Page 25 of Perfect Satisfaction

—StellaNova

December

My anguish must be visible on my facebecause my sister-in-law remarks on it as she hands me a warm mug. “The last time I saw that look on your face, you were eighteen and inconsolable.”

I take a sip and gratefully find the tiny splash of Irish coffee sliding down my throat. Once I swallow, I admit, “Same concern, different reporter.”

Danielle’s brows are drawn over her violet eyes. “Want to open up about it?”

I contemplate her gravely before asking, “With all the people you’ve met, have you ever been betrayed?”

“Too many times to count.”

“What did you do?”

“Walked out of their lives. Never looked back.” Dani’s eyes grow wide. “Your husband.”

I reveal, “West dropped a bomb on me before he died.”

“Which was?”

“My husband’s the owner of StellaNova.”

Dani’s jaw falls open. “You mean to tell me your Arek—Vegas Arek—andtheArek Ronan are one and the same?”

I turn tear-filled eyes skyward. “For a woman who spends her time observing the world, I guess I wasn’t too good at it in this case.”

“No, you just weren’t looking at it through the right instrument. You were using your heart.”

“West implied I was using something else,” I reply scathingly.

“West was a dick and I challenge anyone who knew him to say otherwise.”

“Well, there’s always the Clarkes.” I remind her drolly.

“I challenge anyone who shouldn’t have their dick cut off to say otherwise,” she amends.

Her remarks cause my lips to curve for the first time in weeks. She wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Now, things make sense.”

“What does?” I take another sip of my drink.

“Why Brendan said you had such a violent reaction to the photo I showed him of Liza and...” her voice trails off.

“My husband. You can say it, Dani.”

“Christ, what a mess, Sula. I never thought it was going to be you who was so devastated.”

“No, you thought it was going to be JB. And he was, but JB has a streak of West in him. He cut her out of his life. Immediately. No explanations.”You didn’t ask for them either,I remind myself. Then again, the picture was pretty self-explanatory.

Dani shudders. “It was too much. Brendan should have had more common sense.”

Now, an actual smile breaks free. “I’m sorry. Brendan, common sense?”

“That’s true. He never did guess which of our children painted his favorite guitar with my lipstick.”

“I still say you should have told him it was Max.”

“Why?”