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Mal rolled his eyes. “You don’t know anything about me.”
I snorted. “I know that you hurt your knee when we were married, and now you favor it when you have to do a lot of physical exertion. For instance, right now, it’s aching, and you’re shifting foot to foot to relieve the pain.”
“Bitch, you don’t know me!” Mal screamed then.
That was when Marjorie rushed up to him and placed her hand on his chest. “Honey, calm down. You’re drawing attention to her.”
Mal rolled his eyes and shook Marjorie off. “Go away.”
That surprised me.
Obviously, it’d surprised Marjorie, too.
“Baby, what…”
“I said, go away!” He yanked his arm away from her, causing her to wobble at the suddenness of his move. “Stop touching me all the time. It disgusts me.”
I blinked, long and hard.
“Oh, fuck you!” Marjorie snapped. “You did not just embarrass me in front of all of these people, Mal.”
Mal ignored her and kept his eyes on me. “What did you do to make my dad leave everything to you?”
I frowned. “Mal, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, you do,” Marjorie said. “And we’re contesting the will. When Malloy kicks the bucket, we’re taking your ass to the cleaners.”
They’d lost it. Well and truly lost it.
Which was about the time when I grabbed Booth and Bourne by the hands and said, “Time to go. Callum and Ace are coming.”
And they were.
Callum had finally spotted me and was heading in our direction, a confused looking woman left behind with a grateful expression on her face. The man that came up behind her grabbed her around the waist and planted a kiss on her forehead, holding out his hand for a high five which she returned.
And then Callum’s face took up my entire vision as he got closer and closer and closer.
“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell you did to my father.” Mal stepped in front of us. “He was fine before you started to make him buy you stuff.”
My mouth opened in affront.
And that was when the baby of the Valentine clan finally let it rip.
“You wouldn’t notice if something was wrong, obviously, if it came up and bit you on the tip of your dick,” Darby said eloquently. “You had this girl under your nose for years.” He hooked his thumb back at me. “But you let her go all because of some misconstrued reality that nobody but you understands. This woman is the most perfect specimen you’ll ever find. Beautiful, loyal, hardworking, loving and caring. She’s going to make my brother a wonderful wife someday. You gave up the gold, buddy. And what did you get in return? Second place? Hell, I’m thinking this one wouldn’t even qualify you to get a medal.”
Marjorie gasped in affront, but Darby wasn’t finished.
“Your father’s been dying of cancer for months. I saw him during the day months ago,” Darby said. “He was coming out of the ice cream place looking confused and sad. I talked to him for an hour before he told me he had cancer. That was way before Desi even came into my life. Well before your father decided to buy the house that she was living in, as well as help her open her business. But, let me tell you this very clearly, Desi didn’t ask for him to do that. He told me straight out that he was going to.” Darby paused. “But he also told me that his children were lost to him, and he wasn’t sure that he was going to leave them anything anyway. He asked me if I had any charities that I liked.”
Darby’s lips tipped up in the corner. “I suggested he give all the money to his beloved daughter-in-law. When he told me his other son was married—you know that wedding you refused to go to last fall? I suggested he leave some money to her, too.”
Mal’s mouth dropped open.
“You didn’t…”
“I did.” Darby grinned. “I met him five other times, skipped class to do it, all so he could have someone to talk to that wasn’t you. What does that say about you that he would rather spend time with some punk young adult than his own son?”
Mal’s mouth thinned. “He didn’t tell me he was sick.”
“But he did. Multiple times. He told you he was going to the doctor,” Darby said. “He told you he wasn’t feeling well. When he told you he was too tired to deal with your shit, and you made him deal with it anyway, he told you no more. And, Mal, he meant it. So, when your father passes away, and the house is sold, and the proceeds are split between your ex-wife and your brother’s new wife that you refused to meet, maybe then you’ll understand that it was your fault.”
