Again he raised an eyebrow in her direction, this time he allowed a touch of irritation to seep into his face. Louisa peered at him, registering the change in him and knowing him well enough to understand his patience was wearing thin.
“How is your wife?” Louisa asked.
Matt stiffened immediately, his tone was cold with warning as he replied. “My wife is fine.”
She fell silent, clutching the glass tightly in her hand. Matt narrowed his eyes at her. It could simply be a polite enquiry, but he knew Louisa, and she wasn’t fond of Madison, as such her feigned interest put his guard up at once.
Louisa put the glass down on the desk, demurely clasping her hands in front of her as she levelled him with an unblinking stare. “She’s making a fool of you, Matthew,” Louisa advised softly. “And as yourfriend,I can’t stand by and witness this.”
“I beg your pardon?” Matt placed his own drink on the table, perplexed over Louisa’s cryptic statement. “In what sense?”
Louisa took a deep breath, wringing her hands anxiously as her blue eyes filled with worry. “She’s unfaithful, cheating on you-”
“Get out.” Matt snapped, immediately cutting off the tripe coming out her mouth.
“Matt, please listen to me,” Louisa reached for him but Matt was having none of it.
“I want you gone,” he said coldly. “I have no time to listen to your jealous fantasies-”
“I have proof!” Louisa grabbed her bag, quickly searching through it for her mobile.
Matt checked the impulse to physically drag her out his office the second she said she had proof. Proof of what? His dark beauty would never-
“Here,” Louisa said in triumph as she scrolled through her phone. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me without proof. Look, Matt. Look at yourwife.”
Matt took the offered phone, a derisive sneer on his lips as he said, “I am surprised at the level you’ve sunk to, Louisa. I had hoped you had moved forward from our failed relationship but it’s obvious youstill harbour an unhealthy fixation on the past.”
“Look at the picture.” Louisa pleaded.
Matt snorted, disgusted at the lengths she would go to in order to bring strife within his marriage. He glanced at the screen, fleetingly; then took a second look, and a third.
“What is this?” he growled in anger, peering intently at the image. His mind warred with his eyes, unable to make sense of what he saw. This couldn’t be true. Raising his head, he glared at Louisa before returning his gaze to her phone. “What in the bloody hell is this?”
“Proof,” Louisa stated self-righteously. “That she’s cheating on you.”
“Where did you get this?” Matt asked, his grip on the mobile was tight.
Louisa bit her lower lip, her demeanour was quite remorseful. “I was undecided as to whether I should tell you, darling. You have no idea how I’ve battled with my conscience.”
“Where did you get this?” Matt repeated in a low, hard tone.
She ran a hand through her blonde hair, blinking earnestly at him. “Don’t hate me for giving you this news, Matt. Regardless of how things are between us, I couldn’t keep this from you.”
Matt exhaled loudly. “Louisa,”
“I took the pictures-”
“Pictures?” Matt asked in alarm.
Louisa nodded and leaned over to swipe a manicured finger over the screen. Another image of Madison, in bed, with a naked man. Matt felt sick and confused, but he knew Louisa. With iron-clad control over the seething mass of emotions erupting inside him, he calmly sent the pictures to his own mobile. There were four in total.
“Are these the only pictures you have? On your mobile? Are these the originals?”
She confirmed with a quick nod.
Deleting the explicit images on Louisa’s phone and the message to himself before handing it back, he said, “If I find out this is some sort of sick joke,”
“Matthew,” Louisa gasped at his unspoken threat, her eyes filled with tears. “I would never do anything to hurt you. Why do you think I took those distasteful photos? I knew you wouldn’t believe me without hard evidence of the fact Madisonis cheating on you.” She dabbed at her eyes as the tears slipped free. “Do you know howmuch it hurts me to show you this? I didn’t want to, truly I didn’t; but I couldn’t let her do this to you. God only knows how long this has been going on.”