Page 32 of Trick
“Tell me what happened,” he instructed, taking a seat next to me.
I picked up my phone and showed him the email I had pulled up on the screen.
“It’s nothing, really. Like I tried to tell you on the phone, I just overreacted.”
His jaw clenched as his eyes flicked from the screen, to me, and back to the screen.
“Is this the first time he’s sent emails like this?”
“No,” I admitted, “but it’s the first one that felt like a threat.”
“The night I brought you home because of your flat tire, I told you to let me know if that asshole kept harassing you. Why didn’t you tell me about thisYour Soulmateshit?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t even open the first few I got, assuming they were spam messages. The last one used my name in the subject line, so I was curious and opened it. It was just something stupid about trying to make him jealous, so I deleted it.”
Trick cocked his head, studying me thoughtfully. “What makes you think it was from Beau?”
I explained about the earlier email, after Dustin had posted the picture from our first date. “He sent it from his regular account, and then I got theYour Soulmateemail with a similar message shortly after that.”
“Do you still have those emails?”
“Probably. I deleted them from my inbox, but I didn’t bother emptying them from my trash folder, so they should still be there.”
“Show me,” he demanded gruffly, scooting closer to look over my shoulder at my phone. The scent of leather from hiscut, and whatever cologne he was wearing wafted over me as he moved, and it was strangely comforting.
I pulled up the deleted email folder and handed the phone to him. He scrolled through the list, opening each one that had Beau orYour Soulmateas the sender.
With each email he read, his grip on my phone tightened, to the point that I half expected to hear my phone screen crack at any second.
He looked up at me, pinning with a glare. “ThisSoulmatebullshit has been going on for weeks, Lauren. You didn’t bother opening any of them?”
“No, because I thought they were ads from some kind of a dating service,” I explained defensively. “Then, when I realized it was just another account Beau had set up, I blocked it.”
“You blocked the originalYour Soulmateaccount, and then he set up another one? Persistent bastard,” he muttered. “Did you block his regular account, too?”
“I can’t,” I confessed. “We’re still trying to sell the condo, so he does have legitimate reasons to contact me. I blocked his calls and texts a week or so ago – that’s why I thought it was him when your call came up as ‘Unknown Number’ tonight – but I had to at least keep the email available.”
Trick grunted, clearly not happy with any of my answers.
“I’m gonna forward these emails to Bull. He’s a computer genius, so he can probably check the IP addresses and whatever the fuck else he does, to confirm they were sent by your ex.”
“And then what?” I asked, pretty sure I knew the answer.
“Then I’ll have a talk with the fucker, darlin’.”
“Just a talk?”
He smirked, and I could sense the danger behind it.
“To start with, yeah. Then I’ll reinforce the message in a way he won’t forget.”
“Trick…” I protested.
“You’re worried about that asshole?” He bit out angrily.
“No,” I snapped back. “I’m worried about you going to prison for assault, you dumbass, especially since you’ll have to cross state lines to do it. He’s not worth it, believe me.”
He flashed a cocky smile. “I won’t go to prison, babe, but I appreciate your concern for me. Now, I need that fucker’s full name, address, and birthdate so I can get Bull working on this.”
