Eli 25 #2
I reached behind me to arrange the throw pillow against the arm of the sofa, then carefully adjusted myself to manoeuvre him off my lap.
I half-expected him to jolt awake or flinch, but instead, when I lowered him onto the pillow, he simply turned onto his side with a faint sigh and curled in slightly.
I sat back and watched him settle, his breathing slow and steady now and with no sign of the panic that had tried to take him over just a little while ago.
He hadn't let himself rest properly since those first texts came in.
Every time I saw him drift off during the past several days, he seemed to be bracing for something to go wrong.
Not this time. He was actually sleeping. He felt safe enough to let go.
I leaned down, careful not to disturb him, and brushed a light kiss to his forehead. My voice stayed barely above a whisper as I said, "I've got you, Ro. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."
He didn't move, but I could swear I felt a tiny change in his breathing. Like something in him heard me and decided it was okay to stay asleep.
A faint vibration in my pocket startled me. I pulled out my phone to check the screen.
Unknown number.
I almost declined the call. I hadn't picked up any new work for the past several weeks, but sometimes clients from recent projects still called with questions or follow-ups. I probably shouldn't ignore it. Just in case.
I stole a quick glance at Rowan to make sure he was still asleep. The buzzing hadn't disturbed him, and I didn't want to wake him if this turned into a longer conversation. So I stood up and headed to the kitchen to take the call.
I answered with a quiet, "Hello?"
Silence.
I paused. "Hello?"
Still nothing.
For a second, I thought the signal had dropped. I pulled the phone away to check the bars. Full service. Still connected. I brought it back to my ear, but before I could speak again, a familiar voice finally came through.
"Didn't take you long to move in, did it?"
Of fucking course.
"You've got three seconds to tell me what you want before I hang up," I spat.
There was a pause, and then Marcus kept going. "Just calling to check in, make sure the place is to your liking. Cosy little setup, innit?"
My grip tightened around the phone as I turned back toward the sitting room.
Rowan still slept soundly on the sofa, oblivious to the conversation.
I quickly moved to the spare bedroom and closed the door so I wouldn't wake him if I raised my voice.
"You calling for a reason or just to run your mouth? "
He gave a short laugh. "Bet you think you're some kind of hero, don't you? You think you're going to swoop in and save him from me?"
I stayed quiet. He was digging for a reaction. I refused to give him one.
When he spoke again, his voice was low and dangerous. "You might think you've got him now, Elias, but Rowan will come back to me. I know how to get under his skin."
I didn't take the bait. Marcus was trying to do to me what he'd done to Rowan – erode my confidence, wear me down in small pieces. But I'd seen what that looked like already. I wasn't letting it in.
Instead, I said, "For someone who's so sure I'm not a threat, you're putting in a lot of effort to chase me off."
Silence. I would've loved to see the look on his face.
"You done?"
Still nothing at first. Then, "Tell him I said goodnight."
The line went dead.
I lowered the phone and stared at the screen. My hand stayed steady, but I had to take a long, slow breath to get my temper under control.
Quietly, I slipped out of the room and peeked in on Rowan again. He still hadn't stirred, so I left him alone. He didn't need to know about that call. I didn't want to make him feel even more guilty now that Marcus was trying to target me.
But I also couldn't ignore what just happened. Marcus was escalating with more direct threats, and it was only a matter of time before he tried again. I could almost guarantee he'd call to try to pick at me some more.
So I didn't block the number. I saved it in my contacts instead and took a minute to decide how to label him. I didn't want to just use his actual name in case Rowan caught sight of my screen. A few ideas floated around in my head, and eventually, I settled on "Bin Fire."
Sure enough, another call came in the next afternoon. When my phone buzzed, I was sitting across from Rowan at the kitchen table as we ate a late lunch. I silenced it and let it ring.
Rowan glanced up with a curious look, but I gave him a quick smile and pretended it was nothing. I needed to keep this contained for now so he didn't have to carry even more of the weight.
My phone went silent for a while, but then it rang again. And again. Three calls in the space of five minutes, each one more insistent than the last. Marcus was getting impatient with me. I refused to engage and let him drag me into his twisted mind games.
The next morning, my phone lit up with a new notification for a text from Marcus: Ignoring me won't make me go away, Elias. You're not going to keep him from me.
There it was.
He'd cracked. The calls didn't work, so now he was putting his threats in writing. His arrogance got the better of him, and he'd given me something tangible I could use if this all blew up.
Another message came within a few minutes: You can't protect him. You have no idea what I'm capable of.
When I didn't answer, a third text came in: Rowan's mine. He'll always be mine. Nothing you do will change that.
That one bothered me more than I wanted to admit. Even though I knew what Marcus was doing, it didn't fully stop the doubt from creeping in. Still, I pushed the feeling down and set my phone aside.
Another message came in almost immediately, this one more threatening and direct: You can't be around all the time. You'll slip up someday. When you do, I'll be ready.
His threats weren't even subtle anymore. He wanted me to feel it. Second-guess myself. To doubt my ability to keep Rowan safe from him.
He could keep trying. He could throw every mind game he had at me. It wouldn't change a damn thing.