Yes, for a while, he had relished Peri’s domination of him. It had been his deepest, darkest fantasy. But the excitement of it, the thrilling, titillating novelty of it had worn off. He craved something more normal, more domestic, now that he was making headway professionally. The cruel, dangerous sadism wasn’t stimulating him like it used to. And surely, the crowd that had accepted Peri because of what she could procure for them would be tired of her soon, too.

One afternoon, parked in a shady back lot where Odilie knew they would be undetectable, Tom told her the whole sordid truth. She was sitting on top of him in the passenger seat, both their pants off, breathing heavily into each other’s mouths, when he reclined the seat, tilting his head away from her.

“She wants us to do this, you know. We don’t have to sneak around,” he said softly, eyes flitting away from her. Odilie had blinked rapidly, confusion settling between her brows.

“What are you talking about?”

He looked up to the car’s ceiling, gazing at the gray fibers. “This was all part of Peri’s plan. The only thing missing is her, here. Peri had this whole idea to groom you and make you into someone we could dominate together.” Odilie scrambled out of his lap, to the driver’s seat, her nude bottom planted on the leather, face hardened, her hands gripping the wheel of the car like she wanted to drive them right into the ocean just beyond the brush where they were parked.

“But I don’t want to do that anymore,” he finished, twisting his body so it faced hers. “I want you all for myself.”

She was silent, her eyes still over the dashboard, staring into the distance. Until she pressed the palm of her hand into the center of the wheel and the car wailed long and loud, flushing the birds out of their branches. Eyes still trained forward, she murmured it. “The bitch was using me.” And. “She’s using you. You’re better than that, Tom. She made you this way. I—I can make you better.” It was a resolute statement. She pivoted toward him, suddenly. “Do you want to be with me?” Her voice regaining its docility, an imploring edge to it, like she was afraid of his answer.

And looking at her, fastening his eyes on hers, he nodded. “Yes.”

“Then we both dump her.”