Rush

Chapter 18

Ana's POV

I was in an honest to God cell in a warehouse, complete with cement flooring and metal bars. I could see through the dusty old windows near the ceiling that it was dark out, but they were so high up I wasn't able to actually see out of them so that left me not knowing even a general location.

I was tied to a chair and I'd learned quickly to keep still unless I wanted to rip out more stitches from the still raw c-section scar on my lower stomach or jostle what felt like a broken collarbone.

"I bet you regret not listening to me girl."

I glared at the man who'd been the one to force me out of the hospital in the first place.

"I told you, all you had to do was leave my son alone, take your bastard child and go about your business. But no, you made the decision to stay and cause trouble for my family."

He threw down a tabloid magazine on my lap.

"You've got my son out here looking like some kind of sissy carting around your bastard in a stroller in a fucking park!"

And as if him screaming in my face wasn't enough to showcase his anger, he decided to top it off with a backhand across the face.

"Look at it! Look at what you've turned my boy into!"

I looked down at the cover of the magazine where Alex was front and center, his large body bent over a stroller that I knew held my baby.

Alexander Rush Gives New Meaning to being a Daddy?

The headline would've made me giggle any other day, but I could barely take my eyes off the photo. Alex was smiling, barely noticeable if you weren't looking for it, it was nothing more than a slight curve of his full lips and even though he was wearing sun glasses, I knew that he had that look in his eyes that melted my heart, I knew that they held a softness that he reserved for those he cared about and I was glad to see that that fondness, that softness was extended to my baby as well. He looked relaxed in the photo, his hair was free of any product and I could see the beginnings of the beard that he insisted would make him look "too lax" around the office, I could even see the tattoo that he tended to keep covered peeking over the neck of his loose fitting shirt. There was a slight tenseness in his shoulders but despite that, he was visibly relaxed, a rare state for him.

"I didn't make Alex do anything he didn't want to."

That earned me another backhand.

"You did! I don't know what you did to him but that's not the boy I raised, the boy I raised would have left you and your bastard on the street but no, he's out there bringing shame to my name, acting like some kind of sissy that doesn't give a shit about the business, the only thing on this godforsaken planet that truly matters."

There was this manic glint in his eyes, it made me nervous because there was no way my involvement with Alex was enough reason for him to kidnap me. What was he planning to do? Kill me? Sell my organs?

"What do you want from me? I've done nothing to you."

"I want you out of my way, you've been fucking up the plans I have set for Alexander, he was meant to run the company, follow his routines just as he'd been doing for years I needed him to be predictable and it was working until you showed up."

I was confused to say the least, I knew for a fact that Alex always set aside time for work and up until we'd moved to the apartment in the city he'd gone to the office most days. I agree that my being here may have interfered with Alex regularly going to the office some days but I couldn't reason why Alex missing a few days would be such an issue.