Page 35 of Checkmate
“Last night, I had dinner with my brother and his wife. Alex had invited them round because they’ve not long returned from their honeymoon, and we hadn’t seen them for a while.”
“Okay,” Marcus replied, trying to follow her train of thought.
“He spent most of the evening complaining about a client at work and the trouble they were causing. On and on, he spoke about loyalty and trust and how important they were to a working relationship.
“And I sat there getting angrier and angrier because, of course, he didn’t honour me with trust and loyalty. His client deserved more respect than his wife, clearly.”
“I’m sorry, Erica,” he said as she sniffed, dabbing at her eyes. Despite her poise, he could tell how much this was killing her.
“It’s fine,” she muttered, clearing her throat. “It’s fine. Anyway, it occurred to me as I sat listening to his bullshit that leaving him wasn’t enough.
“I want to fucking destroy him.”
“And that’s where I come in, I presume?”
She met his gaze and blushed, adding a lovely colour to her cheeks. “Maybe I’m deluded, but I truly think Alex loves me. I don’t think he means for me to find out about his indiscretions.
Marcus couldn’t argue with her.
He’d read enough of Alex and Sophie’s messages to know that he wanted nothing more than sex. It was Sophie doing the chasing. Sophie doing the begging.
“If I went to him with the evidence, he’d do everything he could to win me back. He’d make it his entire focus, not allowing himself to admit the marriage was over.
“But if he thinks I’m having an affair, especially with the man he believes he’s screwing over, it’s going to fuck him up.”
“I think I understand,” Marcus said. It was a pity such tactics wouldn’t work on Sophie.
“Don’t you want to screw with Sophie’s head?” She asked, as though reading his mind.
“I’m not sure me having an affair would have any effect on her whatsoever,” he admitted. “However, fucking Alex over sounds pretty appealing right now. I won’t lie.”
Erica spread a slow and satisfied smile. “I think out of everyone in the world, Sophie would take issue with you having an affair with me. Married to the man she wants and stealing the man she’s married to from under her feet? Come on.”
She had a point.
How many times had Sophie ranted about Erica? Complained about some aspect of her appearance, or her presence at the office? Marcus didn’t pay attention. In his eyes, no one could compare to Sophie, and so he assumed that his wife was obsessing when she didn’t need to.
Having met Erica, he could see why Sophie felt threatened.
“You’re making this sound very tempting,” he said, chuckling. “But have you thought it through?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well. If we can convince them we’re having an affair, it’ll be hard to prove we weren’t. It could make a divorce settlement difficult down the line.”
Erica scrunched her nose, waving a dismissive hand. “I don’t want anything in the divorce.”
He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Nothing? Not even—”
“Nothing,” she repeated. “I’m not a materialistic person, Marcus. There is nothing in that house that’s worth fighting for. Sometimes peace of mind is better than anything of monetary value.”
He finished his coffee and considered her words. He couldn’t blame her for wanting a clean break, but her plan of a fake affair seemed to contradict that.
Glancing down at his empty cup, he considered his next move.
“How about we take a quick pause,” Erica said, watching him with a small smile. “I’ll grab us fresh drinks and we can have a breather.”
