“So I make the effort, and this is how you react?”

“Stop shouting at her.” Karoline spoke softly, but her voice was velvet over steel.

Axel shot her a dirty look. He wasn’t used to having anyone oppose or criticize him, which was probably why he and Karoline had never been close. Karoline always spoke her mind, never held back like Harper often did. “Don’t tell me what to do!” he snapped. “You have no idea what I went through to get here—”

“What? A thirteen-hour flight? There are worse things,” she broke in. “So don’t expect a lot of sympathy from me. This is my house, and you’ll speak respectfully to everyone in it, or you’ll be asked to leave.”

He gaped at her. “Wow. You’ve turned on me, too.”

“You turned on Harper first,” she retorted.

Harper stepped forward. “Stop. Please. Both of you. Axel, let’s get in the car and go for a drive.”

He whirled on her. “What car, Harper? I had a limo drive me from LAX. It’s gone. I had no idea the mother of my children wouldn’t be in her bed when I arrived at four o’clock in the morning!”

“I have the Range Rover here,” she said.

“I’ll get the keys,” Karoline offered and hurried back into the house.

“Please, calm down,” Harper said. “There’s no need to wake the neighborhood. I’d rather the girls not hear us shouting, either.”

“You mean you don’t want them to know you’ve been sneaking out, spreading your legs for some guy you’ve just barely met?”

“We haven’t just barely met,” she said. “We’ve spent hours and hours together. And they know him, too.”

“You’ve introduced him to my girls?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she countered. “They’re my girls, too.”

“Because I thought we were getting back together!”

“Who was that woman in the mosh pit in Barcelona?” she demanded.

His scowl grew darker. “What woman?”

“I watched the concert, Axel. Over and over again. Something was going on between you. I could tell.”

“Oh, so now you’re trying to make this about me?”

“It’s always been about you! That’s the problem! Everything’s always about you! Whether you’re happy, whether you’re sad, whether your talent is being recognized, whether I’m giving you enough!” She’d spent their entire married life trying to placate him when he got upset, so it was ironic that she’d be the one screaming now, but everything she’d held back was rising like a tidal wave inside her.

He shook his head. “I can’t believe this bullshit,” he said and took off, walking down the street.

“Were you with her or not?” Harper called after him.

He didn’t turn or answer, but the neighbor’s porch light snapped on. “Is everything okay?” came a reedy voice from that direction.