“This is kind of, um, delicate.”

“If there’s something I should know, I’d really like to hear it. Since I’m living right next door to her, with a baby and all.”

“I know Libby from the building where she used to live. And we had, um, issues with her. Have you noticed anything?”

This had gotten her attention. Even as the baby wriggled and whimpered, the woman mulled over the question, no doubt reviewing every interaction she’d ever had with her neighbor. “Well, she’s kind of a cool cat. And I don’t think she’s a big fan of babies. At least, not my baby.”

Okay. Keep going.

“And there was that party she threw last month. You could smell the pot all the way down the hall. Some of the kids were drunk, and I know they weren’t all of age. It went on till way past midnight, kept me and my husband awake. And the baby too.”

“That’s pretty inconsiderate.”

“No kidding.” The woman was just getting started, trawling her memory for every irritation, every slight, as she jiggled the baby to keep it quiet. “Then there’s that boy she keeps bringing over. I mean, if they’re having sleepovers, why doesn’t he just make it official and move in? But I guess he can afford having his own apartment. I sure didn’t have that kind of money when I was in college.”

That boy. Was she talking about Liam?

“Oh, and there were the FedEx packages that went missing, down by the mail slots. We never did find out who took them. Did that happen in your building? Did things go missing there too?”

Taryn didn’t answer. She was thinking about Liam sleeping in another girl’s bed. A girl who had no right to him. No, there could still be a mistake. She didn’t know for certain it was Liam.

“Please don’t tell her I was here,” said Taryn.

“Should I be worried? Should I tell the building supervisor?”

“Not yet. Not until I have proof.”

“Okay. Thank you for warning me.” The woman cast a nervous glance toward 405. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

So will I.

On her way back to the elevator, Taryn paused once again outside 405. She thought about how easy it would be to wait here until Elizabeth Whaley returned home. How easy it would be to follow her into her apartment and pull a knife from the kitchen drawer. She wondered how hard you had to push to make a blade sink into flesh, and how deep it had to go to pierce the heart. She considered all these things.

Then she left the building and walked home.

It was seven fifteen on Friday night when her phone dinged with a text message from Cody.

When she opened it, at first she didn’t understand the significance of what she was looking at. It was a blurry photo taken through a window, and half the frame was filled with a man’s shoulder in the foreground. Then she focused on the couple seated in the background. The woman’s back was turned, but Taryn could see she had long dark hair and was holding a glass of red wine. The man seated across from her also held a glass of wine, raised slightly as though in a toast, and the camera had caught him in midlaugh. It was a face she knew all too well, and it was smiling at another woman.

Feverishly she tapped out a reply to Cody: Where is this?

He answered: Emilio’s on Concord St.

She knew exactly where Emilio’s was. She remembered standing outside the restaurant with Liam when they were freshmen, salivating over the menu posted in the front window. She remembered him telling her, “One of these days, when we have something big to celebrate, I’ll bring you here.”

He never had. Instead he was there with her, laughing and sipping wine.

She texted Cody: R they there right now?

Should be. I left only ten minutes ago.

A roar whooshed inside her head, and she pressed her hands to her temples to block out the sound, but it was still there. The sound of her heart pounding. Breaking.

It was a fifteen-minute walk to Emilio’s, and the whole time she thought about where they must be in their meal. By now the bread and appetizers would have been cleared away, and they’d be on the main course. She imagined the woman twirling pasta on her fork, Liam slicing into his forty-two-dollar veal entrée. That was what he’d go for, the priciest item on the menu, if only to impress his date. She picked up her pace, her boots pounding the sidewalk in determined march tempo. She could not let them slip away from the restaurant before she confronted them. This must happen tonight, now. Her hands were clenched in fists, ready for battle. This was battle, and she thought of Achilles and Aeneas, Sparta and Troy. That war had been fought over a woman. This war would be fought between women. By the time she stepped into Emilio’s, she was flushed and sweating in her down jacket. Inside, over the background music of soft jazz, she heard the clink of chinaware and the happy buzz of conversation. In the bar, a cappuccino machine roared, frothing milk.

“Can I help you?” the hostess asked.

Taryn pushed right past her into the dining room and spotted Liam at a table near the window. The chair across from him was empty, but there was a woman’s sweater and a purse draped over the back. She’d gone to the restroom, and Liam was too busy scrolling through his smartphone to notice Taryn until she was standing at his table. His chin snapped up, and he stared at her in disbelief.

“Taryn? What are you—”

“Why are you here with her?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw you two at the museum. And now you’ve brought her here.”

“You’ve been spying on us?”

“Just tell me why you’re with her.”

“This is none of your business.”

“It fucking well is my business.”

“Okay, you have to leave. Now.” He glanced around, scanning the dining room for help. The hostess was already walking toward them, high heels clacking across the wood floor.

“Is this woman disturbing you?” she asked Liam.

“Yes, she is. Maybe you could show her out.”

“Not till you tell me why the fuck you’re here with her!” Taryn screamed.

Everyone was staring, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care that her hair was a wild tangle and her face was wind chapped and her voice was shaking. All she cared about was that Liam’s shame was now out in the open for the world to see.

“That’s enough.” Liam rose to his feet and said to the other diners: “I’m sorry about this, folks. This woman is crazy.”

“I’m calling the police,” said the hostess, already pulling out a cell phone.

“Liam, what’s going on?” a new voice said.

Taryn turned to see the Bitch, who had returned from the restroom and was frowning at her. She was doe eyed and so very pretty.

“Why are you seeing my boyfriend?” Taryn demanded.

“I’m going to walk her outside,” Liam said to the girl. “I’ll be right back.”

“But Liam—”

“Just wait here, okay, Libby?”

Liam hauled Taryn across the dining room and out the door to the sidewalk. An icy wind was blowing, and he was only in shirtsleeves, but he was so fueled by rage he seemed impervious to the cold.

“Taryn, you are going to leave me alone. Do you understand?”

“So you’ve been cheating on me.”

“Cheating? On you?” His laugh was like a slap in the face. “Do you think you and I are still together? It’s over. It’s been over for months, and there’s nothing between us, okay? I told you that. I’ve been telling you since Christmas, but you’re like a psycho with all your phone calls and emails and texts. Do you get it now? I’m done with you. So leave me the fuck alone.”

“Liam,” she said softly. Then again, “Liam.”

“Go home.” He turned back to the restaurant.

“You love me. You told me so. Don’t you remember?”

“Things change.”

“This doesn’t change! Not love!”

“We were kids. We didn’t know any better.”

“I knew. I’ve always known. The only reason I came to Boston was to be with you. You asked me to.”

“But now it’s time for both of us to move on. We’re not the same people we were in high school, Taryn. I’m heading to law school, maybe in California. I need to be able to breathe.”

“Is she going to let you breathe?”

“At least she won’t smother me. She has plans of her own.”

“Meaning you.”

“No, meaning she’s going to do something with her life. She’s applying to grad school, thinking about a career.”

“You two are going away to grad school together?”

“Come on, Taryn. Don’t make this harder than it already is. It was never going to work out between us.”

“Because I don’t have her ambition? Or is it because I’m just the girl from Mill Street and you’re the doctor’s kid?”

“It has nothing to do with where you came from. It’s about where you’re going, and about where I want to go. It’s about having plans.”

“But I had you.”