The Pyramid Scheme

Sarah traced the rim of her wine glass, watching Marcus laugh across the table. Three months ago, she'd have given anything to see that smile directed at her. Now, she just wondered how much of it was real.

The corporate retreat in Sharm El Sheikh had seemed extravagant even for their firm. But the view from her terrace was undeniable—moonlight glinting off the Red Sea like spilled mercury, the pyramids visible in the distance as ancient, silent witnesses.

"You're quiet," Marcus said, appearing beside her with two fresh drinks. "Everything okay?"

"Just thinking about the merger," she lied, accepting the glass. "The Egyptian subsidiary's books don't add up."

His smile didn't waver. Not even a flicker. That was the problem with sleeping with a spy—you started seeing craft everywhere.

The cat that lived in the resort courtyard wound between her ankles, and Sarah set down her drink. "I need to tell you something."

"Me too." He set his glass on the stone railing. "I've been offered a position. With the competition."

The air left her lungs. "When were you going to mention this?"

"I wanted to wait until after the padel tournament tomorrow." He touched her arm, his thumb finding that spot on her inner wrist. "Come with me, Sarah. We'd be good together."

She pulled away. "You've been feeding them our client list since Dubai."

Marcus's expression shifted—something cold and calculated beneath the charm he'd perfected over six months of happy hours and hotel rooms. "It's not personal. It's just business."

"That's the problem," she said, her voice steady despite the water gathering in her eyes. "You made it personal."

She'd already forwarded the evidence to legal. The encrypted files she'd found on his laptop during their last 'weekend getaway' would see to that.

"Sarah—"

"Save it." She walked toward the sliding glass doors. "I'll see you at the padel court. You can explain it to the CEO."

The cat watched her go, then turned its attention to Marcus, who now stood alone on the terrace, another man who'd mistaken climbing the corporate pyramid for actually building something worth keeping.