“That’s all you have to say?” Zach said, coming through the open door.
“What do you want me to say? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was going to. At the club. Then Søren showed up. I chickened out, I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter.”
“Doesn’t matter that you’re a prostitute?”
“A prostitute? Is that what you think I am?” she demanded. “Prostitutes would kill to be me. I’m a Dominatrix. People submit to me for money. But they never ever get to fuck me.”
“I thought you were this sexy, wild writer, a free spirit. But you aren’t a free spirit. You’re just a very expensive cheap trick.”
“I told you, Zach—my tricks are anything but cheap.” She heard the iciness in her voice and Zach gave her a dark look.
“You lied to me,” he said with cold, quiet anger.
Nora took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm.
“Zach, I know you’re upset. I know this is a huge shock to you—”
“Are you sick?”
Nora blinked at him.
“Some might say so. I can’t say I disagree.”
Zach tore from the living room and came back seconds later with a pill bottle in his hand.
“These,” he said, shoving her beta-blockers nearly in her face. “My father takes these for his heart trouble that could kill him at any moment. And your M.D. appointments in your date book—are you ill?”
“First of all, you had no right to dig through my medicine cabinet or my date book, but considering I broke into your apartment, we’ll let that slide. And no, I’m perfectly healthy. M.D. just means ‘My Dungeon’ which you’ve seen. And these are the same pills that a lot of performers take for stage fright and performance anxiety. They reduce hand tremors. My work isn’t easy sometimes. They help me get through some of the rougher scenes.”
Zach collapsed into a chair and buried his head in his hands. He sat back and threw the bottle of pills across the room. They hit the wall and clattered to the floor.
“I’ve been quietly terrified for weeks that there was something wrong with you. I thought that was the secret you were keeping from me. I never dreamed you…”
Nora bent down in front of him and reached out to touch his knee. He stood up and brushed past her.
“I can’t believe the first woman I allow near me since Grace…” Zach paused and shook his head in disgust. “I thought you were a writer.”
“I am a writer,” she said, more hurt and angry than she’d been in years. “You know that better than anyone.”
“You have sex—”
“I only fuck the women,” she admitted. “The men I just beat the shit out of.”
“For money,” Zach said.
“No, Zach. Not for money,” she said and stood toe to toe with him. “For a lot of fucking money,” she said, biting down on every word. “You get your paycheck in an envelope. I get mine in a fucking briefcase.”
Nora grabbed the black briefcase off her couch and grabbed a fistful of one hundred dollar bills and tossed them in Zach’s face. They fluttered to the floor like falling angels.
“I had nothing,” she said. “Nothing when I left Søren. I was twenty-eight years old and living with my mother. I could barely eat or sleep or move for months. She finally got so sick of me she kicked me out. I went to Kingsley Edge—”
“Your pimp,” Zach said.
“Kingsley Edge, my friend,” Nora countered. “And he helped me. I’d been a slave and he turned me into a master.”
“He turned you into a monster. Søren was right. I should be afraid of you.”
“You’re afraid of everything, Zach. Afraid to leave your wife. Afraid to go back to her. Afraid to start over. Afraid to have sex with me. Afraid to trust me or yourself or anyone for that matter. And afraid to tell me what happened to you…I was going to tell you my secret. I swear to God I was. I was just waiting until you were brave enough to tell me yours.”
“I keep my private life private, Nora. I don’t put it up for public auction like you do.”
Nora crossed her arms and stared at him.
“Now I’m starting to see why Grace left you. You’re a real charmer, Easton.”
Zach took a step toward her. “You don’t even deserve to say her name, Nora. And all I have left to say is goodbye.”
“Fine. I get it. We’re done. I said I’m sorry, and you refuse to accept my apology. What about the book?”
“The book?” Zach stepped over several thousand dollars on his way to the front door. “The book’s off. It’s over.”
“What do you mean it’s over? It’s not finished yet. I still have two weeks.”
Zach opened the front door and looked over his shoulder.
“It’s over,” he repeated. “Royal House can’t afford you,” he said, kicking a hundred dollar bill out from under his foot. “And neither can I.”
* * *
The pounding felt amazing. Every hit reverberated through her whole body. It started in her hands and ran though her arms, across her shoulders and down her back and into her feet. She poured herself into every punch, her muscles straining and opening and screaming. She’d almost forgotten how good pain could feel.
“Nora!”
She heard Wesley’s voice calling to her from far away and ignored it. She just wanted to keep hitting, keep hurting.
“Nora, stop it!” Wesley yelled, bounding down the basement stairs three at a time. He tried to grab her, but she slipped through his hands and hit her punching bag even harder.
She pulled back, ready for one more punch, but Wesley stood in front of her.
“Get out of my way, Wes,” she ordered, wiping sweat off her forehead. It rained off her, down her bare arms, soaking her hand wraps all the way through.
“Nora,” Wesley said, taking her by the wrists. She struggled a little but he wouldn’t let her go. “You’re out of your mind. You’re going to hurt your hands.”
“I don’t care.”
“Yes, you do. You don’t even have gloves on. You’re going to hurt yourself and you’re not going to be able to write for a week.”
Nora pulled away from him.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said.
“Why?”
“It’s off. The whole thing’s off. Some jackass at Royal knew about me and told Zach before I could,” she said, panting the words. “He was, to say the least, unhappy.”
“He called off the contract?” Wesley asked, looking shaken to the core.
“Yeah. It’s dead. He’s done with me and the book.”
Wesley shook his head. “He can’t do that. I’ll call him. I’ll talk to him.”
Nora laughed coldly. “Not even you could sweet-talk him, kid. He said it’s over. He meant it.”
“There are other editors.”
Nora shook her head. “Zach knew my book better than I know it. I can’t finish it without him.”
“Yes, you can. You’ve gotten five books published already.”
“Gutter