On the Sly : The Grange Complex Book 2
On the Sly: Chapter 23

Ellie

Minutes later, we stepped onto the large, luxury boat that was moored on the other side of the marina. Adrian led me in, telling me everything I needed to know about his ‘baby’. The yacht had four guest cabins, all were en suite, a sheltered exterior deck, a fully functional kitchen—“or galley as real sailors call it with all the latest gadgets,” he bragged. There was also a small bar and a comfortable living room with deep-seated sofas. I was speechless, thinking that this was the reaction he was expecting from me.

When he told me to sit down, someone else must have switched on the engine, because we started moving. My stomach was flipping over with nerves. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to be worried, but this whole setup was overwhelming. I knew he wouldn’t get suspicious of my nerves. After all, this was our first official date. Still, I couldn’t help thinking about the worst-case scenario. Maybe he was already planning to murder me on the open sea and throw my body overboard.

“Are you going to tell me where you’re taking me?” I asked, once I found my voice again.

“In time. Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

He vanished somewhere, keeping that mysterious smirk on his face. He returned a few minutes later with a bottle of champagne.

“It’s so miserable outside and I didn’t just want to do dinner. I thought that this would be more romantic, a short trip out on the wild sea,” he explained and started wrestling with the bottle. When the cork was popped, he handed me a glass and poured the fizzing champagne, smiling broadly. If he hadn’t been a dangerous drug smuggler, I would have said that I was impressed.

“You’re terrible. It would have been easier to have a meal in a restaurant. You still have to feed me, you know,” I said, looking around, worried that he chose this setup because he was planning to sleep with me tonight.

“My cousin is a chef, a very good one, and has prepared something already.”

“Your cousin?” I questioned him.

“He is steering the yacht. Once we’re away from the port, he will serve up dinner. Drink, Ellie. Relax. I promise, you will be home before ten and by that time you will want to do it again.” Adrian grinned at his innuendo and sat down by me on the sofa. His eyes were lidded and heavy, sparkling with lust. He wanted me, there was no doubt about that, but I doubted Adrian could manage subtle. I really needed to relax. This was a date and I was supposed to be here to have a good time.

I could deal with flirting, maybe some kissing, but I wasn’t sure if I really could go through with sex.

“Is this what you do normally? You know, when you take a girl out on a date?” I asked, tossing my hair behind me.

“No, so far I have only done this for you. I can’t deny it—I have worked hard and I earn good money and I want to enjoy myself. My family is wealthy,” he said, moving closer to me. “Don’t be angry with me. This boat isn’t mine, but one of my associate’s. I just wanted this evening to be special.”

Yeah, you have earned money, all of it from those addicted to drugs, I thought, trying not to lose the smile that had been plastered on my face since the moment I agreed to this date.

He seemed so confident, so cocky, even when I was asking him about his previous relationships, his family. It seemed to me that he had an answer for everything. We talked about his fast food chain. I didn’t want to press too hard, but from what he said, I gathered that he had been very well connected from the time that he opened his first takeaway. I wondered why he thought that it was all right for him to carry on like that, thinking that he was never going to get caught.

After I came back from the bathroom, Adrian topped off my champagne and then he brushed his hand over my cheek. Goose pimples shot down my arms. I didn’t know why I was nervous. I was a freaking reporter and sometimes I needed to do things that I didn’t want to, like now, making out with Adrian Lurkin. Adrian obviously wanted to sleep with me. That was what this whole seduction was about, but after Tobias, I didn’t think I could go through with it.

Just when he was about to kiss me, another man walked into the cabin. He was Asian too, much darker than Adrian and taller.

Adrian introduced me. “Ellie, meet my cousin Mo. He’s an excellent chef.”

The man nodded, giving me a shy smile. I didn’t know why, but I noticed that Mo was quite tense around us. I didn’t think that they were related, especially after Adrian started throwing orders at him. Something seemed off with those two, but I didn’t want to come across intrusive. I was here to play the coquettish date, that’s all. And I wasn’t about to obey Tobias’s orders. He was out of the picture right now. He was committed to his job. I was his distraction, and he would probably laugh if I told him that I wanted a relationship.

Mo prepared our meal of grilled lobster and it was delicious. Adrian kept chatting away, keeping the conversation flowing but oddly not really saying much of any substance. As Mo disappeared back into the kitchen, clearing our plates, we were finally alone.

I kept drinking, probably because I was still nervous. I didn’t even realise when I got tipsy. Adrian started telling me about his extensive family. He seemed much more relaxed now than during the evening in the club. It was probably because he owned it. Now he had me on his terms, and here no one could interrupt us.

“I have four brothers and three sisters. My father opened the first takeaway almost twenty years ago,” he said, when we moved back to the sofa. “None of my siblings wanted to get into that business. I was the oldest, and when my father died, I had to take over the company. I think it’s easier that my family isn’t involved. I like going ahead and doing what I think is right, rather than trying to please people.”

“I have the same feelings about my family. My father and I don’t get on,” I told him.

“I run everything, take care of the books and employees. At the end of the month, they get their money. This works well for everyone,” he said, smiling and moving his arm around my shoulders. We were alone and he wasn’t wasting any time, caressing the skin on my arms with his fingers.

“And you run the chain all by yourself? It’s a lot of responsibility.”

“Yes, it is, but I enjoy it. My work gives me a lot of satisfaction. I don’t really talk about it, but I have a partner. He lives in Glasgow. We have a distribution network there too, so he takes care of that.”

God, he was so close now, looking straight at my lips, and I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to ask him more questions about Andrew, but then he kissed me. It was quick and wet. He cupped my face with his palms and pressed his mouth over mine. His kisses were rough and surprisingly sensual. I panicked a little when he intensified the movements of his tongue. I closed my eyes and imagined that I was kissing Tobias and we were back in that room in the hotel.

Desire pooled between my legs, igniting the fire in my belly. It took me a few seconds and several heartbeats to realise that I was embraced in a passionate kiss with Adrian Lurkin, not Tobias.

His hand began to wander towards my thighs, his fingers creeping closer to the edge of my skirt. This whole evening was getting out of control. I couldn’t let him touch me. Tobias owed me now and I didn’t want another man.

I managed to wiggle myself out of his embrace, breathing hard.

“Can I have some more champagne?” I asked, breathless. Adrian grinned and got up, giving me his smug smile. He was turned on. I could tell from the bulge in his pants that was suddenly there. When he was pouring more champagne into my glass, his cousin showed up again and said something to him.

Adrian frowned, shook his head and then sent the other guy away.

“We need to go back. Mo had a warning from the coastguard. A strong storm is coming from the north, and it looks like we have to return to the marina,” Adrian said, looking displeased. “I’ll be right back. I just need to check something with him.”

I exhaled in relief when I was finally alone. My heart was racing and I kept asking myself what I was doing. I played tough, determined Ellie, but deep down I didn’t want to fuck Adrian. Before Tobias, I’d never had a one-night stand with anyone, and as the realisation settled in, I was ready to run as far as I could, but the truth was—I couldn’t.

Tobias

I was going crazy, pacing around the room, waiting and checking the clock every few minutes. Ellie had gone out on a date without consulting with us first. This took me completely by surprise. I thought she understood that she needed to be briefed before any engagement with the suspect could take place. I wasn’t even planning to let her go out with him, but I knew that I couldn’t tell her what to do.

“Anything?” I barked at Claire. She was in front of the laptop, checking what was going on with the surveillance team.

“No, they can’t trace her. She must be out of the area,” Claire replied, and then she rolled her eyes. “Seriously, calm down. He won’t hurt her. He wants her, but he isn’t stupid enough to do anything bad right now, not when he is just about to make a few million pounds.”

Claire had no idea what he could do to Ellie. Lurkin didn’t care about anyone apart from himself, and I was worried, knowing that Ellie wouldn’t know if she was in danger.

I wasn’t in a very good mood when I came back to the apartment earlier tonight. Then, when I read that note from Ellie, I thought I was going to lose my fucking mind. Claire looked too calm, pretending that she was all right with all this and not doing anything useful.

I paced again, wanting to tear my hair out of my head, when we both heard a knock. I hurried to the door and opened it abruptly, the knot in my stomach letting go when I saw that it was Ellie and she was safe and sound. She looked fucking amazing with her black hair falling down on her arms, and she was showing off her legs with that miniskirt. I cursed when I realised she went out looking like that.

“Come on in, quick,” I barked at her, wondering if something happened between them.

When I locked the door, Ellie stepped inside the living room and Claire shut down her laptop.

“So I guess that the date went well?” she asked Ellie.

I breathed, well, at least I was attempting to, feeling like my blood began circulating through my veins again. This woman had that kind of effect on me. I hated myself for being so weak, for wanting her. She was still fucking angry with me, because she didn’t even look at me. This was absurd. I had a reason to be angry; I was the one who’d been worried sick about her.

“We went out on his luxury yacht,” she explained. “His cousin made dinner for us and we drank champagne.”

“A yacht? A fucking yacht?” I blurted out. “You shouldn’t have gone out with him in the first place, before discussing the details with us, let alone out to sea on his fucking luxury yacht.”

I was probably an inch away from losing control. Since that night in the hotel, I hadn’t been sleeping well. I’d been dreaming about Charlotte—and then Ellie. This whole thing was so fucked up.

“What are you talking about, Tobias?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

“Claire failed to mention that you should have been briefed first.”

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea how this whole thing works. I came home from work early and Adrian asked me out. You weren’t here and I couldn’t say no,” she explained, looking at Claire. It looked like she was still pissed off with me lying about the fact that I wasn’t married. I got it, I screwed up, but as a reporter, she should know that I had no other choice. When you go undercover, you go undercover to everyone, not a select few.

“It’s all right, Ellie. I think we both know that Tobias is a little overdramatic. Just walk us through the date? What did you guys do?” Claire sniped in, and I shot her a sharp glare.

Ellie started telling us about the date, about how Lurkin took her to the port and the fact that she couldn’t say no without appearing to be suspicious. The bastard probably thought that he could fuck her there. The fire inside my chest spread fast and I didn’t think I could carry on listening to how cosy and comfortable he made her feel.

“I found out that it was his father that started the takeaway business. After he passed away, no one else was willing to take over from him, so Adrian volunteered. I didn’t replace out anything else. He wasn’t very forthcoming, but he did mention his partner in Glasgow.”

“That’s interesting that he admitted to that. We ran background checks on his family, but there was nothing there that raised any alarms,” Claire said, looking disappointed. I wasn’t sure what she was expecting from Ellie.

“So did you fuck him on that luxury yacht?” I asked, more aggressively than I should have. Claire and Ellie looked at me with their jaws hanging open. I had no idea what was wrong with me, but I was ready to explode, thinking that Lurkin had touched her.

“No,” Ellie replied, pressing her lips in a hard line. “I haven’t slept with him, Tobias. I might look easy, but I’m not.”

“What the hell, Tobias?” Claire shot at me. “That is none of your business. She offered to help, and the only way she could do that was for her to get closer to Lurkin, and—”

“I’m standing my ground on this. This is dangerous and Ellie is a civilian,” I barked back, remembering our moments together, watching them run like a film on fast-forward in my head. Fuck, I really needed to see another shrink, but the truth was that I couldn’t and didn’t want to get her out of my head.

“Tobias, come on, we’ve been through this,” Ellie said. “I’m involved now and I want this story.”Then she looked at Claire. “Can you give us a minute, Claire? I think I need to have a chat with Tobias.”

I smirked, shaking my head, not believing that we were going to go through the same shit again. Claire nodded, but just as she was about to close the door, she turned around and said, “Before I go, can I ask you something, Ellie?”

My Angel nodded.

“Do you think you would be able to get in touch with your ex?”

I couldn’t fucking believe it. We had discussed this before. Hodges was mine to deal with and Ellie was already knee-deep in this shit.

“I’d rather not see him. I know that I would be the perfect person for this, but he has hurt me too much and I don’t want to dig up the past.”

Same as me, Angel, same as me.