Page 83 of Checkmate
She’d taken to eavesdropping on his conversations with Erica, trying to find anything she could use against them.
He’d spoken to her the day after the motorway, asking if she was okay after her fight with Alex. After that, everything pretty much fell into place.
She’d put her life at risk, not because Alex wanted her that badly, but because Erica had pouted over something stupid.
Honestly, at this point, Sophie couldn’t tell if Marcus and Erica were innocent or not. She still believed in her gut they had not slept together, but her eyes couldn’t help but note the way Marcus lit up when he spoke about her.
Even if they hadn’t crossed that line, she was fairly sure Marcus wanted to.
And that bothered her more than anything.
What was it about Erica that made men bow down to her? Sure, she was pretty enough, but she seemed so fucking boring. It was insane to Sophie that anyone could stand to be around her.
Seriously, what did she have that Sophie didn’t?
Approaching laughter pulled Sophie from that line of thought as Alex and Erica left his office all full of smiles.
Oh, how perfectly nauseating.
“I shall see you later, darling,” Erica said, wiping Alex’s mouth with a giggle. Just what had they been doing in there?
“I’ll be counting down the minutes,” he replied, smoothing his thumb over her cheek with such tenderness that Sophie wanted to weep.
He’d never been like that with her. Never even came close.
Dickhead.
“Sophie?”
Looking up, she saw Erica standing in front of her. “I was just saying goodbye, and wishing you a merry Christmas when it comes. Marcus tells me he has a big surprise for you.”
Sophie’s heart leapt with excitement. That was news to her, but given everything that had happened, she was happy to see Marcus still knew where his priorities lay.
She stole a glance at Alex to see his reaction, only to find him leafing through some documents. She barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. He wasn’t fooling anyone. She knew he was listening to every word.
“Oh? I didn’t think you two were talking.” Sophie replied. “I never see you around anymore.”
“Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.” Erica winked at her, and Sophie resisted the urge to slap that smug smile off her face.
“And what are you two doing?” She asked. “Anything special?”
“Oh, yes,” Erica replied, shooting a glance at Alex, who finally looked up from his documents to wink at her.
Asshole.
“We have big plans. Life changing, actually.”
What the fuck did that mean?
“How lovely for you,” Sophie said through gritted teeth. “Well, I won’t keep you.”
Erica smirked a touch, her eyes flashing with amusement. She knew exactly what Sophie was doing.
“Give my love to Marcus, won’t you?” Erica smiled. “And tell him I’ll see him real soon. I’ve got one hell of a gift for him, too.”
Shut up. Shut up. Fucking shut up!
“Will do! Goodbye now.”
