Mack
I was waiting for Ellie’s response, holding my breath. Johnny Hodges was the guy behind scenes, the person that my unit had been trying to track down since it turned out that Lurkin was connected to him. I knew when I saw her in the club that she was getting too close to that asshole.
She couldn’t have known about Johnny Hodges. He was invisible and only certain people knew who he really was. He used that name as a cover. Lurkin was using his connections in Spain to bring pricey products into the UK. My priority was to figure out how he was doing that, without getting caught.
“I don’t think I can explain this to you here. It’s complicated,” she mumbled, staring down at her nails. She was beautiful and at times naive. I didn’t want other men to take advantage of her.
I dragged my hand through my hair, trying to breathe. She knew too much already and I didn’t want us to be overheard by anyone. We needed to find a better place. I was aware that this conversation was going to be difficult.
“We need to go back to your apartment, Ellie,” I said, wanting her to know that I was serious. The guys from intelligence hadn’t had anything new on Hodges for a while. Maybe it was my lucky day tonight.
“The complex? You want to talk when your wife is next door?” she asked, looking at me like I was crazy. Okay, that was bad idea. Her apartment was out of the question.
“You’re right. I have a better idea. Let’s go.”
I grabbed her hand and started walking towards a tall red building. The Marriott hotel was just around the corner. Claire had been right. Ellie was a reporter and I had underestimated her, thinking that she had no idea what was going on with Lurkin. I didn’t believe in coincidences, but any information about Johnny Hodges was valuable. Claire had been studying the files from a couple of months ago. It was when Lurkin had nearly been busted for drugs, but we couldn’t prosecute him because of lack of evidence. She wasn’t too happy about our recent setback. We had been stuck together for weeks now and she was probably missing her husband. After that incident in my bedroom I was determined to keep myself in line, to avoid any conflicts. I was losing control, but I didn’t want to see another shrink. Therapy didn’t quite work.
Ellie was too quiet; she kept glancing behind her back from time to time. I was feeling on edge and was annoyed that I found her in the club, frustrated that I couldn’t get away from her alluring spell.
We walked inside the building and I asked for a room with a double bed. I was going to have her tonight, but I needed answers first. Ellie wasn’t stupid and I had no idea how long I’d be able to keep the truth about me from her, including the fact that my real name was Tobias Stanley.
I was expecting Ellie to be difficult or to throw a fit, but she didn’t say anything. We were both tense. The ride in the lift was long and all the way to the room I needed to remind myself to stay calm. Ellie was nothing more than a woman that craved my company. She wanted to escape and, like everyone else, she was running away from something in her past. I sensed that she had been hurt by a man, and now she was hiding. Some selfish bastard probably broke her trust.
“We should talk about this, Mack,” she finally said when we got inside the room and I shut the door behind me. Her eyes fell on the large bed in the middle of the room. The decor was purple and white. I liked it. I wanted to bring her into my arms and assure her that she had nothing to worry about, that Claire was just my partner, not a woman that I loved.
“That’s why we are here, Ellie, so we can talk without being interrupted,” I said, hoping that she would at least relax. “Tell me, when did you hear the name Johnny Hodges?”
She circled around the room trailing her fingers over the furniture, obviously playing for time before she sat down on the chair. Her eyes were wary, hiding a myriad of emotions. I needed to know if I was the reason she was so worried.
“Nathan, the assistant manager, asked me to cover for someone yesterday. When I showed up, the guy … oh God, I—” she stammered, hiding her face in her hands. “It was Andrew, the married guy that I’d had an affair with.”
I was slightly confused and amazed that this would have ever happened. I didn’t want to know about her past lovers, but I couldn’t avoid this conversation any longer.
“Did he recognise you?” I asked.
“No, I was wearing a mask with the costume, but I can’t be sure,” she said. “I was shocked that he was there, surprised. I couldn’t just turn around and leave, so I danced for him, like he was any other regular client.”
“I’m sorry, but what does your ex have to do with Johnny Hodges?”
She took a deep breath and looked at me with distant, like she was still fighting with herself. I didn’t push before, didn’t ask questions about where she was from and if she had any family, but it was time to change that. This operation was crucial, and it was time to pull Lurkin down.
“My surname isn’t Frasier, Mack, it’s Grant. My father is Jonathan Grant.”
“Grant … Jonathan Grant. Where have I heard that name before?” I asked myself, thinking out loud. That surname had been in the papers recently. It took me a moment to realise that this Grant was a well-known barrister who had won a number of well-publicised high-profile cases in the UK. He was a defence solicitor and wasn’t afraid to fight with even the toughest prosecutors. He had various clients, from scumbags to high-class businessmen. It seemed that he could get anyone out of trouble.
A few months ago, there was another story in the paper. His beloved daughter was caught sleeping with one of his clients, Andrew Hamilton. Grant offered to take his case.
“Hold on, Ellie Grant … the recent case. I heard about that story,” I said, knowing how everyone had lynched her. That guy Hamilton kept giving these absurd interviews, insisting that she was the one that seduced him. Not the other way around.
“His wife caught us in their bed, in his house. Oh God, this is so embarrassing. I went through with it, knowing that he was married, that he had kids. This went on for months and months. He wanted to leave his wife, he told me that he loved me, that I was the one, but in the end all of it was just lies,” she said, sitting down on the bed, looking so broken.
Now I understood why she felt so guilty about us getting involved. I couldn’t let this affect me, whatever happened between us. I was forgetting my role in this. The media had written all sorts of stories about her. I didn’t quite follow the story, but I did realise that many people had.
“So you ended up in The Grange?”
“My father disowned me. I had twenty-four hours to pack my bags and leave the house that had I spent most of my life in. We didn’t get on, even before the scandal hit the media—I went to study journalism when he insisted on law. The scandal gave him an excuse to cut all ties with me.”
“It was a mistake, one error. I think your father overreacted,” I insisted, not quite sure what the big deal was. Okay, so she screwed up with one of her daddy’s clients. These stories were common and, judging from what she said, it appeared to me that her father was an asshole.
She shook her head.
“No, he lost many important clients because of what happened. He didn’t want to listen; he just told me to get out. We’d had our differences, but what hurt the most was the fact that he believed that asshole, not me. Andrew had told him that I instigated the affair, that it was my idea, when it was Andrew who seduced me, led me on and lied to me.”
Bastard. Grant was known for being harsh, but Ellie was his daughter. She made a simple mistake.
“I was so angry, so disappointed that he used me like that. I have lost everything because I fell in love. When I went to the club, I saw him there.”
“Don’t worry about it, Angel, he ob–”
“He’s Johnny Hodges, Mack,” she cut me off all of a sudden. “One of the dancers said that he is there regularly. Adrian owns shares in the club and apparently Andrew is his partner.”
“What are you talking about, Ellie?” I demanded, trying to process what she was saying. That was impossible. That asshole couldn’t be Johnny Hodges. He wouldn’t just use that name in the club around other people.
“The stripper was convinced that Adrian had connections to Andrew. She kept calling him Mr. Hodges. I spoke to Nathan tonight, before I went to dance for you, and he confirmed that Hodges had always been a special guest in the club,” she said getting agitated with me, probably because she had to repeat herself. Andrew Hamilton…that surname didn’t tell me anything. He was a nobody, then suddenly became a somebody. For years Hodges had always been the silent partner, the guy behind the scenes. His name was mentioned at times, but the unit could never find anything. They couldn’t link him to anyone around Lurkin.
“What else do you know, Angel?” I said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“There is something going on in the club. You were right about Adrian. He can’t be trusted.”
“He offered me a job as a driver; he wants to help me to keep Claire off my back.”
Ellie chewed on her lips; that name hung between us like a dead bird. I couldn’t stand that she was so deeply involved with this case.
“You shouldn’t be working with him, Mack.”
I went down on my knees and grabbed her hands.
“Tell me everything. I need to know what’s going on out there.”
“More than I wanted to know. Adrian has been talking about some shipments and I think it’s about drugs. I overheard him when I was in the changing room.”
“What? You were listening in?”
“I had no choice; I was getting ready and they came in.”
“Fuck, I don’t want to think what could have happened if Lurkin caught you eavesdropping,” I snarled, tensing my muscles. She was so reckless, putting her life in jeopardy.
“He didn’t. I’m fine. I think you’re overreacting,” she said.
“Ellie, I don’t overreact and you’re making me so mad. I might not know much about your family, but I know for a fact that your father wouldn’t give a fuck about you if you suddenly became queen.”
“This isn’t all because of my father. It’s also about my reputation and self-respect. My father has never supported me in anything I wanted to do for myself, and Andrew used me, just to get closer to him. After all that, he still became his client. No one knew about the affair and what followed, but the press seemed to have every scrap of information. I suspect that he was the one that’s been selling information to the papers to make himself look good before his hearing.”
I wrapped my arm around her, knowing that she had gone through a lot.
“So I guess he didn’t leave his wife for you?”
“He ended it as soon as she found out. It was a nightmare; I didn’t sleep for days. Paparazzi were following me everywhere I went. My career was over. That’s when I left and saw an apartment advertised in the Grange in the middle of nowhere. Died my hair and started using my mother’s maiden name as my surname. After a month passed, I finally got a job in that shitty paper.”
Ellie
I felt like a coward, I didn’t want to hide anymore from him, but I still couldn’t quite comprehend that Andrew knew Adrian and they were involved in some sort of dodgy business together. An icy chill crept down my spine when I thought about how little I actually knew about my ex-lover.
From the file that my father had on his desk, it turned out that Andrew had some financial problems. He was accused of fraud among other things. My father didn’t want to work for him. He didn’t like cases like that. Andrew was turned away, and then, a few weeks later, Dad asked me to speak to him, find out if he was worth his time. My father was disappointed that I didn’t pursue law, but he kept trying to spark my interest. He encouraged me to speak to his clients. I felt important to him when we discussed his business, so I said yes. Andrew charmed me straight away. He was charismatic and flirtatious. I lost my head over him.
Yesterday, I couldn’t sleep, thinking about the amount of information that I had. Adrian, the handsome neighbour next door, was supplying drugs. Andrew had assured me that he was innocent and that someone was trying to destroy his career. He had me wrapped around his little finger. He got what he wanted and then got rid of me.
“Angel, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone. You’re putting yourself at risk and I can’t allow that,” Mack said, tightening his jaw.
“It’s not your decision to make. I have already started working on the article. This is my own way of seeking redemption. When the scandal hit the media, I was ruined. All my life, I had been trying to gain some kind of recognition or acknowledgment from my father. I have never succeeded. I know you probably won’t understand, but this is something that I have to do,” I stated, wanting to bury myself in his chest and forget about the past few months.
I didn’t want to fight with him anymore or weigh up the pros and cons of a relationship with him. It was foolish, but Mack didn’t turn away. He wasn’t even shocked when I revealed my real name.
We talked for a bit longer, about my life back in Glasgow. Mack was trying hard to cheer me up. He wasn’t judgmental like everyone else. He moved on the bed next to me and slowly I became aware that we were alone in the hotel room. My skin prickled with waves of heat, and when I glanced in his eyes, I saw that he noticed it too. We were sitting on the bed, staring at each other, and both calculating the next move.
“Angel, I can’t sit here and pretend that I don’t want you. Let’s forget about Lurkin and your ex,” he rasped, leaning close to my ear. I tossed my hair behind me, inhaling in a sharp breath. I recognised his tone of voice. He wanted me to play submissive, like during our first night together. I deserved a break, and maybe I was making another mistake, but I felt connected to him. He knew how to control me, how to own me.
I nodded, and my throat tightened when I realised that Mack cared about me.
“Move further up the bed,” he said, and muscles inside my stomach clenched in anticipation. It was easy to forget being with him, when he was so ready to please me and himself. I lay on the bed, and Mack began taking my clothes off. I whimpered when he spread my legs and ran his thumb over my folds.
“I’m going to lick your wet tight pussy until you come hard for me,” he said, pulling on my underwear, ripping the lace on the side. I was still wearing my top, but nothing else.
“Tell me, Angel, do you want me to make you come?” he asked, his eyes wide and dangerous.
“Yes, Mack … I want to escape, please.”
“Yes, Angel, you will, but not just yet. I want to play with you first. I haven’t played with this pussy for a while now, Angel, and I’ve missed it.”
