Three, Two, One (321)

He smiles but something about this is off, so I don’t smile back. “Last weekend I was at Ray’s. I saw you from a distance. I was there trying to get your attention.”

I squint, trying to think back.

“The offer. To fuck my wife while I watched.”

I can’t help myself, I belt out a laugh. “Jesus Christ. You are very blunt. And I guess I can stop thinking of you as a priest, since you’re clearly playing dress-up tonight.”

He lifts his hands and shrugs, like I caught him in the act. “I’m not a Catholic priest. This was once a Catholic church, and the icons are deliciously sacrilegious in this club environment, so I couldn’t resist. However”—he pauses to shoot me another creepy smile—“I am a leader of a small religious sect.”

Cult, is the word I hear in my head.

“And since you and I work in the same business, I thought you’d understand.” Another pause so he can steeple his index fingers and press them to his lips. The gesture reminds me a little of Ray, but not in a way that sets me at ease. Father Creepy here studies people, picks up on their mannerisms, and uses them to influence. It’s an instinct more than anything. But I didn’t make it this far into the job by not listening to my instincts. “Perhaps even find a common ground.”

“What does any of that have to do with fucking your wife?” If he wants to be blunt, I can be blunt.

The creepy smile and stare continues for a few more seconds, just to make sure I get it. “I need a third person in my relationships and they seem to find you desirable.”

“They?”

“I have just one wife. But we are a flock. The others are just as much a part of the inner circle as my first.”

My mouth does not gape open like an idiot’s, but he’s stunned me. Me. The Prince of Public Porn has been stunned by a middle-aged man pretending to be a priest.

I don’t react at all. I don’t flinch or lean back in my chair to show my revulsion. I don’t even smile and shake my head and play this one off as I plot a quick escape. I just sit there and take it all in.

Because something is very wrong with this man. Something I really do not want any part of.

“Mr. Ark?”

“Father Gabriel,” I say back, buying myself another moment to collect my thoughts.

“Are you interested?”

I stare at him. His eyes are light brown. His hair is thin and mostly gray. His body is lean, his face long, his arms spindly. If there was a picture in the Urban Dictionary for ‘dirty old man,’ then Father Gabriel is the spitting image.

I shudder. “My answer is no, Gabriel. Like I told Ray, I’m not interested. I don’t need the money. I don’t need the beautiful girl. I don’t need anything, to be honest. And I’m sorry to cut this short, but I need to get back to my partner.”

I stand up and give him a nod, and then turn my back and walk to the stairwell we came up.

“Mr. Ark,” he calls out.

I stop but don’t turn.

“I can understand how you’d think you have it all. And I can understand how you’d think there’s nothing I can offer you that would make you change your mind. But I actually do have things you require. I have information you might be interested in.”

I look at him over my shoulder. I get a feeling in my gut. A feeling that says keep going. Just walk the fuck out of here. But I know what he’s going to say. Somehow, some way, I know what he’s going to say.

And I need to hear it.

“Not specifically pertaining to you, of course. Since you’re an enigma. You’re the man who has no past. You’re the guy who steps off a bus, finds a business partner, and starts a porn empire under the protection of the reigning king, all in the span of a few months. You’re the untouchable one. So you’re right. I don’t have anything you need.”

I turn to face him now.

“But JD is an entirely different story.”

My jaw clenches and my hands are making fists before I can stop the reaction.

Father Sister-wives belts out a smug laugh. “He’s your Achilles’ heel, do you realize that? He’s the only one who can bring it all crashing down. And not because he has dirt on you. I really don’t think he does. No. He has this power over you because you give it to him. Because you love him, don’t you, Ark?”

“Say what you’ve got to say.”

“Your business partner”—Gabriel chuckles, like that’s funny—“has a big mouth. He’s been around asking lots of questions. Questions he shouldn’t even know to ask.”

My mind races with the questions. Blue? Did he mention Blue?

“We both know it’s better that he keep silent.”

Not Blue. “He lost someone and he wants her back.”

“He can’t undo the past.”

“He just wants to set it right.”

Gabriel laughs. “I think that’s a tall order. But perhaps…” His smile lingers, then falls. “Perhaps we could help each other out? Hmmm? Perhaps we could do a trade?”

My eyes squint down at him.

“I know where JD’s daughter is.”

I don’t know what to say.

Creepy smile all over again. “And I can deliver her. I can fix his heart. I can make him a new man. I can erase that year and make it all better.”

“It was two years, asshole. Two years of hell for him. Two years of drug addiction and—” I stop before I let that last secret out. This guy doesn’t deserve to know JD’s shame. “It doesn’t matter,” I say, recovering. “Your offer makes no sense.”