the woman said, her voice wavering but strong. “Take your hand off the door. Close it quickly. Do not scream,” Cruz commanded. The woman looked genuinely terrified, but that wasn’t his problem. He took one step toward her, and she quickly closed the door, and when it clicked shut, tears began running down her cheeks. “You can keep those because they won’t change anything,” he said. And ordinarily they wouldn’t have, but there was more than a little bravado behind his words. The tears seemed as genuine as the woman. “Come here,” he said, probably more softly than he should have. She shook her head. “Come here,” he repeated. She took one step, then another, her entire body quaking with each tentative movement. “I…I can get you money. All I can find. You can have it.”
