On the Sly : The Grange Complex Book 2

Tobias

I was ready to go anywhere with her as long as it ensured that it would keep her away from Lurkin. She didn’t owe anything to her father, but for sure this whole thing couldn’t leak out now, when I was so tight with Lurkin.

These nightshifts were slowly killing me, but I needed to go with her. I needed to protect her—even from her father. The voicemail and emails made me nervous. In any other circumstance I would have dealt with it differently, called some people and tracked whoever was trying to earn quick cash, but right then I needed it to go away quietly, so I was ready to pay.

“You don’t need to ask, Angel. I would make a deal with Satan if that was necessary,” I said, kissing her forehead. Sure, I wanted to tie her up to the bed again and fuck her, but we had more important things to worry about than sex. She asked for my help. After that day I thought that she wouldn’t even want to talk to me, but now she lifted my shitty mood.

“I don’t know what to do anymore. I tried calling my father, but he isn’t taking any of my phone calls.”

“You shouldn’t be concerned about your father. Lurkin has proven to us that he wants what’s mine,” I said, happy to admit that Ellie was important to me. I had no idea where this jealousy came from, but the past few days were a nightmare.

“Tobias, if I give him the money, he or she will ask for more,” she said.

“It’s a temporary solution. Don’t worry. I’ll deal with it, somehow,” I told her, just to keep her at ease. “We will go on Monday. Take a day off at work.”

She smiled and my cock strained against my trousers. I don’t know what happened then. Maybe it was the combination of lust and anger, or maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t touched her for days, but I lost the battle and kissed her. An overwhelming desire pulled me down into a world of pleasure. Her lips were soft and wet and I caressed them with my own, tasting her again. My balls were burning, as I felt her body crush against mine when I wrapped my arm around her tiny waist.

“Tobias, oh God, I missed you,” she moaned as I sucked and nibbled her bottom lip, needing to spread her legs wide and plunge my stiff cock deep inside her until she was writhing with pleasure. Her body needed to be possessed. Lurkin was a scum; he would never deserve her. I hated that she had been willing to surrender herself to him.

Her hands were in my hair and our mouths were all over each other, teasing and reacquainting ourselves. I pulled away knowing that I was being unfair. Claire was next door. I knew that I was inches away from taking Ellie back to her apartment and losing myself in her. This was too dangerous, and Claire and I needed to keep the whole undercover facade believable.

“I need to speak to Claire about this. We have a bit of time to get the money together, but she’s—”

“Tobias, there is another reason that I’m going to see my father. I don’t have five thousand pounds. When I bought this apartment, I put all my available money into the service charges,” she explained, staring down at her nails. She didn’t need to be embarrassed. We were in it together.

“Angel, look at me.”

She did, and those eyes—fuck me, she captivated me. They were mesmerising, making me want do things to her, to claim her like an animal.

“Don’t worry about the money. We are, as you said, in this together. There is a contingency budget for this kind of thing. I’m confident that we can get that money back. That piece of shit has no idea who he is messing with. Trust me on this.”

“Thank you, Tobias. I appreciate it. I guess I better be going before we do something we won’t be able to stop and will lead to regret later. I have a lot of respect for Claire, and I don’t want to offend her.”

“She hasn’t seen me with another woman since my wife died,” I told her, sharing something meaningful, something that I kept to myself most of the time. “Claire is married and wants to get promoted badly, so I guess she’s ready to do anything to catch Lurkin and get back to her husband.”

“It must be hard on her too,” Ellie admitted.

“It is, but we have to finish what we started.”

I couldn’t even imagine leaving this whole thing behind unresolved. We both knew that her ex-boyfriend, Johnny Hodges, was also vital to the case. I had to make sure that he paid for everything he had done. It felt like fate had a hand in bringing me and Ellie together, and I have never regretted rescuing her at that party all these weeks ago. Without her, we wouldn’t be as close as we were to getting this whole thing sewn up. I didn’t have a plan yet, but I knew that if I got her fully involved I was risking more than just being her lover.

Ellie said her goodbyes and disappeared into her own apartment after we agreed to go to Glasgow on Monday.

Claire wasn’t my type at all, but she was intelligent, bright, and she didn’t give a fuck what other people thought about her. That was why we became friends in the first place.

“Tobias, how long are you going to pretend that this woman doesn’t mean anything to you? I know this operation is important—it’s important to both of us—but you have to cut yourself some slack once in a while.”

She was going off on some kind of rant again and I wasn’t ready to have this conversation, not right now. Love wasn’t for me. I had given my heart to someone before and I lost her. I couldn’t face that pain again.

“Things with Ellie are complicated. You know that yourself. She’s scared and I’m fucked up, damaged. We both know that once this is over, I’ll be moving on,” I said. It fucking pained me to admit that, but I was planning to request a transfer abroad with Interpol. Ease up on this kind of case. Maybe visit my cousins in Belfast. At the same time, I didn’t want to be away from my Angel.

That probably meant that I was in love with her. Charlotte had been the only one, and now… no, it couldn’t be possible.

“This woman cares deeply for you, Tobias. You’re blind not to see it,” she muttered, shaking her head. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, so I’ll drop it. Say whatever you need to, because I need to go out soon.”

Ellie

Adrian knocked on my door later the same night that I chatted with Tobias. I hated when he stood at my door, expecting me to invite him in. I didn’t particularly want to deal with him tonight. I was just so tired. These last few months had left me feeling so emotional and completely drained.

“Ellie, I missed you, but I have bad news. I need to go away to London and I just came to say goodbye,” he said, running his finger over my arm. Goose pimples shot over my skin and I swallowed hard. I couldn’t do this right now.

“For business?” I asked casually.

“Yes, I have some things that I need to take care of. Will you miss me?”

“Of course. I was looking forward to our next date,” I told him, and then yawned. It was late and I was hinting that I was planning to have an early night.

That didn’t stop him throwing himself at me. When I looked deep into his eyes I saw his hunger and desire. It was hard to switch off, when I just had been kissed by Tobias. The man that my heart was beating loudly for.

“I’m looking forward to an evening with you. I’m already planning our next date. I hope you’ll agree to let me take you away for a couple of days.”

“Days?” I questioned. Fear shuddered through my bones and I wondered what the hell he had in mind. Then he kissed me and I wasn’t ready. His tongue speared its way into my mouth, teasing, and I knew that I just had to get on with it. When he was done, he brushed the hair off my cheek and winked at me.

“I’ll be thinking about you,” he added and then vanished. I shut the door, feeling slightly sick and telling myself that he was going to be rotting in prison soon. It was just a matter of time.

***

The next couple of days passed quietly without incident. Phil wasn’t too keen on the idea of me taking time off when our deadline was approaching, but eventually he agreed. It was clear that he didn’t have anyone else but me to finish the usual crap for him.

I had yet another email from the coward who was blackmailing me. This time I was given the location details of where I was supposed to drop the money. Tobias told me not to worry, that he had already contacted his team and they were doing what they could to identify the blackmailer’s location.

“Give me the keys, Ellie. I’ll drive,” he said to me on Monday morning after we left the building.

I didn’t want to argue with him, and on top of that I was really nervous. I had no idea how my father was going to react upon seeing me. I thought about what I was going to tell him, playing the whole conversation in my head, thinking about Andrew and our relationship. Tobias did everything he could to try to distract me. He asked questions about my life in Glasgow, about my friends and my time at University.

The drive didn’t take long, and as we got closer, my confidence shrank. When we arrived outside my father’s building, I felt anxious and unwell. I had good memories associated with that place, and some very bad ones. Now, after almost two months, I was going to see my father again, and I knew that he wasn’t planning to welcome me with open arms.

“I think it’s better if you wait here,” I said, knowing that Tobias couldn’t afford to be exposed.

“Ellie, Claire did say that you can’t tell him anything specific. Your father is an intelligent man and he will figure this out. Just tell him about the blackmail and the fact that you can handle it.”

“Yes, I understand. I just need to know if anyone has contacted him about me, but to be honest, I don’t even know if he will talk to me,” I said, knowing my father and the way he reacted when I disappointed him. Tobias probably didn’t understand why I wanted to be loyal to a man who cut me out of his life. Either way, I needed to close that chapter of my life and move forward.

“All right, I’ll wait here,” he assured me with a smile. “Call me if you have any problems.”

I got out of the car and started walking towards the building. Every step took me closer to the man that hated me. I took the lift to the top floor and walked into the elegant lobby. Anna was at the reception desk. She nearly dropped the phone when she saw me.

“Ellie! Oh my God,” she said, springing out of her chair and rushing towards me. I knew that she had been sleeping with my father for the last eighteen months. I didn’t care, and it wasn’t my place to judge her. Besides, I liked her. She’d always been nice to me, even when everyone else treated me like something they had stepped in.

“Hi, Anna, is my father around? I need to speak to him,” I said, trying to keep my voice from wavering. I told myself that I had nothing to worry about. I was strong, and soon my name would be respected. I could show my father that he didn’t have to be embarrassed about me anymore.

“You know that I would be in huge trouble if I let you in,” she warned me, looking uneasy. Anna was a bit older than me and she had dark hair. From the photographs I had seen, she reminded me a lot of my mother. Maybe that was why my father had an affair with her.

“Don’t tell him. I’m just going to walk in there, without being announced. Just tell me—is he alone?” I asked. My heart was jackhammering between my ribs.

She nodded. Last time I called, I spoke to a new woman named Marcy. Dad was in court, and when she passed him the message, I heard him telling her that he wasn’t willing to talk to me.

“Don’t get me fired, Ellie. You know that he can be very unpleasant if he wants to be,” she reminded me. I knew exactly what she was talking about. My father could be very aggressive and commanding. I never knew what kind of mood he might be in when he was working.

I took a few deep breaths and walked through tall, oak doors that led me to his office. He was at his desk when I stepped in, looking like his usual busy self. He lifted his head and stopped what he was doing in an instant, eyeing me sharply with disdain.

“Ellie, I think I have made myself clear. You aren’t welcome here,” he stated and then went back to whatever he was doing.

Yeah, I knew this was going to be difficult.