Page 64 of Checkmate
She left the room without giving him a chance to reply, closing the door more forcefully than necessary.
He must have pissed her off for her to defend Erica like that.
Was that true? Was he the villain in their story?
He wasn’t stupid. Adultery was a sin for a reason, and he was no doubt going to hell for cheating on someone as wonderful as Erica.
But it was only sex.
In every other aspect of his marriage, he was a perfect husband. He took care of Erica and ensured she didn’t have to lift a finger unless she wanted to.
He supported those silly hobbies of hers and made sure her accounts were always full of money to fund them. Even when those hobbies kept her from him.
He communicated well and told her what he needed from her. In turn, he listened whenever she had something to say, even if he wasn’t interested.
In his world, there was no one more important than Erica, and surely all the other stuff outweighed sex with someone else.
Was their marriage that fickle?
Can’t handle the thought of her fucking someone else, though, can you?
Alex pushed the thought from his mind as soon as it appeared. The standard was different for men and women. It was almost expected for him to cheat, and the fact it had taken so long was kind of extraordinary.
But women?
They liked to stay with one man and give him their all. They attached feelings to sex that didn’t need to be there and ultimately complicated things.
Sighing, Alex grabbed his phone as he adjusted himself in his pants. He dialled Erica’s number and let the call ring out until he heard the familiar message of her voicemail.
Three days of completely ignoring him.
Things were getting desperate at this point. He was driving himself crazy, wondering what she was doing, and more importantly, who with, and it wasn’t as though he could go to her family! What was he supposed to tell them? His ego wouldn’t allow him to voice his concerns out loud because admitting Erica was cheating was realising he wasn’t good enough to keep her.
The thing was, all this stress and worry wasn’t good for him, and it affected his work. Not ideal when the London Group was already nervous.
What the fuck were they going to say when rumours started flying about not only his affair, but Erica’s too?
Sophie had been trying to convince him that Marcus wouldn’t do that to her, but he called bullshit on that. It was amazing what a man would do when the right pussy came along.
Alex had never cheated before in his life, and if someone had told him on his wedding day, that it would only take eight years for him to defile his marriage, he’d have laughed in their faces.
He couldn’t even understand what it was about Sophie that made him break. Sure, she was beautiful, but he wasn’t some horny teenager that lost his shit over a pretty face.
He thought back to that first time when he’d finally reciprocated Sophie’s flirting. She had never been subtle about it and made it very clear she was completely available to him.
It had been easy to ignore until it wasn’t.
It was a Thursday morning, the same as any other.
He’d woken Erica up by going down on her. They’d fucked in bed and then in the shower, and after a rushed breakfast, he’d gone to work.
Completely satisfied, and all smiles, Sophie greeted him with coffee, as usual.
She had made a comment on his arrival, something about him having a good workout. He’d replied that his wife certainly thought so. He’d winked at her. She smirked back.
Sophie was wearing her usual outfit of choice. Tight blouse, short skirt. Heels far too high. She looked the same as she did every day. Perfectly beautiful. Undeniably sexy. He’d always admired her looks, but she had never tempted him before.
So why was this day any different?
