Page 75 of The Bad Husband

He looks at me.

“Yeah. About four years ago. She was a transplant from LA. That’s how the story went, but no one really knew where she had come from.”

“Uh-huh. And what exactly happened?”

“He smashed someone’s face in because of her,” he says, recollecting things. “The guy was following her around. There must’ve been more to the story. And then, she got into a catfight with a woman who––rumor was––had been his mistress.”

“How do you know all this?”

“The catfighting happened at my bar. Maybe that was another reason he wanted my bar closed. I don’t know. Other stories were circulating at the time. She liked to tease him a lot. And he had no problem fucking other women when she did that. That’s why I said they’d been on and off for years. She met other men. He fucked other women. Then they hooked up again. At some point, people stopped talking about them. Besides, she was gone for a while. We all knew she’d traveled up north.”

Mm-hmm. To my father’s bedroom.

13

LILA

My lips are dry. My chest is tight. I can’t move.

I know I should say something, but nothing comes to mind. So, um… What is there to say?

Damon must be way more familiar with my father’s history than I initially believed.

Perhaps my father’s new bride had kept in touch with her ex. Maybe they were still lusting after each other.

Why not?

And then an even worse feeling claws at my chest. It’s uncertainty mixed with genuine distaste for this story.

Did Damon fall in love with her again after she’d married another man? Is their marriage a way of keeping her close to him once and for all?

If that’s true, why isn’t he enjoying being with her? Why are they talking about me? Is he punishing her for what she did to him?

I don’t understand.

Luckily, it’s dark inside the car so he can’t see that I’m livid.

Had Damon waited for her to leave my father so he could marry her and be with her again?

The thought makes me want to puke.

Then, why is he after me? Or what is he after, after all?

Is this a way of avenging the time he spent away from her while she was married to someone else?

The more I think about it, the less I like the answers.

But that would explain their not sharing a bed, and him acting like he has no romantic feelings for her, wouldn’t it?

Is he that good of an actor?

And is he so much under this woman’s spell, struggling with a bruised ego, that he has no problem using me––anyone, to be fair––to make her feel the pain, so in the end, he can have her the way he wants her.

Humble and addicted to him again.

Ugh.

I never trusted his intentions much, but now I trust them even less.