"She'll never be a good wife!" he said. "She'll be a horrible one. She messed up our vows. I never should have trusted her!

"Are you saying it was your fault?" Nicky asked.

"It wasn't," he said. "But I knew… I should have known. She doesn't care about the vows; she cares about the wedding night. She'll try to convince you that she'll keep her promise. But she'll soon realize what she's done. She'll realize she messed it all up. And then she'll try to run away. And then I'll snap her neck. You'll never see her again. I hate her, but thats only because I love her.

"That's not how love works," Nicky said. "Love makes you forgive."

"Love is everything, he said. Love is what Im owed. Its what was taken from me.

She knew he was insane. But she was getting glimpses into his psyche.

"If you're going to be with Meghan, you'll have to be good," she said. "You'll have to be a real husband. You'll have to love and trust her. Isn't that right?"

"She's unworthy of me."

This was going nowhere fast, and Nicky needed a plan. She wondered what had happened in his life to make him end up this way. Why was he so obsessed with love, but not just love--marriage?

Nicky wondered about his own parents. Maybe his father wasn't a good husband. Or maybe his mother had left him.

"What about your parents, Roy?" Nicky asked. "Did they get divorced? Did your mom leave your father? Did your dad love your mom?"

"No," he said. "My mom was great. My mom was the best wife."

"What about your dad? Did he love your mom?"

"No," he said. "I told you. My mom was a good wife. He couldn't keep up with her."

"What happened to them?" Every moment she kept him talking was bought time.

She needed to use that time to get Meghan away.

"They're in a better place," he said. "They're watching over me. They'll be with me as long as I need."

"But you're still hurting," she said. "You're not getting what you want. Losing her will do that. You're not getting the love; you're not getting the family. You're still hurting. Admit it."

"I don't care about my failures," he said. "I don't care about people like you."

"You don't see," she said. "You're hurting. Let me help you. Let the girl go."

"Never!" He gripped her tighter. Shit. Nicky was out of time.

Nicky took in the room, looking for something to spark her imagination, something she could use to get him to let her go.

She looked up. At the moonlight through the ceiling.

Then, it hit her.

Nicky raised her gun in the air. The man frowned. Meghan's eyes bulged as she whimpered.

Nicky fired two shots into the cracked ceiling right above Roy's head.