Rushed

  “So here you are.” Lawson placed my suitcase on the foot of my bed. Watching him carrying it had turned me on, he’d again lifted both mine and Quinn’s together like they were weightless, but I knew better. I’d lugged the bloody thing for about twenty meters before Lawson had caught me and promptly taken it from me. I was no weakling, but shit he was strong.

  “Here I am.”

  He walked over to my dressing table and busied himself looking at the framed photographs that sat atop it.

  “I think you’re stalling Mr. Pierce.” I teased. I was in no hurry to have him out of my room.

  He flashed me a grin that melted my insides. “That obvious am I?” He picked up a picture of me with the twins. “Molly and Kyle?” He gestured towards the photo.

  I was impressed. I think I had told him the names of my younger siblings only once, but yet he said them without hesitation – I really needed to remember that he was paying attention to my every word.

  “That’s them. They’re the babies of the family.”

  “Your family obviously has good genes.”

  I smiled at his comment and picked up a picture of my parents with the four of us. It had been taken about a year ago. “That’s them. The source of the genes.” I said with a smile.

  “You all look so happy.”

  I looked at the photo. “We were. That was a great night. It’s rare that we are all in the same place at the same time, in fact, that was taken the last time it happened. When we’re all together, we make the most of it. I think I was hung-over for about three days after that one.” I laughed at the memory.

  “It must be nice having a big family.” His voice only slightly betraying his emotions. I knew already that he and Quinn had been raised alone by their mother. Their father had walked out not long after Quinn was born, and from what I knew, had never so much as looked back. It broke my heart when Q had told me, and now I felt another wave of sadness for Lawson too.

  “I’m sorry. We can talk about something else. I know it must be tough to think about your dad leaving.” I squeezed his bicep.

  He gave me a small smile. “It’s fine Ells. I didn’t miss out on anything. My mum and her parents gave me and Quinn one hell of a childhood. He did me a favour by leaving. I’ve always been glad that he showed his true colours before I learnt to rely on him.” He wrapped his arms around my middle and pulled me into his body. “My only regret is pushing Quinn and Mom away all these years while I dealt with Piper’s betrayal on my own. I regret not sharing my hurt with them.” He looked at the photo of my family again. “I can see from this photo how close you all are. I regret taking that away from Q.”

  I squeezed him tighter and laid my head on his chest. “It’s not too late. I know Quinn doesn’t hold any negative feeling towards you anyway, but if it’d make you feel better to tell her what happened, then I think you should do it.”

  We stood in silence for a few moments.

  “I’ll think about it.” I felt him kiss the top of my head. “Thank you for coming with me this weekend.”

  “Thank you for surprising me. It was the best weekend I could have asked for.”

  “Will you come and see my place one night this week? I’d love for you to spend the night with me.” He held me at arm’s length and dazzled me with those deep green eyes of his.

  “I would love to.” I blushed. “Is Friday okay?”

  He brushed a strand of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear. “Friday is great.” He bent in and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. I longed to hold him there and deepen the kiss, but I decided it could wait. Friday was only a few days away. I knew the time away from him was going to feel like an eternity, but I would survive. He pulled away from me and walked towards the door.

  “I’ll see you on Friday then.” I said softly.

  He turned and smirked at me. “Oh no pretty girl, You’ll see me tomorrow. I’ll bring the lunch.”

  My heart flipped in my chest at the thought of seeing him again tomorrow.

  He walked out the door and I heard him yell out a goodbye to Quinn.

  “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” I whispered to myself before flopping down onto my bed.

  ***

  “Well good morning to you Miss. Rush. I must say you are looking damn fine today. A weekend away obviously agreed with you.”

  I grinned at Weston. “Oh stop, you flatter me.”

  “How was it? I want all of the details of you and Mr. Sex on legs.”

  I held up my hands in surrender. “I promise to share every detail with you, just let me get settled and drink this coffee so I can do the story justice.”

  “Mail and messages are on your desk.” Weston called out as I walked into the office and plonked my stuff onto my desk.

  I quickly got myself set up and flicked through the messages. There was nothing overly exciting or important, aside from a message from my dad to call him when I had a chance.

  I dialled his number as I began opening my mail.

  “Jefferson Rush.”

  “Hi Dad, how’s it going?”

  “Hi sweetheart. How was your weekend away?”

  “It was perfect. I had a great time. It was just what I needed.”

  “I’m really glad to hear that. You deserve to have some fun. You work harder than I do.”

  “I like to work Dad.” I rolled my eyes at my father.

  “I know, I know, anyway I called about a new contract.” I pulled open an unmarked envelope while I listened to my dad tell me about a new contract he wanted me to secure.

  The only thing in the envelope was a photo – a photo of Lawson and I. I knew it was taken on Friday night in the lobby of the building, because I remembered the outfit that I was wearing. Lawson was helping me put on my coat and his hand was sweeping my hair out of the way. He was standing so close to me and I remembered the shivers that passed over my body at his touch. The look on my face was one of pure ecstasy – it was an intimate moment.

  I stared at the picture. Had Lawson sent it to me?

  My dad was still explaining the logistics of the company I would be working with, but I wasn’t taking a word of it in.

  Something bothered me about this picture. Who took it? Where did Lawson get it?

  I interrupted my dad. “I’m really sorry, but something urgent has come up, can I call you back in about an hour?”

  “Is everything okay? You sound worried.”

  “It’s fine. I just have to see to this and then I’ll call you back.”

  “No problem sweetheart, there’s no hurry.”

  “Great, bye Dad.”

  I hung up the phone and stared at the photo in front of me. “West!” I yelled.

  “Yea El?” He called back.

  “Can you come in here?”

  He appeared in the doorway. “What’s wrong? You look weird.”

  I laughed lightly at my assistant’s lack of filter for his words. It was one of my favourite things about him.

  “This was in the mail. In an unmarked envelope.” I held out the photo for him to look at.

  Weston took it from me and stared at it. “Hot damn you two make a sexy couple.”

  I rolled my eyes. “West, focus. I don’t know who took it, who sent it, where it came from or why I have it. Don’t you find that a little odd?”

  “I guess so, but it’s probably just your lover boy sending you a sexy pic.”

  “Where did he get it? He didn’t take it.”

  Weston shrugged. “Security feed?”

  I thought about it… it was possible, but it didn’t seem likely, the photo was high quality. Not what you’d expect from an office security camera. But it was possible.

  West shrugged. “Why don’t you just ask him El?”

  “I will. He’s having lunch with me, so I’ll ask him then.” I took the photo back from Weston and shoved it in my top drawer.

  Weston sat himself down in one of the armchairs. “Well since I’m here…”r />
  I smiled and wasted an hour of my workday filling him in on the details of my amazing weekend.

  ***

  Lunchtime approached and I had forgotten all about the photo – I had been flat out catching up on some of the work I’d missed yesterday. The day off had left me with a hectic list of things to work through for the rest of the week.

  I was absorbed in my laptop when I had a knock on my door. “Come in.” I called out.

  “Hey pretty girl.” Lawson’s deep voice pulled my eyes from the screen and I felt myself relax at the sight of him.

  “Hey back.” I smiled.

  “Sorry to barge in.” He gestured behind himself. “Weston must have gone to lunch.”

  “He has. Don’t be silly. You don’t even need to knock.”

  He went and sat in his usual spot, and I took mine. I smiled at the familiarity of the scene. He passed me my chicken wrap and I thanked him.

  I took a bite of my food and looked at him – he seemed tense, more distant maybe. My stomach dropped. Maybe he was already pulling away from me. Hundreds of scenarios raced through my mind, and I had to mentally scream at myself to shut the hell up.

  “Are you ok? You seem like you’re not really here.”

  He didn’t answer at first, and I’d just about decided to ask him again when he spoke. “I’m fine. Just something weird happened today and I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

  “Shit that reminds me.” I jumped up from my seat and pulled the photo from my drawer. “Did you send me this?”

  Lawson stared at the photo for a long time. “Where did you get this?” His shoulders had tensed and his voice became harsh.

  “My mail.” I answered quietly. “You didn’t send it?”

  He shook his head. “No. I didn’t” He jumped up suddenly and I flinched. “Was there a note?”

  “No, nothing. Just the photo in an unmarked envelope.”

  “Show me.”

  “What?”

  “The envelope.” He growled.

  I was getting more worried by the minute. Obviously Lawson hadn’t sent this to me.

  So then who had?

  I rummaged through my bin and found the light yellow envelope in there. “It was just in this. There’s nothing written on it. I checked.”

  I handed it to him but he made no move to take it. “Just put it down on the desk.”

  “Okay.” I placed it on my desk. “Lawson what the fuck is going on, you’re scaring me.”

  Hearing me so scared seemed to break Lawson out of his angry haze. “Shit, I’m sorry Ells. Come here.”

  I flew over to him and he gripped me in a tight embrace.

  “I’m sorry I scared you.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know honey.” He released me and we sat back down. “I got an envelope the same this morning too. Mine didn’t have a photo. Just a note.”

  I gasped. This was not good. “What’d it say Lawson?”

  “Not yours to take.”

  I shook my head in confusion. “I don’t understand. That was all it said?”

  “I don’t either Ells. Although now, putting it together with that photo of the two of us, I think someone is warning us, maybe even threatening us.”

  I let out a nervous giggle. “That can’t be right. No one here even knows me for starters. And why would anyone want to threaten you?”

  He sat silently for a few moments. I could see he was deep in thought trying to figure it out. “What about Baxter? You were his. Maybe he wants you back?”

  I laughed loudly at the absurdity of it. There was no way it was Baxter. He was a spineless prick of a man. He didn’t have the balls.

  “No. No way. He wouldn’t do that. Even if he did still want me – which he doesn’t, he wouldn’t do this.”

  “I’m not ruling anything out.”

  I waved my hand at him. “You do what you’ve gotta do, but I’m telling you, it’s not him.”

  “I’ve got a friend who’s a detective. I’m calling him.”

  I sighed. “Do we have to? It’s not like we’ve been threatened, it’s just a photo and a note Lawson.”

  He slammed his hand down on the table in frustration and looked deep into my eyes. “I am not taking any risks with your safety El, whoever sent this has obviously been watching us. They were within walking distance of you. I’m not taking any risks.”

  It was a bit creepy, I’d give him that. “I can handle myself Lawson, I’ve -”

  He interrupted me. “I’m not listening. I need to know you’re safe.” He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

  “Fine. Call him then.” I decided I’d give him this round. I could see how stressed he was about my safety, and if calling this detective calmed him down, then so be it and besides, seeing him go all protective alpha male was actually kind of hot.

  Lawson made the call and informed me that Detective Mark Johnson would be with us within the hour. Maybe it was for the best after all, I had a few theories of my own to share with the Detective.

  42. Lawson

  He’s late.

  I’d paced the length of El's office until she’d snapped and made me sit down. Even amongst all this bullshit, I couldn’t help but notice how damn sexy she was when she was all pissed off.

  She’d immediately rejected the idea of her ex-husband doing this to us, but I wasn’t ready to throw the idea out just yet. The guy was clearly a complete fucking dickhead and if he was willing to throw away a life with someone as amazing as El, then I wouldn’t put anything past him.

  “I have a Detective Johnson here for you.” Weston’s voice came through the intercom.

  El stood and replied. “Thanks, let him through Weston.”

  Mark came in and shut the door behind him. “Thanks for coming on such short notice Mark.” I stood and shook his hand. “This is Ellerslie Rush. Ellerslie, Mark Johnson.”

  El shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, would you like a drink of anything Detective?”

  Mark held up his hands. “Call me Mark, and no I’m fine thank you Ellerslie.”

  She gestured for him to take a seat. He picked the armchair I’d sat in earlier, and I pulled El in next to me on the couch.

  “Why don’t you give me some more details on what’s going on Lawson?”

  I’d met Mark years ago when I’d wanted to be kept informed on Piper whilst she was in custody. He was a good man – older, maybe mid forties, and had a wife and two children at home. But most importantly, he was one hell of a detective. I’d trust him with my life, shit, I might even trust him with Ellerslie’s.

  I explained to him about the note and photo arriving with the mail today in unmarked envelopes. He pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and asked to see the items. “I’m the only one who has touched the note, but my assistant and probably the front desk staff would have handled the envelope too.”

  I looked over at El. “Me and my assistant have touched both the envelope and the photo.” She looked at me. “And Lawson has touched the photo too.”

  “Can I take these?” Mark looked between the both of us. “I want to run them for prints.”

  I nodded at him. “Yea that would be great, I’ll just take a picture of them both with my phone.” Mark held the note and photo out for me to photograph.

  “Excuse me Mark.” Ellerslie fidgeted next to me. “I was wondering how these envelopes would have got here, seeing as they don’t even have our names on them?”

  “That’s a good question. I’ll speak with your front desk before I leave here, but I would imagine that whoever is doing this has either taken them to the reception themselves, which I doubt, since you have security cameras – or they had somebody else take them in for them with verbal instructions for delivery. It’s something I’ll have to look into. It wouldn’t be to hard or very unusual for that to happen. I’m assuming all the mail is sorted downstairs and then delivered to each floor?”

  “That’s right.” I
told him.

  “Well then we can review the footage from Friday, yesterday and today and go from there. It’s possible somebody inside the building is responsible.”

  “If you could not explain the reason to any of the staff, I’d appreciate it. I want whoever is behind this to feel like they are getting away with it.”