“Right. Well, long story short—Zac’s wife, Avery, is a thunder cunt from hell.”
I jerked my head back. “What?”
“You heard me. There’s no nice way to describe her. She’s a raging alcoholic and she’s also a narcissist. I don’t throw that term around loosely, either, because it’s so overused nowadays. But Avery is a narcissist and she’s a mean one too.”
“Okay.”
“She’s volatile, especially when she’s drinking, and she takes out her anger on Zac. Did you happen to notice the scratch on his face?”
“Yes, I did. After finding out that he had a son, I just thought maybe he and Malcolm had been play-wrestling like fathers and sons do.”
“No. That scratch came from Avery.”
“How long have incidents like that been happening between them?”
“Most of their marriage.”
“And how long have they been married?”
“Ten years.”
“Same as I was. I cannot imagine living with such an awful person as Zac is. And what about Malcolm? Has Avery ever harmed him?”
“No, or Zac would’ve killed her. Malcolm is Zac’s entire world. His pride and joy.”
“Why doesn’t Zac just get a divorce?”
“He doesn’t wanna split custody of Malcolm with Avery. He’s told me that he’ll never be a part-time father no matter how bad things get at home.”
“You and Zac seem to be really close. You know so much about him.”
“We are really close, Stevie. He’s like another son to me.”
“Does anyone else know about Zac’s home life?”
“You mean from our team?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure they know some of Zac’s story through the legal community’s grapevine, but I’ve never discussed it with any of them.”
“Then why are you discussing it with me?”
“For some reason, I felt like you needed to know about it. Don’t ask me why I felt that way because I can’t explain why.”
“I understand that kind of feeling, and I appreciate you being open with me about Zac. Tell me about Bash, though.”
“What do you wanna know?”
“He and Zac are best friends, right?”
“Yes.”
“And Bash is single?”
“He is.”
“Has he ever been married?”