"This plan was never going to work," I tell Judge. "It was foolish."

The housekeeper appears, asking if I'd like a drink, which I decline. Judge tells her to set dinner for an hour later, and she leaves again. Then he leans back, cocks his head to the side, and studies me.

"You're falling for her."

"Don't be ridiculous." I wave his suggestion away. "This isn't a joke."

"I'm not joking."

When I look at him, I can see that he's not. His face is as serious as ever, and it concerns me.

"You really think me that weak?"

"It's only a weakness if you believe it is." He arches a brow at me. "I think the only real conflict you're having is that you never intended to. But you are. And now you have to face the facts."

"You know I'm not capable of those emotions." I laugh grimly. "I can't believe you'd even suggest it."

"Alright." Leaning back, he crosses one leg over the other and takes a sip from the glass of whiskey in his hand. "Then let’s discuss your options.”

I don't think I'm going to like wherever he's going with this, but for reasons I can't quite understand, I allow him to go on.

"How do you plan to kill her?" he asks. "When all is said and done."

I shift in my seat, my eyes flicking to the clock on the wall. Anything to keep myself from thinking about what he's asking.

"I haven't decided yet."

"You want her father to suffer for his crimes," he points out. "So perhaps, slow torture. Strangulation. Mutilation. You could send her back to her family piece by piece."

Fucking Christ.

My jaw clamps shut as my eyes drift to the empty table beside me, wishing I had taken the housekeeper up on her offer of a drink.

"But first, you need to determine how many times you will breed her," he remarks. "Ideally, you should have at least two sons. There might be girls in between, so that could take time. Although she only needs to be healthy during the pregnancies, I suppose. There's still a possibility for torture in the downtime."

The music from the other part of the house seems to grow more frantic. Haunting. Punctuating the violent images of Judge's words with a soundtrack to match his casual horrific suggestions that I myself had indulged in not that long ago.

"Of course, you'll need to ensure your children hate her too,” he adds. “There would be no sense in fostering an attachment for a mother who won't be around to see them grow. That will surely bring her the suffering she deserves. Effective, but if you really want to break her, death might not be the only option."

My fists curl at my sides, my pulse throbbing in my neck.

"What do you mean?"