Victoria wipes her eyes. “Maybe I’ll feel better when the men arrive,” she says, her tone brighter, and Amara knows she is trying to lighten the mood, the way she always does. “At least I know I’m good at that.”

“You can’t have Rufus,” Amara teases, not really worried that Victoria will ever be her lover’s type. “But I’m hoping you can entertain Helvius, the candidate he wants to work with. Charm him with your singing. Though you’ll have to tone down the chat a bit. Apparently, he’s very pompous.”

“Oh, I can do pompous!” Victoria exclaims. “And you’re wrong about toning it down. All men want to be told how wonderful they are. I’ll just have to praise his marvelous skill with something other than his cock. At least over dinner.” They both laugh. Amara reaches for the wine, topping up their glasses. Victoria sips it, her expression more serious. “Almost all men are like that,” she says. The two women stare at one another. Amara knows which man Victoria is thinking about.

“I’m sorry for all he did to you,” Amara says. “But now he can never hurt you again.”

“The look in his eyes when I refused him today. I thought he was going to kill me.” Victoria is trembling, and Amara takes her in her arms again, holding her tightly. “He’s been so frightening since you left, you have no idea.”

Hatred burns in Amara’s chest. “I wish I could kill him for you.”

“I wouldn’t want that. It’s so hard to explain, but I don’t think he can help himself. And his life . . . the things he has suffered.”

“It doesn’t excuse anything.” Amara is unwilling to admit all she knows about Felix’s childhood, not wanting to feel any sympathy for him. “Whatever he might have suffered, he doesn’t have to torment everyone else for it.”

“He used to beg my forgiveness, afterward, and tell me how much he loved me. And I used to believe him. But the last time he hurt me, he told me it was my fault. That only an idiot would put up with what he did to me. That I was pathetic for loving him.”

“But you didn’t put up with it. You left him. And I’m so proud of you for that.” Amara disentangles herself from their embrace, taking Victoria’s face in her hands. “I know it hurt you to leave him. But he is a monster. He never, ever deserved you. I hope he pays a thousand times over for everything he did to you. I hope he dies in the street like a dog.”

Victoria flinches at the violence in Amara’s words. “I know I have to forget him. I know I do. But I still can’t bear to think of him suffering. So please don’t say things like that.”