Page 79 of Nitro

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” I lie. “They seduced me.”

“You’re easy to manipulate,” he concedes.

“I know. You’re so much smarter than I am. I didn’t know what they were doing until it was too late.”

“Is that why you filed for divorce? Did they make you do it?”

“Yes. Yes. I didn’t want to, but they made me.”

“I don’t know if I can believe you.”

“Remember when we first met outside the high school?” I’m going to try to appeal to his sense of nostalgia. He’s always been fixated on the past and loves to talk about how things used to be. Maybe if I can take him back to the feelings he had when we first met, he’ll be more inclined to untie me.

“I saw you in that cheerleader skirt. Your ass was so perfect. You weren’t fat yet,” he says wistfully.

“It was green and white, the school colors.”

“Yeah. Where did that skirt end up?”

“It was in one of our donation piles.”

“Why?”

“Because it didn’t fit anymore.”

“Why did you let yourself go? The other doctors’ wives can still fit into their high school clothes.”

The fact that some of the other doctors also dated underage girls revolts me. I also doubt their wives can wear their old clothing. No one stays that small forever. It’s not how women’s bodies work. We fill out as we get older. It’s just the way things are.

“We could get you another one,” Jeff says. “You’d have to go on a diet, of course. But I could get you some pills. There’s a new drug on the market. From what I hear, it works well enough.”

“I could try it.”

“Maybe … You know, I would love to see you in that uniform again. After you lose a bunch of weight, you might be able to get it to zip.”

“You could help me.” I force a smile.

“Hmm.” He studies me.

I try not to tremble under his scrutiny. I think he’s starting to believe me, so I take it one step further. “My hands hurt. Can you … would it be possible to untie me?”

“Are you going to try to escape?”

“No. I like this. Talking to you. We haven’t spoken to each other in so long. Maybe that’s all we need to do so we can work things out.”

He grunts and crosses to where I’m sitting. He slices through the plastic band around my hands. The instant they’re free, blood rushes into my fingers. The painful sensation lasts several seconds. Tingling sparks fly along my nerve endings as feeling floods back into my hands.

“Thank you,” I whisper meekly. I keep my eyes downcast, so he’ll think I’m being submissive. “Can you cut the ones around my feet too?”

“You won’t run?”

“No. I keep thinking about all the good times we had in this cabin. I miss them. Maybe we can go back to how things were in the beginning, back before I forgot how to be a good wife.” I can’t believe I managed to get that bullshit out of my mouth. But I’m even more surprised when he believes me.

“Those early days were fun. Remember fishing on the lake?”

“And hiking in the woods?” I slowly slide my gaze toward the huge window overlooking the lake. The curtains are still open, so I have a clear view. There’s nothing but trees and water out there, but that’s all I need. If I can get out of the cabin and into the forest, I might be able to escape. I just need to wait for the right moment to flee. Jeff isn’t going to let me leave. If I run and he catches me, I’m as good as dead. Making a mistake isn’t an option. Choosing the wrong time would be disastrous. No, Ihave to be patient and wait for the perfect opportunity. I just hope it comes soon because I don’t know how much longer I can keep this ruse up.

Chapter 22: Nitro