Page 131 of Checkmate
“Your move, Alex. Make it a good one.”
Chapter 37
Erica
SIX MONTHS AGO
“So, you’re the guy our sister has decided to shack up with?”
“I guess you could say that?” Marcus chuckled, the inflection of his sentence turning it into a question. “She’s sleeping on the couch.”
“You’re making my sister sleep on the couch?” Josh leaned forward in his seat, resting his arms on his thighs. “Dude.”
“Nope,” Marcus said confidently. “I’ve asked Erica if she would like to sleep in my bed, but she refused.”
“So, you were hitting on her?” Lottie smirked, nudging Josh. “He moves quickly. I told you they were flirting.”
“God, no.” Marcus shook his head, looking at Erica’s parents. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Don’t worry about it, Marcus,” her mother said. “I believe my children are ‘taking the piss.’”
Erica chuckled at Marcus’ sigh of relief, glancing up at him. “Sorry, I should have warned you.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” He muttered.
A chuckle went around the group as he ran his hand through his hair. With the excitement of earlier forgotten, the family had retired to the lounge, catching up on Christmas Day TV.
Her father had barely said anything since Alex left, watching the interactions between Erica and Marcus. Everyone knew of him, of course. She’d told them all about the business and her inclusion in it. But seeing the man in the flesh was something different.
“So,” Bob finally said. “If I understand everything, your wife was sleeping with Alex?”
“Yes Sir, I’m afraid so.”
“And Erica, your marriage is over?” He said, looking over at her.
“Yes. I refuse to give a cheater a second chance,” she said firmly. “Sorry, Dad. I know you’re not a fan of divorce.”
“I’m not a fan of assholes who break my daughter’s heart either,” he said, waving her off. “I’m just trying to understand.”
“What’s there to understand, Dad?” Josh said with a scoff. “Alex is a cheating scumbag, and Marcus got caught in the crossfire.”
“Okay, fine,” their father conceded. “All of that’s pretty cut and dry. But what I don’t understand is why Erica is going to stay with Marcus when any of us would have put her up.”
Marcus hesitated, glancing up at Erica. “I think she’s probably the only one that can answer that, Sir. But I assure you, she is perfectly safe with me.”
All eyes turned to Erica as they waited for an answer. She felt heat rise in her cheeks at being put on the spot like this. But she could understand her family’s concerns. Why had she chosen a man they didn’t know over family?
“Well,” she said, shifting slightly. “Let me start by saying I love you all dearly.”
“Oh, she’s about to insult us all.”
“Be quiet, Josh,” Lottie said, throwing daggers in his direction. Erica just laughed.
“Actually, he’s kind of right,” she said. “Look, I know you all mean well but I bet you all have a load of questions, right? Mum, I bet you want to know if there were any signs. Liv, I can practically hear you wondering what went wrong.”
She paused and sighed. “They’re all valid, well-meaning questions. I just don’t want to hear them. The truth is, there were no signs. We were happy. We had a healthy sex life.” She shrugged. “It was just something that happened because Alex is a cunt.”
Her mother gasped at her language, bristling in her seat.
