Page 102 of Riot’s Revenge

Then again, why would they? It happened before they became part of the club. There had never been a reason to drag my humiliation into a conversation with her. Until now.

“He cheated on me,” I said quietly.

Lucy went still and Kate gasped. “What?”

“Years ago.” The words still scraped on the way out, even after all that time. “He slept with one of the club girls.”

Anger flashed across Lucy’s face. “Riot did?”

I gave a humorless laugh. “Don’t look so surprised.”

“I am surprised.”

“Well, he did.”

“Does Reaper know?”

“Yes. The club knows everything.”

Lucy’s mouth tightened. “I didn’t.”

Kate shifted closer and rested her hand over mine.

Lucy stared down at the table for a moment, clearly rearranging everything I’d told her in her head. “So, when he disappears all night . . .” she began carefully.

“I remember what happened last time.”

Understanding replaced the confusion on her face. “Oh, Maria.”

“I forgave him,” I whispered. “Or I thought I did. We rebuilt everything, and for years he gave me no reason to doubt him.”

“Until now,” Kate said, and I nodded. “He might not be doing anything,” Kate added.

“He might not,” Lucy agreed, “but disappearing without an explanation is obviously going to bring all of that back.”

Relief loosened something inside me. I hadn’t realized how badly I needed someone to understand that I wasn’t inventing the fear from nothing. “I don’t want to be the wife who checks his clothes or wonders whether every late night means another woman.”

“Then he needs to stop putting you in that position,” Kate said.

Lucy squeezed my hand. “You need to talk to him.”

“When am I supposed to do that? He has to be there for me to talk to him.” Anger slipped into my voice, sharp enough to make me pull my hand away and reach for my drink. “I’m tired of begging for scraps of information about my own husband. I’m tired of waking up alone. I’m tired of sitting in that apartment wondering whether he’s lying to me.”

Neither woman offered me an empty reassurance. That was what I loved about them. They didn’t tell me everything would be fine when none of us knew whether it would be. Lucy rested her head against my shoulder. Kate leaned into my other side. For a few minutes, we stayed that way, surrounded by takeout containers and half-finished drinks.

“I’m going to murder him,” Kate announced eventually.

A laugh slipped out of me.

Lucy nodded. “We’ll help you hide the body.”

The heaviness in my chest eased slightly. That was what I had needed. Not advice, or excuses for Riot, just people who were firmly on my side.

By the time we finally stood to leave, it was after midnight.

Kate stretched her arms above her head. “If Finn asks, I was ready to leave an hour ago.”

“You were the one who opened the third bag of popcorn,” Lucy pointed out.