Page 184 of Checkmate
He and Sophie could make a good team if they worked at it. Taking out romance, or more accurately, sex, there was no reason they couldn’t be friends.
“Do you have a picture?” He asked. “Like a scan picture?”
Widening her eyes in surprise, she quickly recovered, reaching into the back to grab her bag. “Yeah. Yeah, I have a few.” Rummaging around in the bag, she pulled out a box and handed it over.
Odette had the longest legs, stretched over her head like a tiny gymnast. He could make out the shape of her hand, thumb resting in her mouth.
“Are these 4D?” He asked as he leafed through a collection of clearer images. He glanced at Sophie, who nodded in acknowledgement. “Incredible technology,” he murmured. “She has your lips.”
Sophie laughed and nodded. “The sonographer said the same. She has your nose, though.”
Sure enough, now she had mentioned it, he couldn’t unsee it. That was his daughter, who shared his nose. From that moment on, he knew life would never be the same.
“They’re beautiful,” he said, handing back the box. “Thank you for letting me share this with you.”
Pulling back, he finally turned the engine. Buckling up, he pulled out of the car park and joined the mid-afternoon traffic. “How did you get the money for my bail, by the way?”
He glanced over at her, surprised to see her cheeks stained with pink. “Soph?”
“Okay, so don’t judge me. But they left me alone in their house and I snooped. I mean, of course I snooped.”
Alex barked out a laugh and smirked. “Of course you did,” he said as he pulled up at a red light. “So, what happened next?”
“Well.” Chewing her lip, she hesitated. “I found Erica’s engagement ring and wedding band.” She shrugged. “I figured they belonged to you anyway, so I pawned them.”
So that was that.
The divorce was final. Her rings were gone.
His life with Erica was well and truly over. Their marriage was just a lost chapter in his book of life.
He took a slow breath and smiled over at her with a nod. “I’m glad you did. Thank you, Sophie.”
“You’re welcome.” She paused, watching out of the windows as the lights turned green. “Alex, I feel like I need to warn you about a few things.”
“Okay?”
“Well, you know Marcus released the video, right? Erica has bruises on her wrists from where you grabbed her. Things have changed already.”
“Shit.” He almost forgot about the damn video and Marcus’ threat. “How bad is it?”
“I went into the office,” she said. “Tried to rally the troops and make sure we were all working hard. I wanted them to focus on what we could do rather than what we couldn’t.”
Alex blinked in surprise at how calm she sounded. How focused. She had really gone to bat for him recently, and he didn’t deserve any of it.
“We’ve had a couple people jump ship already,” she said. “Once the London Group dropped us, they ran.”
“So, it’s official? They’ve dropped us?”
“There are a few legal things to work out, but yeah. You no longer represent them.”
He took another breath, clenching his teeth to keep his anger at bay. Now was not the time. This was not the place.
“What else?” He asked.
“I’ve called your other clients. Gone full damage control. Thankfully, we have two clients that don’t care what’s going on as long as we keep putting out good work for them.”
“That’s something,” he said, nodding as he tried to sort through his thoughts. “It could’ve been worse. Two clients are better than no clients.”
