“Troy was mortified, but Dustin... He said it was better to get the truth out in the open now rather than drag it out indefinitely.”

“And what was the truth?”

She swallowed and gripped the handkerchief in her closed fist. “They were in love and they wanted to spend their lives together.”

“So why did he marry you?”

“Because they couldn’t spend their lives together and have the careers they wanted too. Not back then. No, they decided because Troy was the better connected of the two that he needed a wife and a family. The deal was that Troy would bring Dustin along with him.”

“You were duped.”

“Yes, but the kicker was, Troy said he loved me too, that everything he’d ever said to me was true.”

“He loved you both.”

“Yes, but that wasn’t all.”

Sam was literally on the edge of her seat waiting to hear the rest.

“They...they wanted our relationship to include all of us.”

“You wanna run that by me one more time?”

“Our marriage was, for many years, a ménage.”

Sam had heard a lot of crazy shit on this job, but this was by far the craziest thing she’d ever heard. The FBI director—and his deputy—had been part of a ménage à trois marriage? Judging by John’s expression, this was shocking news to him, as well. “Did that mean you were...intimate...with both of them?”

“Yes,” she said, her face flushing with what might’ve been embarrassment or maybe it was shame. Sam couldn’t tell. “And they were with each other too.”

“Your children?”

“Were Troy’s. They look just like him. There was never any doubt about who their father was.”

“But it was possible it could’ve been either of them?”

“Yes,” she said softly.

“How did you get away with this among your family and friends?” Sam asked, fascinated more than anything.

“Most of the time we were together, we lived away from our closest friends and family.”

“What happened in Knoxville?”

Courtney continued to knead the poor handkerchief, making a mess of the fine linen. “Dustin and I... We became exceptionally close during those years. Troy was on the rise and was often called to Washington, sometimes for as long as a month at a time. Dustin... He was there for me, you know?”

Sam didn’t get it. She didn’t get how any woman handled two men, when she more than had her hands full with one.

“We... Troy, he came home early from a trip, and he... He caught us together.”

“That wasn’t allowed?”

She shook her head. “The agreement we had was that I was only supposed to be with Dustin when Troy was there too. He was so angry and so hurt. He felt like we’d betrayed him. He ended it with both of us and sent me and the children home to Virginia.”