They drove away from their own party, from their new Beverly Hills mansion, from all the guests and gifts and everything else.
She stared at her husband in the moonlight. His eyes remained stubbornly on the road, as if she weren’t there. But she saw the way his jaw twitched, saw how tightly his hands gripped the steering wheel.
Lola took a deep breath.
“Please,” she whispered. “You can’t think—”
“Can’t think what?” he bit out, his voice dangerously low. “Can’t think the woman who claimed to love me betrayed me for another?”
“I know that it might have looked like that, but I never—”
He gave a low bitter laugh. “I know what I saw.”
“You don’t!”
He flashed her a glance, his dark eyes like ice. “Then what did I see?”
“Sergei said someone sent him an email, pretending to be you. Inviting him to take me. Practically begging him to.”
“What do you mean, take you?”
“But I know it wasn’t you,” she whispered. “I know you wouldn’t do something so underhanded and dishonorable.”
“No. I wouldn’t.” He turned right, taking the corner too fast.
“Neither would I. Because I love you—”
“Stop it.” His eyes narrowed as he stared at the road. “You invited him to the party tonight. Admit it.”
“How could I? I didn’t know about it!”
“You must have found out somehow,” he muttered. Looking at his tight posture, at the way he stared so fiercely at the road, she felt the waves of misery coming off his body, and her heart broke for him.
Lola thought rapidly. If she hadn’t invited Sergei, and Rodrigo hadn’t either, then who? Who would have anything to gain by wrecking their marriage?
Every time Rodrigo gets close to a woman, he sabotages it. I used to blame myself, but not anymore. Not after it happened in all three of his engagements.
If Rodrigo hadn’t sabotaged all his relationships, then who had? Who had the ability, and the reason?
Lola sucked in her breath.
Suddenly, she knew.
“It was Marnie,” she choked out. “She did it. All of it.”
Rodrigo scowled as he drove. “What are you talking about?”
Lola stared at him. In the window behind him, she could see tall palm trees turn silver in the moonlight. “Marnie invited Sergei tonight.”
“Now you’re blaming my assistant for your own unfaithfulness?” He gave a bitter laugh. “You must be truly desperate.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense!”
He glanced at her coldly. “And why would she?”
She thought fast. “Marnie wanted you for herself,” she said slowly. “So she’s systematically rid herself of any rival who crossed her path.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’ve known her for over a decade.”