Free The Wives of Beverly Row 6: Lust Has a New Address by Abby Weeks

said.
    “Why the fuck did you do that?”
    “Because I needed to make sure that you’d allow Zola to get the divorce she needed.”
    “Zola’s not going anywhere,” Jake said. “I fucking own that bitch.”
    “No you don’t,” Ariel said. “You never did, and that’s what I’m going to show you.”
    “If that painting’s a forgery, all I have to do is tell the police. They’ll have you and your ex-husband arrested immediately.”
    “Not if they can’t prove the painting’s forged.”
    “They’ll prove it.”
    “Your expert, Douglas Landfeld, couldn’t prove it. How will the police?”
    “Is it a forgery or not?” Jake said.
    “It’s a forgery. But here’s the thing. I won’t tell anyone.”
    “If you sold me a fake, why wouldn’t you tell anyone?”
    “So that you’ll still be able to get the five million for it.”
    Jake was shaking his head. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
    “You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she said.
    Jake was sharp when it came to money. He knew she had him. He understood exactly what was going on. If she did anything to let the museum know the painting was a fake, he’d never be able to collect the five million reward, but at the same time, there was nothing he could do about it because the forgery was so good that the police wouldn’t be able to charge her and Gabe with selling a fake.
    Jake drew back his arm. Ariel saw it coming even before it happened. His arm flew toward her and his hand struck her across the face. The pain flew through her like a shockwave.
    Finally, Ariel could see what life had been like for Zola. She understood Zola’s fear now. And she knew she had to show Jake that the game was up, that she’d gotten the better of him once and for all, and that he was going to have to let Zola go.
    “Gabe,” Ariel called.
    “What is this?” Jake said, looking around.
    Within seconds, Gabe came in through the bedroom door. When he saw that Jake had struck Ariel across the face, he rushed at him. Jake turned in time to meet Gabe and the two men struck each other like charging bulls. Ariel had no idea who would have won the fight because Trudy was the next to enter the room, along with her two frat boys, Gary and Dean. They grabbed Jake and pulled him off of Gabe.
    Ariel thought about the irony of the fact that last time they’d been in that room, the two men had fucked.
    “What the hell is going on?” Jake said.
    Next, Veronica entered the room, accompanied by both Hank and Matt. It didn’t seem like Veronica’s decision to leave Hank had gotten in the way of Hank and Matt’s friendship at all. Even Veronica was surprised at how understanding and mature the men were being.
    Finally, Zola entered.
    When Jake saw her his jaw clenched. “What is the meaning of all of this?” he said, looking around the room. The two frat boys loosened their grip just a little.
    It was time. It was finally time for Jake to learn what had happened to him, and why.

XIV
    Z OLA SCANNED THE ROOM. Everyone was there, all her friends. Each of them wanted to teach Jake a lesson, to show him that he couldn’t go on treating his wife like a sex slave, or a piece of personal property that he could do with as he pleased. It felt good to Zola that her friends were there to support her. She looked in turn at Ariel, Trudy and Veronica.
    Ariel had orchestrated this entire confrontation with Jake. There had been times when Zola had been terrified of what Ariel was planning, but now that she was here, back in the hotel room in which they’d had their orgy, she felt overjoyed that her friend had been willing to go to such lengths to help her.
    Next she looked at Trudy. Trudy had brought her two UCLA lovers with her so that they could help keep Jake under control. While Zola knew that Trudy had a lot of issues still to deal with in her life, she was glad to call her a friend and felt encouraged and emboldened by the knowledge that she had a whole frat house of