The Pigeon by The Pigeon (retail) (epub)

Author:The Pigeon (retail) (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Epub3
Publisher: Penzler Publishers

26

Donna was splitting a dessert with Evon. That was how she thought of him now, though Andy and the other agents called him Mr. Kozco and his own bodyguards still addressed him as Colonel. And while he had been scrupulously respectful, never making a pass or saying anything inappropriate, his interest was clear, in the attention he paid, the compliments he gave, the shine in his eyes. She knew that look. Every woman did. And while she would never cross the line herself, she couldn’t deny she thought about it: what it might be like to make a life with someone like him.

Her father had been what the old-fashioned books called a bounder. Bound to let them down, that is. His nickname in the neighborhood was “conejo”—the rabbit. And he surely rabbited in more than one sense of the word. He’d gotten her mother pregnant, among who knows how many others, then lied, cheated, and failed to get a job, until he finally disappeared. No doubt that set the pattern for Donna herself: charming, handsome screwups, before she met her husband, who was the perfect match. Smart, loyal, hardworking, he was a clean-cut, ambitious CIA agent, who turned out to be an obsessive, jealous, controlling creep. And after that? She floated, or sank, really, dating here and there, letting her friends push her to meet this or that guy, set up this or that profile, but not really interested, not invested deep down in anything but her daughter and her career, both of which had grown, steadily and successfully. That fit the pattern too: Donna’s mom raised her solo, got a job working in a token booth for the MTA, kept it for the benefits, and eventually retired. Donna had begun to think her path would be the same, except with a government job chasing criminals instead of selling rides.

Then there was Joe. At first he was like the punch line to the joke of her dating history. Forget the bounders and screwups and creeps, here was an actual criminal, the worst possible choice. But there was something about him that touched something in her the others had not. A place in her heart or soul that no one else had quite reached. An immense sexual attraction that was immediate and mutual, obvious to them both. But also something like empathy, understanding. And she’d been right. He was different than everyone else she’d known—so much better and so much worse. And now she was invested.

At the same time, it had all been unreal, dreamlike, and their need for secrecy, the fact that they only met alone, in a private world, allowed it to remain a dream, an unbroken spell. Perhaps that was the only reason she let herself go, fall into it like she did; if no one knew, no one could tell her she was crazy. It had the allure of danger, a moment that had to be seized in case it never came again, every night the last night.

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