Explicit Detail

by Scarlett Finn

  Flick hadn’t heard Rushe retort but she felt him approach so she looked over her shoulder, his stern expression made her groan.

  ‘I was kidding. Why would I want to marry you?’ Rushe didn’t respond to her quip. ‘What?’ Flick got up out of her chair to rest her hands in his pockets. ‘Rushe, you’re scaring me. What is it?’

  ‘Jansen’s in the hospital. His condition is critical.’

  ‘Jansen...? The undercover cop who saved our asses from the human traffickers, and from Victor and Simone, that Jansen?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘This is it, isn’t it?’ she asked. ‘The danger has come to find us, just like you said it would.’

  ‘Yeah, Kitten, we have to go back to the beginning.’

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  Explicit Memory

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  Coming December 2014

  Chapter One

  ‘Don’t you agree?’

  ‘Yes,’ Flick answered absently, watching over the shoulder of her brother in-law’s brother.

  Coming back to her parents’ house, to the Hughes’ family home, hadn’t been on Flick’s list of top ten burning desires. But her sister had reached out to her, included her, and so Flick couldn’t snub this invitation. She and her family had been estranged for more than a year, and other than one brief and dramatic episode, she hadn’t seen any of them in that time.

  The Hughes family were old money and well established in society. Flick’s grandparents still inhabited the large estate house that had been in the family for generations, so their present location was the house built by her mother, or rather for her, when she married Charles Hughes the fourth – Flick’s father. Her mother, Beverly, loved to boast about this house because it was her pride and joy. It was everything she wanted, an extravagant display of wealth and taste, and the envy of many other wives in their circle.

  ‘You weren’t at the wedding, though, were you?’

  Flick couldn’t remember this guy’s name, but in fairness she wasn’t sure that they’d ever actually been formally introduced. ‘No.’

  ‘Are you married?’

  The dusk had long since gone but the outdoor lighting kept the decking abuzz with all those gathered to celebrate the wedding anniversaries of both her sisters. The eldest, Lucia, was married on the twenty-second, and the middle daughter Vivian on the twenty-fourth, this was the twenty-third and their joint anniversary celebration.

  Groups of people stood around chatting politely, sipping expensive champagne, and admiring the gardens, which had been re-designed especially for this occasion. Flick was less interested in the grounds and more interested in the folding glass door at the back of the house, which served as a gateway between the internal and external.

  ‘No,’ Flick said.

  ‘I’m divorced myself.’

  ‘I’m not in the market.’

  The stuttering man with the receding hairline blanched, but Flick’s patience was wearing thin. It wasn’t his fault, she was preoccupied with the door for a reason, and her impatient anticipation was reaching critical mass.

  ‘Flick?’

  Turning in the direction of her name, she saw Robert Morse, the man her father, her family, wanted her to marry.

  ‘Hi,’ she said. Her brother in-law’s brother walked away, but Flick wasn’t convinced that this encounter with Robert offered any kind of reprieve from the safety of the benign conversation she’d shared with the retreating man.

  Robert’s suave demeanour remained the same, his perfectly coiffed brown hair and baby blue eyes were as she remembered. It had been a shame that she had to hurt him, because he wasn’t a bad guy. But knowing herself as she did now, she could recognise that had been exactly the problem.

  ‘Look at this,’ Lucia said, rushing in at her side. ‘You two reunited.’

  If it wouldn’t be considered impolite, Flick would’ve rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve seen many people tonight that I haven’t seen in a year and a half.’ Since she left.

  ‘Does it make you nostalgic?’ Lucia asked.

  Her tension level rose as Robert maintained eye contact, and Flick didn’t know if this was about to get interesting, or if her recent experiences had set her on edge.

  ‘Problem?’ This new male voice came from the rear.

  Flick had only taken her eyes off the doorway for a few seconds, but it wouldn’t have mattered. His arm lolled over her shoulder to rest along her clavicle, meaning his angle of approach was from behind, so he hadn’t come from through the house. She should’ve known better than to expect a conventional entrance from her lover.

  ‘I don’t know if you ever met,’ Flick said, knowing that they hadn’t. ‘This is my sister Lucia, and Robert, who has only said one word to me tonight.’

  ‘One word too many.’

  Rushe was Rushe, no airs and graces, and certainly no feigned civilities from him. So he didn’t acknowledge either of the beautiful people before them any further. While he pressured her to walk backward, Flick smiled in farewell and let Rushe take her in the direction of the walled rose garden. Bringing her body around his, Rushe urged her back against the tree at the garden entrance.

  ‘Did you get it?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, retrieving a folded piece of paper from his back pocket.

  She took it from him and eagerly opened it to read the promised new birth certificate. ‘Jones?’ she read, and let her disappointment shine. ‘I get a new identity and this is the name you give me? Why don’t I get your name?’

  ‘Because, Kitten,’ he said, removing the sheet of paper to tuck it away again. ‘There are folks out there who don’t like me. I don’t want anyone looking for me to find you.’

  ‘Maybe you could rescue me this time,’ she said. ‘You know, for once.’

  She teased because she knew he’d let her, and also because the more she pushed the further his brow came down, so the darker his eyes became. He growled at her and she sighed out, letting her hands sink into his pockets now that she’d achieved her aim of riling him a little.

  ‘Couldn’t you have gone with something slightly more exotic?’

  ‘Don’t want you exotic,’ he said. ‘Want you plain, boring, and very difficult to trace with any certainty. Your family, and their money, make you a target.’

  ‘Technically so do you, because there are people out to get you. Our job does too, because we don’t always make very many friends.’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘But you’re not going to give any of those things up. I can only limit your vulnerability where you let me.’

  Getting over her sulk, Flick knew the more pressing discussion remained pending. ‘Did you see him?’ she asked.

  ‘I went to the hospital, and copied some notes, but he’s still out of it.’

  ‘And Serendipity?’

  Rushe shook his head. ‘She’s not there.’

  ‘We have to find her,’ Flick said. ‘Jansen was there for me when I needed him. He freed you, I would never have been able to—‘

  ‘You wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it wasn’t for him,’ Rushe said.

  ‘No, actually, you wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for him. Which means I would’ve walked into Dell’s—‘

  ‘Yeah, Kitten.’

  Flick knew she’d made her point by that snarl of discontent he bestowed. ‘You were never going to leave Serendipity out there alone.’
>
  ‘She might be dead.’

  ‘You’re preparing me,’ Flick said.

  Rushe could emotionally detach from everything, except her. Over the course of their relationship, Flick had tried to follow his example, but she hadn’t managed it yet.

  ‘Someone put Jansen in the hospital, and they’ve abducted his woman, Serendipity,’ Rushe said. ‘We were just as complicit in fucking up their operation as that couple were. You better be prepared, because we’re next.’

  ‘If they put you in the hospital and kidnap me—‘

  ‘They’re not gonna pull the same play twice, or if they were they’d have tried it by now,’ Rushe said. ‘They want something else from us.’

  The night never felt oppressive when Rushe was around, nothing did. He held the world away from her, at least the evil in it, and if he felt it pushing back all of his senses went on hyper alert.

  ‘What should we do now?’ Flick asked on a sigh.

  The act of bringing her wrists toward each other made her hands, which were still in his pockets, press to his member. It also squeezed her upper arms on either side of her breasts. Rushe’s attention slinked down to her cleavage, so she ensured to push forward and enhance his view as best she could.

  ‘Move,’ he said, taking grip of her shoulder he tried to pull her forward, but she didn’t budge, so the position of her hands brought him back.

  ‘You want to have sex in my parents’ garden?’

  ‘I don’t give a fuck where.’

  They had been separated for more than a day. At lunchtime yesterday, he’d dropped her off at the rear security-gated entrance of the Hughes home. His own destination had been the hospital where Jansen was laid up in critical condition. Right now it had to be closing in on midnight, and the idea of a love-in sounded about perfect to her after the stresses of the day.

  ‘My bedroom is upstairs,’ she said.

  Rushe retrieved her hand from his jeans and linked their fingers to pull her toward the house, but they didn’t get that far because Lucia moved in front of them. Rushe tried to avoid her but Charles Hughes, Flick’s father, approached from the other side, closing in on them in a pincer move. Flick didn’t expect Rushe to be happy about the interception, but she was surprised that he gave up so easily by coming to an abrupt halt.

  She collided with his back then tried to skirt around him, but he got in her way. He was blocking her from something, but she couldn’t begin to know what.

  ‘Felicity, there’s someone you must meet,’ her father said. ‘He just arrived back here a few minutes ago, and already he seeks an audience with you.’ Rushe gave Flick just enough space to show half of herself. Charles Hughes appeared outright disgusted by Rushe’s presence. ‘Who is this?’

  ‘This is Flick’s boyfriend,’ Lucia said. ‘I think.’ Flick registered Lucia’s fascination with this feral creature in their staid environment.

  ‘Her what?’

  ‘Who do you want me to meet, Father?’ Flick asked.

  If it were appropriate, she would personally introduce Rushe to every person here. Flick would willingly fall to her knees in front of them all to prove their relationship. But Rushe thought that the fewer people who knew him, the better... and he wouldn’t share any of their intimacies with anyone.

  ‘This is Antoine Mercier; he’s a client of Roger’s.’

  Flick didn’t need to witness Rushe sizing up the dashing man who reeked of sophistication and arrogance, because she could sense the snarl.

  ‘Nice to meet you, Mr. Mercier,’ Flick said, taking Rushe’s lead and not attempting to shake hands or to make any physical contact.

  ‘Call me, Antoine,’ he drawled, with an accent that made Flick frown.

  ‘You’re European?’

  ‘French,’ he said.

  Rushe remained static, not a single hair on his body moved, but she grew rigid. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Antoine was the same nationality as the family involved with the human traffickers, who were no doubt responsible for recent events regarding Jansen and Serendipity. The lack of change in Antoine, despite her visible negative reaction, confirmed it.

  A woman walks into a bar...

  Explicit Instruction

  Stranded, Flick seeks salvation. Instead, she finds herself living in a nightmare, under threat of physical and sexual assault, but Flick can see no way out.

  Yet, an unexpected reprieve comes in the form of a stranger; a looming silhouette more terrifying than the evil that captured her. She learns that danger has an alias, Rushe. Abrupt, crude, and domineering he becomes her only hope for survival.

  Stolen away Flick has to rely on Rushe’s instincts to keep her alive. But rescuing her saviour from his own demise changes things... or does it?

  Flick entrusts her life to Rushe, but he still cannot bring himself to stand down from red-alert. There’s more going on than Flick understands and Rushe does not intend to give her any of the details.

  Freedom becomes a distant memory. The further into the criminal plot she is drawn, the deeper her entanglement with Rushe becomes. Without him, Flick won’t survive, but to him she is nothing more than a liability.

  The adventure she started by accident threatens her life and his; then Rushe does something unexpected and Flick knows it’s not only her life she is battling for, it’s her heart as well.

  Available now on Amazon

  When friendship is a high stakes game...

  Mistake Me Not

  It might have been a simple mistake that threw Lacie and Ryder together; but another mistake nearly tears them apart.

  Lacie believes in loyalty above all else, so when her best friend Sorcha needs help Lacie doesn't think twice. But, following Sorcha’s instructions leads Lacie to inadvertently hire the wrong PI. Unaware of her error Lacie is horrified by her body’s overwhelming attraction to this man she has only just met. Especially since every other man leaves her less than lukewarm. Worse still, Lacie believes he is Sorcha's ex, and she would never consider betraying her friend.

  Ryder Stone wasn’t going to correct the little brunette who caught him in the middle of a little B and E; the case sounded easy enough and he wouldn’t want her to be taken advantage of – at least that was his excuse.

  Except neither comprehend the danger ahead. Oblivious to what they’re walking into Ryder finds himself unconscious with only Lacie’s screams and his own imagination to torment him. Unfortunately, it’s not over for them yet.

  Their one misstep leads them into a plot that extends close to home. Lacie has seen something. She’s in trouble and none of them know it until it’s too late and... she’s gone

  Available now on Amazon

  Your trouble is you believe everything you read...

  Rivals ON AIR

  Hunter and Annie hadn’t met, not until they were thrown together by their bosses to justify that kiss. One kiss, one picture, and their worlds collide.

  Their audiences clamour for more. The press are speculating, and truthfully... they can’t stand each other. But now they’re in each other's lives, because how can they walk away from that picture with their credibility?

  Each spend show after show goading and teasing the other, so their bosses come up with the solution – fall in love... though not really, of course.

  Nevertheless, the competition is heating up and the numbers are too close to call. Hunter’s boss Theo won’t have it. They need edge. They have to win this, because both stations are running the same format. Whoever wins the award takes it all... the loser will have to cancel.

  Annie’s getting under Hunter’s skin. Theo questions his professionalism, and demands that he proves his mettle. Ethical, schmethical – get into the girl’s underwear, make her believe it’s real, and she’ll be begging them to win the award.

  The fragile trust between the pair burgeons, yet their careers drive their lives, and this was always just a gimmick... wasn’t it?

  Then Annie makes the move and invites Hunter into her
bed... what’s a man to do?

  Available now on Amazon

  A small town girl in the big, bad city...

  The XY Factor

  The two of them may have grown up in the same town but their ways couldn’t have been more different – he was the rebel and she the invisible princess. No one knew of the chance encounter between Darcy and Sloan on his last night in town almost a decade and a half ago.

  But when Inverquay needs money Darcy steps up to take part in her worst nightmare – a TV talent show. Things don’t go to plan and she ends up under the glare of the media spotlight. In the big bad city she’s alone, and to a small town girl that’s inconceivable; but no one knows why she’s there so Darcy has no one to rely on.

  Sloan swore he’d never go back to Inverquay and after thirteen years he’d rid himself of the town that had forsaken him. Until he stumbles upon the girl he met only hours before he roared away from Inverquay on his bike, and she trusts him... now why in the hell would she do something as stupid as that?

  Available now on Amazon

  Copyright © 2014 Scarlett Finn