Veiled Calls at Twilight

24. Cezar

24

CEZAR

W hy was my heart thumping like a mini horse was inside of me, galloping in circles? Rolling my neck, I opened the car door for my Roma, smelling her sweet mix of relief and excitement as she thanked me and sat down. "Remember to buckle, zia." Her mouth pinched in this adorable way, like she could argue with me and I wouldn't just go into my trunk and tie her down with chains to make sure she was safe. When she saw my hand tighten on the door, she grabbed the belt and pulled it across her chest.

Those thumps happened again, and I palmed my chest, trying to rub away the pounding. Is something wrong with me? I knew my mind was broken, but did I break my heart too? I haven't been to the doctors since they tried to prescribe me pills to make the voices go away, telling me something about schizo-something or other, but I told those pill pushers to fuck off and then torched their office. I was just doing my civic duty. I was a man of the people, you know.

Trudging around the car to get in, I drove off to show my roma my special spot, the place that always seemed to calm me no matter what happened. It was my home.

Cal's snarky voice echoed in my head, Not anymore. Now you have that sweet-ass wild haired sorceress next to you. She's your home now.

I moved my head to the side, mumbling under my breath. "What did I tell you about looking at my woman? Do you want me to get a lobotomy?"

"What did you say?"

Whipping around to face my lovely Romani wife, I shook my head. "Nope. Nothing. Just talking about the birds and the bees." Her brows pinched, and I knew I said something wrong again, but I couldn't figure out what. Was talking about birds and bees not good? I thought that was a staple among sane people.

She eyed me for a second, and I smiled wider, trying to put her at ease before she shrugged and changed the subject. "Is this how you normally start your day? Your father gives you someone to torture, and you go do it?"

When she said it like that, it seemed dirty and wrong, but I took pride in my work and enjoyed it. "Sometimes. Sometimes, it's Nicu, or a tip from Ion. Sometimes, I get to place viper and mouse with the target." Those were some of the best times, hunting them and catching them. It got the blood pumping in the best of ways.

Zia looked less than impressed, and that made me feel like a rain cloud lived in my soul, watering it all down to nothing. The thought curdled in my gut, tuning all the bits inside bitter and sour. How do I turn this all around?

I waited for my peanut gallery's input, but all I heard was the wind between my ears. What the hell?! When the fuck have you all kept your thoughts to yourself? That's a dick move.

Cal's voice came rushing forward. And now you're going to torture someone in front of her? You're fucked.

Was that true? Was I now going to be less desirable to her?

We parked in front of an abandoned building. My dungeon was beneath it, hidden away from the world. It was my pride and joy, and now I’m self-conscious about it. Should I make this quick and rush her off somewhere else? Should I leave her in the car?

Something touched me, and I jolt, looking down to see her hand on mine. "Are we going in?"

Before I could think of something better to say, I blurted out, "You don't have to."

Her lips quivered before they tipped up, her eyes looking behind me as she threw her chin in that direction. "I think I do."

Turning around, I saw one of father's men in his car, waiting, watching. I'm sure giving my father regular updates to make sure what he wanted happened. How annoying.

"Him?" I threw my thumb over my shoulder, scoffing, "Oh, I can take care of him. I’ll just say that the voices told me to kill him.”

Cal and Nan both yelled in my head, We did not!

I turned my head to the side, mumbling, "But they don't know that."

"Who are you talking to now? Cal? He seems like a chatty one?" Her smile widened, eyes sparkling with interest, and I leaned towards her. Was she interested in the voices?

Oh shit, she's interested in me. Tell her that I'm the handsome one and that if I was alive, I would sweep her off her feet and leave you in the dust.

Clenching my teeth, I seethed, "Shut. The. Fuck. Up."

Zia stiffened, looking away as her cheeks flushed. "Oh. I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about them if you don't want to." Her hand slipped from me, and everything inside of me squeezed up like a prune.

“No! No.” Desperation clawed at my mind, tearing it to shreds as I fumbled around with my words. “I wasn't talking to you; I was talking to Cal. He's an asshole, so please, please don't leave me for him.” The hysterical plea was quite pathetic, but the disappointed look on her face physically hurt me, making me want to do anything to make it go away.

Now you sound like a simp, you little bitch.

Biting the inside of my mouth to make sure I didn't say anything back to Cal, I stared at my roma, hoping that I didn't ruin our alone time.

Her eyes tipped up to find mine, stunning me to stillness. I'd seen men break, seen the light leave their eyes, seen their bodies go slack. But her? She looked at me like I was someone worth seeing, and I wanted that more than anything in this world.

She cupped my face, and I snuggled into her palm, soothed by just the touch of her skin on mine. "Now, why would you think something like that? Cal is in here," she tapped my temple, "I could never leave you for him." She's right. She was always right. So smart. Just the smartest person on this planet. "Plus," she leaned in, smiling at me like we were sharing a secret. "He seems like he's full of himself." Her nose crinkled as she tried to make a disgusted face, but all I saw was this adorable cuteness that made my soul leave my body as I laughed at Cal’s expense.

She leaned back in her seat, taking her warmth with her too quickly and I stuck my bottom lip out, hoping the pitiful look I gave would get me what I wanted. Instead, she nodded to the man behind me again; “Let's just do this so we don't cause more trouble. Okay?”

Nodding, I got out of the car and opened her door, helping her out as I led her into my dungeon of wonders, glaring at the man who ruined our time together. He was on borrowed time anyways.

Since I had just been here earlier this morning, cleaning out the place full of bodies, I knew my father already had the man he wanted me to question strung up in my special cell in the back. Bringing her through the front and down the stairs, I thought to myself that it was really quite dark in here. What if she tripped?

"Here, take my hand. I'll help you." Her fingers fumbled around for mine, but as soon as our hands touched, it was like electricity hit my bloodstream and went right to my heart. Will it always be this way? Will she always affect me like this? I hoped so. I liked the tingles.

"Well," she covered her mouth and nose with her other hand, "you got the despondent, hopeless abyss vibe going for you down here. A plus for ambiance."

I wanted to be happy about my A plus, but her expression made me sniff at the air, wondering if I should get some air fresheners to clear out that… death smell. Maybe that new car scent could work? Oh, what about something romantic, like a tropical sunset?

We got to the last solid iron door, unlatched it and held it open for her to go in first. I might be a lot of things, but I knew how to be a gentleman. I watched TV.

She walked in and stopped, looking at the man hanging by shackles from the ceiling. He was whimpering, making the normal noises, but her eyes stayed on him, watching him, and something about that… irked me. Something dark and ugly inside of me screamed, Don't look at him, look at me!

Nan's soothing voice came forward. Don't worry. She's just finally taking in what it is you do.

Yeah, sure, but did she have to look at him for so long? The feeling of ants crawling around in my heart, biting every corner they could find until it was an itchy mess, was really getting under my skin.

Grabbing the chair from my workbench, I tugged on her hand, bringing her into the back corner to sit down. "You can sit here while I work. This way, you don't get anything messy on your pretty dress." Fingering the strap on her shoulders, remembering how my eyes wanted to pop out of my head when she came out of the bathroom this morning wearing it. I thought about killing everyone in the house so my brothers and I could be the only ones to see her be this gorgeous. She glowed with a radiance that none of us could touch.

I turned, clapping more to myself than anyone. "Now. Let's get this done quickly so I can spend the day with you doing fun things. Do you like festivals?"

Her eyes went to the door and then back to the man hanging. Why was she always looking at him? It felt like a noose was around my throat, tightening slowly as it made my muscles strain. Running my tongue along my teeth, I felt this rising heat taking over my body and the urge to just kill that bastard ran deep. It was the only thing I could focus on. I wonder how long it would take him to die?

"Don't you think that man will follow us? How could we have any fun?"

Her voice pulled me from my mind and I laughed, looking down to see I was already at my tool table. Picking up a large chef's knife first, then a long sharpening rod. "The guy outside?" She nodded, and I laughed again, running the knife along the sharpening rod. "Ya, no, I can get rid of him. As long as you're here for this and my father thinks you're significantly scared enough, he won't spend the resources to come after me. Unlike Nicu and Ion, as long as I do what he says, he lets his killer dog run free."

Her brows pinched and her lips turned down. Concern filled her eyes as she looked at me. I didn't like that. I wanted her to always smile while she was with me. I had to fix that. Throwing down the knife and rod with a loud clank, I took a few steps closer to her, cupping her face like she did to me earlier. "I don't mind that he doesn't care about me. I’ve known that for a very long time." Running my thumb along her cheek, I realized how true those words were. "He does a lot more mind fucking with Nicu and Ion ever since he broke mine. Now, he doesn't find me fun to play with, but jokes on him. I'm a ball of fun to play with, right?"

Zia's lips turned up, nodding even as the sadness spilled out of her eyes. "You're lots of fun," then she turned her head and kissed the palm of my hand.

That feeling of spiders crawling, bursted from my heart and running up and down my body raced, giving me a second of that feeling alive spark that she caused in me. It was pure and addicting…and I wanted more. The guy strung up whimpered in the background, ruining the whole moment and my lip curled up as I kept my growl in. I needed to get this done asap.

Letting her go, I grabbed the bucket of water off to the side, stomped up to the man hanging, and dumped it on him. He gasped out, his eyes going so wide the whites of his eyes were on full display as he moved his head back and forth, looking around and shaking.

"Wakey, wakey, hands off steaky."

His poop-brown eyes found mine, and he began crying out in Armenian, asking me not to do this. I responded to him that this was his fault and that if he had just followed the proper procedure in dealing drugs, he wouldn't be in this predicament. He wouldn't have made an enemy of the 'Butcher.'

I always thought my father's nickname was ridiculous. What kind of butchering did he ever do? I saw the crime photos; it was a hacking job at best. No precision, no clean lines or cuts at the tendons. It was a disgrace to those who actually had the profession.

This man was full of excuses, none that I hadn't heard before, crying about his family, that he had several mouths to feed. I was glad Zia didn't know Armenian since I didn't want her to be bored with this part of the process. Getting out all of their excuses, all their words, all their thoughts, so when the pain came, they knew they only had enough words and thoughts to answer my questions. That was it.

Running my hands over the tools at my disposal, going through my head to figure out which would be the fastest. I could start cutting him, but then I don't know if he's going to be one of those who’ll take a thousand cuts or twenty before they let the fear take over. Waterboarding was a possibility, but so was the old faithful option of cutting off his dick or balls. If he was too much of a bleeder, he might die before I could get the information. I could collar him and have a walling party, but again, I wanted to get this done as soon as possible.

Decisions, Decisions. This was so much easier when I had all the time in the world and didn't give a shit about anything but their next scream.

The life of a boyfriend, bro .

Cal's little interruption pissed me so much that I shook as I yelled, "Husband! Fucking Husband!" Picking up the knife, I stabbed the man in the vastus lateralis. He screamed at me, yelling that I never asked him a question before I stabbed him in the leg. Oh… I guess I didn't.

I gave him my most heartfelt apology, all in Armenian, before I asked him who his supplier was. His face got white, and his loose lips tightened. And that, my friends, is why I stab first.

Moving to the screwdriver, I thrust it into his upper arm before he had a moment to think, making sure I went in sideways to hit a couple of nerves and then yanked it back out. Hot crimson liquid sprayed along the walls, floor, and my arm. His cries echoed, bouncing around the room, singing to me like it was my own private concert. The tears and sweat combo carved down his distraught face, and I laughed, thanking him for such a good show.

His eyes started to droop as he mumbled out some nonsense, and I smacked him a few times, not wanting him to ruin this moment for us. We were just starting to get along.

A gasp from the corner reminded me of who was waiting and watching, and this revived my need to shine and show my lovely Romani bride my worth.

I asked him again who his supplier was, and he babbled on, trying to tell me their facial features, but I knew this game and didn't have time for it. Grabbing him by the face, squeezing so hard that he had to open his mouth, I informed him on all the functions that a tongue served and how useful it was. This had him thrashing about, thinking that he could overpower me if he just had enough strength, but that wasn't possible when he had been hanging here for over twelve hours. Silly wombat.

Flipping open my switchblade, I ran it along his cheek, letting him feel the cool, sharp metal before shoving it into his mouth. He stilled, opening his mouth wider so I didn't cut up all of his mouth, but he should know that only got me more excited. Running the blade along the center of his tongue, I slashed down, telling him not to move unless he wanted to become a snake with two tongues.

Blood pooled quickly, and I told him that it was one of the places of the body that bled a lot. His fearful eyes caught mine, and I smiled, lifting up his chin so that blood clogged his throat, causing him to choke. I didn't let go until his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his body was seconds away from giving up. I couldn't have him passing out now, could I?

He spat out the blood like I knew he would, his body going into survival mode as he mumbled out a name. I asked him a few times to repeat himself, asking him if he was sure, and he nodded, telling me his name again and again until I believed him and he slumped forward in the chains. Crimson stained the front of his face like he was a vampire, and I chuckled at the thought. A vampire bleeding to death? Now that's poetic.

"Is he dead?"

My roma's voice came right beside me, and I almost shrieked in fright. I was not about to admit that, so I shook my head, making my voice deeper. "No. He's just passed out from blood loss, but if I keep him hanging for another…. Ummmm hour, he'll die."

Glancing at her from my peripherals, I watched her lean forward, looking at everything like she was examining a diagram. She walked around the whole body, making sure not to step in too much blood, but at this point, it was impossible.

She didn't say anything for the longest time, and my insides were cracking open. I needed to know what she thought. Did she find me disgusting? Repulsive? I told myself that it didn't matter, but now that we were here, it mattered so much. Like all the much.

"Do you always hang them up?"

Feeling the jitters inside of me popping around, too much to keep contained anymore, I grabbed her hand and moved to the room right next door. "No. Sometimes, I have a chair like this." I waved to the piece in the center of the room. "I got it from a dentist's office."

She looked at this room, which was considerably more clean since it didn't have all the blood and people hanging around. She moved to the side of the room, her hand hovering over some of the tools to the side, and I realized I was in one of my favorite rooms. It was my shock room.

That's cuz you get your jollies off in here, you perv.

“Cal, you just had to get under my skin, didn't you?” I dragged a hand through my hair and I snapped, “You promised you'd never bring that up!”

Zia came rushing to my side, holding my wrists so tight I didn't want to move them. Did she think I was going to hit myself again? I wasn't planning to, but it was nice to have her so concerned, so I made a small show of tugging against her a little bit and her grip tightened. I also sighed out in relief. "Cezar, hey, everything is fine. I didn't even hear what Cal said, so it's okay."

My heart did a full three sixty flops, and the weird, warm feeling inside of me just kept growing the more I looked at her; the more she talked, the more we spent time together. There was nothing I wouldn't do for her… did that mean…?

Yes, boy, you love this woman.

Love. Holy shit, Nan was right. That's what this sizzling feeling was. The warmth of the sun, ready to burn my soul to a crisp, was love. My heart was like a love laser, ready to blaze its way through anything just to have her, stay with her.

So, of course, with my love lasers on full display I blurted out, "He's just a dick. He wanted to remind me that I use this room to get off."

Her eyes went wide, opening and closing her mouth like she just couldn't think of what to say, and I blacked out for a second, trying to remember what I’d just said that made her look at me like that. It couldn't have been that bad, right?

"I-I," she started, looking around the room and then back to me with curiosity lining her eyes. "Is that because you enjoy doing your… work so much that you get excited?" Her eyes flicked to my dick and heat crept up my neck.

The seconds that I blacked out all came back to me, and I realized my mistake. Oh shit. She thought I got off on the blood and gore? No. That was just my job, my lot in life, and I was good at it. Took pride in it. Took it seriously, so I knew how to do my job to the best of my ability, but blood didn't excite me in the least. It took me years to get blood stains sheets out of my head just to do my job right.

Shaking my head, I went to the table and grabbed the wand, turning it on. The snap, crackle of electricity buzzed, lighting up her face so beautifully I wanted to swoon. "No. I use various electro stimuli to get off." I set it down and ran my hands along the metal rings, the plug, and then the urethral sound tool, but that was for advanced folks like me. There were so many things already on the market, but they didn't give me the kind of pain I needed, so I used those for inspiration for my own prototypes.

She came up next to me, looking down and then back at the chair. "Does it hurt?"

I wasn't about to tell her that my special ones hurt, and that was the purpose, but these didn't do much. "No. Not these ones."

She picked up the wand, turning it on at the lowest setting, and touched her arm. Her eyes lit up, fluttering for just a second before the switch went off. "Oh."

I don't know if it was having her here, playing with these toys, or realizing that I was in love with this woman, but my mind began turning with all various ways that we could make use of this room.

Coming up behind her, circling my arms around her waist, getting a whiff of that delicious scent of hers. I bit down on my tongue at how yummy she smelled, resisting the urge to lick the side of her neck, I whispered along her ear. "Want a try one?"

Her head turned to me, eyes glowed with an unbridled will to try something new, so I added, "I'll make sure it's gentle, nothing that would hurt or shock you too much. Baby steps."

Taking her time, she gazed at the toys and then back to her hands, mumbling to herself, "You only live once…"

Turning her around and cupping her face, I kissed those soft, plush lips, tasting that sweet, heavenly taste of hers as I clenched back a moan. "You’ll live forever. I'll make sure of it."

Her bright, carefree laugh bounced against the gray stone walls, bringing life to this dreary place. Her mouth found mine, kissing me back with more force than I was used to, I clutched at her harder, never wanting her to leave this moment.

She broke away too soon, whispering along my lips, "Show me. Show me what you want to do to me."

As an electric dam broke inside of me, I hauled her up into my arms, diving for her neck as I kissed a hot trail down to her chest. Flicking my eyes at the tool table, I didn't know what I wanted to try out first. I was like a new puppy with a master, wanting to do it all with her and, at the same time wanting to just dance in a circle around her.

Laying her down on the chair, I made sure to be careful with her shoulder. "I'm going to make you come without even putting my dick in you."

She made a point of pulling the front of my shirt and bringing me down for a powerful, all-encompassing kiss before letting me go. "I’m also not opposed to you putting your dick inside me."

Sinking back onto her sweet lips, I pushed her dress up all the way up to her collarbone, making sure to touch everything I could while she was distracted. Taking a handful of her breasts, I hated the feel of her bra between us, this stupid piece of fabric that got in the way.

Grabbing my knife, I slid it between her skin and the fabric, her eyes going wide as she realized what I was doing. She tried to push away from me in time, but it only took a flick of my wrist and the fabric split in two, her heavy breasts falling in front as the scraps went down each side.

"Cezar! I don't have a lot of bras!"

"Don't worry, my roma," kissing along her cheek and nibbling at her ear, "You won't miss it soon."

Her huffs of doubt made me get more excited and I moved around the chair and over to the tools. What to do, what to do?

Start with the anal plug!

Gipping the wand in my hand, I told myself that I wasn't going to let Cal ruin this, and I held my tongue, keeping my comment back to him to myself. Looking around, I just couldn't pick what I wanted until my eyes caught on a thin gold chain with two clasps on the end. If memory serves, she liked nipple play, so this would just be an upgrade. Perfect!

Snagging the chain, I took a few steps back to her side before kissing my way up from her belly button to her breast. Her back bowed at my touch, her breathing growing heavy, and my own cock already rising to the attention. I'd noticed that anytime she reacted to pleasure, that made me get hard, which made me want to try harder for her.

Wrapping my lips around her breast, I nibbled and sucked, watched as she closed her eyes and panted. Keeping her preoccupied, I grabbed the other nipple with my thumb and finger, tugging on it as I lapped at the other, and her whole lower half twitched.

Flicking my tongue along that pebbled nub, she rubbed her thighs together. "Oh, fuck. Cezar. That feels so good." Now my cock was fully hard, but I still had so much to do.

Making sure that the nub was out enough, I lifted the clamp to her nipple and slid down the tightener to make sure it was on securely.

She lifted her head, "What the-"

Putting my finger to her lips, I cooed out, "Trust me," and continued to the next nipple, giving it the same love and attention that the other got so her body would be ready.

Once she was all done, my eyes feasted on her. All of that tan skin, white panties, and dress were pulled up high. Her nipples were decorated with a thin gold chain that connected them, and she looked like a goddess from above. I wanted to etch this memory into my skull, keep it for a rainy day, and bask in her beauty.

Unable to keep myself from touching her, I worked down her panties, knowing that cutting off her bra was a big no-no, and I better not do that to the rest of her stuff. Grabbing the remote off the table, I kissed up her trembling thighs.

"You know, I usually make my own inventions. Most of them are for torture, but these," I ran my finger along the chain that connected both nipples. "These I made on a whim, never using them until today, until I had someone special."

She sighed, letting her legs drop open for me. Running my nose up her inner thigh, I took a deep breath, sucking down her sweet aroma of arousal.

Taking two fingers, I ran them up and down her pussy, playing with her until I got to her clit. Rubbing in circles, I waited until her head banged against the headrest and I sunk two fingers inside of her wet pussy. Her puffs of breath grew harder and harder the deeper I went. Curling my fingers, I dragged them along her walls, causing her to thrust her hips at me as she panted.

Seeing her sticky arousal on my fingers, I pressed the button on the remote. The two small electric conduits on the clams buzzed, and she lifted her back, crying out to the sky. "Ahhhhhh. Fffuuuccckk. Ooooh, my goooood."

I turned it off, and she slumped in the seat. I pumped my two fingers in her, riding that edge as I bent over and licked at her clit. She gasped at the feeling of my tongue, and I lapped at her like she was the water in a desert oasis.

Shoving in a third finger, she cried out, and I turned back on the clamps. Her hands gripped the chair, fingers turning white, but the hot and heady sounds she was making were just too much for my little heart to take, and I added my tongue to my fingers.

Tapping the remote, making short quick buzzes, she cried, "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." She rode my fingers and tongue, thrusting against my face like it was the only thing that mattered, the only thing that could make her come.

Then I turned the remote to the next level up, and she moaned out as if it was a beautiful, painful kind of torture, one that was going to be her undoing. "Cezar. Oh god. Please. Fuck me. I need your dick inside of me. Fuck me."

Turning the button off, I removed my hand, lifting my face from her pussy. She looked down at me with half-lidded eyes, and I licked at my fingers, keeping my eyes on her as I ran my tongue up and down to get all of her taste in my mouth.

Her exhilarated moans and lustful looks had me on another level, and I jumped up on the chair, unbuttoned my pants so fast my cock sprung out like he was ready for action. Her eyes went down my chest, licking her lips as she saw my cock and lifted her hips like a call to action.

My hands carved their way around her thighs, digging in a bruising force as I lifted them up and apart, watching her achy center weep for me.

Placing the head of my cock at her entrance, I bent over, grabbing the chain with my teeth. Her eyes shined with excitement, and I thrust inside of her with all that I had, yanking up on the chain with my teeth.

Her eyes went cross-eyed, her cries taking on the edge of both pleasure and pain, biting her own lip as her hips moved against mine, hungry for more.

This woman was mine. All fucking mine. Her soul, her mind, her body. All of it was mine.

My thrusts grew harder, deeper. Mine. All fucking mine. The metallic taste of the chain in my mouth reminded me to keep tugging as I thrust. Mine. My wife. My soulmate.

Just as her whole body clenched up, squeezing the life out of my cock, I pressed the remote button to turn it on, and her whole body spasmed against mine as she screamed out my name. All of it was too much: the feelings, the pleasure, the warmth. Everything felt so fucking good that my balls tightened up, and I pumped my cum into her as deep as I could, giving her my soul in the process.

I marked her. She was mine. Inside and out.

Letting go of the chain, I slumped against her chest, keeping my dick inside its warm, wet home. Her hand wove through my hair, running through it with a lazy affection, the kind that made me want to slaughter thousands, make all sorts of promises, give her anything she asked for just to have her keep going. The words came out before I’d put any thought into them. "I love you, Kazia."

Her fingers stilled, her heart beating a million miles a minute. I waited, even as a sting, like a viper venom, spread at the core of my heart until she took a big inhale, put her hands on my head and lifted it. Her honeycomb eyes shined bright as she looked at me, and a small, sad smile crossed her lips. Worry lines pinched at the corners of her eyes, and she said, "I love you too, Cezar."

I wasn’t about to dwell on all of that when that sting disappeared, instead being replaced by helium balloons, and I felt like I was going to float to the surface. She loved me. She fucking loved me. Fuck the rest of everything.

Burying my face back into her chest, I called out, "Now we just need my brothers on board, and we're set."

"We still have your father to deal with." Concern peppered her voice, but like I said, the rest of the world could burn for all I cared.

"I'll kill him. I'll just get rid of him, and that’s that." Problem solved, right?

She lifted up, wincing at her shoulder, before giving me a light, sweet kiss that promised more tomorrow. "We need to talk to your brothers and see what to do."

I nodded; she was right. She was always right. "Yes. Let's talk to husbands two and three like a family."

Her lips quivered, lifting her brow like she was going to argue with me again, but she didn't. This time, she just nodded. If that isn't love, I don't know what is.