Chapter 14 - The Negotiation
The maximum-security state penitentiary was a bleak, concrete fortress that smelled of bleach and despair. I sat in a small, metal-walled visitation room, separated by a thick pane of bulletproof glass.
The heavy steel door on the other side clicked open, and a guard escorted Dominic into the room.
He was wearing a faded orange jumpsuit. His hair was thinning, his posture hunched. The terrifying, powerful man who had ruled my life with an iron fist now looked incredibly small.
He sat down in the plastic chair, picking up the telephone receiver. I picked up mine.
"Well, well," Dominic sneered, though his eyes betrayed his shock at seeing me. "The queen of the coast comes down to the dungeon. To what do I owe the pleasure? Come to gloat?"
"I don't have time for your ego, Dominic," I said flatly, pulling the legal waiver from my briefcase and pressing it against the glass. "I need you to sign this. It authorizes the State to use your encryption cipher to crack Julian Croft’s offshore accounts."
Dominic read the document through the glass, a slow, malicious smile spreading across his face. "Julian filed a suppression motion, didn't he? He's outsmarting you. And now you need my help."
"I need your signature to put the man who stole your money into a cell right next to you," I corrected.
Dominic leaned back, crossing his arms. "I’ll sign it. On one condition. You write a letter to the parole board. You tell them you forgive me, that I’ve rehabilitated, and you support my early release. You do that, and I give you Julian."
I stared at him. The sheer audacity of his demand was staggering. He genuinely believed he still held power over me. He believed I was still the obedient, fearful wife who would trade my own safety to fix a problem.
I slowly lowered the document.
"No," I said.
Dominic’s smile vanished. "Excuse me?"
"I said no," I repeated, my voice hard and absolute. "I am not writing a letter. I am not forgiving you. You are going to sit in this cage for the next eight years, and every night, you are going to think about the fact that you destroyed your own life over a steak."
"Then you don't get the waiver!" Dominic shouted, slamming his fist against the glass. "Julian walks! You lose!"
"I don't lose," I smiled coldly. "Because you are a narcissist, Dominic. If you don't sign this paper, Julian Croft keeps the four million dollars he stole from you. He stays in his mansion, drinking expensive scotch, laughing at the idiot partner who took the fall for him. He wins. You lose. Forever."
I stood up, slipping the paper back into my briefcase. "Enjoy your cafeteria food, Dominic."
I turned and walked toward the door.
May you like
"Wait!" Dominic screamed through the glass, his voice cracking with desperate, vindictive rage. "Wait! Give me the damn paper!"
I stopped, smiled, and turned back around. I had won.
