Now, Fred Hartman was lining up her pictures and negatives, pointing down at them on his desk with a long bony finger. "These, I think, are yours. Your property. Again, all I can say is, I didn't care and didn't know. I'm sorry."
Nancy looked at him with disbelieving eyes. "You're letting me go?"
Hartman's only answer was a curt bow.
"Nothing?" Nancy looked at him with almost a wet pout on her lips. After all this time, after all she had done, she had come to like him watching her… she liked knowing he was out there in the shadows, his eyes fixed on her body, her lewdness… "You want nothing in exchange?"
"Nothing," said Hartman, enunciating the word carefully, "nothing at all."
Nancy stared at him defiantly, her breasts thrust out and heaving slightly with the denied passion she was feeling. Oddly, a part of her exalted at being finally freed of the threat of blackmail… and a part felt the black fog of despair rolling over her at the knowledge there would be no more shows… no more chances to be queen – to hold momentary power over a great many men… "Nothing?" she asked plaintively.
"Nothing," Hartman repeated implacably. Then, his frosty features cracked into an almost warm smile. "Unless, of course, you want to."
Unless she wanted to.
And so it came about that Nancy Dodge came to be known as the stunning, witty wife of Allan Dodge. Allan Dodge came to be a very successful young banker, handling big accounts, like the Hartman estate account. They had a quietly interesting life in which Nancy entertained in their new townhouse and was the perfect wife, giving her time to charities and public events.
And… at isolated times… well in advance… when she was alone… the phone would ring. It was always Fred Hartman himself and always… insinuatingly, temptingly, he had something planned that she found irresistible. Always, after listening to his musically droning voice outlining all sorts of perverted pleasures, she would agree. She would eagerly agree to be part of his plans and then she would hang up. She hung up with a little smile of anticipation on her lips.
She loved Allan, but… Fred thrilled her.
And, as Fred had once said to her, "No reason, you know, why you can't have the best of both worlds."