Unlawful Escort (Unlawful Series book 1) (14 page)

She took the opportunity to plant kisses all over his face and neck until she felt Sebastian's eyes on her and her eyes flew to the entrance. Her heart hammered inside her chest; her skin tingling with awareness despite the uncomfortable situation. Her hands fell from Joshua’s side to circle his waist and he stilled inside her arms; his eyes following hers. How had he found her? How much of the truth did he already know? The damning questions bombarded her thoughts and she swallowed hard.

“Paige, who
is that?” Joshua broke the awkward trance.

“Sebastian…” she choked around the knot in her throat.

They had returned from Long Island almost a week ago and the passion they shared had intensified. Her anxiety that he would somehow discover the truth and guilt for misleading him had increased on the days following her return. However, as the days went by and she wasn’t discovered and the awareness between them escalated to an overwhelming high; she lost herself in the dizzying notion that he was hers, if only briefly.

“And you must be Joshua”, Sebastian said
casually, extending a hand to Joshua which he shook reluctantly.

He smiled indulgently at Joshua. At least he wasn’t angry, she consoled herself.

“What are you doing here?” She could hear the slight tremor in her voice.

“I didn’t think I needed a reason to see my girlfriend”, he planted a swift kiss on her lips.

Joshua cleared his throat noisily, “I know I act older than my age but I’m only ten and this at least PG thirteen”, he said smugly and they both laughed.

A pleasant fluttering started in the pit of her stomach as she realized
that he’d referred to her as his girlfriend, with no innuendos attached, for the first time.

He sank into a chair opposite them. “Besides, it’s high time I met your family. Don’t you think?”

She shifted uneasily in her chair. Where was he going with this? She didn’t, very much, like the idea of exposing Joshua to this whole twisted affair.

She stood. “J. I’ll be back…”

“So, Joshua”, Sebastian interrupted, “your sister tells me you love football?”

Joshua’s
ears perked up at that, “Yea. Liverpool for life”.

“We’ll have to work on convincing your sister to
join us.”

“No way! You’re a Liverpool fan too!”

He nodded. “I know you’ve been missing out since you’ve been in here so I got you this”, he reached inside his jacket pocket and produced a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

“
Whao, cool”, Joshua’s eyes widened as he extended a hand to collect it but hesitated; glancing at Paige for approval.

“Go ahead
, take it”, she smiled encouragingly. How could she say no when he was obviously so excited?

She listened, quietly seething, as Sebastian explained that Joshua could access unlimited football
and sports along with educational and game apps. Her eyes stung with tears as she witnessed the flush of excitement in Joshua’s cheeks as Sebastian described something on the tablet screen to him. He had suffered so much; was still suffering, she thought.  And worst, they had yet to find a donor and his condition was erratic at best.

Regret stabbed at her heart for not being able to spend every waking moment of each day with him.
He deserved every ounce of happiness he could get, she decided, her anger cooling significantly. It didn’t matter what happened to her, she resolved, as long as Joshua had a fair chance at life. And she would do it all over again, without the slightest hesitation.

The knowledge bolstered her courage and she lifted her chin haughtily. She had done nothing wrong; except deceive him. And she wasn’t aware of deception, in and of itself, being punishable by law. He had reser
ved the right to break the contract at any given time during the contract period but she would still be in receipt of the full contracted sum. Not that it mattered. What if he decided to exercise that right?

The idea of not seeing him again triggered a
n overwhelming sadness inside her heart. Yet, how long would the burning passion they shared last? Sebastian Bradley would never be satisfied with one woman; not when he could have his pick of so many. She scuffed silently at her thoughts. The fact that they had earth shattering sex didn’t mean that he thought of them as a couple. Her heart constricted painfully at he thought and she hauled her mind to the present.

Her anger resurfaced as she saw how Joshua hung unto his every
word; her worst fear materializing. This was the exact reason she had remained celibate all these years. Because she didn’t want to take home a guy who would walk out on her and Joshua. And that’s exactly what Sebastian would do.

She waited, with clenched teeth, until finally Sebastian told Joshua that he had to leave but he would be back as soon as he got the chance. Preoccupied with his new tablet, Joshua made no comment
as she kissed him on the cheek and promised to return in the morning.

“What the hell was that about?” She demanded hotly as they entered
deserted parking Lot, “And how did you know that my brother is here?”

Even if the original Paige Sinclair had resurfaced
or he had discovered the truth about her, she couldn’t see the link with him finding out about Joshua’s illness.

“Is there anything I don’t know?”

Was that his way of telling her that he knew that she wasn’t whom she claimed to be? Panic rose inside her, wilting her courage but she stiffened her spine.

“Leave my brother out of this. He’s just a child and I don’t want him to b
e affected by my decisions. You had no right appearing like that without talking to me first.”

“Can’t I do a kind deed once in a while without rousing suspicion?”

“No Sebastian”, she was almost shouting now but she didn’t care, “because you never do kind deeds. You manipulate people for your own selfish gains. Stay the hell away from him!"

She was so angry she marched to her car, ignoring him as he bellowed after her, and
sped from the parking Lot.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

PAIGE SURVEYED THE ROOM THAT
resembled a mini shrine of Sebastian. There were pictures of him everywhere, along with medals and plaques. Helen had called earlier inviting her to one of her female social group gatherings. She’d conversed with the women for a short while before excusing herself to use the ladies room, afterwhich, she’d stumbled upon this.

He
r eyes bugged as she caught sight of a photo apparently torn from a magazine of a magnificently nude Sebastian; both hands covering his genitalia. She tore her eyes from the captivating picture to study the others in the room. There were a few photos of Sebastian as a child, with a blond girl and more as they grew into adults. She was very beautiful, Paige noted, with startling blue eyes and smooth alabaster skin.

It had been three days since her argument with Sebastian and she hadn’t seen him since. He ha
d sent a text message that same afternoon informing her that he would be going on a business trip overseas. And she had to admit, she missed him terribly. Later that night, following their argument, long after her ire had cooled and she was lying in bed; guilt prickled at her conscience.

What if he was just being kind as he’d said?
Aside from his insults; he’d never been cruel to her. Besides, between taking care of her when she’d been drunk and after she’d almost frozen to death, she figured they were even. Eaten up with remorse, she’d called him, reluctantly, the following morning; explaining that she’d overreacted and that she was just sensitive about Joshua.

He accepted her justification quite gracefully; immediately shifting into flirtation mode and she’d flirted right back.
They spoke briefly each day, between long meetings and late night paperwork and she marveled at how effortlessly they shared intimate details about themselves that she’d otherwise feel uncomfortable discussing.

“There you are”, she jumped guiltily at the sound of Helen’s voice, “the ladies have been gushing on and on about your apple pie
. It was delicious.”

“Thank you.”

“I see you’re admiring my collection.”

“Yes…
I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all.”

Her eyes drifted back to the photos, “Is the blond woman your daughter? She’s very beautiful."

“No, that’s Elizabeth; Sebastian’s ex-fiancé.”

“Oh…” she said lamely. So this was the mysterious Elizabeth, Paige thought.

“I’m sorry. Me and my big mouth; I thought he told you about her.”

“That’s ok”, Paige smiled wanly.

“I should probably remove these”, she said, retrieving the pictures of the blond woman.

She wondered what had ended the relationship between the
two childhood sweethearts and if that was the reason Sebastian was hesitant to enter into a real relationship.

“Would you like to see some more pictures?” Helen asked as she fished a family album from a cabinet.

“Sure…” Paige murmured as Helen led her to a sofa in a corner of the room.

They spent the next few minutes
cooing at beautiful baby pictures of Sebastian and all throughout his childhood into adulthood. There were also photos of his mother and grandmother and she had to acknowledge that he was the spitting image of his mother and grandmother.

“W
hat are they doing with guns?” Paige exclaimed as she saw a photo of Sebastian, Brandon and Matthew, lying flat on their stomach, riffles in hand.

“Oh that was the summer Sebastian turned sixteen and decided he wanted to enlist in the army and they went for a pre-course as they called it”,
they both laughed.

“And what happened to that dream?”

“William took them to a war turf in the Middle East for a week and they returned with a drastic change of heart”, the laughed harder.

“Did you put together all of this?” Paige asked.

“Well I gathered the earlier pictures when I married William when Sebastian was sixteen and most of the others I took myself.  Photography was my passion when I was younger. Now I’ve settled for selling art.”

“
Really, I’ll have to stop by sometime.”

“You should”, she smiled encouragingly, “you should also consider exploring your talent some
more. You’re really a great cook.”

“I plan to
finish school and who knows what might happen afterwards”, she laughed lightly.

Helen
suddenly grew serious, “I don’t mean to pry but I know Sebastian is sometimes a bit difficult but deep down, he’s a good person”.

She nodded mutely, her conscience prickling.

“He’s like the son I never had and I love him dearly”, a wistful expression crossed her features as she spoke and Paige’s heart softened towards the older woman.

T
hey went through a few more pictures of Sebastian; mostly at work and she felt a glimmer of respect at his hands-on approached. She’d always pictured him in an elaborate office and seeing him, gears and all, on a work site, though shocking was admirable.

“He love
s his job and works very hard too”, Helen supplied proudly.

“Yea.”

“I remember when he told William that he wanted to expand the business into construction and he objected”, her expression creased with disapproval, “Sebastian was livid and I felt so proud when he stared William in the face and told him he would leave the company and do it on his own. He did and when William realized that he would only return on his own terms, he agreed to a merger.”

“Wow. I had no idea”, her heart swelled with pride at the knowledge
.

They
talked for a short while longer before Paige left with promises to visit again in the near future. The encounter with Helen had left her feeling raw with emotion and consumed with guilt. Viewing the photos had felt like reliving the precious moments of his life and she hated deceiving Helen.

PAIGE SUNK INTO THE JACUZZI TUB WITH A FORLORN
sigh; her tense muscles relaxing. It had been a long, horrible day. She’d almost had a heart attack when she returned to the hospital this morning, after receiving a call that Joshua was asking for her, to find his bed empty. She had rushed to the nurse in a trancelike, state which she hadn’t been able to shirk, until the nurse carried her to an elaborate room with Joshua lying on a bed in the centre.

Only then did she hear the nurse’s explanation that Mr. Bradley had requested that he be moved to the Bradley’s wing of the hospital. Her mouth had fallen open in shock. The Bradley’s had a wing at the hospital! She hadn’t had much time to ponder the matter or be angry with Sebastian for his meddling as Joshua’s moaning had
brought her rushing to his side, where she had remained for the entire day.

At least a little color had returned to his wan cheeks and he was
fidgeting with his tablet before she'd left earlier, she consoled herself. Her eyes jerked open as her cell phone buzzed incessantly, a few paces from the tub, where she’d stepped out of her jeans. She groaned as she stretched slightly over the bath and grabbed her cell phone from her jeans pocket. Her heart did a tap dance in her chest as Sebastian's name flashed accross her phone screen. Hurriedly, she opened and read the message.