Page 78 of Protecting Love

“I don’t want that either. I’m sorry I reacted. I told you, it’s a trigger. No, I wasn’t blind. But I turned my head because you’re right. Her excuses made sense. And maybe I was sick and tired of hearing them again and again when the solution was coming.”

“Didn’t seem to make a difference, though did it?”

“No. And to think she’s just out there having sex, and when I come home, she’s too tired for it. Or she’s pissed off. No one wants sex when they feel as if it’s being forced on them or an obligation.”

“Nope,” she said.

“So she’s out getting it from men on her terms. No attachments, she said. It wasn’t about that. It was about feeling wanted. That it started with a coworker flirting with her ten years ago.”

“Ten years?”

“Yeah, so like six years of our marriage. We were in Virginia. She’s getting attention I wasn’t giving to her. The guy was married. He said that he had an open marriage and in her mind, she thought, hell, I don’t have to worry about jealousy.”

“Guess it didn’t bother her he was sleeping with someone else.”

“Nope. So that’s how it started. And then it seems to me, that is what she told other men. Open marriage, if it even came up, never talked about me, but was clear that I was good with it.”

“I’m assuming they had no idea what you did for a living?”

“No. They didn’t know me or her prior. She was smart enough to cover her bases. Her words, she didn’t do it often. Maybe two people a year, nothing longer than a month.”

“Jesus. That’s a lot.”

“You’re telling me.”

“Why did she have to say that? Why bring it up once she was caught? Did she want to stay married?”

“No. She absolutely didn’t want to. This time, she was with someone she was developing feelings for. He was too. In her mind, maybe she could have what she always wanted.”

“Was he going home to someone else too?” she asked.

“Yep. I can’t explain her logic. So she wanted me to catch her and I did. She knew what my reaction would be. She knew I wouldn’t tolerate that shit. I moved out. But Ian was upset and I think she thought I might change my mind and give her a chance when things didn’t go the way she wanted with the other guy.”

“So she decided to let you know everything?” Paris shook her head. “Sorry, that’s a bitchy move.”

“I’d rather know the truth. I wasn’t coming back though. And that just made the divorce faster.”

“That’s who she married?” she said.

He laughed. A dry, bitter sound. “Nope. The guy decided to go back to his wife and admitted he was the one who never wanted an open marriage, so his wife agreed to stop on her end.”

“Good. She got what was coming to her.”

“I don’t think she cared. She met Zach months later. He’s a political consultant and she was happy here. Going out and getting attention, loving life.”

“You said she moved?”

“She did. Last year. Not happy so much about that by the sounds of it. And now husband number two is on the road more, so good luck there.”

He’d actually laughed when Ian told him. Not that he meant to, but couldn’t hold it back.

Though Ian rarely saw his mother now, they did talk. He wanted them to have some kind of relationship.

“Not your problem. I’m assuming that is when Ian moved in with you full time?”

“Yes. He was splitting his time and didn’t want to move. He’d been through enough. I was still at the Bureau, but not out of town as much, then I get a call from West.”

“He called you personally?”