“What do you need?” I asked him.

“If it were up to me, I’d send Juleen back to Mumbai to live with her father and it would just be the two of us. But I know that’s not realistic.”

“Correct. I’m not sending my daughter away.”

“And I know that she can’t stay here.”

“Also correct. She cannot live in a brothel.”

He turned off the blow dryer although my hair was still damp. “This is what I need, okay?”

“I’m listening.”

“You can live anywhere you want with your children as long as it’s in the state of Nevada.”

I smiled. “Tax benefits?”

“Tax benefits, business benefits. If I start putting stuff in your name, which is very convenient from my perspective, I want you to reside in the state where your business is. Nevada is a big state. You’ve got lots of choice.”

“I’m sure I’ll find something that’s agreeable to both of us.”

“Good. I know good schools and good hospitals are in the bigger cities. Las Vegas is fine, but I’d prefer if you stayed closer. Reno is a two- to three-hour drive from me. There are some nice neighborhoods and private schools there that I think would work.”

“How big is the city? Population, I mean.”

“Reno? About a quarter million people. Vegas is twice that. We can check out both cities. I’ll go along with whatever you want.”

“Okay,” I told him. “What else do you want?”

He picked up the blow dryer and turned it back on. “Terry, I will support you. Anything you need to take care of your family. And I have no problem with you working, even if last time it led to your affair. I get why you had an affair. I was shitty to you. But even if I had been a peach, affairs are still exciting. Fucking someone new is exciting. I could probably handle another affair because I understand that. What I can’t handle is you getting knocked up again.” He yanked a little too hard on my hair. “It was completely humiliating.”

“It won’t happen again, Donatti. That much I can promise you.”

“And I believe you. But for me to be sure—a hundred percent sure that won’t happen—I want you to get your tubes tied.”

I was silent. I was forty-two and had no intention of having more children, but I didn’t want the choice ripped away from me.

Again, he yanked my hair. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Give me a minute.” He didn’t answer. Then I turned around to face him, my hair still tangled in the brush. “I don’t want any more babies, but it doesn’t mean that closing that door will be easy for me.”

“Why? What’s the problem?”