Chapter 7

That night at home, I was a bit distracted but not too distracted for sex. I put my man to sleep, then put on my thinking cap and started piecing shit together. I'm an old hand at this stuff at this point, so there wasn't much to it.

I now had a pretty good idea who owned the other phone, and it wasn't my husband, but there was definitely something going on with him in the middle. Now, I have to figure out the game plan. There was just one problem: whatever the plan was, it had caused me distress and almost cost me my marriage.

But there was still so much that didn't make sense. For instance, how did Jack know that I was going to be in that area on that day? There was no way for him to have known but more importantly, why did she hug Mark?

I reread the texts going back to the first day. Then, I had to research how to find deleted or older messages on her phone that occurred before it was cloned. I was up all night working on it after rereading the manual again.

By the time the sun was coming up, I had a pretty good idea what was going on, now I had to decide on my next move. I was tempted to tell him, though I got the feeling from the way he treated her the night before that he suspects something, but since he hadn't raised the issue I wasn't going to either.

Maybe he had found a way to protect himself from one, but I was sure he wasn't aware of the other and what they were teaming up to do. Looks like I'm going to have to move some things around to free up some time.

One of the things I always promised myself while listening to my mother cry herself to sleep at night was that if I were ever faced with that shit, I would definitely be the bunny boiler. But this wasn't about saving my marriage; this was about saving my husband. There's no one better for the job.

* * *

Jessica: Are you coming over tonight?"

Jack: Why? Is something wrong?

Jessica: I still haven't found the cause of that smell, and it's only getting worse.

Jack: You know we need to be careful. I can't be seen coming in and out of there.

Jessica: Make it happen or I'm out of here.

Jack: What do you mean? We haven't finished the job yet.

Jessica: I've been doing my part. Be here by seven, or the deal is off.

Jack: Hey

Jack: Hey. Quit playing games.

* * *

I putthe phone away and waited for the fireworks. Now, the thing about a clone is that I can see what she's doing, but she has no idea what I'm doing. I can use my phone to control hers at will, but there's nothing she can do to mine; in fact, she doesn't even know of its existence, and there's no way for her to.

Over dinner that evening, at about the time Jack should be showing up at the apartment, I put a bug in my ear. "Guess what, honey? I just read this story about an executive who wasn't qualified for his position and the trouble it caused the company he worked for."

"What do you mean wasn't qualified?"

"I mean, they lied on their resume."

"That happens a lot, love; it's not that serious."

"You can't say that. With our clientele and the secretive nature of our business, we shouldn't be so lax. People sue for anything these days."

"You've got a point. But we do intense background checks of all our people, so there shouldn't be any issues."

"As long as you're sure. What about people who were recommended by friends and family? Do we do background checks on them as well?"

"Not really, not as in-depth as we do with others, at any rate."

"I think we should. Let's not take any chances."

"You're really spooked, huh."

"You can say that. I don't want you to get embroiled in something like that if it can be avoided. I say we do a complete overhaul of the whole corporation, not just one company. Also, look into all of our holdings while you're at it; make sure everything is on the up and up there as well."

"What exactly have you been watching to make you this nervous? Okay-okay, I'll do as you ask."

"Why don't you let me handle it?"

"You?"

"Of course, I have to do a lot of background checks and vetting as well, you know. Besides, I don't think we should let anyone in the company know what we're doing it might make people nervous in this economy."

He gave it some thought before agreeing. "You might be right. Okay, let me know if you need any help. I'll ask Jack to get you a list of employees."

"No need, and please don't tell Jack about this for now. Let's keep this between you and me. I don't expect to find anything, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"We'll do it your way, but don't work too hard."

"I won't, I promise." I smiled as I cut into my steak. Even though there was no affair, the changes in our marriage had been eye-opening, and I mean to carry on regardless.

My husband has been happier than I'd seen him in a while, and I've felt more alive than I have in a very long time. As to the situation that got us here, I already know how to deal with it. Since neither of them knows that I'm on to them, I can pull their strings from behind the scenes and make sure they never get the chance they're looking for.

I was convinced more than ever that my husband adored me. It had been months since those two started their little game of cat and mouse, but apart from the hug, which she instigated, they hadn't been able to get him in a compromising position.

Thankfully, I caught it in the very early stages, so now that I know what's cooking, I can keep my eye on the pot. Jack had been recommended a couple of years ago by one of Mark's cousins, who I don't suspect has any part in this scheme, but I'm still looking into it. For all I know, it could've been innocent on our cousin's part, but it definitely wasn't on Jack's.

It appears that he'd targeted my husband from the get-go, which is what's going to work against him. Since he works so closely with my husband, there's a lot I can trace back to him, and that, added to the clone, will keep me abreast of their actions.

I already have the report on Jack and am now using this suggestion as a cover until the right time comes. I could just expose everything right now since they didn't get what they were after. But that would be too easy. First, if word got around that our company was this vulnerable to scams, who in their right mind would trust us in the future?

No, I need to handle this in a way that those two won't have a voice to make so much as a squeak when I kick them out on their ass.

Our sex was even more passionate than in the last few months because I found myself with lots of excess energy. Mark didn't complain, but I'm sure the scratches and bites I subjected him to had to have him wondering.

"Babe, I've been meaning to ask you. What the hell has gotten into you?" He was busy sliding his cock in and out of me as I laid on my back with my legs spread as wide as I could make them go.

"Other than your cock you mean?" I don't think I've ever said the word cock to my husband before, and it had quite an effect on him.

His reaction was to drive into me harder. "That's it, fuck me harder." If I knew all these years that that was all it would take to make him go wild for me, I would've done it long ago. I screamed with pleasure when he raised my legs higher in the air and held them there by my ankles while he went wild between my thighs.

Who says life ends at thirty? At forty, I was having the best sex of my life and had never felt so alive. I've always enjoyed sex with my husband, don't get me wrong, but this was like a new lover with a new toy. I never thought I'd like seeing myself in that light but I was wrong.

I loved the way he handled me, not like spun glass or something precious he had to handle with care. Not like the well-bred daughter of an elite family. He fucked me like a woman, a cherished and desired woman.

"Should I cum inside you again?" I nodded my head wildly, loving the feeling of taking a chance. We'd been using condoms for years since I was allergic to birth control, but in the last few months, we'd been playing Russian roulette with my womb.

"Cum in me." I know how that drives him crazy and now was no different. He growled and hastened his strokes fast enough to knock the bed into the wall over and over again until we both came screaming together.