The housekeeper brings out breakfast. Scrambled eggs with herbs, buttered toast, fresh fruit arranged artfully, and steaming coffee.
Iris stares at her plate but doesn't pick up her fork. I eat a few bites, watching her out of the corner of my eye. She just sits there. Picking at the edge of her napkin. Moving her fork around on the plate but not actually eating anything.
Minutes pass, and so does my patience. "You don't like the food?" I ask finally.
She jumps slightly at my voice, like she forgot I was there. "No. The food is fine."
"So why aren't you eating?"
"Can't I just not want to eat?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You can," I say calmly, setting down my fork. "But there are consequences." I stand up and walk to the kitchen door, calling out. "Maria. Helga. Come here, please."
Two middle-aged women appear in the doorway almost immediately. They're the housekeepers I hired yesterday. "Yes, sir?" Maria asks, smiling politely. She glances at Iris, her smile widening warmly. "Good morning, ma'am."
Iris tries to smile back but it comes out shaky and weak. "My wife doesn't like the food," I say pleasantly, as if commenting on the weather.
Both women's faces fall immediately, panic flashing in their eyes. "Oh no," Helga says, wringing her hands anxiously. "I'm so sorry, ma'am. Is it not up to your standards? Is something wrong with the taste? We can make something else. Anything you'd like. Please, just tell us."
"No," Iris says quickly, her eyes darting to me in panic. "No, it's not that. The food is fine. Really. It's perfect. I'm just... I'm not hungry right now."
"Okay," I say with a slow nod then walk to the doorway where they both stand. Then I pull out my gun. Both women freeze completely, their faces going white as sheets. Iris's eyes go wide with horror. "Ilay..."
I point the gun directly at Maria's head. "She refuses to eat your food because she thinks it's shit. She's just too polite to tell you that you're awful cooks."
"No!" Iris shouts, standing up so fast her chair falls backward with a loud crash. "No, that's not true! The food isn't terrible! It's perfect! I'm just not hungry!"
I keep the gun trained on Maria, who's gone completely still except for her trembling. A single tear rolls down her cheek.
"Are you going to eat, angel?" I ask calmly, not taking my eyes off Maria. "Or do I have to put a bullet through somebody's skull this morning?"
"I'll eat!" she says desperately. "I'll eat! Just put the gun down! Please!"
"Then start eating," I say simply. She grabs her fork with shaking hands and starts shoveling food into her mouth frantically. The women stand there frozen, watching her eat with tears streaming down both their faces now.
Helga starts crying silently. I keep the gun pointed at them until Iris's plate is completely empty. She eats everything. The eggs, the toast, every piece of fruit. All of it. She's eating so fast she's barely chewing.
When she's done, she looks up at me, her face pale and her eyes pleading. "I've eaten. Everything. Now let them go. Please."
"Good girl," I say, lowering the gun slowly and tucking it back into my waistband. I turn to the women with a pleasant smile. "You're dismissed. Thank you for breakfast, it was wonderful."
They practically run out of the room, stumbling over each other. Iris stares at me, her chest heaving with rapid breaths. "Why did you have to do that? Why did you have to threaten them? They didn't do anything wrong!"
"Because if I didn't, you wouldn't have eaten," I say reasonably, sitting back down and picking up my coffee. "You would have starved yourself. And I can't have you starving yourself in our house."
"They were innocent!"
"I know," I say, taking a sip. "That's why I didn't shoot them. But you needed motivation. And now you've eaten a full meal. Problem solved."
She stands up, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "You're insane. You're absolutely insane."
"We've established this," I say, completely unbothered. "Multiple times now, actually, seriously you have to come up with something better, insane, crazy, unhinged, screw loose, your vocabulary should be more extensive, pretty lawyer."
She turns and walks toward the stairs, her whole body rigid with anger. I watch her go, resisting the urge to go after her.
She's scared of me now. And I'm my book, that's good. At least now she won't have grand delusions of another man.
Chapter 42
