getting one thing more out of me. Ever!” And he could see in her eyes that she meant it, but he knew with total certainty that he was far more powerful than she was. And without saying a word to her, he walked over, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and yanked her head back.
“Don't ever talk to me like that again, Gabbie. Don't tell me what you will or won't do. You'll do exactly what I tell you, or I'll kill you.” Her eyes grew wide as she stared at him, and listening to him was like hearing an echo. “I want the money. Now. Do you get that? Or are you even dumber than I thought? I'm not going to fuck around with this. Now call the lawyer.” He pointed to the phone and waited for her to come to her senses.
“I'm not calling anyone,” she said calmly, although her knees were shaking. “The game is over.”
“No, it's not,” he said, releasing her again, wondering just how much roughing up it was going to take to make her understand that he meant it. Not much probably. She was scared of her own shadow. “The game is just beginning. The romance is over. The bullshit. The pretense. I don't even have to tell you I love you now to get what I want. All I have to do is tell you what I'm going to do to you if I don't. Is that clear yet?” She didn't answer him, but stood facing him from a few feet away, wrestling with her own silent demons. “Call the bank, Gabbie. Or I'm calling the police. The man is dead. You have his money. You had everything to gain from it. They'll believe me.” She wanted to kill him with her own hands, and the white rage he lit in her nearly overwhelmed her. She grabbed the phone off the desk and dialed the operator, and he saw it. “What are you doing?” He looked instantly worried.
“I'm calling the police for you. Let's get it over with.” He yanked the phone out of her hands immediately and hung up, and then with a single gesture, he ripped it out of the wall, and handed it to her.
“Let's be sensible about this, or do we have to discuss it all afternoon? Why don't we just go to the bank and get it? That's nice and simple. Then I catch an airplane to Europe, and it's all over. For you. For me, it's just beginning.”
“How do I know you won't tell the police anyway that I paid you the money to kill him?” It was just the evidence he needed, and she could see now that he would stop at nothing.
“You don't know that, and actually it's not a bad idea. But you'll have to trust me. You have no choice now. If you don't give it to me, I might kill you. It might be worth it to me for all the aggravation you've caused me.” It was suddenly her fault again… she was the one… he had to do this because she'd been such a bad girl… it wasn't his fault… he didn't want to do it… she made him…
“Kill me,” she said bluntly. It didn't matter anymore. There was always someone, something, trying to hurt her, blaming her for everything. It was always her fault, and there was always going to be another one, hurting her, leaving her, lying to her, threatening to kill her in body and spirit. In their own way, they had already killed her, and she knew it.
“You're a fool,” he said, approaching her menacingly. He was not going to be beaten by this woman, this fool he had been living with, sharing the pittance she made, having to steal five-dollar bills from hidden envelopes she kept under her mattress. He had lived on crumbs for long enough. He wanted the whole pie now. “Don't fuck with me, Gabbie.” But he could see in her eyes that he was getting nowhere with her, and he had no more time to waste. The others would be back soon, and he wanted his money. His money. It was his now. He had earned it.
Without saying a word, he put his hands around her neck and started to shake her, and she just stood there. She was letting him do it… just as she always had… she just stood there. She was the good little girl she always had been.