Page 151 of Checkmate
“Then it won’t hurt you to check, will it?” Erica said, straightening up. “I must dash. These execs will be getting impatient. But you’d know that, wouldn’t you? You’re well acquainted with the London Group by now, right?”
With a smug smile and a dark look in her eyes, Erica turned away from her, following her brother down the street. “Remember, the top drawer of his desk. Bye, bye now.”
Sophie stood frozen on the side of the road, watching Erica until she disappeared around the corner and then staring at the empty space where she once stood.
Did she say… the London group?
Shit, if that was true, they were in trouble.
Rushing back to the cab, she grabbed her phone and dialled Alex’s number. “Well, what are you waiting for?” She said to the driver. “Take me home!”
As the driver pulled onto the street, and the dial tone rang in her ear, Sophie was already planning some damage control. There was no chance they could lose the London group. Especially not to Erica and fucking Marcus.
No, she could handle this. She had to handle this. For the future of their unborn child, she was going to make sure the London group stayed exactly where they belonged.
The top drawer of his desk was just going to have to wait.
Chapter 44
Erica
“Marcus is meeting us here?”
“As soon as he can get away,” Erica nodded. “Angus is keeping him busy so we could meet with the London group.”
And what a meeting it turned out to be. Erica couldn’t wait for Marcus to join them. Sitting at their favourite bar, she’d already ordered him a celebratory drink though she had a feeling they were going to need a hell of a lot more once she told him the deal she had secured for them.
“He’s late,” Josh said, watching the door. He was just as anxious as she was to tell Marcus the good news. She felt her heart swell as she watched her brother.
Josh was the type of person who got on well with everyone. In any social situation, he found someone to talk to and made sure everyone was relaxed in his company. So it was no surprise he and Marcus got along.
What was a little unexpected was just how well they got along.
As close as brothers, Josh was the person Marcus spent the most time with after her. A fact that made her indescribably happy. When she had been with Alex, her time with her siblings felt very limited. It was almost as though Alex knew if they spent enough time around him, they’d see him for what he was.
But Marcus had nothing to hide and Josh was an almost daily visitor to their home.
“What did bitch features want, anyway?” He asked, turning his attention away from the door. “You caught up pretty quickly.”
“She wanted to know why I haven’t signed my divorce papers,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Alex has her convinced I’m the one delaying things.”
“I’d almost feel sorry for her if she wasn’t such a bitch,” Josh said, taking a drink. “How could she believe a single thing he says?”
Erica shrugged, glancing at the door. “Fuck knows, honestly. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. How any self-respecting woman could trust someone so willing to cheat—”
“She’s hardly self-respecting, Eri,” he replied. “And she’s just as bad as he is.”
Well, how could she argue with that?
God, throwing the London group in Sophie’s face had been satisfying. The only way the moment could have been better would have been if Alex was there, too. Erica didn’t need the London Group for the TV deal. Truthfully, after Angus had publicly given them his backing, they’d had their pick of TV executives who had the next ‘great big thing’ in store for them.
But picking any of those perfectly fine companies wouldn’t give her one over on her thieving scumbag of an ex.
Her hand curled into a fist, as it had done at least once a day since the break-in. How dare Alex try to destroy their livelihood? They were closing in on a year since she left their home, during which he’d been living with his girlfriend.
After all that time, he still hadn’t got his shit together and just moved the fuck on.
“Stop getting angry,” Josh said with a tut. “And unclench your jaw. Stop thinking about him.”
