Page 216 of Merciless Daddy

“Sometimes.”

“Does he discipline you?”

“Sometimes.”

“Does he tell you what to eat, when to sleep, where to go?”

“He reminds me to eat and sleep when I neglect myself under stress. I decide whether to accept that care.”

“Can you distinguish personal desire from corporate judgment?”

“Yes.”

“Can you refuse him?”

“Yes.”

“Have you?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact.”

“Give an example.”

I thought of the time I’d used my safeword. I didn’t want to share it.

“I decline to answer that question. It’s personal to me.”

The examiner looked at me sharply.

“Have you made decisions about corporate assets at Mr. Scordato’s direction?”

“I have made decisions to protect workers whose wages Gianni froze. I have restricted Gianni’s access to companies in my name. I have chosen independent trustees for an employee relief fund. The decisions were mine.”

“Would you have made them without Mr. Scordato’s influence?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I have a conscience. And a fucking brain.”

The examiner leaned back.

For one second, I thought I had won something.

Then Sal’s secure phone began screaming outside the door.

Not ringing.

An alarm.

I turned.

The door opened hard. Sal stood there with his phone in one hand. His face had gone white beneath the olive tone of his skin.

“Kiryl’s convoy is under attack,” he said.

The room vanished.