He was being impossible. How was I supposed to have the upper hand now? Especially since I hadn't dumped half the champagne down the drain earlier. A lot of it had ended up in my mouth. I took the tiniest sip and then put the glass back up to his lips. He drank willingly.

"Look, I'm going to make this very clear," I sai

d. "I just need to confirm exactly what happened with Sophia Tremblay and for how long. And not just her." Now I was pretty sure I really was glaring. "I want to know about every indiscretion. The length of each. All of it. And I need you to give me the account number that you transferred all our money into. And then you're free."

"I don’t know any Sophia's. And I don't know anything about the money."

"Okay." I took a sip. Forced a sip on him. We went back and forth several times. I refilled the glass.

"Just tell me," I said. I was bad at questioning. Maybe if I reworded the questions? The hit to the head could have made him dumb. I forced more liquor down his throat to stall.

There was a scratching noise at the basement door. I'd somehow slipped away from Snuggle Muffins earlier and he was finally retaliating.

"You should probably let your dog down here."

"He's our dog now." I sighed and stood up. My head was fuzzy. This wasn't good. But if my head was fuzzy so was his. I was close to getting the answers I needed. So close. I wobbled up the stairs and opened the door. My diva of a dog waited for me to lift him up and carry him into the basement.

I placed him down and plopped into my chair. And then I just...waited. For a confession. For all the information to pour out of him willingly.

He licked his lips in that distracting way and stared back.

"Fine," I said. "I don’t need a confession." I knew he was a cheat. I didn't need to hear about it. And clearly an "I'm sorry" wasn't coming my way. Men. "Just tell me about the money."

"I'm telling you...I don't remember."

Asshole. "Give me my money back or I'll...make Snuggle Muffins attack."

He started laughing. Really hard.

Instead of getting mad, I started laughing too. "Snuggle Muffins, attack!" The words were barely audible through my laughter.

Snuggle Muffins sighed.

"That was the most unintimidating threat I've ever heard," he said. "Attack dogs can't be named Snuggle Muffins."

"You should have heard him growl at one of the neighbors today. He has some bite to him."

"Which neighbor?"

"Stupid Charlotte. You know...one of the blonde ones."

"Ah. Charlotte."

The laughter died in my throat. "You do remember."

He smiled. Cockily. "I don't remember, sweetheart. I'm just hoping something will ring a bell. And why are you so caught up on Stupid Charlotte having blonde hair? You're a blonde too. A very sexy blonde."

I pressed my lips together. I wasn't a blonde. I took a huge sip from the champagne flute and forced him to do the same. "Do you like blondes?"

"I like you."

"I kidnapped you. I tied you up. I made you pee in a bucket. And I bought cat litter so that the next time you have to go it'll be easier to clean up. You don't like me."

He licked his lips again. "I want to put a pin in that cat litter bit. We need to come back to that. But I do like you. You're spunky. And brave. And maybe a little bit..."

"Crazy?"

"Passionate," I was going to say. "You're exactly my type of girl. I can see why we got married."