I Won't Be Threatened

"You're joking?" Adrian asked after several seconds.

"Do I look as if I'm joking?" Nicole began taking off her wrap.

He made a vague gesture. "You don't have any concerns? I mean, I'm a man. A young man..."

"Which is why you'll be sleeping on the sofa." She looked back at him with a faint smile that plainly told him not to get any ideas.

His expression barely changed. He rubbed his head, looking increasingly irritated, then stood. "I'd rather stay a couple of hours and leave. It makes no difference to the reporters."

Nicole's face hardened. "I said you're staying here tonight."

"There's no need. I'd be happier sleeping in my own bed." His answer was blunt.

She pressed her lips together. After a long moment, she relented a little. "All right. You can use the guest room. Just don't turn on the light."

"No. I'd still rather leave." He shook his head, refusing the concession.

"I've already compromised. What else do you want?" Anger sharpened her voice again.

"And I already told you it won't affect the plan. If one visit doesn't settle things down, we can do it a few more times."

"Are you even listening to me, Adrian?" She put her hands on her hips.

"I'm listening. Of course I'm listening." He looked directly at her. "I'm trying to remind you that not everybody's life revolves around you."

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "So you're going back on our agreement?" The implication was that she had the authority to decide.

Adrian narrowed his eyes, then gave a short, mocking laugh. "Are you listening to me, Ms. Nicole Kidman? Haven't I just told you I'll stay for two hours before I leave? What else do you want? What would it take to satisfy you?"

"It's very simple. Stay here tonight." She might not have heard anything else he had said.

He laughed again, this time from sheer anger. Months of accumulated resentment had finally become too much. During Cold Mountain, he had thought her a little self-centered but still likable, interesting, and attractive. Why did she seem like a different person now?

She had invited him to dinner and arranged for reporters to wait outside without telling him. He could let that go. He had overstepped with her on Cold Mountain, and the publicity was supposed to make up for it. What he couldn't accept was her failure to explain the arrangement to Naomi when she knew he couldn't easily do it himself. Nicole said she'd forgotten. He wasn't convinced, not after all those hints that he should leave Naomi.

After that, the demands had kept growing. She expected him to do this, then that, without considering his plans. Letting the Jessica story happen had partly been a way of asserting himself. Now Nicole was ordering him to stay the night as if there were no room for discussion. 'What does she think I am?'

Charlize could be forceful too, but she was more flexible. The comparison that came to him was an odd one: a metal that could change shape under pressure, then return to its original form. Nicole was rigid. She did not compromise, or did not think she had any reason to.

Charlize tended to keep her authority beneath the surface, quietly steering the conversation. Nicole displayed hers openly, as if otherwise no one would know she was in charge.

Adrian explained the difference to himself through their careers. Charlize had struggled toward success, as he had, and in his view that had taught her to consider other people while taking control. Nicole had faced setbacks too, but he believed her marriage to Tom Cruise had removed many obstacles. As he saw it, Tom asking to end their marriage around their tenth anniversary had been her greatest blow.

That explanation made her anger understandable to him, but it did not make it tolerable. There was nothing foolish about wanting control, he thought. The mistake was insisting on it at the wrong moment. He already considered himself remarkably patient for putting up with three months of orders. He was done.

"We have nothing else to discuss, Nicole. I'm leaving. You can work out what to tell the reporters tomorrow." He turned toward the door.

For several seconds, she seemed unable to believe he meant it. He was almost at the door when she shouted, "Stop right there!"

He turned with one hand already on the handle. Nicole was breathing hard, staring at him in fury.

"If you walk out now," she said, her voice low and harsh, "I'll tell Nami everything. I'll tell her exactly what kind of bastard you are."

He gave a contemptuous laugh. "Do you really think Nami's an idiot? Do you think she still believes everything you say?"

He shook his head and started to turn the handle.

"Don't you dare!" Her voice rose. "Take one more step and I'll accuse you of rape."

Adrian frowned and turned back, visibly startled. "Unless I'm mistaken..."

"That's right. We were on a date. We had a small disagreement. You wanted more, I refused, and you forced me." She delivered the invented account in a rush, with an edge of triumph.

"The hearing won't be public. Cases like this favor the woman, and they usually settle anyway. The reporters will love it. People in the business will talk. Nami and plenty of other women won't want anything to do with you." She spoke through clenched teeth, staring at him as if she had committed herself to the threat.

He stared back in disbelief. "Do you know what you sound like? A bitch."

"I don't care. I'm telling you that if you walk through that door, you'll pay for it." She was almost shouting.

Adrian took a deep breath and let go of the handle. He crossed the room and spoke quietly beside her ear. "I hate being threatened."

Adrian seized Nicole and carried her upstairs against her will.

"Stop! Put me down!" She struggled and struck at his back.

Her resistance did not stop him. He took her into the bedroom and threw her onto the bed.

"Have you lost your mind?" Nicole shouted.

He restrained her, ignoring her attempts to get free. He also damaged her dress.

"Stop it, you bastard! You're hurting me. Stop!"

Adrian began hitting her.

"You hit me? You actually hit me?" Her anger was mixed with shock and hurt. She had not expected this from someone who usually joked and could sometimes be gentle.

In her own mind, she had only meant to threaten him into giving in. If he yielded first, she would have yielded too. She had never intended to carry out that accusation. Why had he reacted this way?

He kept hitting her. She cried out in pain and tried to resist.

At first, Nicole threatened to make him pay. Eventually she could do little beyond enduring the blows. She refused to beg. She buried her face in a pillow and bit down on one corner, trying to stifle her cries.