The Senator's Wife

The Senator’s Wife is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.Copyright © 2023 by Lynne Constantine and Valerie ConstantineAll rights reserved.Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.BANTAM BOOKS is a registered trademark and the B colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.Hardback ISBN 9780593599891Ebook ISBN 9780593599907randomhousebooks.comCover design: Scott BielCover images: Ludmila Shumlova/Arcangel Images (cherry blossoms); Archiwiz/Shutterstock Images (broken glass)ep_prh_6.1_143634257_c0_r0 ContentsCoverTitle PageCopyrightEpigraph1: Sloane2: Whit3: Sloane4: Athena5: Whit6: Sloane7: Rosemary8: Sloane9: Athena10: Sloane11: Whit12: Athena13: Sloane14: Athena15: Whit16: Athena17: Rosemary18: Athena19: Sloane20: Athena21: Rosemary22: Athena23: Sloane24: Sloane25: Athena26: Rosemary27: Sloane28: Whit29: Sloane30: Athena31: Whit32: Sloane33: Rosemary34: Sloane35: Whit36: Rosemary37: Whit38: Athena39: Rosemary40: Whit41: Sloane42: Sloane43: Athena44: Sloane45: Whit46: Whit47: Sloane48: Athena49: Sloane50: Athena51: Sloane52: Whit53: Sloane54: Rosemary55: Athena56: Whit57: Rosemary58: Sloane59: Rosemary60: Sloane61: Rosemary62: Whit63: Whit64: Whit65: Athena66: Whit67: Rosemary68: Athena69: SloaneDedicationAcknowledgmentsBy Liv ConstantineAbout the Author_143634257_ False face must hide what the false heart doth know.—Macbeth, act I, scene 7 - 1 -SLOANEThe events leading up to the destruction of Sloane Chase’s carefully ordered world had already been set in motion. She just didn’t know it yet. She was tired and irritable, thanks to the Category 5 argument their houseguests had subjected them to late last night. She yawned as she walked into the kitchen and saw Robert, her husband, standing at the counter, pouring himself a cup of coffee.“Good morning,” Sloane said as she rose on tiptoe to kiss him.“Good morning, gorgeous,” he said, pulling her closer. “I made coffee.” He poured her a cup and handed it to her.“Thanks.” She took a long sip. “What in the world is going on with Whit and Peg? I thought they’d never stop yelling.”Robert raised his eyebrows. “I know. Did you notice how hard Peg was hitting the wine? They were at each other’s throats all evening. Something’s not right between them.”Sloane nodded. “I’m glad we’re heading back to DC today. This is not how I envisioned spending our last weekend at the beach.”A loud shriek made them both freeze. Peg’s voice rang out. “You’re a lying son of a bitch!”Sloane and Robert exchanged a look. “What’s going on now?” Sloane whispered.They moved to the hallway just as Whit came running down the stairs, with Peg close behind him.“I’m not going to talk to you while you’re like this,” he said as he swept past Sloane and Robert. The next thing they heard was the slamming of the screen door to the beach.“Don’t you dare ignore me!” Peg screamed after him, her face red and eyes wild.Robert blocked her from going any farther. “Peg, hold on, you need to cool down. Let me go talk to Whit.”She collapsed into Robert’s arms, sobbing. “I hate him!”Robert gave Sloane a helpless look.“Peg, why don’t you and I go talk?” Sloane put her arm around the woman and, with a nod to Robert, indicated that he should go after Whit.Sloane led her to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee, letting the silence sit between them as Peg took a sip. Robert’s first cousin Peg had not been herself lately. She was an attractive woman who’d always taken care with her appearance, but this past weekend she had shown no interest in how she looked and had been drinking heavily.Finally, Peg spoke. “Everyone thinks he’s so wonderful.” She put the cup down and looked at Sloane. “You have no idea.”Sloane had sensed that things hadn’t been great between them the last few months, but Peg’s open hostility was something new.Sloane put a hand on her arm. “What is it?”Suddenly, Peg jumped up from her chair. “I need a drink.” She grabbed the wine bottle on the counter and poured some into a glass.Sloane watched in distress. “What are you doing? It’s barely eight o’clock. That won’t help anything.”Peg lifted the glass to her lips and took a large gulp, then poured more and drank again. She put the glass down on the counter and looked at Sloane with eyes full of fury.“I hate him. He’s a pig and a bastard.”“What’s going on, Peg?” Sloane took her hand and led her back to the kitchen table, where they sat, Peg still clutching the wine bottle.She raised it to pour another drink and wrenched her arm away when Sloane tried to stop her. “I’ll drink if I want to!” Peg slammed the glass down. “He’s nothing but a liar and a cheat.”“What are you talking about?”“He’s screwing that bitch. Been screwing her for months.”Sloane raised her eyebrows. “Who?”“You look surprised.” She gave a bitter laugh. “He’s discreet, I’ll give him that. But all those late nights, the weekends at work. All bullshit.”“We’re both married to senators, Peg. Those late nights and weekends come with the territory. You know that. Senate sessions run long, votes run over. Everyone in DC works those crazy hours. That doesn’t mean someone’s having an affair.”Peg’s eyes were cold. “That’s true for Robert. He would never look at another woman. He worships you, so how could you possibly understand? But Whit’s different. I know he’s been sleeping with Madelyn Sawyer for over a year now.”“What?” Sloane knew the woman, as did anyone who was anyone in DC. Madelyn Sawyer was a barracuda—smart, rich, and powerful, with a voracious appetite for equally powerful men. But surely Peg was wrong. She’d always been jealous, and having a husband who looked like Whit didn’t help. He was fit and toned, with thick dark hair and a face that looked as though it had been sculpted by one of the masters. Robert, blond and blue-eyed, was good-looking, but Whit was startlingly handsome. Journalists seemed unable to resist mentioning his “movie star good looks,” as trite as the expression was.“Are you sure about this?”Peg leaned forward, so close that Sloane could smell the