“Of course. We are completely honest with each other. I’m older and wiser now, Mia. To be honest, Pamela is everything to me Juliet wasn’t.” He shrugged. “What I mean is Pamela’s a realist, sees the world for what it is, warts and all, and faces things head-on. That’s exactly what a mayor’s wife needs to be, why she’s perfect for me.”

“According to Ms. Barrett, Juliet couldn’t deal with your political ambitions, she was too sensitive and avoided confrontation at all costs; in other words, she runs from anything unpleasant. That made her unsuitable for you, and Juliet finally realized it, so you being unfaithful to her wasn’t the real crux of the problem.”

He said evenly, “Pamela is right about that. Juliet usually shrank back from anything unpleasant. She was, and still is, from what I hear, much more comfortable with her piano than with the rancor of politics. Would we have married if I hadn’t cheated on her?” He gave a charming Gaelic shrug. “Two years ago—it’s a long time.”

“So you’re saying Juliet wouldn’t stand up for herself if something bad happened to her? She wouldn’t say anything to cause comment, worry her parents, create a scandal?”

“I hope Juliet didn’t hint anything bad had happened to her. I can’t imagine what it would be.”

“No, certainly not. I just wondered. Thank you for clearing that up for me. I suppose you know your fiancée is very jealous of Juliet.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “I expect ninety-nine percent of women on the planet would be jealous of Juliet. You saw her face. Helen of Troy wouldn’t stand a chance next to her.”

Mia knew he wanted to know what it was Juliet had said to her, but she wasn’t about to oblige him. “Thank you for your honesty, Alex. Next, I spoke briefly to the professors at Harvard, and as I expected, they were quite laudatory since you gave me their names.”

It was time to dig in the spurs. Mia made a show of looking down at her iPad a moment, before saying, “I spoke with some of the departmental secretaries there as well, and they remembered you had quite a reputation with the girls. You partied with Kent quite a bit, even went to other universities, some even out of state. Do you remember any of the girls you dated? I’d love to get an idea of what you were like in your twenties.”

Impossible for him not to realize she was baiting him. He waved a dismissive hand. “You have to remember it was a different time, young men and women behaved differently, partied differently. Sure, I sowed some wild oats—most everyone did in my social circle—but I never went overboard.”

“So you didn’t inhale,” Mia said and gave him a big grin.