by Sofia Grey
She laughed again. She felt so relaxed with him. So right.
She knew it was the vodka making them reckless, but when he closed the gap and claimed her lips, she didn’t pull back.
Chapter Twelve
Marcus hadn’t figured out yet what level of mistake it had been to sleep with Marianne. Creeping out of her apartment with a monumental hangover, however, it was a mistake of epic proportions to bump into Rico.
Fuck. It looked like Rico had been for a run, though it was barely six in the morning.
And there was Marcus, grey faced and wearing last night’s suit. There wasn’t much he could say. He managed a nod.
Rico eyed him back, his face impassive as usual. “Later.” He strode towards his place, and Marcus continued outside, to the waiting cab.
He knew from Thaddeus that Rico could be trusted, but hell, this was careless. Even the memories of a night in Marianne’s arms couldn’t lift his mood.
* * * *
After spending most of the weekend with Rico, Sylvie tried to behave at work as though they were just colleagues. He asked her to keep it quiet, and she was fine with that, but it wasn’t easy in practice. They made plans to spend the next weekend together. It was ages away. She had to content herself with stolen moments when she could grab them.
She was the first to arrive on Thursday, followed by Marianne, who looked rough. Sylvie’s offer of coffee was received with a weary nod, and Rico entered the office as she filled the coffee pot. He came straight to the kitchen, and his face lightened up when he saw her.
“Morning, Silverwood.” He opened the fridge door, and with that obscuring the view from the office, he tugged her into his arms. “I’ve missed you this week, babe. Are you doing anything later?” He stole a kiss, and her heart melted.
“Nothing I can’t cancel. What time will you be free?”
“Should be done by seven tonight. Why don’t I text you when I’ve finished here, then jump in a cab over to your place?”
She thought about it. “My flatmates are home tonight. Why don’t we go to yours?”
He gave her a squeeze that lit up her entire body, then pulled away. “That works, if you don’t mind waiting for me. See you later.”
He walked back to his desk, and she watched when he left again with a bundle of folders. Things were looking up. She’d be seeing him tonight, and over the weekend. Did she have anything nice in her gym bag to change into? Maybe she could dash to the shops at lunchtime? It would be quicker than going back to her apartment.
Sylvie gave Marianne her coffee, and then settled at her desk and logged into her email. Top of the inbox was one from RicoSanchez, from a Hotmail account. It had to be his private email.
Subject: Cool pictures
Hi Sylvie.
Not sure if you heard the rumours, but I reckon the boss is having an affair.
Do you think I should send these to his wife?
Rico
She scrolled down, puzzled. Was this some sort of joke? There were two grainy pictures, both taken at night and probably on a mobile phone. The first was clearly Marcus Reeve, standing outside an apartment block with a woman in his arms. It looked like the lobby of Rico’s building, and that looked like Marianne. Marcus faced the camera, and Sylvie couldn’t see the woman’s face, but the short spiky crop was unmistakeable. As was the black, furry-necked coat, which currently hung in the corner by Marianne’s desk.
With a growing sense of dread, Sylvie scrolled down to the next picture. Marcus and Marianne, sitting on a wooden bench somewhere, kissing. This time Marianne’s face was visible in profile.
Sylvie sat back, her mind spinning. Why would Rico take these pictures in the first place? And why send them to her? It made no sense.
And what about the suggestion of telling Marcus’s wife? What kind of sick bastard would do that?
It highlighted again how little she knew about Rico.
It was an easy decision. She didn’t want to see him tonight. At all.
“What’s up, Sylvie? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Lara stood by the coat-rack. Normally Sylvie’d chat and have a laugh with Lara, but not now. She needed some privacy.
She minimized the email window and locked the screen on her PC. “I feel a bit nauseous,” she said, and it wasn’t entirely a lie. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Want me to get you anything?”
“No, but thanks.” Sylvie couldn’t wait to get out of the office. She dashed into the restroom and locked herself into a cubicle. Rico would be in the briefing, and then he had meetings back to back all day. He’d pick up a text, though. She wouldn’t have to face him yet.
Rico, I don’t understand the email you sent me. It’s horrid. Don’t bother about tonight; I’m not interested any more. Sylvie
* * * *
Marianne had hoped to wake up next to Marcus, but he snuck out of her apartment while she slept. The sex had been drunken and uninhibited, and she felt thoroughly satisfied, although still hung over. She clutched her coffee mug like a shield and wished she could lie down and sleep instead of going to work.
Did Marcus regret last night?
She’d find out soon enough.
Rico held the elevator for her, and they swept up to the Exec Suite together. She tried to recall the details of the issues he found, but her brain felt as though it was working at half speed.
Marcus gazed out of his office window. He glanced over his shoulder when they came in. “I told Pete I’d cancelled this morning, but there’s something else we need to look at.” His voice was low and angry, and Marianne tried to focus. Was this something to do with their night together? No, it couldn’t be.
“Shut the door and sit down,” snapped Marcus. Rico complied, and they both sat at the table. Something was wrong, but what?
Marcus turned to face them, and Marianne saw how angry he was. With his fists clenched by his sides, he stalked over to Rico. “What the fuck do you think you’re playing at? How dare you?”
Rico stared, wide eyed, but before he could reply, Marcus launched another verbal attack. “I want you off the team and out of TM-Tech. I don’t give a fuck what Thaddeus wants; I don’t want you anywhere near me. And if you really think you can send this filth to my wife, I’ll make life very uncomfortable for you.”
“Excuse me?” Rico looked as astonished as Marianne felt.
She placed a hand on Marcus’s arm, but he shook it off. “Don’t touch me.” —the fuck? He turned to her. “Have you seen his little email yet? To one of your team?” His face was white and pinched with anger.
Marianne shook her head, bewildered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What happened?”
Rico stood, his eyes flashing and his mouth set in a grim line. “I think you need to explain, Marcus. I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
Marcus swung to face him again. “You never give anything away, do you? Now you’re trying to pretend—”
“I’m not pretending anything.” Somehow, despite the tension in the room, he maintained a calm voice.
“This.” Marcus swivelled his laptop towards them, and Marianne read the brief email, then looked at the name in the address bar. Sylvie.
“Oh my God.” She felt hot with anger. And sick. Rico had been spying on them. “How could you do this? It’s none of your business.”
Rico frowned, hunched forwards, and stared at the email, ignoring Marcus who paced with his fists clenched tight.
Marcus looked ready to punch Rico. No wonder he was in a filthy mood today. Marianne could safely assume he regretted the night before. Sadness assailed her. If this went to Louisa, God knew how Marcus would react. Maybe his marriage wasn’t as over as he claimed.
Rico looked around the room. “Come on, guys. Get a grip.”
“A grip? You’re fucking blackmailing me and telling me to get a grip?” Marcus lunged at him.
“Marcus.” Marianne tried to stop him, but she didn’t need to bother.
>
Rico grabbed him, bent one arm behind Marcus’s back to restrain him, then walked him to the nearest seat and pushed him down into it. “If you don’t mind...” He glared at Marcus. “As I was saying, you’re not seeing this properly.” Marcus opened his mouth to interrupt, then closed it again when Rico scowled. Rico sighed, as if trying to explain something very simple to a bunch of idiots. “Point one—this is not my email address. I did not send this. Point two—Marcus has been blind copied, so fuck knows who else it’s been sent to. Point three—someone has been spying on you personally, but that’s a bit obvious. Point four—and this is the big one—I’m disgusted you could think, even for one second, that I would behave like this. I’m tempted to walk and leave you assholes to sort it out by yourselves.”
Marianne didn’t know where to look. At Marcus, lip curled in a snarl and breathing heavily? At Rico, standing there, arms crossed, radiating cold fury? Or at the email. Did she believe Rico? Did Marcus?
In the silence, Rico’s phone beeped with a text. He checked the screen and made an annoyed sound. “Well?” He addressed Marcus. “Are you going to apologize? I don’t like being threatened.”
“Holy fuck.” Marcus ran his hands across his face. “What if it’s been blind copied to Louisa?”
“Marcus.” Rico’s voice was all the more compelling because of its calmness.
“Yeah.” Marcus met Rico’s gaze. “I’m sorry. I apologize. You can understand why I jumped to that conclusion—”
“No, I can’t.” His voice was like steel. He flicked a glance at Marianne. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you two do in your spare time. It’s none of my business. But now you’ve dragged me into it, and I’m not happy. I’ve got something urgent to deal with, but I’ll be back soon. And then, if you can convince me it’s worth it for me to stay, we’ll figure out what to do next.”
He left the office, slamming the door behind him.
“Fuck.” Marcus slammed his fist onto the desk. “What the fuck is going on around here Marianne?”
She tried to steady the tremor in her voice. “Do you believe him? Can we trust him? Who else could have taken those pictures?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I can trust anyone.”
Marianne pulled together the remaining shards of her dignity. “Does that include me?”
The fact that he wouldn’t look at her, gave his answer.
He thought for a moment, and then seemed to crumple in on himself. He stared back, pain etched into his face. “I’m sorry. Really. It feels like I’ve been backed into a corner and I’ve no way out.” She knew how that felt. Wishing for a replay of the morning was useless. There was nothing more to be done until Rico came back, but as to whether she trusted him or not? The jury was out on that score.
* * * *
Sylvie berated herself for hiding in the ladies’ bathroom. Rico was another asshole guy. She was glad she hadn’t gotten in any deeper with him. And now she knew what kind of jerk he was, she could be on her guard.
Should she tell Marianne? That was a tough one. If someone was passing around pictures of Sylvie in a clinch with someone—a very married someone—would she want to know? Probably. But telling her boss that her second in command was the culprit...? Marianne would likely kick Rico out of the audit, and maybe that would be a good thing. Sylvie wouldn’t have to see him again.
She touched the band-aid under her sleeve, where he patched her up. Could there be a mistake? Yeah, right. And she also believed the Easter Bunny delivered chocolate eggs to little children.
Whatever she was going to do, she had to get back to the office soon. There was no reply on her phone, but she knew the message had been delivered.
The bathroom door opened and closed, and footsteps sounded.
“Silverwood? You in there?”
She froze. What the hell? He’d walked into the ladies’ bathroom.
He knocked on the cubicle door, and the breath jammed in her chest. “Silverwood, is that you in there?”
“Yes.” It came out as a squeak. “What are you doing in here? Get out.”
“Lara said you weren’t feeling well. Do you wanna come out and talk to me?”
“No.”
“Okay.” He paused. “I’ll probably be thrown off site if I get caught in here. There could be allegations of sexual harassment. You don’t want that to happen, do you? Come on out. We can talk like sensible adults over a coffee.”
“Sensible adults don’t take pictures of people without them knowing, and then send them round the office.”
He sighed. “Do you really think I sent you that email? I saw it for the first time when Marcus showed it to me a few minutes ago. He’s been blind copied on it. As you can imagine, he’s not very happy about it either. C’mon, Silverwood, you know how to hit where it hurts.”
Sylvie considered his words. Could he be telling the truth? She wanted to believe him. She unlocked the cubicle door and met his gaze. He leaned with his back against the sink unit, and they stared at each other.
“Thank you.” He reached out a hand to her. Without thinking about it, she tangled their fingers together and moved to his side, then closer. He slipped one finger under her chin, tilted it gently upwards and claimed her lips in a brief but searing kiss. “Now let’s take ten minutes and get a coffee. Come on, before I get fired.”
Rico said nothing more until they had their drinks and a quiet table at the back of Starbucks. “It takes a lot to make me angry, but I’m getting pretty close. Someone tried to set me up and involve you. Someone is spying on my colleagues and making me look responsible. I had a similar reaction from Marcus and Marianne. They both thought I sent it. I’m a little disappointed you jumped to the same conclusion, but I guess we haven’t known each other long.”
She found her voice. “I didn’t know what to think when I saw it.”
“Do you believe me now? Do you trust me?”
Did she? “I want to.”
“I’ll have to make do with that. But Silverwood, I’m one of the good guys here. You know that old saying, divide and conquer? Once the management team gets divided, we’ll fall apart. TM-Tech will collapse, and the bad guys will win.” He ran a hand across his jaw, and then caught her fingers. “Are we okay?”
She nodded.
“Good.” He hesitated. “With this mess, I’ve no idea what time I’m going to finish work tonight. Do you still wanna come around?”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad. Why don’t you pick up some things from your place when you finish, then come back to mine and stay tonight? Maybe a couple of nights?” He gave her a dirty smile that made her heart flutter. “You can keep the bed warm, while I slave over a hot laptop in the office.”
He released her hands and dug into his pocket, before sliding a key across the table. “This is my spare key. Come over as soon as you’d like.”
Finally, she felt able to smile again. “Okay.”
* * * *
Marcus couldn’t remember when he’d last been so incensed. Fear and shame bubbled inside, but he buried them under another shitload of fury. “I didn’t tell you,” he said to Marianne. “I bumped into Rico when I left your place this morning.”
“Something I didn’t tell you—Rico and Sylvie go to the same gym. And I heard them talking about going out for drinks. They may be seeing each other, which points to why the email went to her.” Anxiety furrowed a line on her brow. “You still believe he didn’t do this?”
“I don’t know.” He huffed. “It feels like I don’t know a fucking thing.”
“The conversation we had yesterday, about trust—you said Thaddeus trusts him.”
“He does. Always has. Rico’s been friends with Jordan since we were all kids. I don’t know him so well.”
“Does he have something on Thaddeus?”
Marcus laughed, but it was hollow. “Get real. The second anyone tries to get one over Thaddeus, he squashes ‘em like a bug. Like it or not, we need Rico
around. Look at what he’s found so far.”
And if Rico told the truth, and someone else was taking pictures of Marcus with Marianne, Marcus wanted to know. Tension drummed along with his pulse. How would Louisa react if she saw those pictures? She’d assume he was having an affair, and this time, she’d be right.
Was it an affair though? Or just a one-night stand? However he justified it to himself, he was wrong to have slept with Marianne. This brought a new wave of shame crashing over him. He was stressing how Louisa would react, and not how she would feel. She’d be devastated.
His night with Marianne could not be repeated. He glanced at her, standing at the window with her back to him. He was pretty sure that underneath her severe skirt suit, she wore the same kind of lingerie as the day before. Skimpy, lacy, and beyond hot.
Wrong, yeah. But the dirtiest sex he’d ever had. She was wild in bed, and the complete opposite of Louisa.
What if this was just a phase? Something he could work through and emerge with his marriage intact? Every time he tried to tell Louisa how he felt, she talked him round, and now he didn’t have a clue what the fuck he wanted.
The door banged, and he saw Rico walking in. The man still looked pissed, but whatever was biting his ass could in no way compare to the fuckup Marcus had to deal with.
Rico’s plan was simple. “Deny everything,” he said. “I’ve rounded up a couple of favours, people who are going to try to trace the fake email path. Chances are it was sent from an open hotspot, but they may get lucky. In the meantime, don’t do anything that could be misconstrued. Give them no further photo-opportunities.” He stared hard at Marcus. “Be discreet. Work on the principle that nobody else knows about it and there’s nothing further to know.”
“What about the girl in Marianne’s team? Sylvie? I don’t want her spreading it far and wide.”
“She won’t. I’ve talked to her.”
Marianne spoke up. “Rico, are you and Sylvie involved?”
He gave her a blank stare. “If we were, it’d be none of your business. So now we’ve got a personal spy, as well as corporate-level leaks. They’re probably linked. My best guess is that it’s a smokescreen, to distract us from the business at hand. I say we continue digging, and as we discussed yesterday, keep everything off the record.”
