottage. For now.”
“What did you do?”
“I assumed she wanted to be with me as much as I want to be with her.”
“Any sentence that starts with ‘I assumed’ never ends well.”
“I thought we were on the same page.”
“Before Islamabad, when’s the last time you saw Malin?”
“The night I went and picked Alegria up at the bar. I guess you could say it was the night we broke up.”
“Seriously?”
“There you go again. Quit saying ‘seriously.’ And actually, I saw her in Germany, but I had amnesia and didn’t know who she was.”
“It took you a minute to go from adios to assuming she’d marry you, bro. What did you expect?”
“I didn’t ask her to marry me. Although I did think she’d go to Mantis and Alegria’s wedding with me.”
“Still, with a woman as fine as Malin…hehe, just bustin’ your balls a little there, anyway, how would you feel, bein’ jerked around like that?”
“Where are you staying?”
“Upstairs in Doc’s old apartment, why?”
“Does it have more than one bedroom?”
“I think it has three.”
“You’ve got yourself a roommate.”
“Okay, but don’t bitch tomorrow morning if I wake you up at dawn.”
“Why are you getting up at dawn?”
“Naughton asked me if I wanted to ride. All the flying I’ve been doing, I feel like it’s been a month since I’ve been on a horse.”
“I didn’t know you rode horses.”
“Rode horses? My family contracts stock for rodeos.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he was born on the back of a horse,” said Maddox’s wife, as they were walking past them. “Snapper and Kick are home, and I think Trev is too if you want to meet up with them while you’re in town.”
“Wait, do you two know each other?” asked Dutch.
Onyx shook his head. “Alex is my cousin, bro.”
“Seriously?”
Onyx laughed. “Yeah, I see what you did right there.”
Onyx walked out with Alex and Maddox while Dutch went to pour himself another glass of bourbon. Several of the partners, including Mantis and Alegria, had already left. Gunner and Razor were still there, talking to Doc and Merrigan.
“I didn’t expect to see you back tonight,” said Merrigan when he walked over to join them.
“Yeah, I’m in the dog house.”
She laughed. “Uh oh. Have a seat.”
Dutch listened as they told stories about missions that happened long before he hooked up with them. Would this be him and Mantis someday? Would Alegria join in, and more importantly, would he still be the fucking odd man out? God, he was sick of being that guy. Especially when there was a woman he loved being with, sleeping alone in a bed that was only a few yards away from where he sat.
He would give just about anything to be next to her in that bed right now, feeling her skin on his.
“What did you do?” Merrigan leaned in and asked.
“I think I may have taken her for granted.”
“Go apologize, and then stay the hell out of her way.”
Dutch laughed. “She told me to leave, though.”
“Listen to me.”
Dutch nodded.
“Do you think it was easy for Doc to step aside and let me finish my last mission?”
Dutch shook his head. He’d been a part of it, on the K19 side, so he knew damn well how hard it had been for his boss.
“Your strength as a man is measured more in how you’re able to keep yourself from interfering than it is if you continue to believe you have to save her. She doesn’t need you to save her, Dutch.”
He looked around, making sure no one was listening to their conversation and leaned forward like she had. “It wasn’t that as much as it was me wanting her to commit to a life with me.”
“Give her some time. She’s in the middle of the most important mission she’s ever undertaken. More important than most of us have.”
“My head knows that, but my heart…”
“You want to save her.”
Dutch nodded.
