“Because I checked. I called the stables and asked if they had someone named Jerry Nolan working there. When they said no, I even described you in case you used a different name. They still said no.”

“You went behind my back, asking questions?” It wasn’t so much that he didn’t understand what she meant by that, as that he couldn’t fathom she had that much moxie in her.

But she was in the shit now knee-deep and apparently could not stop. She pointed to Carlo. “I mean, who is this guy really?”

Beaufort snapped the recliner shut and stood up. Gloria remembered who she was and cowered from habit.

“We live,” Carlo said, trying to defuse the two of them, responding to Gloria in an amazingly normal way, “we live just about a half mile away. In the Black Horse Ranch subdivision. You might have seen us walking. We have two pugs. You may have met my wife. Brigid.”

Well, that set Gloria off again, this time more like a rocket. “Bri-gid! So what are you all planning?” Gloria asked. “A threesome, maybe?” Her eyes flickered over the duct tape on the coffee table and she said, maybe without knowing why, “Or bondage? Were you going to invite me?”

Carlo made some vague sound, a combination of protest and groan, while Beaufort advanced on Gloria. When Carlo found his words they were “My dear. Don’t.”

“That’s right, my dear,” Beaufort said, and almost sounded sincere. “You have nothing to worry about here.”

Maybe because she saw this as a chance to speak in front of a witness, her first without risking Beaufort’s private wrath, Gloria seemed to take courage. She lifted her chin to gain an inch on Beaufort and said, “Bullshit. I called that phone number in your wallet. The voice message was her.”

“This isn’t what you think,” Carlo said.

Locked together, Beaufort and Gloria both ignored him.

“You’re embarrassing yourself, honey,” Beaufort said. “Go back in the bedroom. I’ll be there in a minute. We’ll … talk.”

“Why doesn’t he just leave,” Gloria said, pointing at Carlo but with less aggression than she’d displayed only a moment before.

“You could leave,” Carlo said. “You can walk out the door right now.” He rose from the couch and tried to step between them, but Beaufort gently pushed him aside, the only acknowledgment that Carlo was even in the room.

“Honestly, group sex? Babe, we need to work on getting your confidence back.” Beaufort took Gloria by the shoulders and put his face closer to hers. “Where’s that old I-can-change spirit? Everything is going to be okay,” he said. “You just have to trust me, that whatever I’m doing is for us. You and me. Okay?”

Gloria opened her mouth, part of her still wanting to say yes, but then stopped, searching his face.