It was a miracle that I kept myself together. On the outside, I was as cool as my boss. Okay, no one was that smooth—except Cox—but I was the perfect unobtrusive assistant. Dominic had no idea that he was literally sitting next to Cox’s wife. Or girlfriend? Was that more accurate, all things considered? Whatever, I was the woman sleeping with him and Dominic didn’t know.
Mr. Calloway tipped his fingers together, as if he were considering everything Dominic had said. “Normally I wouldn’t get involved in a hostile takeover. But I have a lot at stake.”
“That you do,” Dominic said.
“I need some documentation first. I can’t agree to anything otherwise.”
“Of course.” Dominic opened his briefcase and pulled out a folder. “This should be everything you need.”
Mr. Calloway took the folder and flipped through the pages. Then he held it out to me. “I need a copy of this.”
Meeting his eyes, I took the folder. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”
I stood, trying to act natural and not let my hands shake. Resisting the urge to run out and immediately call Cox, I walked to the copy room. One foot in front of the other. No hurry at all. My hands started to get sweaty, so I held the folder with just the tips of my fingers.
Leslie, one of my co-workers, came in behind me. “Hi, Sophie. How’s it going?”
Oh, you know, fine, just copying evidence that probably points to my husband’s betrayal. Why yes, I am married, and gosh no, I didn’t tell anyone. Wow, long story. I slipped the papers into the feeder. “I’m good. How are you?”
“Looking forward to the weekend already, you know?”
“Yeah, totally.” Instead of hitting the copy button, I changed the quantity from one to two.
Oops, look at that. I made an extra.
Leslie grabbed something off a shelf. “See you later.”
“Bye, Leslie. Have a good afternoon.”
“You too.”
The copy machine spit out two sets. I took one and tapped it into place, then put it neatly with the originals. Then I grabbed a manila envelope off the supply shelf and tucked the second set inside.
On the way back to Mr. Calloway’s office, I paused at my desk, and with a smug smile, slipped the manila envelope into a drawer.
Dominic was talking when I went in and handed Mr. Calloway the folder with the copies on top. I could tell by the tightness of his jaw that he was over this guy.
“Mr. Calloway, I hate to interrupt, but you have another meeting.”
His eyes softened with a hint of a smile. “Thank you.”
Dominic stood and took the folder. “Not a problem. I’ll let you get back to your day. Thanks for taking the time.”
“You too.”
“I’ll be in touch.” Dominic glanced at my boobs again, then left.
I hesitated next to Mr. Calloway’s desk. His eyes flicked to the door, so I shut it.
“You knew, didn’t you?” I asked.
“Nora said something to Everly, and Everly told me. I hope that wasn’t a betrayal of your circle of… whatever it is.”
“Circle of trust, and no, it wasn’t.”
“Will you take those copies to Cox, or do you need me to speak to him?”
“No, I’ll take them. Thank you. Whatever Dominic is planning, I hope it doesn’t cost you your investment.”
“If it does, I’ll bury him.”
I laughed, but Mr. Calloway didn’t so much as smile. He wasn’t kidding.
“Well, thank you again. I probably should have come to you in the first place.”
“It’s all right. I’m just glad you didn’t break your nose in your quest for intel.”
Rolling my eyes, I touched my nose. “Oh good, you know about that.”
“I hear about a lot of things. And I respect that your personal life is your own, but I need to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“Is he good to you?”
“Yes. He’s very good to me, actually.”
He nodded. “Feel free to remind him that if he isn’t, I’ll know.”
I laughed. “Okay. Thanks, Mr. Calloway.”
His phone rang, so he picked it up. “Hi, baby.”
I ducked out of his office so he could talk to Everly. Plus, I wanted to see exactly what was on those documents. I went to my desk and pulled out the envelope.
There was no doubt now that Dominic was coming after Cox’s company. But the question remained. Was Althea involved?
I glanced around, like someone might be close enough to look over my shoulder, and pulled out the copies.
There was her name. Right there. In fact, her name was all over the documents.
I knew it.
My sense of vindication was short-lived. Truthfully, I wished I hadn’t been right. Because this meant nothing but bad things for Cox. His former partner and one of the people he trusted the most were about to attempt a hostile takeover of his company. And he had no idea it was coming.
My desk phone rang. It was Nina again.
“Hey, Nina.”
“Hi, Sophie, there’s someone here to see you.”
“Okay. I’ll be right up.”
That was strange. I wasn’t expecting anyone. I put the papers back in the envelope and went to the front desk. Nina nodded to a man dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans standing in the lobby. I didn’t recognize him.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“Are you Sophie Abbott?”
“Yes.”
He held out a thick envelope and I took it. “You’ve been served.”
“Wait, what is this?”
He shrugged and turned toward the elevator.
Served? What was he talking about? I pulled out a stack of paper and looked at the first page.
Oh my god. Cox had just served me with divorce papers.
32
Cox
I stood in my kitchen, absently turning a glass of whiskey. I’d left the office early, too out of sorts to focus on anything. The conversation with Althea earlier had rocked me to my core.
Had I really let that happen? Let some woman play me?
The worst part was, if Sophie had asked, I would have just paid off her debt, no questions asked.
I’d gone through my bank accounts, and sure enough, there were transfers to a bunch of banks and credit card companies. All when I’d been in Houston and Sophie had been here, staying at my house. Since then, there were random withdrawals of cash that I knew weren’t mine, and one of my debit cards was missing.
Everything pointed to Sophie. And I was sick over it.
Had I really been such a fool?
My phone buzzed with a text from Oliver, asking me—again—if everything was okay. I’d left the office abruptly without a word to him, and I’d been ignoring everyone’s messages ever since. I sent a quick reply this time, just so he wouldn’t decide to come over here and fix me a pot of tea or something.
I heard the faint sound of the garage door opening and took a long swallow of my whiskey. Sophie was home. With a deep breath, I braced myself for her to breeze through the door and step out of her shoes. To set her things down and cheerfully ask about my day.
To run her hands up my chest and pull my mouth to hers for a kiss, whispering that she’d missed me today.