"Daphne, if you want to leave this place today, if you want your mother's ashes to stay safe in their cemetery plot, you'll do exactly what Kathy says."
I looked at this man. Looked long and hard.
Then I raised my hand and brought it down against my own cheek.
Kathy frowned.
"Too soft."
I bit my lip and swung harder.
One slap. Two. Three.
By the time I'd passed ninety, my face was raw and swollen, blood trickling from the corner of my mouth. A high-pitched ringing screamed through my ears.
Even so, Louis just stood there watching. It never once crossed his mind to spare me a single slap.
"And the third thing?" I stared at Kathy.
Kathy turned to Louis instead.
"Louis, do you think I'm being too harsh? Maybe you should decide the third one."
Louis answered with an indulgent smile.
"No, you're not harsh at all. Daphne brought this on herself."
"Since you put it that way, let's have Daphne cook dinner for us. What do you think, babe?"
The two of them stood there flirting while I turned and walked toward the kitchen.
I'd thought about running, but Louis had stationed two of his buddies outside the door. There was no way out.