Page 69 of Checkmate
Not yet, anyway.
“Nothing. He hasn’t called anyone.”
“Would you call?” He asked. “If the roles were reversed and Alex had gone to a hotel with another woman, would you call his family?”
“Maybe not,” she admitted. “You think it’s an ego thing?”
“That’s one word for it,” he said with a shrug. “I think he doesn’t want to admit to anyone that he’s in danger of losing you because they’d absolutely call him out for the idiot he is.”
She chuckled, offering him a smile. “That’s sweet. But let’s not forget, he thinks we’re here fucking each other into oblivion. I’m not sure he’s the idiot in that scenario.”
“I think anyone who knows you would know that you’re not a cheater. He’s absolutely the idiot for accusing you. I don’t care how much we’ve baited him.”
“I’ll give you that,” she agreed. “But he should know me better than that. I’ve never given him a reason to doubt me, and what is a marriage without trust?”
“Why did you believe me?” Marcus asked.
It had been a burning question for a while now, settled in the back of his mind, waiting for an opportunity to ask.
“You know, Lottie asked me the same thing.” She paused and finished her coffee, gathering their used cups and cutlery and organising them neatly at the end of the table.
“Not to use your own words against you, but like you said, what’s a marriage without trust?”
“On Sophie’s birthday, I went into the office to give her a gift. She was quite frosty towards me and I thought it was kind of obvious she was crushing on Alex. No big deal. We’ve dealt with crushes before.”
“Okay? So, what was different this time?” He asked, murmuring his thanks as someone collected their mugs.
“His reaction. The way he spoke about her rubbed me up the wrong way. Like he was trying too hard to be rude about her. I kept telling myself I was being crazy. All these intrusive thoughts were unfair when he had never done anything untoward.”
“They’re good at making us feel crazy, right?”
“So good,” Erica said with a nod. “I was so annoyed with myself and for no reason! I should have listened to that nagging feeling and I didn’t.”
“It’s hard to listen to our gut when it doesn’t give us a reason to,” Marcus said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“You’re right,” she said with a nod. “You’re right. Anyway, that’s why I believed you. Because deep down, I already knew, even if I didn’t want to admit it. There was a warning inside me, telling me something bad was coming.
“And when we spoke on the phone, I heard the pain in your voice. There’s no way you can fake that kind of hurt. I knew you were telling the truth.”
“You’ve made this all incredibly easy, Erica. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever hear from you.” He paused, smirking to himself. “Although, I thought you were going to be a Sophie-eque clone.”
“Pardon?”
He shrugged and chuckled. “I didn’t know if Alex had a type. Apparently, he does not. You and Sophie could not be more different.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
“Given everything that has come to light about my wife, that’s a wonderful thing. For one, I enjoy being in your company.”
“Thank you.” She fell silent, her eyes roaming over his face as a smile lingered on her lips. “You ever think they’re getting off too easy?”
“Probably,” he nodded. “But I’m having a blast, anyway.”
“Me too,” she agreed, shifting closer to him. She curled her arm around his, resting her head on his shoulder. He pressed a soft kiss against the top of her head, inhaling her scent before he could stop himself.
“Hey, we have a bed upstairs. Two, in fact,” he said, his tone teasing as she looked up at him. “Shall we get revenge the proper way?”
Erica laughed, taking his joke the way he intended, tapping his arm playfully. “Ask me when I’m single,” she said with a wink. “You might get a proper answer then.”
