When I got home, a pair of women's heels sat by the front door.
The exact pair Ellie had been wearing tonight.
Bruno heard me come in and stepped out of the bedroom. Our eyes met in the hallway.
I didn't say a word. I pushed past him and walked straight into the bedroom.
Ellie was standing there, bare-legged, wearing Bruno's white dress shirt. The hem barely grazed her hips, and the lace edge of her underwear peeked out beneath it.
She was toweling off her hair, clearly fresh out of the shower. My shower. The master bathroom.
"You send your own wife to the police station, then bring your assistant home. Really stepping up your game, Bruno."
"Don't get the wrong idea. Ellie got something on her clothes, and the hotel was close to the house, so I brought her up to shower and change."
"You don't like other people touching your things, so I let her wear mine."
He said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. Like I was the one being unreasonable.
"You're a germaphobe, Bruno. You insist our laundry be washed separately. But now your shirt's on her back. So the germaphobia was only ever about me, is that it?"
Ellie put on that same saccharine act. "Mrs. Matthews, please don't misunderstand. Mr. Matthews said he was giving me this shirt. He won't be wearing it again."
"Did I ask you? My husband and I are talking. Stop putting your nose where it doesn't belong!"
Ellie's eyes glistened, her lip trembling with practiced hurt. "I just didn't want you to misunderstand Mr. Matthews."
"How thoughtful of you."
Bruno turned on me. "Judith, enough! You threw your weight around at the restaurant, and now you're starting in at home too?"
I matched his volume. "You think I wanted any of this?!"
Ellie tugged at Bruno's sleeve. "It's fine, Mr. Matthews. She's your wife, after all. I'm just an assistant. A little mistreatment won't kill me."
"Wife or not, that doesn't give her the right to treat you like this!"
"Let's get a divorce, Bruno."
He froze. "What did you just say?"
"I said I want a divorce!"
"Over something this trivial, you want a divorce?"
"You think this is trivial?"
"Nothing happened between me and Ellie. She's a young girl just starting her career. I looked out for her a little. What's wrong with that?"
"I don't want my man looking out for another woman. It disgusts me."
Something snapped in Bruno, like a cornered rat whose tail had been stepped on. He exploded.