“Was it really painful?” Val demanded.
“Beyond anything I’d ever imagined,” Daniel admitted.
Val seemed fascinated. “Did you scream? Did you beg? Did you writhe?”
Daniel couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. “All of the above, I believe. Oh, and I cried like a baby as well.” Still smiling, he seemed suddenly comfortable; he turned back to the fridge and started rummaging.
Val sighed. “I really wish I could have seen that.”
“You’re into torture?” Alex asked, hiding her concern. Of course Kevin would move them in with a true sadist.
“Not torture per se, but it’s so intoxicating, isn’t it? That kind of power?”
“I guess I’ve never looked at it quite that way…”
Val cocked her head, looking at Alex with undisguised interest. “Isn’t everything about power?”
Alex thought about it for a moment. “Not in my experience. Back when that was my job, honestly—it sounds naive now, even to me—I was really just trying to save people. There was always a lot hanging in the balance. It was stressful.”
Val considered that, pursing her lips. “That does sound naive.”
Alex shrugged.
“It never gave you a rush? Being in control?” Val’s wide lapis eyes bored into her.
Alex wondered if people felt this way in a psychiatrist’s office—this compulsion to speak. Or maybe it was more like being shackled to Alex’s own table. “I mean… maybe. I’m not a very dangerous person on the surface. I guess there were times that I appreciated the… respect.”
Val nodded. “Of course you did. Tell me, have you ever tortured a woman?”
“Twice… well, once and a half.”
“Explain.”
Daniel’s head was leaning back as he adjusted the flame under the stovetop grill; he was paying close attention. Alex hated talking about this in front of him.
“I didn’t actually have to do anything to the first girl. She was confessing before she was even strapped to the table. She didn’t belong in my lab anyway—any normal interrogation would have gotten the same results. Poor kid.”
“What was she confessing to?”
“A terrorist cell was trying to coerce some suicide bombers in New York. They’d kidnap someone’s family back in Iran—in this case, her parents—and kill the hostages if the subject wouldn’t do as directed. The NSA had it under control before any of the bombs were detonated, but they lost several of the hostages.” She sighed. “It’s always messy with terrorists.”
“What about the second?”
“That was an entirely different situation. Arms dealer.”
“Was she tough to break?”
“One of the toughest in my career.”
Val smiled as if the answer greatly pleased her. “I’ve always thought that women can handle a lot more pain than the so-called stronger sex. Men are all just oversize children, really.” Then she sighed. “I’ve made men beg, and I’ve made them writhe, and maybe there have been some tears here and there, but no one’s ever cried like a baby.” Her full lower lip pushed out into a pout.
“I’m positive they would if you asked them to,” Alex encouraged.
Val smiled her glittery smile. “You’re probably right.”
Daniel was chopping something now. Alex decided she should slow down on the grapes. Dinner was sure to be worth the wait. Val rolled to the side again to watch him, and Alex felt a sudden urge to distract her.
“This is a beautiful place.”
“Yes, it’s nice, isn’t it? A friend gave it to me.”
“Oh, does he stay here often?” How many people were going to know about them? She’d already been stupidly and bizarrely honest with this strange woman. It would surely come back to bite her.
“No, no, Zhang and I broke up ages ago. He was too stuffy.”
“And he let you keep the place?”
Val stared at Alex, disbelieving. “Let me? What kind of a gift is it if the deed’s not in your name?”
“That’s a good point,” Alex agreed quickly.
“What was that you were saying earlier, about putting Kevin down?”
“Oh, can I tell the story, please?” Daniel butted in. “It’s my favorite.”
Daniel stretched the story out, milking it for Val’s laughs and coos. He made Alex sound more in control than she had been and fictionalized the parts he wasn’t awake for. It was a better story his way, she had to admit. Val’s expression as she assessed Alex now was one hundred eighty degrees from what it had been at their first meeting.
Then the food was ready, and Alex stopped caring about much else. It had been a while since she’d had red meat, and her inner carnivore took over. When she came out of the frenzy, she saw that Val was watching her again, engrossed.
Alex glanced down—Daniel had given Val a plate, too, but she’d eaten only a few slivers off the side of her steak.
“Do you always eat so much?” Val asked.
“When it’s available, I guess. When Daniel is cooking, definitely.”
Val’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll bet you never gain an ounce, do you?”