The Gamble (D'Arth Series Book 3)

by Camille Oster

  They took the tube over to Sheppards Bush, the whole bunch of them, where Gavin and Alex stood a little further away—close together, with her hand on his chest while they were talking. Marco looked away, wondering if he was actually quite jealous. No, definitely not; he did not want the complication of a girlfriend. Being here with everything being new was complicated enough without some demanding girl telling him what to do.

  The party was packed—mostly Australians, with whom Kiwis in London seemed to have a long-running love/hate relationship, even though everyone else often saw them as the same. Here, they were more or less a part of the same society, except when it came to sports. Marco's flatmates, particularly now that that tetchy girl had moved out, were cool and these people at this party were his flatmate's crowd. Grabbing a beer, he spent some time checking out the talent—cute Aussie girls whose dresses were too short for the weather outside. Kiwi girls were more conservative.

  Ignoring the conversation around him, his eyes roamed the party where he spotted Alex across the room. She was tall compared to the other girls, helped by the heels she wore. She was laughing, listening to an animated girl she seemingly knew. Her long legs stretching up to a tight arse and slim waist. Suddenly, he felt a rush of heat and quickly looked away. He could not be crushing on his mate's girl.

  "You alright?" Gavin asked him, handing him another beer. Truth was that the jetlag was still affecting him.

  "Yeah, I'm alright.”

  Gavin gave him a nod, and then elbowed him. "See that girl there. She drops her knickers for anyone, if you want to have a go.” Marco checked out the girl Gavin indicated—a short, blond girl with a bubbly laugh—not that he wanted to go a round with a girl who everyone had been with, but he noted her in case he got desperate some time in the future.

  Checking out his watch, he saw that it was still early—embarrassingly so.

  "You look a bit worse for wear, mate," Gavin said.

  "Jetlag.”

  "Maybe you should take off. Alex is heading back soon—share a cab with her.” Marco felt a rush of discomfort, but also relief that Gavin wasn't going to give him a hard time for flagging on the party. "Make sure she gets home alright. Don't like the girls being on their own here at night. It's not like back home in that respect.”

  "I will," he promised, not having even considered that London was less safe than home. He hadn’t really noticed, but these things were more of a concern to the girls.

  Marco watched as Gavin walked over to Alex, leaning close to her ear. He also saw her listening and then her eyes travel over to him. He felt a bit uncomfortable watching Gavin talk about him. Turning to Gavin, Alex nodded and then kissed him. For a moment, Marco thought Gavin was insane for letting someone else take his girl home, but it was an irrational thought.

  The chill outside was in stark contrast to the humid heat from tightly packing in bodies in a small flat.

  "We have to walk to the high street to find a cab," Alex said. Marco only nodded and followed her as she walked ahead, noting how drunk he was—not to mention tired, a state where a wish for company tended to develop—an urge for a girl riding him hard in the wee hours. Not that it would be with the present company, but he couldn’t stop the thought from sneaking in. He just followed as she walked slightly ahead of him, trusting she knew where she was taking him. She placed her hand on his arm at one point and waved down a taxi. Marco's attention stuck on her hand, which she removed without second thought.

  A black cab pulled up and she climbed in, giving him a nice view of her backside. Standing outside for a moment, he mentally swore at his own weakness. Sliding in the cab, it took off down streets he didn't recognise. He wrapped his coat tight around him, knowing that if she so much as gave him the hint of a go ahead right now, he'd be in serious threat of selling his friendship down the river before he knew what he was doing. But he was fairly sure that Alex wasn't that kind of girl. Gavin trusted her and that said a lot for her, but that only added to how desperately he needed for her not to touch him right now.

  They spoke little during the ride home. Alex leaned back in the seat with her eyes closed, her legs crossed. Her heels were awesome—not slutty, but downright sexy.

  "Good night?" she asked after a while.

  "Yeah, alright.”

  They didn't really have much else to talk about, but talking was a good distraction. "Have you been to Spain before?"

  "No," he admitted.

  "It's awesome. You'll love it.”

  He suspected she minded him coming along, but he felt a perverse pleasure knowing he would.

  Before he knew it, the cab pulled up in front of a townhouse. "This is me," she said and climbed across him to get out, her hand on his knee. "Good night. You're not too far from here, only a few minutes.” Smiling absently, she slammed the door and turned.

  "Just hang on a bit, mate," he said to the cab driver and watched her make her way inside to ensure nothing came at her. Once she closed the door, the cab pulled away again, feeling surprisingly large and empty in the back.

  * * *

  Chapter 3:

  * * *

  The commute to work was always more cumbersome when it rained—everyone was a bit more grumpy, the crowd more pressing, but Alex managed to get to work in time to have a croissant at the coffee bar in the lobby of her building. She found a left-behind newspaper and skimmed through it as she warmed her hands on her coffee cup. Mondays were just awful and she knew not to have great expectations.

  They'd had a good weekend—no major dramas, which was nice for a change. They'd all gone up to Oxford for the weekend, which had turned into a blur. Their group was now a good mix of couple and singles, although Marco was stubbornly single, which may not be surprising as he'd still only been in Europe for a month or so.

  There was something about him, though, that made her uncomfortable. It was like he saw everything and it got on her nerves. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something off with him. Alex wondered if he was closet gay, as he didn't seem to make much effort with the girls, but she didn't get that feeling off him, and if he was, he was so deep in the closet he wasn't even remotely honest with himself. She suspected he wasn't.

  The trip to Seville was coming up next weekend and she was excited. She'd bought a new outfit for the occasion, trying out some classic chic European looks at the moment—looks with a nod to the elegance of the past without being an outright retro weirdo—dressed in clothes her grandmother could have actually worn. She wasn't that dedicated.

  Checking her watch, she noted she was going to be late if she didn't get a move on and went to stand in line for the elevator to end up squeezing in between a dripping wet man and the elevator wall. The sheer amount of people was the main drawback of London. It was cool in most respects, except for the commuting. But that was the trade-off one made coming here. Taking a seat at her desk, she finished off the remainder of her coffee, throwing the disposable cup in the bin. It was time for the Monday meeting. Grabbing her notebook, she made her way to the boardroom on the lower floor of the glass office building with stunning views over the city. The boardroom was crowded as it normally was and Alex missed out on one of the seats.

  "Hello, my beasts of burden," said Mr. Casov as he walked in, wearing what must be a ridiculously expensive shirt with red suspenders. He was a man in his fifties, who was a bit of a legend at Grossman Altitude—in the entire industry actually, and he was effectively the boss.

  Looking around the room, Alex spotted Peter Dunham standing on the other side of the room with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall in a sharp navy suit—blond, tall, gorgeous, public school educated and very British. Peter was one of the senior account managers, only in his mid-thirties. Alex had always fought a crush on him. Peter didn't report to Casov directly, but Peter was still part of Casov's larger team. Alex, on the other hand, was a grunt—a workhorse expected to churn out reports, prepare pitch proposals and organise all the materials to go
with it. She'd been doing this for a couple of years and she was pretty good at it.

  Casov ran through the workstreams for the week and the development with the large accounts, which were out of Alex's hands, being stuck on the small accounts as recent graduates mostly were. Most of this meeting was passingly interesting, but it had little bearing on what she did.

  "And some new small accounts we're going for—Massof Trucking, which Dean is going to lead; Tolen Adventure Park which Cassandra will take and Lush Cosmetics that will go to Alex.”

  Alex heard her name being called and felt a rush of excitement stir though her body. She'd been given an account, finally. This signified a step up and she'd been waiting for it for quite a while. Someone clapped her on the shoulder and she beamed with pleasure and excitement.

  Returning to her desk, she immediately searched for Lush Cosmetics on the internet, being surprised and pleased when she learnt that it wasn't a tiny account; it was a thirteen million pound business. She'd never heard of it, but it looked cool. Their website was covered with quirky photos with shiny, bright goods.

  "Well done, Alex," she heard and looked up to find Peter standing by her desk. He was just so frigging hot, she acknowledged and smiled. "Quite a coup.”

  "Yes, and I'm thrilled, naturally.”

  "Quite a bit of trust being placed in you. It's exciting getting your first account, but you know, if you screw this up, you're out.” Tapping her desk twice with his long finger, he walked away, leaving her with that little gem. Cheers, Peter, she said mentally; she needed that extra bit of pressure. Turning back, he said, "If you have any questions, ask me.”

  "Yes. Thank you, Peter.”

  Lacey was watching the exchange. "And if you want a quick one in the bathroom, you can ask him, too," she said snarkily. "But he'll think worse of you for it.” It had apparently been a mistake that Lacey had made when she'd first arrived. She was American and they had become friends due to the sheer fact that they sat together. She was nice, but sometimes the cultural differences left them both speechless.

  "I am not going to sleep with Peter," Alex said, forcefully blocking that image out. Peter was a player; he treated girls like playthings that he grew tired very quickly, but other than that atrocious flaw, he had everything going for him.

  His warning that it was fly or die for her was not going to make her loose her cool; she would get this account, even if she had to work every hour of the day—except Seville, which was already booked and would be her last bit of fun for a while. Finally. If she pulled this off, she would move up, get larger accounts, then maybe even start playing on Peter's level—a while off, but this provided a means to get there. She was going to kill this account.

  Seeking out Sofie, she found the brief package and studied everything in it until lunch time when she went out with Lacey. "Let's do something proper and fattening to celebrate. Pizza Express?" Lacey asked.

  Alex smiled. It was a worthy day to celebrate.

  News had gotten around the industry the next day as it always did. She'd never been the topic of any of it; this was the first time. Matt, a few seats down, had just been to lunch with some of the boys and the goss had been flowing.

  "Who am I competing against?" Alex asked, almost too nervous to find out.

  "Lyndsey Chapman at Flagman," he said and Alex could picture the girl she'd met at a function the previous year. They were about on the same level—an ambitious girl, but a bit too aggressive. "Henry Awesome at Capelle.”

  "Ah, he's just awesome," she said like they did every time he was mentioned. He was quite sweet actually.

  "And some guy named Marco D'Arth at Jamieson Poole.”

  "What?!"

  "A newbie apparently.”

  "He's been here like two minutes," Alex said, annoyed that he'd just walked in the job and picked up an account.

  "You know him?"

  "He's a Kiwi.”

  "Bit of home grown competition, eh?" Matt asked. "I forget you all know each other.”

  Alex ignored the jibe; she was too dismayed by this development to deal with Matt's sarcasm. How the hell had Marco managed to get the account, but then she recalled he'd worked in advertising back in Auckland. He might even had run accounts before.

  Damn it, she said to herself. This would complicate things, or then maybe not, she reconsidered. They just hung out together; it wasn't like they discussed their work, but she made a point to remember to be a bit vague on the details when she discussed it with Gavin. He would definitely be on her team, but just in case he accidentally let something slip, she would avoid talking about it.

  Sitting back down, she was still annoyed that Marco was going for the account too. The others she knew a bit about, workwise, but Marco was a complete dark horse. Having an unknown on the other side wasn't ideal, particularly as she had no idea what he was capable of. This, she could have done without, but she would just have to deal with it. She would just work harder.

  * * *

  Chapter 4:

  * * *

  Seville was warm, even at that time of year. They arrived in the afternoon, having had to leave their flat at five in the morning, just to make it up to Gatwick in time for the ten am flight. Alex was excited to get away from London for a while and what was better than a few days in the Mediterranean.

  Dropping their bags off in the hotel room, Alex opened the balcony doors and took in the view of the ancient city. They had forked out quite a bit for the room, but it was worth it. It was all just gorgeous—quaint streets, church bells and Mediterranean warmth.

  Gavin came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "This weekend is going to be good," he said, nuzzling her hair and kissing her neck. Alex wondered if they could grab a bit of alone time right now. They could test out the bed. "Let's go get a drink. The others are meeting us down in the lobby.”

  Disappointment flared in Alex as he pulled away from her to rifle through his wallet to check how many Euros he'd ended up with. "You coming?"

  "In a minute," she said, smiling tightly. Sometimes she wished Gavin was a little more into ‘them’. She wasn't one that expected romance all the time, but a bit would be nice, particularly when they'd invested in a hotel room like this, with a cute balcony and romantic flowing curtains. Sighing, she sat down on the bed after Gavin had left.

  It had been a busy week. She'd worked late every night; working with the analysts to get a handle on Lush Cosmetics' customer base. It was all so very exciting and she had trouble letting it go.

  Changing her shoes, she made her way downstairs to join the others, who were chatting animatedly. Everyone was excited and it was nice to see. Rachel was laughing a little too loudly, having drunk quite a bit on the plane and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Sarah was there, as were Dom and Robbie, along with his new English girlfriend, and Dion. Marco was also there. He hadn't flown with them, having instead arrived the previous day. She wondered what he'd been doing here on his own for a night, but then he'd arrived quite late from what she'd heard. She'd wished she'd done that with Gavin so they could have had one day to themselves.

  "Are you hungry?" Gavin asked when she sat down. "We are thinking of going for a proper Spanish meal, paella or something.”

  "Absolutely," she said. Looking up, she found Marco watching her and she gave him a quick nod. It was a little unnerving having him there, and truthfully, she was still having trouble accepting him into the group, particularly now with the added complication of him being the competition.

  Leaving the hotel lobby, they wandered down cobbled streets. The whole city was made of sand-coloured stone—old and worn from centuries of use. It was utterly beautiful and the warm breeze was lovely on Alex's bare legs.

  They found a restaurant just down the street, tucked inside a courtyard with a garden area in the back, where they found a long table. Drinks were ordered quickly and the menu was in Spanish.

  "Should we just pick something random?" Rachel asked.
/>   "Why not? I know that pollo means chicken.”

  "Can't go wrong with chicken.”

  Alex wasn't quite sure what she'd ordered, but thought it was some kind of fish dish. She would find out soon enough.

  "I love this," Rachel said, looking around. "It is so nice to get away from London.”

  "How long are you planning to stay on in London?"

  "My visa runs out in six months, so I need to decide whether I'm going to extend it or not.” Rachel twisted her wine glass, making the liquid climb up the sides of the glass. "Maybe it's time to go home. Or I might go to Canada for a bit. With the age restriction for working visas, it’s now or never.”

  "I know a couple of girls who are in Vancouver. They love it.”

  The boys were talking about the weekend's rugby games when the food arrived. Alex got a fish dish, smothered in an orange and saffron sauce. It was absolutely divine and she was pleased with her pick. When she'd finished, Alex checked her phone to see if there were any messages. Her mother usually woke back home this time of day.