“Ongoing issues?” Cassie reached out a hand, needing grounding, needing something. Anything. Then she let her arm fall back to her side. “Tell me. If there’s more, I deserve to know.”

“I’m not willing to get involved. Not any more than I already have.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I won’t.”

Searing pain seeped into Cassie’s heart. The harder she pushed for answers, the less clarity came. There couldn’t be more reasons to the divorce. She refused to believe that. They’d been happy. Hadn’t they? Or had she taken steps along the contented path on her own?

“Well, maybe there are things I’m no longer willing to do for you either,” Shay cooed.

Leo turned to his girlfriend, hitting her with a confident stare that spoke of his disbelief. “You need to stay out of it.”

Shay crossed her arms over her chest. “While I’m staying out of it, there’s something you’ll be staying out of too.” A feral smirk tilted her lips. “My pussy.”

“Thanks for the clarification, sweetheart.” He rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t have figured out what you meant otherwise.” He turned back to Cassie and shrugged. “Look, this is your life and your marriage. I’m not going to dictate what you should do. But I need to respect T.J.’s decision.” He grabbed her hand, kissed her knuckles and released his hold just as quickly. “I hope you can work it out.”

He walked away, his heavy steps echoing through the club before he disappeared behind the door leading downstairs.

“So where do we go from here?” Shay stepped into Cassie’s vision, shattering her concentration.

“We don’t go anywhere.” These women were lovely. Without encouragement, they’d befriended her and helped to pick her up after the humiliation downstairs. “Thank you both for being so kind to me. I appreciate it.”

It was time to leave. Her mind was filled with fog, her heart torn in two from the emotional blows too numerous to recall. She needed to get home and lick her wounds. To see if she could pick herself back up and return to the battlefield when she now had no clue who or what her enemy was.

“Don’t listen to him.” Shay waved a hand toward the doorway Leo had fled behind. “Whatever happens, he’ll get over it.”

“Shay, maybe you should stay out of it.” Zoe came to stand beside Cassie. “I can help where possible.”

“No.” Cassie strode for the bar and snatched the wig off the counter. She tugged it back on and stared at her reflection in the mirror, instantly wanting to scratch the itch from her scalp. “Both of you should stay out of it. The last thing I want to do is undermine T.J.”

She turned and gave them a fake smile. “I’ll be fine.”

Zoe approached and helped position the wig back in place. “Do you have a plan?”

Cassie shook her head. She didn’t have anything. Apparently, she didn’t even have the real reason why T.J. wanted a divorce. “I have determination. And for now, that’s all I need.”

Chapter Ten

Three days later, Cassie was still numb as she drove home from the supermarket. She’d spent every waking moment trying to figure out what could’ve caused the need for a divorce if it hadn’t been the assault in the sex club. There was no answer. Not even a clue. And even worse, she didn’t have a plan to win T.J. back either.

At least she was eating again. Her lack of appetite had fallen prey to the need to binge, and she currently had a car full of junk food.

Soon she’d need to accept that her husband wasn’t coming back. No matter how much he still loved her. His stubborn streak was going to win, and she was going to end up alone.

She turned onto her street and eased off the accelerator at the sight of an unfamiliar car parked in her driveway. She wasn’t prone to fits of apprehension over foreign vehicles, but after T.J. had surprised her with the divorce, she was skeptical of any strangers that came to visit.

Her fingers skimmed the garage clicker and she pressed the button to open the door. As she passed the vehicle to her left, she glimpsed long dark hair. A woman. Great. Maybe today’s surprise would be sponsored by a pregnant mistress or jealous girlfriend.

Pulling the car to a stop, she grabbed her handbag and yanked it to her side in a vain attempt for comfort. She fled the vehicle, her chin held high, her limbs heavy from exhaustion. As she pasted a smile on her lips, she came face-to-face with a gorgeous brunette at the trunk of her car.

The woman’s features were shaded by the Sinner baseball cap she wore, her loose T-shirt and short shorts exposing an enviable figure.

“Shay?” Cassie squinted into the sun.

“I look different with my clothes on, don’t I?” Shay smiled, resurrecting the comforting friendship from Thursday. “So do you.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m not really here. I’m at the gym.” Her smile widened. “I wanted to see how you were feeling after the other night.”

Cassie winced through the painful reminder and chose to deflect. “Do you want to come inside for a coffee?”

“Love to.”

Cassie ignored the bags of groceries on her backseat and ushered Shay into the house. The woman was gorgeous, her face brighter in the daylight. The gleam of mischief in her eyes sparked an unnerving sense of foreboding.

“So what’s the plan of attack?” Shay rubbed her hands together and rested back into the dining room chair.

“No plan.” Not yet anyway, and she was running out of time. “I thought you weren’t meant to get involved.”

“Yeah.” Shay nodded thoughtfully. “Unfortunately, I have a problem with authority. Usually, when I’m told not to do something, it makes it impossible for me to stay away. And besides, making Leo angry is a major turn-on.”

“Is he the one who told you where I live?” Having Leo on her side would be a step in the right direction. Whatever T.J. was going through, he needed his friends, and if those friends were supporting her endeavors to win him back, it would make her life easier.

“I can’t divulge how I came about that information. Let’s just say I’d be in a lot of trouble if your husband or my boyfriend found out.”

Cassie nodded, trying to hide her disappointment.

“So where are you going from here? I thought I might see you back at the club on Saturday night.”

“No.” Cassie shook her head. “I’m not really a glutton for punishment.” She’d tried and failed in her first attempt to get close to her husband. She wouldn’t do the same thing twice. “On Friday, I tried to find a legal representative to help fight the divorce. Everyone I called was enthusiastic about taking my money to gain more assets in the settlement, but that’s not what I’m after. I want my husband. I want my marriage. No solicitor could understand that.”

Cassie stared blankly into her coffee, seeing nothing but T.J. in her vision. “The only way I can stop the proceedings is to convince him to change his mind, and I’m no longer confident I can do that.”

“Hey.” Shay’s voice was strong. Firm. Even a little angry. “You can’t give up.”

Cassie lifted her gaze and was hit with the determination in Shay’s fierce brown eyes. “I don’t want to give up. But at some point, I’m going to have to. I know he’s making a mistake, and one day he’ll realize it too. I’m just not sure how long I’m willing to fight while I wait for him to figure it out. I’ve lost a year of my life anticipating the return of our perfect marriage.” She swallowed over the tightness in her throat. “When am I allowed to give up?”

“Not yet, that’s for sure. You need to try harder.”

Cassie sighed. “I don’t know if I can. It hurts too much.” The worst of it came at night, when she was alone in her bed, nothing but blankets to comfort her.

“It’ll hurt more once there’s no hope. The divorce isn’t final yet.”

“No, but he kissed someone else. At least that’s what he thinks. He’s already moving on.”