Thank goodness she finally got that part right. “I’m not sleeping with Selina.”

“You’re sleeping with me.”

“As often as humanly possible.”

She didn’t smile, and he regretted making the weak joke.

“With Selina, you’re sharing your troubles, your fears, your aspirations and your secrets.”

Reed wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“And while we were in France, you were tying me to the bedposts-”

“-I never really-”

“-while discussing the weighty matters of our personal lives, our marriage and our future with her.” Elizabeth’s voice rose to a fever pitch. “You know what I think, Reed?”

He was afraid to ask.

“I think you’re married to Selina and having a fling with me.” She rocketed out of her chair.

He jumped up. “That is completely unfair. Completely.”

Elizabeth turned on him. “I bet you spend more hours in a day with her than with me. And is there anything about you she doesn’t know? She’s chasing down a murderer, so I bet you have to give her all the details.”

“You’re bastardizing-”

“Do you lie to her about where you are? Who you’re with?”

“Will you please settle-”

“I don’t just want to share your bed, Reed. I need more than the few minutes you can spare around your other obligations. I need more than the scraps of information you deem safe to share with me. I need you, Reed. I need to share your life.

“You are sharing my-”

“This isn’t a marriage. You and I have none of the fundamental pieces that couples need to build a life together. Yeah, we’re good in bed. You can completely push my buttons. I even liked the silk scarf thing. But I need more. I need all of you. I cannot, I will not play second fiddle to your ‘professionals.’

“I’m going to finish packing, Reed. Then Lucas and I are leaving.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes, we are. And you can’t stop us.”

“I’m leaving,” Reed said in a low, firm growl. “It’s nearly midnight. You are not going to drag a baby out of bed and cart him off to a hotel in the middle of the night. I’ll leave. You two stay here.”

He didn’t wait for her answer, simply headed for the door and left the penthouse. He had no other option. If she’d made up her mind, she’d made up her mind. He’d been the best husband he knew how, and if that wasn’t good enough, the only thing left to do was step aside.

Elizabeth had just settled Lucas in his baby swing when Hanna arrived at noon the next day. “All I can say,” she purred as the door clicked shut behind her, “is that Joe Germain sure knows how to take care of a girl’s body.”

“Good night?” Elizabeth asked, feeling exhausted from her own sleepless hours of tossing and turning. She knew in her soul that things couldn’t continue with Reed, but she missed him desperately, especially in their big bed.

When she thought about the fact that he’d never be there again, that his strong arms would never wrap around her, that she’d never feel the satisfying, naked weight of him on top of her ever again, she wanted to collapse in a heap and cry her eyes out.

Hanna, however, was smiling. “Joe is the sexiest, toughest, most inventive man on the planet.”

Elizabeth tried for a smile. “I never would have put you two-” She swallowed. “I never would have-”

“Lizzy?” Hanna peered into her eyes, concern growing on her face. “What the hell?”

As Elizabeth felt a fresh rush of tears, Hanna helped her to the couch, sitting down next to her and curling up her jean-clad legs. “What happened? The Vances? Lucas?”

Elizabeth shook her head. Her throat was raw and her chest felt like it was being squeezed by a giant rubber band. “Reed,” she managed.

“The SEC thing?”

“I don’t understand.”

Elizabeth forced her emotions under control. She had to stop this. It was what it was, and no amount of crying would change that. “Reed and I split up last night.”

“He was not having an affair. I know this.”

“He might as well have been. He won’t share his life with me, Hanna. The man was being blackmailed for ten million dollars, and he never even mentioned it. But to her-” Elizabeth’s voice shook. “With her, it’s a dozen e-mails a day.”

“Like online sex?”

“Like online life. To me, he lies, he evades, he protects. She gets his hopes, his fears, his dreams. I want that,” she said, stabbing her thumb against her chest.

Hanna cocked her head. “But he’s not sleeping with her.”

“No.”

“And he is sleeping with you?”

“Was.”

“And there’s no way to fix the other? I mean, now that you know about the blackmail…”

“There’ll be something else. Something else he worries will upset me, things he needs to keep secret for my own good. He’s got this unbelievable protective streak, and he absolutely refuses to treat me like an adult. I could help. I could have helped.”

“With the blackmail threat?”

“Yes.”

“Yes. Well, of course. Because with your extensive experience with criminal investigative techniques, and your training in hand-to-hand combat…”

“You sound like Joe.”

“Have you tried to talk to Reed?”

“Until I’m blue in the face.” But nothing convinced Reed to let her in. If she couldn’t get in, she couldn’t be his wife.

“Do you still love him?” Hanna asked softly.

The tears that had dried up threatened again. “It’s not like an on/off switch.”

“I’m telling you,” Reed said, rising to his feet and raising his voice so that Collin would get the point. “It’s over. I left her at her request.”

“And I’m telling you,” Collin replied, “it can’t be over for three more weeks.”

“It’s not like I won’t support her. She can have anything she wants.”

“That’s not the point, and you know it.”

Reed did know it. He simply didn’t want to accept it. “To make her happy, I have to stay away.”

“To protect her, you have to go back.” Collin dropped back down in the guest chair. “The judge will want to see an intact family. You want Elizabeth to keep Lucas? You put your ass back in that penthouse and keep it there until the court case is over.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” said Reed, trying to imagine Elizabeth’s reaction if he showed up at the front door. “You don’t understand. You’ve never been married.”

“I’m not giving you marital advice,” said Collin. “I’m giving you legal advice. Sleep on the couch. Eat at restaurants. You work eighteen hours a day anyway. It’s not like you’ll have to see each other.”

Collin’s accusation came too close to one of Elizabeth’s complaints for Reed’s taste.

“I don’t work eighteen hours a day.”

Collin snorted. “How many times last month did you have business dinners?”

Reed scanned back in his mind. “A few.”

“Seventeen, to be exact. Devon showed me your schedule.”

“Seventeen?” Reed turned the number over in his brain. Add to that his Chamber of Commerce functions, the two nights he gave speeches, and a couple of business trips to Chicago, and it started to add up.

He tried to picture his last dinner with Elizabeth. They’d eaten together at the anniversary party, of course. But he’d dealt with a flurry of problems while she danced with other men.

“Let me make one thing perfectly clear,” said Collin. “I have absolutely no designs on your wife.” He paused while Reed’s eyes narrowed. “But I’m glad she did it. If I was her, I’d have left you a long time ago.”

“Wellington International doesn’t run itself,” Reed pointed out. He didn’t attend business dinners because he’d rather be there than at home. They were important. They were necessary. Particularly when you were dealing with out-of-town guests or other cultures, the social aspect could make or break a deal.

“Don’t you think I know that?”

“So, what’s your solution?”

“My solution is to stay single.”

Reed dropped back into his chair. “Looks like I’m about to do the same thing.”

“But not for three weeks.”

“Right,” Reed reluctantly agreed. For Elizabeth, for Lucas, he’d be a man about it. She was going to resist. But he’d make her understand it was for her own good.

The last person Elizabeth expected to knock on her front door was Reed. It was surreal for him not to use his key. Plus, she’d been picturing him in her mind for so many hours, it was almost a shock to see him in person. Frustratingly, her heart gave a little lift. She squelched it.

He made no move to come in.

“Sorry to disturb you,” he said instead, sounding formal even for Reed.

“No problem,” she managed. “Lucas just went down for a nap.”

Reed nodded. “I…uh…”

Did he need something? His clothes? Elizabeth struggled for the right way to behave.

“Can we talk?” he asked, looking very serious.

Her heart did the little lift thing again. “Sure.”

She stood to one side and motioned him in, telling herself that nothing had changed. She could not, would not let him sweet-talk her into trying again.

He walked through the doorway and dropped his keys in their usual spot on the table. There was something about the unconscious act that tightened her chest and clogged her throat.

“What did you want to talk about?” She knew her only hope was to get this visit over with quickly. The pain of having him here was too intense, and she knew she was in for a fresh crying jag after he left.

As long as she could make it that far…

She sat down at one end of the sofa.

“I’ve been talking to Collin,” Reed began. “He thinks…well, for Lucas…” He paced to the bay window.

Her stomach hollowed out. Reed wasn’t going to fight her for Lucas. Please God, not that.

He didn’t meet her eyes. “For the sake of Lucas, and the court case, and to maximize our changes of defending ourselves against the Vances, we should stay together until custody is settled. Three weeks.”