"You sound chipper. I take it your child bride blindingly believed whatever story you managed to concoct?" Regina didn't even bother looking up from her paperwork. The Evil Queen, sitting at an expensive wooden desk, wearing a perfectly tailored pants suit doing paperwork was not a sight that was easy to digest. It looked wrong and yet right at the same time.
"A word of advice, dearie…" Rumple came to stand directly in front of the desk, leaning on his cane for support. "The next time you feel the urge to go divulging secrets... make sure that there's actually a secret to tell."
Regina finally looked up at him. She tried to conceal her surprise at the new information but Rumple knew his former pupil well enough to catch the startled way her brown eyes widened for a brief nanosecond before it was replaced with a look of cool indifference. "Well," she set her pen down, "it would appear that the little wife is more heartless than I had originally suspected. Are you keeping it in a box under your bed like the naughty little elf that you are?"
She was lashing out like a rat backed into a corner. This meant that he had the upper hand but he still wasn't going to let her speak about his Belle in that manner. Heartless was the last thing his wife could be called. If she had a fault it was that she cared too much.
"Unlike you, Madam Mayor, I don't have to literally steal a person's heart from their chest to convince them to warm my bed at night." He gave her a look of scathing pity. "How is the Huntsman, by the way? He's the Sherriff in this land if I'm not mistaken..." He cast his eyes down at the desk and caught a glimpse of the paperwork she was filling out. "Adoption papers, Madam Mayor? You know that's not a good idea. You scare small children... most adults as well."
Regina quickly flipped the papers over before fixing him with an icy glare. "Why are you here?"
"To collect this month's rent... and to inform you that Belle was researching property values on the internet last night. Marvel of a thing the internet is in a world without magic." He wore an amused smirk. "Anyway, Belle discovered that we've been charging you way less than this building's worth.
Starting next month, your rent will be tripled."
Regina jumped to her feet. "The only way Storybrook can afford that is by raising taxes!" She was almost yelling in her outrage. "The town will never accept that!"
"And next year's an election year," Rumple nodded. "Novel thing democracy is. All of the responsibilities of a monarchy but none of the power. I warned you once before... all magic comes with a price. In the old land, your price for the curse was your father's life. In this land, the price is that your power is no longer absolute or guaranteed. Unless you want to see me run against you in the next election, I'd advise you to steer clear of my wife. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," Regina replied through gritted teeth.