Torture plans

 As soon as they had entered the office, and Adam had taken care to lock the door, he went over to Anna and hugged her, feeling the pleasure of once again smelling that scent that dominated him as if it were a spell.

 Anna let him have that moment, and after a few minutes, when he wouldn't let go, she had to force herself to move away from him.

 "I knew you still loved me." He said it with such tenderness that it softened Anna's heart. She had never heard such a tone in Adam's voice and without resisting, she raised her hand and brushed it across his unshaven cheek.

 "I'll always love you, Adam. As well as being the father of my child, you were also my first love. But you need to let go of me and look for a woman who can give you a home and a family. That woman, unfortunately, is not me. I only passed through your life to show you that you do want that. And that mission is accomplished. That was my purpose with you."

 Adam took the hand that was caressing his face and kissed the palm of it, before Anna could pull her hand away.

 "Do you want to live with me, just for sex?"

 "Not even for that, Adam. What makes you think I want to be with you?"

 "You wanted to see me alone now. I thought you were going to demand that I send Bonnie away so that you would take me back."

 "No, Adam. For now... I feel like she's going to be in your life forever. But you shouldn't start a family with her. Look for a good young woman. Bonnie is evil and has nothing to add to your life. She will only destroy you if you let her get too intimate with you. Sleep with her whenever you need to, but don't welcome her into your home as if she were your friend, or as trustworthy as your men, because she's not.

 "So you really want me to send her away."

 "For you, Adam. For your sake. But whether you let her stay or send her away won't change my decision."

 "What decision, Anna?"

 "I'm not going to start a family with you."

 Adam stared at her like that, as he cocked his head to one side, and then went to pour himself a glass of wine.

 "You'll change your mind. At least, you'll give me the chance to change your mind." He said, handing her a glass of wine too.

 "I'll give you time to try and change my mind, but until then, we won't sleep together or repeat what happened last night."

 "Really? You liked it so much... Are you sure you're going to give up the intensity of pleasure you felt tonight?"

 "Adam... You're wonderful, and tonight was wonderful too..."

 "But..."

 "But I'm not a woman who only lives for pleasure in bed. I like sex, yes. But I like it much more when there's a deep emotional involvement and commitment on both sides."

 "I can do that." He said and stared into her eyes. Then he knew. "But you can't..."

 "At least, not yet."

 "So that's why you wanted to talk to me alone?"

 "No." Anna said, sitting down and gesturing to him that he should do the same. And he did. "I need a place where there's a basement and it's far enough away that no one will hear the screams that will probably come from there."

 "Why do you want a basement?"

 "It's going to be Sarah's final home."

 Adam stared at her so penetratingly that Anna looked away. She knew what he must have been thinking. She'd called him a monster many times, but she was no better than him.

 "I have a place like this, nearby... It's like a farm, and I can put men on guard around the house, to make sure the screams don't attract anyone."

 "That's good... I also need it to have a fireplace."

 "I'll have one built, Anna. That house was made for farm workers to spend time in during the harvest and... they never stayed long enough to need a fireplace."

 "There's no time. I need it for today."

 "Are you going to kill her today?" Adam asked, thinking of Ryan.

 "No, Adam. But her punishment starts today, yes."

 "Then you'll have to do it without the fireplace."

 Anna looked at him thoughtfully.

 "There must be something to replace the fireplace..."

 "What do you need a fireplace for?"

 "To heat a piece of ironwork, which, by the way, you need to provide, too."

 Adam stared at her for a while, showing no expression of liking or dislike. It seemed that he was just concluding something that, deep down, he had known since he met her.

 "Do you know that this is a path of no return?"

 "I won't do it again with anyone, Adam. It'll only be this once."

 Adam stood up, picked up the bottle of wine and brought it over to them, and they drank as they talked.

 "You think so, now. But it becomes an addiction."

 "An addiction I don't intend to feed."

 "You know what. There's an iron barbecue grill that you can heat up."

 "Good idea. I'll also need..."

 "Hang on. I want to hear the list of things you'll need, but only after you've agreed to perform the little ritual to free Ryan. Without that, it'll be useless for you to tell me about the materials you intend to use, because you won't do anything against Sarah if you don't agree to do what I want."

 Anna glared at him.

 "Do I need to look at him?"

 "He'll be in front of you, and he's big, it'll be hard to ignore, but you don't have to look at him if you don't want to. You can even wear a blindfold if you wish."

 "I'll do what you want."

 "Then get on with your list."

 Anna started talking and Adam was stunned by everything she said she would need. He didn't show it, but knowing that she was capable of doing all that, with a human being, because he knew exactly what she wanted, with every object she put on the list, took some of the charm out of him. She was such a pure woman at heart... What could have happened to make her capable of such atrocities, which he himself had already done, and would do again if need be? The only difference was that she intended to do it to only one person, and he used a different type of torture for each of his victims. It was too cruel to use all that arsenal on just one person. Adam knew she wanted to avenge her mother and Ian's attempted murder, but he thought it would just be torture and then a shot in the head. However, he couldn't feel sorry for Sarah either, because it was her son too, the child she tried to kill. He feared what Anna would become after that. She wouldn't come back from that place, even if she thought otherwise. She was still naive. And even knowing that, he would put all those objects in Anna's hands. And he would watch the torture from there, because there were several cameras in the basement that he used for some of his victims.

 Once everything had been arranged. Anna made a point of writing down every instrument she asked for and the men she would need, and handed them over for Adam to provide, then left, as she wanted to see how Ian was doing with target practice.