At the entrance, an electronic voice command asks me to look straight into the camera.
Hulk is tense next to me, looking left and right. He digs his fingers into my upper arm, a silent promise of retribution if I don’t play along.
Sweat trickles down my armpits. I’m nervous, but I try to do as he says. Holding my breath, I say a prayer as we wait, but then the glass doors click open.
A security guard walks briskly toward us. “Welcome back, Ms. Delacy. How may we be of assistance today?”
My voice is surprisingly steady, albeit hoarse. “I’d like to give my fiancé and bodyguard access to my safe deposit box.”
He indicates the security scanners. “Follow me, please.”
Once we’ve passed the check point, a private banker meets us.
He holds out a hand. “What a pleasure, Ms. Delacy. It’s been a while.” He eyes Hulk with suspicion. “Who are your guests?”
I tell him what Hulk told me to say.
“I see.” The banker straightens his tie. “If that’s what you want, it can be arranged.”
Hulk smiles at the banker. “My fiancée would like to visit the vault to show us the documents.”
“Oh.” The banker seems uncertain. “Security measures must be followed.”
Hulk takes an identity card from his pocket and hands it to the banker. “That won’t be a problem. It’s been so long, she hardly remembers what she left in the box.”
The banker looks at me.
I hope my smile appears normal. “That’s true.”
“You’ll have to sign a few forms—” the banker starts.
“That’s not an issue,” I say quickly.
Hulk points at the man who followed us inside. “My fiancée’s bodyguard will join us.”
The banker turns to me again. “If that’s what you want, Ms. Delacy.”
Hulk is all teeth as he pulls me close. “She does.”
Hulk kisses my cheek affectionately before slipping an arm around my waist. I blink up at him with a teary-eyed smile. It’s all I can do not to vomit on his shoes.
The banker must take my tears for sentimental ones because his expression softens.
“Newlyweds.” He sighs. “Enjoy it while it lasts. When the wedding is over and reality sets back in, the honeymoon wears off quickly.”
He sounds bitter, as if he’s talking from experience.
While he takes us to a standing desk in a big oval room with black marble walls and floors, Hulk tells him how it was love at first sight when we met during a business trip.
After the three of us have signed a dozen documents and the banker has taken the men’s biometrics and made copies of their ID cards, which are no doubt fake, we’re taken through a steel door into a room with rows of safe deposit boxes. A table and two chairs stand in the center.
I only have eyes for the carafe of water set out with glasses on the table, but Hulk cuts his nails so hard into my flesh that he must be breaking skin.
The banker bows. “I’ll leave you to it. Just press the call button when you’re done or if you need me.”
“Thank you,” I say, giving him another serene smile despite feeling jittery and out of sorts.
The minute he’s closed the door behind him, Hulk pushes me deeper into the room. “Delacy, huh? That was clever—using a false name.”
