Page 56 of Duplicity

‘This is my new EA, Marlowe,’ Brendan tells him. ‘Marlowe, meet my good friend Ethan Kingsley.’

‘Marlowe.’ He turns those eyes on me as he takes my hand. ‘It’s a pleasure.’ I don’t miss the lightning speed with which his gaze darts down my body and back up. I hope he can’t tell that I was halfway to orgasm about three minutes ago.

‘How do you do?’ I ask, but he doesn’t grace it with a response. Instead, he drops my hand and gestures to us to go through to the room beside him.

The space is clearly a meeting room, but it has all the Insta-worthy opulence of the suites on Kingsley’s feed. The walls in here are also linen-lined, but in a dark steel grey that makes it feel atmospheric, despite the brightness of the day outside. There’s a big conference table on one side, a glossy brass bar cart that looks remarkably well stocked, and two white sofas facing each other over a glass coffee table. Several small console tables line the walls, each bearing a vase of beautiful pink-and-white orchids. It isn’t necessarily any fancier than Brendan’s meeting rooms, but it feels far less corporate.

We take a seat, Brendan and I on one sofa and Ethan sitting opposite us. He opens a big bottle of sparkling water and pours us all a glass.

‘So,’ Brendan says, sitting back and crossing one ankle over his opposite knee, ‘how are you holding up since Talia walked out?’

I stiffen. I suddenly realise I know exactly who this guy is, and I have no idea how I should react. He’s the guy Talia was talking about at the Seraph drinks last weekend. The one she said she’d quit on because he was so mean to her. The one Soph is considering as her next boss.

Holy crap.

I mean, he’s hot. Seriously hot. And he doesn’t look like he has a temper. To be honest, he looks cold as steel. But I can imagine that if he pulled that stick out of his arse and let all the emotions he doesn’t show out, it could get pretty intense. He’s intense enough right now.

But I’m not supposed to know any of this. And surely these guys have NDAs? They can’t discuss their Seraph employee.

Can they?

In the split second that it takes for me to panic, Ethan produces an expression somewhere between impassive and unimpressed. ‘Not ideal. I’ve got someone from the admin pool filling in, but she’s not…’ He trails off.

‘Yeah,’ Brendan says. ‘That’s rough.’ He turns to me. ‘Ethan had a Seraph EA working for him. Talia. Do you know her?’

My eyes dart in a panic to Ethan, then to Brendan. ‘Yes.’ I clear my throat. ‘I, um, met her at drinks last week.’

Brendan touches my shoulder. ‘It’s okay, love. He knows exactly who you are and what you do for me. Turns out I was the last fucker in London to cotton onto the Seraph thing.’

Oh myGod. This is excruciating. So far, I’ve been in my own little bubble with Brendan. I knew there would come a time when someone else would stumble on the truth, but I didn’t expect to be blindsided like this in a business meeting. It’s beyond horrifying to realise that this stranger knows Brendan is fucking me, even if he’s been doing the same with Talia.

I force myself to look at Ethan. He’s settled back on his sofa, nursing his sparkling water as he openly assesses me.

‘You’re very beautiful.’ There’s no inflection in his voice when he says it. None at all. Somehow, his statement of fact feels more intense, more ominous, than if he gushed.

‘I—thank you?’

Brendan slides his arm around my back so his hand hangs over my shoulder in a way that feels proprietary. ‘Poor Ethan. He’s got no one to fuck because he’s such a grumpy bastard. Meanwhile, I really like watching and I have a sexy-as-fuck assistant who explicitly agreed to being shared in her questionnaire. If that doesn’t screamserendipity, I don’t know what does.’

My mouth goes instantly dry. My palms break out in pinpricks of sweat, and I press them to my fabric-covered thighs. I jerk my head around to see if he’s being serious, and whatever is on my face makes him laugh.

Shared.

Oh my holy fucking Christ alive.

‘So sweet,’ he croons. ‘You know the innocent routine really does it for me, don’t you, love? You’re really not helping yourself when you look at me like that.’

I swallow, beseeching him with my eyes to read my mind and get us the fuck out of here. Besides the fact that I don’t know Ethan from Adam, outnumbered is outnumbered. And it’s three o’clock in the afternoon, for crying out loud!

‘If you have something to say, say it now,’ Brendan tells me with a little nod, and I know he’s giving me an out.

Stop.

I could say it right now and all this would go away. We could walk out of here and I’d never have to see this Ethan guy again. I could excuse myself from any future meetings with him.

But it’s not fair. Because Brendan is correct. I did tick the “group activities” box on that questionnaire. I knew Brendan was into kinky shit, into watching, and I still ticked it with all thedesperation of a mother who’ll do anything to get in the door. Land the job. Collect the sign-on bonus.

And now it’s time for me to come up with the goods. If there’s anything that would make me feel even worse about selling myself, body and soul, to Brendan, it would be fucking him over. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t at least give him what he’s paying for.

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