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I fight to control my irritability. “I’m not aware of any diet.”
“She’s wheat intolerant, for God’s sake. She’s not supposed to eat pasta. What’s wrong with Marie? Is she going senile?”
“Marie had a stroke. Valentina’s taking care of the cooking.”
“The maid who tried to kill our daughter?” she shrieks.
“She didn’t do it on purpose. It was another one of Carly’s attention-seeking, self-destructive actions.”
“Don’t you dare take that maid’s side over our daughter’s.”
I sigh deeply. “Relax. Valentina has been punished. It won’t happen again.”
“I won’t relax where Carly is concerned. She has a modeling audition in a month. She can’t afford to pick up weight with carbs and creamy pasta sauces.”
“She’s not doing a modeling audition.”
“It’s not up for discussion.”
“Have you called the therapist?”
She stiffens. “Carly doesn’t need a therapist. It’s hormones. Normal teenager issues.”
“Sylvia.” I say her name warningly. “Carly never got over our divorce. It’s time to face the fact that she may have issues we’re not equipped to deal with.”
She snickers. “That’s rich coming from The Breaker.”
“Keep the business out of this.”
“How can I? It’s all that matters in your life.”
“Yet, that’s why you married me. Security and money, don’t you remember?”
“Don’t be so dramatic. Why do you always have to bring up the same old accusations? It’s boring.” She gets to her feet. “Shall I speak to your maid?”
“You lost the right to address my staff when you walked out.”
She rolls her shoulders. “Dear God, Gabriel, get over me and move on.”
“I am, Sylvia. You have no idea.”
“Good. It’ll make you easier to get on with.” She walks to the door with a straight back. “Tell Carly I dropped in.”
“Why don’t you call her tonight and tell her yourself?”
She narrows her eyes. “Fuck you, Gabriel. I love my daughter, and she knows it.”
“Does she?”
She yanks the door open and slams it hard enough to shake the frame. Dragging a hand over my face, I take a moment to calm myself before I go out for the business of the day that requires the end of another scumbag’s life.
* * *
When I get home, I shower and spend time with Carly, helping her with her math homework. I don’t go down for dinner. I can’t bear to look at Valentina. I’m too terrified I’ll change my mind. After a whiskey too many, I call Rhett and tell him to meet me in the gym.
He enters cautiously, probably thinking of the last time we wrestled because he shot Valentina’s dog.
Dragging a bench from the free weights section to the metal chains attached to the wall, I sit down. “Cuff me.”
It takes him a moment to find his voice. “What?”
“You heard me.”
Not stupid enough to defy me, he approaches slowly. I hold out my wrists. He secures first the one, then the other in the metal cuffs.
“Take the key with you,” I say, “and don’t give it to anyone, no matter what.”
“The key for the cuffs or for the door?”
“Both.”
His head bobs up and down, like a toy dog on a car dashboard. “When must I come back?”
“At six tomorrow morning and not a second before. Got that?”
He gulps. “Yes.”
“Go.”
His eyes say I’ve finally lost it, but he doesn’t argue. The key scrapes in the lock after he has closed the door, making me a prisoner of free will.
* * *
Valentina
Wearing the new dress Gabriel bought, I bite my nails while I wait in the kitchen. I’ve never been on a date. I should be studying, but I’m curious about what Gabriel has planned. The door opens just after eight, but it’s not Gabriel who steps inside. It’s Quincy.
“Hi,” I say with an easy smile, half-relieved and half-stressed, because now I’ll have to go through the waiting anxiety again.
There’s a flush on his cheeks as he takes in the red dress. “You look nice.”
This is so uncomfortable. “Thanks.”
“Ready?”
I blink. Maybe he’s driving me somewhere to meet Gabriel. “Um, yes.”
“Let’s go.” He looks me over. “Take a jacket. It’ll get fresh later.”
I grab my black trench coat and follow Quincy to the car. He drives. Another car follows at a distance. I peer at the headlights in the side mirror.
“Are they going to follow us all night?”
“Protection,” he mumbles, his forehead pleated in a frown.
“Where are we going?”
“I was thinking the Thai Hut. It’s got five-star reviews for its curry dishes, and it’s fancy without being uptight. What do you think?”
I have no idea where or what the Thai Hut is, but my brain is stuck on something else. “Wait, you mean you and I decide? Gabriel’s not coming?”
He shoots me a quick look. “Ah, fuck. He didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
He clenches the wheel and faces straight ahead. “This is—How do I put it? He set us up on a date.”
“Me and you?”
“Hey.” He utters a wry chuckle. “I know I’m not the world’s greatest hunk, but there’s no need to say it like you won’t go out with me if I’m the last man on earth, which you probably wouldn’t, even if it was true.”
