Sophie frowned, and rewound the messages back a few days to listen to Dan. She dropped her head in her hands as his voice washed around the empty hallway. Dan. Her Dan. Someone else’s Dan. He talked of Bob as if he were with him, but now she knew better. She couldn’t explain this away, the conclusion was obvious. He was actually on holiday with his mistress. Shock stole the air from Sophie’s lungs.
She might have lost her claim to the moral high ground the moment she’d let Lucien touch her, but this thing of Dan’s… it was different. If they were on holiday, if he was lying to work… it was a proper relationship. Jesus, did he love her, whoever she was?
Scalding tears fell down Sophie’s cheeks at the idea of Dan saying those precious, sacred words to someone else.
He had always been her anchor, but too many months of burying her head in the sand over suspicions of his infidelity had cut her adrift until she’d floated too far away from him to reach out for his hand.
Drifting aimlessly, she’d reached instead for the hand of a big sexy Viking with lust coursing through his veins.
A heavy blanket of sadness settled around her shoulders. Her marriage was broken. Images of Dan and some faceless woman scrolled through her mind. A brunette in a restaurant. A blonde on a beach. A redhead in his bed.
Who was she? Who was the woman Dan had decided was worth more than their marriage vows? Sadness slid sideways into a solid wall of anger. Boiling hot rage that curdled in her gut like rancid infection.
How dare he? How fucking dare Dan trample on her love, for all these weeks and months, years even, for all Sophie knew. Her own guilt melted away under the heat of her anger. This was his fault.
This. Was. His. Fault.
Sophie’s eyes flicked upwards towards the clock. Midday.
With a resolve she didn’t know she possessed, she turned her mobile off and headed upstairs to change. She didn’t intend on being late for work.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Lucien took one look at Sophie’s face as she came through the door just before two o clock that afternoon and knew straight away that something had changed.
For one, she’d obviously been crying. For another, there was a new light in her eyes; something bold and determined. But by far the most telling sign of all was the stuffed-looking weekend bag she carried over her arm.
“Well, hello, Ms. Black,” he flicked an eyebrow up. “I like you and all, but I’m not sure I’m ready to move in together.”
She didn’t laugh, just dropped the bag inside the door.
“You asked me to stay with you until Sunday. I’m all yours.”
He nodded and tapped the end of the pencil on the desk as he appraised the challenging jut of her chin and her poker straight back. She was furious with someone, and the fact that she was here meant it wasn’t him.
“Are you sure Mr. Tibbles can survive without you?” He flicked a lazy, speculative eyebrow upwards in question.
She sighed heavily.
“It’s become abundantly clear to me that no one gives a damn where I am this week, Lucien.”
Ouch. It would seem that her dickhead husband had grown lazy in his efforts to cover his tracks. Poor Princess.
“Sit down, Sophie.”
She looked momentarily wrong-footed, and then sat down opposite him. Today she reminded him of a frightened young horse, skittering and wary-eyed, a world away from the woman he’d seduced at the club last night.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She sighed again and her shoulders slumped.
“There’s not much to say. Yesterday I thought my husband was having an affair. Today I know he is.”
Lucien nodded. “Knowledge is power, Sophie.”
“Is it?” Her anguished eyes came up to meet his. “It doesn’t feel powerful. It feels like shit.”
“Yet here you are.”
“I’m not proud of it, Lucien. I’m not proud of the fact that I want to hurt him back.”
This wasn’t right. She needed to do this for herself, not her husband. Lucien spoke with feeling.
“Don’t do this to hurt him, Sophie. Do it for you. Do it because you deserve better. Do it because you’re beautiful.” He leaned forward emphatically. “Do it because you damn well want to, and then on Sunday, you go back to him and call the fucking shots.”
She hadn’t taken her eyes off him as he spoke, and he’d watched the emotions play across her face.
Disbelief. Pain. Resolve. Christ, she was exquisite. He was going to screw her ten different ways until she couldn’t stand up, and then send her home to wipe the floor with that man.
Sophie went through the motions at her desk, looking for comfort in the familiarity of switching on the computer and clearing emails and post methodically. She’d been so certain that coming into work was the best thing, and now she was here she was almost as certain that it was a huge mistake.
Lucien Knight bewitched her. Despite the riot of emotions she’d been through since he’d dropped her home last night, she’d only had to look at him this morning and lust had snaked through her veins.
Jesus, he made her feel good. He had a way of looking at her that wiped out everything else around him, whether they were alone in his office or in the middle of the packed Gateway Club.
The computer pinged, heralding the arrival of the chat message box.
“Have you taken a vow of silence, Ms. Black?”
Sophie shook her head and lifted her eyes to the ceiling.
“I’m busy.”
“And I’m thirsty.”
She sighed loud enough for Lucien to hear, and then crossed to the coffee machine. Lucien leaned back on his chair, and Sophie struggled to maintain her relaxed composure while she was hyper-aware of his eyes on her bottom. The cup rattled slightly in its saucer as she carried it through and deposited it on Lucien’s desk.
“Is there anything in particular that you’d like me to do today, Mr. Knight?”
The lascivious gleam in his sapphire eyes told Sophie of the multitude of answers he was considering. She breathed in heavily and glanced pointedly out of the window, but she still heard the deep rumble of his laughter.
“As a matter of fact, Ms. Black, there is, yes.”
Sophie dropped her gaze warily back to his and waited for him to elaborate. She couldn’t second-guess him. He was just as likely to ask her for a saucy massage as for last months cash projection.
“A new supplier has sent over the demo file of their latest products. Could you review it please?”
Sophie nodded with a tight smile. She could do that. She could watch a product video and report back. “Of course.” She inclined her head and backed away towards the sanctuary of her office.