Page 144 of Checkmate
Sophie felt a pang in her chest that she couldn’t quite explain. But seeing Marcus and Erica on screen, and how perfect they looked together, left her with some confusing feelings she didn’t want to explore.
“It was me,” Alex muttered, interrupting her thoughts.
“What—”
“Their fucking bus. I stole it.”
What. The. Fuck?!
“Or at least I hired someone to steal it,” he said. Standing, he walked to their drinks trolly, pouring himself a double whiskey. “That’s why I was looking at the bank statements. Because the bank flagged some unusual spending.”
“I… Okay…”
“I don’t know what I was thinking, I just wanted to get back at that bastard after he blackmailed me—”
“Marcus is blackmailing you? Why?”
“I- No, I mean, it’s not a—”
“Alex,” she said firmly, interrupting his stuttering. It wasn’t a tone he was used to hearing from her, and the shock was enough to make him pay attention. “Why is Marcus blackmailing you?”
Alex sighed, knocking back his drink. “Remember around six months ago, when the London group started demanding meetings all the fucking time?”
“Yeah, we even joked that they were trying to catch us out.”
“They were trying to catch us out,” he said with another sigh. “Marcus got in touch with them before he even sent that letter to Erica.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, exactly.” Taking his seat next to her, he offered her his glass, which she took automatically. Hopefully, he’d be too preoccupied to notice she wasn’t drinking from it. “Anyway, he’s still holding it over me, I guess. He clearly hasn’t got over me stealing you.”
“I don’t know. He seemed pretty cosy with Erica on the screen. I don’t think I’m even on his radar anymore.”
“Maybe it’s a pride thing then,” Alex said, curling his lip. “He has no other reason to come for me, does he?”
“Guess not…”
“Anyway, I stole the fucking bus to give him something else to focus on. A childish attempt at revenge.” He leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. “Who knew he had the fuckin’ Lord Provost in his corner?”
“I did,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “He set up a meeting with him years ago, and some other important people in the city. We had dinner with him every couple of months after that.”
Alex groaned, turning to look at her. “And you didn’t think to tell me this?”
“Well, no,” she replied with a shrug. “I didn’t know you were going to steal his fucking bus, and it didn’t seem important.”
“Do you know how powerful Angus MacFarlane is, Sophie? If you had connections with him, why did you never mention it?”
“Because he never really warmed to me,” she said, handing him back his drink which he promptly finished. She took his glass to pour him another. “I didn’t think he’d be too interested in me once I cheated on Marcus, so it didn’t seem important.”
Alex groaned, falling silent. Sophie focused on pouring his drink, her mind racing.
“I really wish you’d told me,” he said after a moment, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve really fucked up, Soph.”
“Not really,” she replied. “I mean, you’re not the one on camera, are you? And I’m sure you’ve covered your tracks well.”
“I have,” he agreed. “Or at least I think so.”
Sophie sat in his lap, moving her arm around his shoulders. “I’m sure you have,” she said, kissing his temple. “You’re an incredibly intelligent man. And if, somehow, you find yourself on the firing squad, you know I have your back. I’m not above lying to cover for you.”
