“Until when?” Vince asked. “You and I both know you cheat on her, Steve. Don’t bother with the big show on my account.”

Morgan sighed. “I suppose it won’t matter if I tell you my marriage is none of your business.”

“No, because it is now—seeing how Sara came and talked to me about it.”

Morgan narrowed his good eye. “Why would Sara talk to you?”

“Sara and Anne have gotten to be friends over the last year. You might not know that—you being so busy and all with other women and whatnot.”

“Then why wouldn’t she talk to Anne instead of you?”

Vince smiled. “Because Anne can’t get your ass thrown in jail if need be.”

Morgan was unfazed. “Which brings me back to my original question: Is Sara having me arrested for something?”

“No.”

Vince scanned the desktop. Morgan had made no attempt to hide the fact that he was drinking. A heavy crystal tumbler sat to the left side of his blotter with three fingers of something in it. Jameson Irish whiskey from the bottle sitting on top of a book containing California divorce law.

“I like Sara,” Vince said. “She’s a nice gal. She’s smart, she’s talented. Beautiful—that goes without saying, right? And she loves you.”

“Hard to believe, huh?”

Vince shook his head. “Nah. I can see it. You’re a good-looking guy—usually. You’re a go-getter. You’re compassionate to the less fortunate in your community. You do good works. She tells me you’ve overcome a lot in your life. That’s admirable. Why shouldn’t she fall in love with you?”

Morgan gave a barely perceptible shrug.

“She had your baby,” Vince went on, “gave you a beautiful daughter. The two of you had it all.”

Steve Morgan took a stiff swig of the whiskey and sat back in his chair.

“And then I fucked it all up, right?”

Vince shrugged. “You tell me. The wheels started coming off the tracks somewhere along the line. Did you start to think she couldn’t really understand you? Her being from a nice family, how could she really get it?

“Or did you start to think you just really don’t deserve it? She’s out of your league. You might as well fuck it up and show her instead of waiting for her to figure it out on her own.

“Most women marry down, you know. It’s a known fact,” Vince said. “This is the voice of experience talking here. I’m one lucky son of a bitch, and I know it. I have to look over my shoulder every day, looking for the other shoe to drop. But I cut myself some slack and figure not to look a gift horse in the mouth, you know? Horses bite.”