The Life You Stole (Life Duet 2)

“Because why?”

I wiped my hands on a towel and picked up my phone, bringing it closer to my face in the unlikely chance Sophie could hear me from the front of the shop. “I don’t think he can get an erection. And I don’t want to embarrass him by asking about it.”

Silence.

I waited.

And waited.

She had licked my nipples. Why did erectile dysfunction silence her?

“Lila?”

“I’m … I’m here. Just thinking.”

“Do you think I should say something? And if so, what? How do I make him not feel bad?”

“It’s probably stress.”

“Or an affair.” I didn’t really believe it, but I wasn’t immune to insecurity.

“Evelyn, you know better than that.”

“Remember Adrianne Craig?”

“The woman who took down so many prominent men with nothing more than her reckless cunt? Yes.”

“She’s in Ronin’s support group. I caught them having dinner one night.” Caught was a strong word. I wasn’t sure they were trying to hide anything. “And she drove him home a few weeks ago because he had flat tires. She asked me out for coffee.”

“You’re not serious.”

I paced my lab, feeling on edge again. Why did Adrianne make me so uneasy? I knew Ronin would never cheat on me. And he certainly wouldn’t bring his mistress to the house if he did cheat on me.

“I’m serious.”

“Tell him to find a different group.”

I laughed, rubbing the back of my neck. “Then he’ll think I don’t trust him.”

“Tell him it’s her you don’t trust.”

“I don’t trust her to what? Not rape him. He’s twice her size. Clearly, he’ll see that I don’t trust him to resist her if she makes advances toward him.”

“She’s a professional home-wrecker. The thing is … she doesn’t even have to fuck a guy to ruin his life. All she has to do is cast doubt by—”

“Driving him home and flaunting herself in front of his wife,” I finished.

Lila sighed. “Yeah. That.”

“If he’s not sleeping with her, it still doesn’t explain his lack of sexual desire for me. It sucks. It totally sucks to feel like your husband doesn’t want you like that.”

“Tell me about it,” Lila said in a soft voice.

I cringed. “How are things between you and Graham?”

“Fine. Why do you ask?” Her words came sharp and defensive.

“A while back, you told me he basically scheduled time to have sex with you in his office. Things didn’t seem so fine then.”

She sighed slowly, like she needed to exhale but didn’t really want me to hear it. “Nothing to worry about. We’re having sex, still in his office and in bed too.”

I chuckled. “Don’t sound so enthused.”

Lila said it like a description of chores she begrudgingly had to do.

“It’s just …”

“Just what?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“Maybe I should talk to him.”

“Don’t. Him thinking I’m telling you things doesn’t make them better. It makes them worse. Would you want me telling Ronin that you’re confiding in me about his issues?”

“No.” I frowned. “I hate that we can’t help each other. Remember when we used to be able to solve each other’s issues?”

“Yeah,” Lila whispered with such a solemn breath. “I miss those days.”

“Me too.”

“Just be patient with Ronin. You’ve both been through a lot over the past couple of years. He was a pillar for you after your mom died, while still dealing with his own addiction recovery. Marriages go through unexplainable rough patches. This is just one. It will pass.”

“Is that what’s happening with you and Graham? A rough patch?”

“No. I think him becoming governor fundamentally changed him. He’s not the same man I married, so either I can accept it or …”

“Leave?”

“Sure. Listen, I have to go, but keep me informed on things between you and Ronin. I’m always here for you.”

“Thanks, Lila. That goes both ways. Please don’t ever forget that.”

I ended the call, feeling a little better in some ways and a little worse in other ways. There was no comfort in knowing that my life wasn’t perfect and neither was Lila’s life. My kind of misery didn’t love company. Her unhappiness compounded my own. It sucked.

Before I could wrap the bars of soap, my phone rang and my sister’s face popped up on the screen. “Hey, Katie.”

“Guess who had IVF this morning?” she practically squealed.

“I’m thinking you, but last month you said you weren’t even close to having the money to try it again.”

“Until Graham gave me the money. He said I was like his little sister and he wanted to see me start a family. Evie, he’s the best! I love Ronin, but how did you not end up married to Graham? He saved Dad’s life, he helped prolong mom’s life, and now this.”

A painful knot formed in the pit of my stomach, another thing forever tying me to Graham Porter, another thing I would never be able to repay—an eternity of indebtedness.

The score: Porters—everything. Evelyn—nothing.

If only I could have saved Graham from a burning building, shielded his body from a gunshot wound, or donated an organ he needed, I might have been able to work my way out of the hole.