Page 26 of He Is Ours (Lovers in Crossfire #2)

Chapter twenty-six

Rachel

I

am

deep

into

my work today; I have a client who is going to court next week for murder.

He states it was self-defense, but the evidence does not look promising.

I am reviewing all the text messages and emails.

His wife was cheating on him; that part was clear, but what isn't clear is whether the lover is involved at all.

A knock on my door pulls my attention away from my case.

"Hey, you got a delivery here, love." Katie sets down the vase of mixed flowers and a small box.

Hmm, this isn't normal, but who knows, maybe it's Olivia or Alex.

I take note off the stick in the flowers to read.

Count your days.

Well, I can say that it is not from Olivia or Alex.

I set that note down next to the flower and grabbed the box.

It's a small black box with a gold ribbon on it, tied in a perfect bow.

Slowly, I untie the bow and open the lid of the box.

I pull back the black tissue paper to reveal a stack of photos.

All of them are pictures of me. When I left Andrew's apartment after killing him, sitting on the log at the beach, I was waiting for Alex, all of it.

I keep flipping through the photos, and I see pictures of me and Alex having sex, when Olivia and I were riding Alex, fuck, even Olivia and I in the kitchen.

I put the photos down; I can't look anymore.

I'm feeling lightheaded, and my breathing is becoming short.

I know it's a panic attack happening. I haven't had one of these since I was in the hospital. I thought I was over these.

Think Rachel.

In through your nose, out through your mouth.

What are five things I can see?

My desk, a pen, my cell phone, the fucked up flowers, fuck… um… the picture on my desk.

My breathing starts to pick up pace even more. My chest is so tight. I need to call Alex.

I push the intercom, and Katie answers. I can't get a word out, and I know Katie can hear it. She comes rushing into my office.

"Rachel, are you okay?" I can only shake my head. My hand is on my chest, trying to feel my breath and attempting to calm myself down.

"Alex." That's all I get out before Katie grabs my cell phone, holds it up to my face to unlock it, and calls Alex.

"Alex, it's Katie. Something is wrong with Rachel. All she said was your name. Come to the office now. I think it might be a panic attack." She hangs up and sets my phone back down on the desk, spins my chair around, and squats in front of me.

"Look at me, Rachel. You are okay. I am right here. Breathe with me."

She leads me through the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 method until Alex comes bursting through my door, slamming it against the wall. My breathing is better, but my chest still feels tight, and my heart is still racing.

Alex comes up to me and lifts me into his arms.

"Muneca, are you alright?" I nod in reply.

"Yeah, I am better, thanks to Katie." He looks over at Katie, who is standing back by the door now.

"Thank you, Katie. I owe you big time. I don't know how I can repay you, but I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you. You saved Rachel, which in return means you saved me. Thank you." The panic is evident in his voice. He is freaking out over my panic attack.

Katie looks at him, completely shocked. "You don't owe me anything. I know Rachel would have done the same for me." Alex nods his head and goes back to focusing on me as Katie turns and walks out of the office.

"What happened? You haven't had a panic attack in so long. What triggered it?" I point to the flowers and the stack of photos.

Alex walks around the desk and grabs the note next to the flower. As soon as he reads it, I see him set the note down gently, but it takes every ounce of willpower not to crumble it or rip it.

When he picked up the stack of photos, his jaw tightened and teeth clenched as he continued to look through the pictures. When he finally finishes going through the pictures, he throws them down on the desk, and they go flying across the desk.

"This is bullshit! The fucking Starr brothers are going down. NOW!"

He pulls out his phone and starts to call someone.

"Oliver, we need to have a meeting tonight. We need to speed this process up." He nods on the phone while Oliver talks on the other end of the phone.

"They are sending threats to Rachel at work. This ends now."

He listens again.

"Yeah... Okay... Yeah... Bye.."

He turns back to me and sticks his hand out.

"Come on, we are going home. We have plans to make."

“You know, you make it sound like we are planning a vacation and not a war.” He chuckles at my comment. I grab my briefcase off the ground, set it on the desk, and place the picture and notes in it. Grabbing Alex's hand, I walk out of the office.

This will end soon. It has to, or someone I love will get hurt.