He stepped forward, shielding Sapphire behind him, and barked at me with a voice stripped of every trace of the man I'd known. "Who the hell is this tramp, barging in here and causing a scene? Security! Get her out of here. If she upsets my wife and my child, it'll be your heads!"
I froze, almost certain I'd misheard him.
"Morton, have you lost your mind?"
This was the same man who, just moments ago, had been groveling before me at the sales office. Now, for the sake of another woman, he didn't even bother keeping up the act.
Sapphire immediately nestled into his arms, her eyes rimming red on cue as she tugged pitifully at his sleeve. "Morton, she hit me. She pretended to be your wife and said this house was hers. I was so scared..."
Morton's gaze hardened, and whatever hesitation remained vanished entirely.
He strode forward, seized me by the collar, and half-dragged, half-threw me into the yard.
Every movement was brutal. Every look, glacial. Like he was dealing with an enemy.
He leaned close, his voice low enough that only I could hear. "Teresa. Don't push your luck."