“No, he won’t. My girlfriend used to date him. She got out, you can too. I promise he won’t hurt you anymore.” Yeah, that’s what Gia is. My girlfriend, my one and only. It sounds weird saying it out loud.

“Is her name Gia?”

I nod.

“He talks about her all the time, compares me to her. My hair is not even brown, it’s blond—it looks almost white. He made me dye it this color, so I can look like her. I hate the color brown.”

She studies my face, then tears well in her eyes and trickle down her pale cheeks.

“I worked at his restaurant as a waitress a few years ago, saving up money to go to Hollywood to become an actress, to get out of the dumpy apartment I was living in. Ryan convinced me to stay here with him because he loved me, but he was making me a carbon copy of Gia, making me cook and bake like her.” She wipes the tears from her eyes. “Calling her name while we have sex. He wanted me quiet like her, but I’m not. I’m a chatterbox. And I hate cooking. I hate wearing bright colors. My favorite color is tan. And, I’m not a homebody either. I like to party and barhop. I like to sew dresses. You see that, right? That I’m not her. That we’re different?”

I nod, and she smiles sadly.

“I don’t have any anger toward Gia, by the way. It’s just he puts her on a pedestal, that she’s so great and I can’t measure up to her.”

The taxi pulls up the driveway and honks.

She wraps her arms around my waist, and I pat her head like she was a cute puppy.

“Thank you so much! I feel so free.” She lets me go and pushes me out of the way.

“You’re not going to grab a few things?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t want anything that will remind me of him.”

She rushes to the cab like she’s running for dear life. She takes one last look at me, waving at me before getting in the car. I nod, then I move to the living room, sit into the pale blue recliner, and wait for this motherfucker to show up.

* * *

This place makes me fucking sick. It smells like fresh air, and it feels homey enough to make my skin crawl. If I didn’t know the history of what goes on in here, I wouldn’t know that abuse and nightmares filled this home.