“In your dreams, Ryan,” Kate replied haughtily. “I don’t take orders from anyone, and...”
“You’ll take them from me,” Ryan interrupted her in an implacable tone of voice. “Your life depends on that, Kate, and you have to get that through your thick skull. Do you hear me?”
“More drama?” she mocked him to mask her fear.
“Drama, you say,” Ryan shouted at Kate. “You, stupid, little girl! This is not drama. This is the reality. Do you understand, Kate? If I must hog-tie you, I’ll do it. But you’ll listen to me,” Ryan repeated, and his fist hit the tabletop with a loud bang.
Kate’s eyes grew wider at his menacing tone. Her hand shook, and she put the fork back on the plate with a resounding clank.
“I don’t understand why you’d want to scare me like this,” Kate said in a small voice, standin
