“This isn’t about me or anything I’ve done, Donatti, so stop deflecting the conversation to make you look like the victim, okay?”

“Then stop pushing my buttons and talking about other guys. You know how jealous I get.” He bit his lip. “Look, are you going to come? Yes or no?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course you have a choice. I can make excuses. The workers would probably feel freer if you weren’t there. But it’s not what I want.”

It was times like this that I remembered precisely why I had an affair. Something to call my own. The pregnancy, however, had been unplanned—the one of two consequences from my second disastrous marriage that turned out well. With Devek, my anger had always been a continuous simmer. With Chris, it was and had always been a hot blue flame. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there and I’ll be all smiles.”

“You’re pissed.”

You better believe it, I thought. I held up the keys. “At least I have my partial freedom.” When he didn’t react, I shrugged. “Go have your fun, Chris.”

“It’s not fun, Terry, it’s work.”

That made me even madder. “Okay, then go have your fun work. Go screw whoever you want. I don’t give a damn what you do.”

“And you never did,” he told me. “That was part of the problem.”

“That’s utter horseshit! Stop feeling sorry for yourself because I bested you one time in the screwing department.”

He turned red in the face. “Okay. You got your revenge. You totally humiliated me. You totally trashed me. Good for you. I’m sure I deserved it. I certainly suffered because of it.”

“You don’t have a lock on suffering, you know.”

“You’re right. So maybe it’s time for both of us to move on.”

“I can’t move on with my child missing, Christopher! Get my son and then I’ll be happy to move on.”

He suddenly looked weary. His voice turned soft. “It’s going to take a while longer, baby doll. And like I said, there are no guarantees. I assure you I’m doing whatever I can.”

Suddenly a stupid party seemed trivial. Tears sprang up from nowhere. “Is he suffering?”

“No, he’s not suffering. He’s probably scared, but he’s okay.” He flipped his hair out of his eyes. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t an easy fix. Just be patient and trust me, okay?”

I wiped my eyes, wondering who had my son. And if Sanjay had been taken by horrible men because of Devek’s debts, why was he still alive? And then it dawned on me, idiot that I was. “You’re paying off Devek’s debts, aren’t you?” I waited for an answer. All I got was silence. “How much is it costing you?”

“None of your business.”