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“But drugs make me a different person, Bea. I don’t want to rely on them for the rest of my life.”
Make him feel normal. This was normal. Drugs are normal.
“It’s perfectly normal to take prescription medication responsibly when needed, sweetheart.”
“But an all-natural approach is best,” Gale said. “Don’t worry, I consult with a holistic pract—”
“That’s enough!” I barked, taking my own all-natural approach, a big swing. But truly, how dare Gale sink so low? Toying with Collin’s health to further her own perceived gains? She had weaseled her way into his psyche as a support system when in reality she was chipping away at his very foundation!
“Bea, take it easy—” Gale began to say.
“Iam talking now.” I cut her off. “Collin, what do you tell Gale that you won’t tell me?”
“Collin, you don’t have to—”
“Yes. He. Does,” I growled at her. If Collin needed a woman to take charge, it was going to be me. He liked a firm hand from the women in his life, that much was clear. Or at the very least, he responded well to it, from me.
Collin cleared his throat. “I talk to Gale about dark stuff. Like the stuff I don’t want anyone else to know, especially my wife. She suggested that instead of blindly switching meds again with some doctor who doesn’t even know me, I could work through it naturally. Together. Because she understands me. That I could get there. That if anyone could, I could.”
If only Collin knew how much I was fascinated by the darkness in people, but I didn’t think I could reveal such a thing to him. I was already pushing the boundaries of the picture he held of me in his mind with this fervent outburst against Gale. I had to be methodical.
“And I’m happy to be that person for Collin.” Gale smiled.
“I bet you are,” I snarled at her. “This is really unethical, Gale. To gamble with Collin’s health just to—”
“Thisis why we didn’t want to tell you, Bea,” Gale said, maintaining composure in her voice, that put-upon voice, that sickening voice. “But it isn’t about you. It’s about Collin. Can you understand that?”
Howcould Collin let this woman speak to me like that in our own home right in front of him? It was infuriating. I had had enough. Yes, it would have been fun to toy with Gale Wallace-Leicester even further, using Collin to dismiss her because of something I plotted and planned and devised and executed. But I couldn’t wait any longer. I’d have to take the easy route. The window was right there. But if I opened it, would it go my way? It had to. At least then I would know for sure where I stood with Collin.
“Collin, I am your wife, and I cannot even explain to you howbetrayed I feel,” I said to him, completely ignoring Gale, tears filling my eyes. Guilt trips could work wonders in a man like Collin. I learned that from our last row post-honeymoon. “If this marriage is going to work, we need to be able to trust each other. Tell each other the truth.”
“Oh, Bea, please don’t cry.” He came closer to me. It was working. “You’re right.”
“Thisthingbetween you and Gale cannot continue. I won’t stand for it. It’s not good for you. It’s not good for us.”
Gale scoffed, asking the question I knew Collin would not, falling right into my trap. “Are you giving him an ultimatum? Collin, I—”
“Gale, please,” he said. The dark circles under his eyes. The extra pounds around his midsection. The pathetic look on his face. He’d do anything to keep me. I needed to finish her.
“Yes,” I said. “You need to see a real doctor and you need to stop seeing Gale for whatever these quack sessions are. It all needs to stop.”
“Okay,” he agreed, and very fast. Gale’s heart had been pierced, her eyes frantic, blinking fast.
“Fine,” she said. “I can make a good recommendation and—”
“Collin,” I said to my husband, not even looking at Gale. “I don’t mean just the sessions. I mean all of it. All contact with her.”
Gale gasped dramatically. “We’ve been friends for our entire lives, Bea, and you come waltzing in—”
“Gale!” Collin shouted. She shut her mouth.
“I’m serious, Collin. It’s her or me and you have to decide right now.”
“Collin!” Gale was beside herself. She couldn’t move. She was frozen.
Because she knew what was coming.
“It’s you,” Collin said to me, no hesitation, forlorn but accepting his fate. It was the right thing to do. I was the one he wanted. I had the power.
