“I mean, could anyone really consider him a catch?”

“I did,” I answered quietly. “But now, I can’t help but think that I was only settling. It’s only been an hour, and I’m already struggling to remember one reason I was with him.”

“You loved him. It’s a marvel how much we can overlook for the sake of love.” She sighed. “Lila, when this really hits you, I’m here, okay? Get mad. Cry. Come crawl in bed with me, and we’ll talk shit about the preemptive hair plugs he got last year and his calf implants.”

An unladylike laugh snorted out of me. “To be fair, I didn’t know about the implants until we’d lived together for a year, and he swore me to secrecy.” I paused. “I should tweet it.”

“Hey, no need to defend. I’m not judging your choices in partner.”

I gave her a look.

“Anymore,” she clarified. “But I mean it, Lila. I’m here for you. Okay?” she insisted, making sure I understood the invitation was open and waiting.

“Okay,” I answered just as Dean strode in, smile on his face.

Ivy’s boyfriend—and baby daddy—was six and a half feet of muscle swathed in ochre skin. “Heya, Lila. What are you doing here?”

Ivy looked over her shoulder. “She’s going to be staying with us for a minute.”

“If it’s no trouble,” I added.

He rolled one massive shoulder and sat next to my sister, his smile fading. “Sure. I mean, the baby will sleep in our room for a while, so her room is free. What happened?”

Coolly, I answered, “I just walked in on Brock and Natasha Felix.”

His eyes widened, the dark irises ringed with white. “You’re kidding.”

“Fortunately, I’m not.”

That earned me a frown. “You mean, unfortunately?”

“No, fortunately. I feel like somebody just ripped open the veil. Maybe he’s been cheating on me all along. Maybe I never knew him at all. He was a stranger in a familiar mask, and when the mask slipped, I saw the monster underneath. I’ve never run so fast in my life. Figuratively. I’m not running anywhere in these.” I wiggled the crossed Louboutin.

“Wait, there wasn’t a camera crew there or anything, was there?” Dean leaned in, brows drawn.

Surprise shook me. I hadn’t even considered that possibility. “No, thank God. I … I can’t even imagine what I would have done. As it stands, I chucked a candlestick. Lucky for them, my aim sucks.”

“What are you going to do about Natasha?” Ivy asked carefully, noting the unfortunate fact that I’d be seeing Natasha almost daily for the next eight weeks.

Another flash, this one hot with rage. It didn’t die so easily as the last. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” she echoed in disbelief.