“Hungry?” Marie-Laure asked after five minutes of silence.
“Me?” Nora asked.
Marie-Laure nodded.
“I wouldn’t turn breakfast down if you offered.”
“I’m offering.”
Nora started to stand up but the guard pushed her back down to the floor. Marie-Laure held out a plate, which Fat Man took and dropped on the floor in front of Nora.
“No butter?”
Andrei, the Fat Man, only glared at her.
“You don’t mind eating on the floor, do you?” Marie-Laure asked as she finally turned to look at her.
“I’ve been subbing half my life. You think this is the first time I’ve had to eat off the floor?” She tore a bit off a piece of dry toast and popped it in her mouth.
“Subbing half your life? Interesting...tell me about it.”
“About subbing? What do you want to know?”
“Why do you do it? Why do you like it?”
“The answers might take a little longer than breakfast.”
“It’s more brunch-time.”
“Fine. Subbing. Some people, men and women, enjoy giving up control. Sometimes for short periods of time—during sexual encounters. Some like to do it all the time, 24/7. It turns me on giving my body and my will to Søren.”
“You don’t seem very submissive.”
“What gave it away?”
Marie-Laure laughed softly.
“Someone not that long ago made a very poor decision to cross me in an important matter. Andrei brought him to me for a discussion.”
Nora had a hunch that this meeting Marie-Laure alluded to was the sort of “discussion” that ended with someone bleeding to death on the floor.“You two work things out?” Nora asked, trying to focus her energy on eating as quickly as possible in case Marie-Laure changed her mind and took the food away. She’d need to eat to keep up her strength.
“He and Andrei worked things out in such a way that this man will never breathe again. I wouldn’t mourn him, though. He was something of a demon, notorious for the sorts of things...well, that Andrei is notorious for.”
“Mad fly fishing skills?”
Marie-Laure grinned. “You see, that’s my point exactly. This man who had murdered for love, lust and money begged and cried and wept for mercy. You who are in an equally tenuous situation sit on my floor, insult me and crack jokes.”
“I haven’t insulted you all day.”
“Oh, yes, that was last night. Do forgive me. But still...explain to me how a woman so...” Marie-Laure paused as if searching for the right word.
“Courageous? Brave? Badass?”
“Stupid,” Marie-Laure corrected. “How a woman with such wanton disregard for her own safety could be happy as a simpering little pet sitting at a man’s feet. Can you tell me that?”
“Well...first of all, I don’t think I ever simpered. I’m not particularly coquettish. I’m not even sure I could spell coquettish if you held a gun to my head. Please don’t,” she said, looking up at Fat Man, who glowered at her. He wasn’t the simpering type, either.
“But you were happy sitting at my husband’s feet.”
“He has nice feet.”
“You’re not answering my question. It’s getting irritating.”
“Okay, serious answer. Ready? Here we go.” Nora took a deep breath. She didn’t want to talk about this stuff with Marie-Laure, but as long as she stayed interesting, as long as she stayed entertaining, she stayed alive. “I get off on submitting to Søren. I don’t know how or why. I can’t explain any more than you can explain why you like Irish breakfast tea instead of English breakfast or whatever you’re drinking. It’s a personal taste. I liked it. He’s the most beautiful man on earth, he’s got an inner drive and power that I’m drawn to, he can scare the shit out of someone with a glance, he can put someone on their knees with a word, he can see into your soul if you make the mistake of looking into his eyes. And it is a mistake because you will never want to look away again no matter how bare and naked he lays your most private self. I knelt at his feet because I felt like that’s where I belonged. And no, not because I was so unworthy of him, but because he was so utterly worthy of my devotion.”
A noble speech and a true one, Nora decided as her words settled into the room. True, yes, but not the whole truth. Might as well spill it all.
“Oh,” she added a moment later. “And me submitting to pain gets him rock hard and the man f**ks like a freight train when in the right mood. Not that you would know anything about that.”
Marie-Laure let her fork drop to her plate and the metallic clatter echoed throughout the room.
“I don’t think I like you,” Marie-Laure said.
“Join the club,” Nora said. “There are many other members to keep you company.”
“Is my brother in that club?”
Nora balked at the question. Trying to explain her relationship with Kingsley would be more fraught with peril than trying to explain her love of submitting to Søren.
“You don’t want to talk about my brother?” Marie-Laure taunted. “Fascinating.”
“We can talk about Kingsley. Whatever you like.” Nora decided she’d probably pushed enough of Marie-Laure’s buttons today. Morning had dawned bright and beautiful today. She would love to see another morning.