Chapter 2

Audrey and I had been together fourteen years, counting college. Back then, she was way out of my league.

Straight A's, gorgeous, the kind of girl guys lined up for. Plenty of them had more money than me. Plenty were better-looking. But those guys were idiots. All they did was chase her.

I went the other way. I spent half my energy on the people around her. I fixed her roommate's laptop. I helped her dad move a sofa up three flights of stairs. I remembered her mom's birthday before Audrey did.

Pretty soon, everyone in her life was telling her what a great guy I was. Thoughtful. Reliable. A keeper.

People listen. If one person says it, you shrug. If ten people say it, you start to wonder. Eventually, she said yes to dinner.

For the first nine years of our marriage, I was a good husband. I never so much as looked at another woman.

But men are men. Once you've got the moon, you start wanting the stars too. Put any other guy in my shoes, and I doubt he'd have held out as long as I did.

There was a show Audrey and I used to binge. In one episode, the betrayed wife—the wife, of all people—says something I never forgot. Men are wired to want two things, money and women. Wanting money means you've got drive. Wanting women means your eyes work. A man who wants neither is either a monk or a corpse.

So in year ten, I met a girl.

Kendall looked a lot like Audrey. Same dark hair, same cheekbones. Everything else was the opposite.

My wife was gentle and sweet. Kendall was loud and hot-blooded. My wife followed the rules. Kendall didn't believe in them. My wife clipped coupons. Kendall spent money like it was on fire.

Whatever my wife couldn't give me, Kendall gave me all of it.

And because of Kendall, I was actually nicer to my wife than I'd been in years. She didn't seem like a nag anymore. She didn't bore me. A man who eats out doesn't come home hungry. Every business trip, I even brought presents home for Audrey and Poppy.

One of the guys who knew asked me once, "What happens if Audrey finds out about Kendall?"

I didn't even have to think. "She won't. She can't. As long as you all keep your mouths shut, she'll never know."

A home needs order. I had a girl on the side, sure, but I never shorted my wife and daughter. Every dollar they needed, they got. Every dinner, every recital, I showed up.

What man spends his whole life with one woman? As long as my heart was still at home, that was enough.

When guys' night wound down, for the first time ever, I didn't call Audrey for a ride. I took an Uber home.

When I came in, Margie hurried out to meet me. She'd been Audrey's nanny since Audrey was a little girl, and when we got married, she came with her.

"Mr. Holloway. You're home early."

I nodded. "They asleep?"

Something flickered in her eyes. "Uh... yes. They're asleep."

I frowned and pushed open the bedroom door. The bed was empty.

"What is this? Where is she?"

"Oh! She's not home? When did she go out?"

Goddammit.

I pulled out my phone and called her. In the few seconds it took to connect, Marcus's voice kept looping in my head. She's got somebody on the side too. Nobody gets to throw stones.

Like hell I wouldn't throw stones. She was my wife. The mother of my kid.

She wouldn't dare.

The call connected. Her voice came through, soft and calm. "You done? I'll come get you."

I shut my eyes. "Where are you?"

She paused. "Are you home?"

I didn't answer. All she could hear was me breathing hard into the phone.