The butcher closed the door behind them and removed his hat. The twirled ends of his mustache rose slightly in a comforting grin as his new bride turned to face him.
"This is your home," he said, motioning to the large upstairs apartment. It was clean and warm, nicer than any place Aileen had ever lived. Yet her insides seemed to shrink at the thought of living her entire life at the mercy of her father's murderer.
"What I have to give belongs to you, Mrs. Cutting," the butcher spoke again, folding his arms and looking kindly at her.
Aileen mustered up the courage to look at her captor. Or husband, she supposed. He was regarding her with some kind of interest that she couldn't read.
She bowed her head. "Thank you, sir."
"Oh, Emily," the butcher held up his hands and shook his head.
He took a step toward her and held her arms gingerly. "I'm your husband. You call me by my first name."
The young woman gulped and nodded. "Thank you… Bill."
He grinned and pointed. "Water closet on the right along with the bedroom. Best part of being a butcher's wife: you'll never want for fresh meat. And you could do with a fine meal, my bony bride."
She could tell he was trying to make her laugh but his smile paralyzed her. He had not yet even wiped her father's blood from his brow. With the sweat and blood staining his clothes and body, he looked like the devil himself.
Bill observed her fear with something like amusement and pulled her closer to him. His good eye looked her over while his glass eye glittered blindly, almost threateningly.
"Are you afraid of me?" He asked.
Aileen stared up at him. "I fear you more than I've feared anyone. I have seen what you are capable of, Mr. Cutting. You're a powerful and dangerous man. Only a fool would fail to recognize it. To fear you is simply common sense."
"I think that's the most I've ever gotten you to say," the butcher said.
Aileen pursed her lips and tried to look anywhere other than Bill's face.
"I'm not an evil man, Emily," Bill said softly, his hot voice tickling her ear, "You'll come to see that truth before the end."
He kissed her pale forehead and then left without another word.