Page 126 of Where There's Smoke

“Why do you think we went someplace else?” I crossed the room and dropped my wallet and Ranya’s keys on the table. “I don’twantto throw it in your face.”

“And sneaking off late at night, coming in at four in the morning, that’s your idea of being discreet?” She stood and pointed at the door. “You don’t think there’s a dozen paparazzi out there who saw you come creeping in, and will have all kinds of shit to say about it tomorrow? Do you haveanyidea how humiliating it is to have everyone asking me left and right if you’re cheating, especially when they all have that look in their eyes that says they know you’re fucking someone else and think I’m just some naïve idiot wife who can’t tell when her man’s running around?”

“You encouraged me to get involved with him.”

“So this is my fault?” Her voice rose. Oh fuck, this was going to turn into a shouting match.

Keeping my voice low to counter hers, I said, “No, it’s not. But for all I’ve asked you, time and again, if you have a problem with it, you’ve insisted you don’t. You practically threw me at him the night I met him.”

“What was Isupposedto do?” she screeched and took a step toward me, eyes narrow with rage. “I saw the way you were looking at him. Was I supposed to tell you to stay away from him? I don’t have any claim to you anymore, so I—”

“But if it bothered you,” I snapped before I could stop myself, “then why didn’t yousaysomething?”

“What difference would it have made? Honestly, Jesse.” Her eyes narrowed. “You were done with me. And now? Now I’m done with you.”

I drew back.

“I have nothing to lose,” she snarled. “Not a goddamned thing. Give me a reason why I shouldn’t walk out of this room”—she pointed sharply at the door again—“and blow this all open for the media. Because the way I see it, I’m being called an attention whore and a cheating slut and all manner ofother shit, and you know what? I’m gainingnothingthrough this, and I have nothing to lose.”

I swallowed. Deep down I knew Simone, and I knew this wasn’t her. She’d have maintained this happy wife charade for me if it put her in the grave, even if I begged her not to. But when she was this upset, when rational thought deserted her and left her in this kind of near-blind fury, anything was possible. And could I begrudge her one little bit if she called a press conference or put up a billboard or just shouted it from the rooftops that my entire campaign centered around a fraudulent front?

“Simone,” I said quietly. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

“What do I want you to do?” She waved a hand, knocking a vase off the table. It crashed to the floor, but neither of us looked at it or moved to pick it up. “What the fuck do you think I want, Jesse?”

“Tell me, then,” I threw back just as loudly. “I’ve asked repeatedly. I’ve tried, for fuck’s sake. But if you don’t tell me, then—”

“I want you to act like you care about something besides getting elected to—”

“What? You honestly think all I care about is the election?”

“Of course that’s all you care about,” she snarled. “If you gave a fuck about me, you’d divorce me and let me move on instead of keeping up this bullshit act. You’re not the only one involved in this, Jesse.”

“I know, but you agreed to this. You knew going into this that—”

“And I didn’t know what I wasreallygetting into, did I?” She put up a hand as if to tell me not to bother responding. “I’m going to pack my things and get the fuck out of here.” She wasn’t shouting anymore, but her anger hadn’t cooled in the slightest. “I need to…just go home for a while.”

I nodded. “Okay. Whatever you need to do.” I immediately regretted my snide tone and sighed. “Simone, I’m sorry. It’s—”

“You’re always sorry,” she hissed. She turned away from me and stepped around the vase. As she snatched a suitcase off the floor, I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.

“Do you need any help?” I asked quietly.

“No.”

While she shoved things into her suitcase, I changed into my swimming trunks, grabbed a towel and goggles, and went down to the pool. She needed to be alone. I needed to get my mind off everything. A swim was the nearest escape, so I took it.

On the way down the hall, I kept my head down, avoiding the stares of people who peeked out of their rooms and whispered to one another. We weren’t the first couple to have a loud, early morning fight in a hotel. Maybe the first who’d told the universe what a solid, happy couple we were and placed ourselves under a microscope before having such a blazing argument, but still.

Were there always paparazzi in hotel lobbies this early? Lurking behind cameras and making shitty attempts at stealth as they followed me toward the pool? Maybe, maybe not. They were here this morning, though. Maybe four or five of them, all keeping a distance that was no doubt compensated for with their arm-length telephoto lenses.

Let them watch. Let them take their pictures and speculate about the noise that had come from the room my wife and I shared. Let them read what wasn’t there and what was there.

I just dove in and tried not to think about how much I’d hurt my wife.

Chapter 25

Anthony

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