The New Husband(107)

“We need to talk,” he said.

Daisy came bounding over to them, her leash dragging behind her. She knew Simon, his scent. He was a friend, and she must have thought this was some sort of a game. She went up on her hind legs, to put her front paws on Simon’s waist, but Simon pushed her, and down she went.

With a grunt, Simon threw Nina up against the wall, clamped his hand around her throat, and started to squeeze. As her vision dimmed, Nina could feel her eyes bulging in their sockets. Daisy seemed to sense something shift in this game of theirs. She moved away, growled, head dropping low, approaching slowly, cautiously.

Simon was breathing heavily, like he’d just finished a jog.

“I had to borrow a car. Home emergency, I said, and my truck battery was dead. Your damn kid—so difficult, no discipline, no respect. You should have raised her better.” Simon drifted off as if in thought. “She came here to spy on me. Did she say that nobody was staying here? No renters? Is that why you thought to come here to look for Daisy?”

Simon’s grip around her throat constricted the air to Nina’s voice.

“I took her to punish you,” Simon explained. “I’d have brought her back, eventually, like I did the last time, once you realized you needed me in your life. But it’s no matter now. I guess in a way this had to happen. No more secrets. Now we can be together as we really are.”

Simon reached behind his back with his free hand to remove a gun he had tucked into the waistband of his khakis.

He put his finger on the trigger, pressed the barrel up against Nina’s forehead hard enough to leave an imprint.

She could sense what he was thinking. Pull it. Pull it.

She heard Glen’s muffled pleas through the partially open door to his prison.

She saw Simon’s finger tense around the trigger. Fear bubbled in her throat. Her breathing became constricted as his grip tightened.

The determined look set on Simon’s face left no doubt in Nina’s mind that he was gathering his resolve to strangle her, or to shoot her dead.

She waited, the anticipation unbearable. How much will it hurt? Please be quick, she prayed. A desperate longing to see her children once more surged through her, a need more powerful than her desire to breathe freely again. Who will take care of them? My parents? Would Simon even let them live?

“Please, Simon … you don’t have to … do this.”

Nina’s words burned with raw emotion. Simon said nothing and in his silence a steely bolt of terror struck her hard. She waited … and waited for an end that didn’t come. Something shifted in Simon. Nina sensed his hesitation. He couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. He didn’t want her to die, couldn’t let it happen. Instead, he began to caress the side of her face, running his fingers back and forth across her trembling lips. His black eyes flickered with bits of light, like the gasping final flames of a candle at wick’s end, his internal conflict bubbling to the surface—to kill her or let her live; to end his twisted dream or try again.

Daisy wasn’t comforted. She barked at Simon. He had fed her, petted her, loved her, and played with her, so why would he be hurting her person?

“It’s okay, Daisy. Relax,” Simon said.

Keeping the gun pressed to Nina’s head, Simon let go of his hold on her throat. Stretching his arm, eyes never leaving Nina’s face, Simon felt the floor until his fingers brushed against Daisy’s leash. He straightened, having managed to keep the barrel of the gun aimed at Nina the entire time. He maneuvered the three of them over to the crate. He put Daisy inside, closing the door behind her. Daisy barked in protest.

“I wouldn’t hurt her,” Simon said, using his free hand to caress the side of Nina’s face. “She brought us together once before, and she’s brought us together again.” He pushed her hard against the wall.

“Nina,” he whispered in her ear, moving his hand again to her throat, applying light pressure, his way of letting her know that by gun or hand, he was in charge. “I’ll get rid of him,” he said. “Glen didn’t love you. Look what he did to you. With Teresa, look what he did.”

Simon pushed harder into her body. “I love you, Nina,” he said in her ear, stroking her face with his hand holding the gun. “I love you so much. And you want to be with me, too, don’t you?” he said, still speaking softly.

Nina knew not to antagonize him. Better to keep him off-balance, keep him talking.

“Yes, of course, of course I do,” she said, breathing hard.

“I have a box in my closet with two hundred thousand dollars in it. Two hundred thousand. It was Emma’s money, and thanks to her will, now it’s ours, her gift to us. I kept it here in case of an emergency. We’ll go somewhere. We can live off that money. Believe me, you’ll be so happy. I’ll make you so happy.”

She forced her body to relax even while his other hand continued to grip her neck. She was responding to him, letting him know how much she liked his plan, while Daisy, still locked in the crate, let her presence be known as well.

“Please, Simon, please let her go,” Glen called out from his room. “It won’t work. It can’t ever work now.”

But Nina wasn’t focused on Glen. All her attention was given to Simon. Control your breathing. Control your fear. Make him believe. She forced herself to relax. It could be as he wanted, or that’s what she was trying to tell him with her body, leaning in, pressing against him. Even with his hand still clutching at her throat, Simon was getting the message. She saw joy blossom on Simon’s face. He relaxed his fingers, letting air, precious air, rush into Nina’s lungs. He pushed against her harder, kissing her ear, her neck. She responded to his touch, her fingers now tugging at his hair, a soft noise escaping her lips.