To salvage a deal worth hundreds of millions a year, I'd dragged myself out into the pouring rain in the dead of night to beg forgiveness.
I knelt outside that hotel entrance for three solid hours. My knees were raw and bleeding by the time the man finally relented, saying he'd give Delgado Group one more chance, for my sake alone.
And in Dustin's mouth, that became me "running around." Whatever warmth was left inside me turned to ash.
"Lately, you've really disappointed me." He looked down at me the way someone looks at a disobedient pet, his eyes brimming with nothing but impatience. "Someone take her to the basement. She can stay there until she's reflected on what she did wrong."
A violent tremor ripped through my body. Did he not know I was afraid of the dark?
I clutched the hem of his jacket, begging. "No! Dustin, don't you remember? I'm afraid of the dark."
After we married, once he found out about my fear, Dustin always left a light on for me no matter how late I came home. He never let me go near dark, cramped places like the basement.
Now he was going to lock me in there. For her.