Page 150 of Checkmate
As they drove through the city, Sophie peered out onto the streets, watching people as they moved about their day. She wondered how many of them were as happy as she was right now. She ran her hand over her still-flat stomach and felt a burst of pride. Nothing could sour her mood. Absolutely nothing.
Except for Erica and her ghastly brother walking toward her cab as she sat in traffic.
“Pull over here,” she said to the driver.
“No,” the driver said. “I don’t have a death wish.”
“I’m pregnant and I’m going to throw up. Pull the fuck over!”
Grumbling and swearing under his breath, the driver made a sharp turn, cutting off oncoming traffic as he pulled into the one remaining parking space. Sophie had the door open before he’d even stopped, barking an order at him to stay put.
“Erica!” She called, taking a few steps towards her. As Erica turned and recognition danced in her eyes, Sophie felt herself tense. What the fuck was she doing? What was she even going to say?
She hadn’t thought this through at all. She’d seen Erica and acted without thinking, and now they were getting closer to one another and she had no idea what to say or how to-
“Sophie,” Erica said cooly. “What is it?”
They hadn’t been face to face since Erica had collected her belongings all those months ago. The time away from Alex had done her some good, and Sophie had to admit, albeit begrudgingly, how incredible the other woman looked.
“I’ve been hoping to run into you,” Sophie said without thinking. “I wanted to talk to you, woman to woman.” She glanced at Josh and curled her lip. “So if you could give us a minute.”
“It’s okay, Josh,” Erica said, squeezing his arm. “You go on, I’ll catch up.” Josh leaned over and kissed her cheek before walking away. “We’ve got a meeting with some executives,” she said smugly. “So this will have to be quick.”
“Executives?” Sophie asked despite herself. “What executives?”
“Oh, well after that awful break-in, and then our news appearance, it seems Marcus and I are in demand.” Sophie pulled a face, not liking where this was going. “We’re in talks to get our own TV show, actually.”
“You’re fucking joking,” Sophie scoffed. “Because of his shitty walking tour thing?”
“Because of our highly successful walking tour, yes.”
God, she wanted to punch that stupid, smug look off her face. So what if they had a TV show? Alex owned one of the biggest companies in the entire country. They could have their five minutes of fame, but Sophie had still won the bigger catch, in her opinion.
“Well, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen,” she said dismissively. “But good for you, I suppose.”
“Are you do—”
“If you could find some time in that busy, busy schedule of yours,” Sophie interrupted. “Perhaps you could put the same level of effort into ending your marriage.”
“What do you mean?” Erica asked, raising an eyebrow. Sophie stared at her pointedly, jumping when Erica barked out a laugh.
“Let me guess,” she said. “Alex has told you I refuse to sign the papers.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Sophie, I’m the one who served the damn papers. Why wouldn’t I sign?”
It wasn’t as though Sophie hadn’t thought of that herself, but hearing someone else say it really fucking sucked.
“So you can play your weird power games,” Sophie said. “So you can keep manipulating Alex.”
“Manipulate-?” Erica sighed, pushing her hair from her face. “Sophie, what could I possibly gain from that?”
“Alex’s money, of course.”
Erica laughed, a loud booming sound that made several people turn to look at them. “I don’t want his money, Sophie. You’re more than welcome to it.” She paused and took a step towards her. “And I’ve heard a rumour he won’t be keeping that money for much longer, anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Sophie demanded, her heart sinking. No money? How could that be possible? Alex had more money than he knew what to do with.
“Oh, it’s just a rumour,” she said, waving a dismissive hand. “Top drawer of his desk. Underneath the black diary. It’s where he used to keep presents for me, thinking I didn’t know about the secret compartment. I’m almost positive that’s where you’ll find our divorce papers, signed and dated by me months ago.”
“You’re lying,” Sophie said, her tone lacking any conviction.
