Free The Wives of Beverly Row 4: Lust Has a New Address by Abby Weeks Page A

chance.”
    “I didn’t know you were in a bar in Santa Monica this week.”
    “Jesus. I was just having a beer. Anyway, I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
    Zola took a deep breath. It was true. This wasn’t like a normal argument between husband and wife. There was nothing at stake for Jake here. He didn’t even pretend to be faithful to Zola, he didn’t want to admit that she deserved fidelity and faithfulness. He just told her the way things were and it was her job to accept it.
    “Anyway, I ended up showing her the video I made of you and Peter,” Jake said.
    Zola’s entire body froze as she absorbed the meaning of Jake’s words. This was it, this was the one thing she feared most in the world, the meeting of her real life and the fake life that Jake was creating for her online. If Ariel had seen that video, then how was she going to be able to continue her life on Beverly Row? How was she going to be able to show her face around the other women? It was all over.
    She began to cry. She couldn’t help it. She knew Jake would have no sympathy for her but that didn’t stop the tears from flowing. She didn’t make a sound but her shoulders started heaving with the force of her emotion and her eyes wetted up. She was overcome with grief.
    “How could you show Ariel that video?” she gasped, tears choking her voice. “You know I can’t live with everyone around here knowing about it.”
    “Relax,” Jake said. “She’s into it. She’s not going to tell anyone.”
    “Of course she’s going to tell. She’s going to tell everyone. That’s what women do. They talk, Jake.”
    “Who cares?” Jake said, brushing aside her fears as if they meant nothing at all to him. “She’s into it and if you want to save what little face you’ve got left, you’d better pretend you’re into it too.”
    “What?” Zola said. “What are you even talking about Jake?”
    “Look,” Jake said, “I don’t want to be an asshole about this, but you’ve got to be realistic. You’ve got nothing here, nothing to bargain with. You live under my roof. You spend my money. Unless you want to be left with nothing, you better smarten up.”
    Zola couldn’t contain the sobs. She couldn’t contain her emotions. She felt devastated. He’d shown Ariel the video, now he was threatening her home, her security. How could she stand up against this? She felt as if her entire personality, her entire identity, was being washed away by the ocean.
    She turned around and looked at him. She sniffed, stopped crying, wiped her eyes.
    “Who was watching on the camera tonight?” she said as calmly as she could.
    “Just the guys on the forum.”
    “Was Peter?”
    “Of course. He’s your biggest fan.”
    “It’s private right? The recording.”
    “Of course it’s private. Jesus. It’s for forum members only.”
    She looked at his face, so handsome, she looked into his eyes, and she tried to understand what was going on in his mind. What was he thinking? What did he want? Did he love her? Was this how he expressed love? Was any of this alright? Was she able to live with it? She was trying to convince herself that there was something here, some humanity, some sort of relationship that she and Jake shared that had something human about it.
    “What did you say to Ariel?” she said.
    “I just said that we were into swinging.”
    “Both of us?”
    “Of course,” Jake said. “We are, right? I mean, I’m not the only one who’s into this. You’re willing too, right. No one’s forcing you into any of this.”
    She thought about that. He had just threatened to take away her home, her financial security, everything that she relied on. She knew he was lying, that he was forcing her to do these things. She knew he knew he was forcing her, but something inside her wanted to make peace with him. She wanted to play along. She wanted to pretend that they were in this together. It was the only way she could find the strength to carry