ents were a tid

lu

ooks c

ers Ginger. This o

fingers, clattering onto the floor. There was

y o

e absolute than anything I h

ssed me. He'd spread rumors, posted my picture with crude captions. It

t Hudson, he had held me. He found the man and dealt wi

had promised, his voice fierce. "No o

ed to protect me from this very thing, this exact violat

ening thought bl

drained fr

dn't b

about the maids who scattered out of my way

, looking out at

er. I barely recognized my own voice. "Hudso

e held up a finger, finishing his call w

ed in annoyance. "Don't ever call me by my f

e shaking with a rage that was st

his shadow falling ove

weather. "You embarrassed me. You hurt Ginger. You nee

en my deepest vulnerability, a wound he had pretended to heal, and twisted

Or was she just another tool, a

caped my lips. I closed m

grabbed my throat, his fingers digging into my skin,

derstand me? You will learn to behave. You will learn to accept my disciplin

stumbled back,

uffs. "Be a good wife, and I'll forget it ever happened. I' ll e

veness with a trip after destroying my reputation and

traight. He thought I was a toy. Something he

inflicted could be er

as w

wered her with gifts. He bought her a gallery. He threw a lavish party wh

my own home. The pain was a physical thing, a cons

hat it was: a temporary obsession. A switch he could flip. He had loved

s a

from the ver