by Graham, Jan
Adrian would leave the meeting with the ledger. He would be followed by police, thereby identifying where the ledger was ultimately being stored. Warrants would be executed by the police, and the ledger, now in Adrian’s possession, would be found.
“I like it,” Angel finally stated. “I think it could work, but if it goes wrong, Adrian will be pissed.”
“Then we make sure it doesn’t go wrong.” Steve smiled.
The rest of the morning was occupied with laying the groundwork for Christian and Steve to bring Trevor online with “the setup,” as Steve had so aptly named the operation.
Daniel rang around to find a removalist van that was available for hire, and the date of the setup was ready to take place the following Tuesday. Steve and Christian approved of the time frame. It gave them just under a week to put everything in place. They needed to get Trevor to agree to the setup and pass on the relevant information to Adrian via the drug squad spy. Christian would have enough time to sort out who would form the backup team, and there would be long enough for them to see behavioural evidence in the Hastings camp if Adrian had actually lifted the bounty.
Christian and Steve needed to assure Trevor that Angel wasn’t able to testify to anything regarding Hastings, except that she had given him the ledger. The two of them spent quite a few hours questioning Angel. They asked questions in relation to Barnard’s activities, discussions she had with anyone in regard to Hastings, anything she had overheard others discuss regarding the organisation. More importantly, they discussed what had occurred the times she had actually been face-to-face with Adrian, including the night she slept with him. The questions were very tiring and in some cases quite uncomfortable for Angel to answer. She was pleased that Christian seemed to make sure he kept his own emotions in check, especially when they were talking about the night Adrian had fucked her.
Steve decided he needed to get a better picture of what might be going on in relation to the strange relationship Angel and Adrian had developed. In all his dealings with Hastings, he had encountered a man that was harsh, angry, a man that had violence in his eyes, and certainly a man no one took lightly. Adrian Hastings epitomised the worst of organised crime. Hastings bought whatever he needed, alibis, evidence, judges, cops, anything to make his organisation survive. And if he couldn’t buy what he wanted, then he destroyed whatever threatened him. He ordered deaths like he was ordering a pizza, he ruled with an iron fist, and even those close to him feared his wrath. Steve knew that was not the Adrian that Angel talked about.
Angel admitted she was scared of Adrian, that she knew he was an unpredictable man, but still, she didn’t hesitate to say things that no one else would even consider uttering. As she relayed conversations between the two of them, Steve had to hide his amusement. Angel had told Adrian not to be cruel, told him he had too many weapons, explained that people who had lost loved ones needed to have closure, and that she felt disgusted after having sex with him. Yet Hastings had laughed at her, accepted the criticism she levelled at him, and had supposedly decided he would let her live because he had made an error ordering the hit on her. Steve thought back to the recording of the night that Adrian and Angel had been intimate. Adrian’s tone had been firm, but not harsh. At times he had seemed jovial as he interacted with her. Adrian had sounded regretful when he spoke about her time spent with Samuel. The Adrian Hastings that interacted with Angel was a very different man than the one he knew because for some reason, unbeknown to any of them, Adrian Hastings cared for Angel.
Steve wasn’t surprised when Daniel, who so far had been the constant supplier of coffee and water throughout the interview, finally put a halt to proceedings around one in the afternoon. Steve had to agree with him, they all needed to eat, and Angel needed to have a rest. When they had finished eating, Daniel escorted Angel into the bedroom to have a rest before returning to the dining area to sort out Steve and Christian.
“You both need a break as well. We won’t be able to effectively implement this plan if we’re all too tired to function.” Daniel stood shaking his head as Steve and Christian continued to plan. Steve watched as Daniel opened the fridge and a few cupboards.
“We need supplies. Why don’t you both go for a drive and get some?” Daniel suggested.
Steve nearly laughed, it seemed Christian and he hadn’t been the only one to do planning in the preceding minutes. Daniel had obviously decided if he couldn’t stop the men from talking about the setup, he might at least be able to give them a change of scenery.
“I guess we could.” Christian stood up from the table. “What are you going to do?”
“I’ve got a few hours’ work to do, and then I might go and join Angel for a sleep.” Daniel winked at Christian, before turning his gaze to Steve, who knew Daniel had no intention of sleeping.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Angel stirred slightly from her sleep to the soft touch of lips gently sucking on her naked breast. Moisture began to pool between her legs as a hand cupped her other breast and fingers started roaming seductively over her nipple. Angel entwined her fingers in the head of dark hair feasting at her chest and let out a soft moan.
“I’m sorry to wake you, baby, but to have you naked in bed is just too tempting, and I can’t be denied fucking you another minute.”
His hand move down her stomach and opened her legs to allow him access to the moist warmth of her sex. His fingers slipped easily into her and begin to thrust. She sighed heavily as she gently moved against him.
“That feels so good,” Angel breathed heavily with each tender stroke.
“It certainly does.”
Angel opened her eyes fully and stared into the eyes of the man lovingly stimulating her. Adrian stared down at her, smiling. His hand quickly covered her mouth as she went to scream.
“Before you go and get yourself all worked up, let me tell you what’s happening.” Adrian was still smiling at her, his voice calm as he continued. “If you scream when I remove my hand, then your friends may very well wake up, and my friends that are in the living room watching them will have to shoot them. You don’t want me to kill them, do you?”
Angel shook her head.
“Excellent.” Adrian let her go and continued speaking. “Now you put on some clothes, get my ledger, and we’ll leave.”
Angel scrambled off the bed and found the house pants and T-shirt she had worn before Daniel sent her to bed for a rest. She began to dress, fumbling with the clothes due to the fear that spread through her.
“Have you hurt them?” she asked as tears filled her eyes.
“No, sweetheart, they were asleep on various pieces of furniture when I entered, and unless they wake up, that’s where they’ll be when we leave.” Adrian didn’t take his eyes off her as he spoke.
“How did you find me?” Angel asked
“I tracked your mobile.” Adrian laughed.
“But you promised you wouldn’t,” Angel said indignantly.
“I lied,” Adrian stated flatly as he stared at the now completely dressed woman in front of him.
“So are you going to kill me? Did you lie about that as well?”
Adrian stalked toward her, a menacing smile spread across his face.
“I’m going to take you where no one will ever find you, tie you to my bed, and fuck you to death.” Adrian kissed her cheek and whispered into her ear, “You’ll love it.”
He stood close to her, waiting for her to reply. When his statement was greeted with silence, he spoke once again.
“Now, where’s the ledger?”
Angel walked to her room, closely followed by Adrian. She picked up her overnight bag and pulled out the tatty book that she hadn’t looked at since packing all those weeks ago. Adrian thanked her for the book, gently took her by the hand, and walked her silently down the hallway and toward the back door. Three men stood positioned near the kitchen island, guns pointed toward Christian, Daniel, and Steve, who slept soundly in the sofas. Adrian paused for a b
rief moment next to the dining table.
“I hope that you’ll forgive me, Angel, but I did tell you one other lie,” he said as he looked at the back door.
“What?” Angel asked nervously.
“Kill them,” Adrian ordered.
Angel began to scream as Adrian dragged her out the back door, the sound of gunshots echoing in her ears. She struggled against Adrian, she had to get away, she had to stop what was happening, and she had to save them all.
Angel heard a loud bang and then felt herself being lifted up.
“Angel, wake up, baby. It’s all right. It’s a dream. We’re here, and you’re safe.”
Christian held her in his arms, and when she finally focused, Daniel and Steve were sitting on the edge of the bed. Angel stared at them all in relief, trying to catch her breath. She began to lift the sheet to cover herself but realised she was still clothed, not naked as she had been in the dream.
“He killed you,” Angel finally stated. “Adrian told his men to shoot all of you, and he tried to take me away.”
Angel started to calm down as she sat quietly in Christian’s arms. She felt safe but couldn’t shake the knowledge that maybe the safety of being with these three men was actually an illusion. Adrian was a powerful underworld figure. He did have the means to track her down if he decided to, and he also had the ability to take her away from Christian and Daniel if that was what he wanted. Taking her wouldn’t come without a fight, and it would more than likely kill them all. She hoped the dream hadn’t been an omen. What if Adrian was arrogant enough to try to make her his? What if Adrian’s agreement to call off the dogs wasn’t about the ledger at all, what if it was all about her?
Angel showered and dressed in clean clothes. She felt calmer as she walked back into the living room. All three men were huddled around a laptop. Daniel and Christian were flicking through two folders filled to the brim with sheets of paper. Steve thumbed through what appeared to be a small address book and stopped to type every few minutes before swearing and going back to stare at the book in front of him.
“Won’t they give you a big-boy book, Steve?” Angel joked as she sat down on one of the single sofas.
“Very funny, little girl, why don’t you do something useful… run off to the kitchen and make us all a coffee.” Steve didn’t even look up as he spoke.
“Tell me what you’re doing first. It looks riveting.”
“We are looking through some of Samuel’s papers to see if we can figure out the password he has used to protect a separate account on the laptop,” Christian replied.
Angel walked over to the kitchen and made coffee. She smiled as she heard them throwing out suggestions for Steve to try to gain access to the files and groans of frustration each time they failed. She returned with coffee for the men and a glass of ice water for herself. Resuming her position on the single sofa, she continued to watch with them with increasing amusement.
“Would you like me to help?” she finally asked.
“I doubt you’d be able to come up with anything we haven’t tried,” Christian replied.
Steve sat and looked at her suspiciously. Angel didn’t say a word as she maintained eye contact with Steve.
“Okay, wait a minute, look at that smug expression on her face and ask yourselves a few questions, gentlemen.” Steve lost the suspicious look and replaced it with the all-knowing Yoda stare that Angel was beginning to hate. “She didn’t say ‘would you like me to try and guess or try and help.’ She simply said ‘would you like me to help.’ I’m wondering if that’s Angel code for ‘I can help you because I know the password.’”
Angel raised one eyebrow and grinned. Maybe Steve did know her.
“Would you help me with the password please, Angel?” Steve finally said, much to the surprise of the men sitting either side of him.
“Of course, Steve, thanks for including me. My opinion is you’re not thinking outside the square, and that’s why you haven’t found it before now.” Angel smiled at him.
“For fuck’s sake, Angel, just tell me the password. I don’t need a lecture,” he snapped
“Samuel Barnard loves Angel Wylde forever, you know, like a schoolgirl would write on a desk at school.”
“That’s not a password.” Steve groaned.
“Yes, it is. At least it was the one he used for the computer at home. You just have to know how to type it,” she snapped.
“How do I type it as a password?” Steve sounded exasperated.
“Capital letters SB then lower case lvs then capital AW then the number four then lowercase ‘eva.’”
Steve typed the letters as Angel directed, SBlvsAWeva. He hit enter and watched the account load.
“Fuck, you’re annoying.” He laughed. “I should have learnt by now not to underestimate you, Angel.”
“You’re welcome.” Angel smiled.
Daniel looked at Steve then Angel. He had initially been worried that they hated each other. They bickered like children. Steve teased Angel every chance he got, but when he spoke about her privately to Christian and Daniel, there was warmth and desperate concern for her. In fact, he was extremely protective of her. In fact, by Steve’s own admission, he was protective to the point of throwing his career away if he had to in order to make her safe. On the other hand, Angel appeared to intentionally annoy Steve. She called him names like shithead and usually ignored his suggestions or offers of help with dogmatic fervour. Yet, she had been upset that she had hurt Steve physically the day he arrived. In private, Angel had told Daniel that Steve had changed since she first met him, that he was looking unwell. She had made Daniel promise to talk to Steve and ensure he looked after himself. Daniel often saw Angel looking at Steve and noticed she looked at him in two ways, concern, and curiosity. She worried for him, and she was trying to figure him out.
Neither of them appeared interested sexually in the other. The fact there was no sexual tension between Steve and Angel was a relief to Daniel, but it was also puzzling. Even Christian had commented that for Steve the lack of interest was unusual. Both Daniel and Christian knew Steve was dedicated to Kathy, yet he still flirted mercilessly with other women. Flirting and sexual innuendo was part of Steve’s personality, but he did neither around Angel, and she had changed her behaviour around him as well. She had stopped flirting with Christian and himself when Steve was present. She was still affectionate, but she didn’t tease them or dress seductively with Steve in the house. The dynamic between the two of them was the oddest thing Daniel had encountered in many years but still, it was very amusing to watch.
Daniel sighed. It had only been one day, and he already missed Angel wandering around in a short dress with no underpants on. He glanced over at her curled up on the sofa. She was reading a book and paying no attention to the chatter of Christian and Steve as they trolled through the files they had uncovered. Daniel decided he needed some quiet time with her, away from investigations and setups. He walked over to the chair she was sitting in, took her by the hand, and led her to the bedroom. Angel didn’t speak, obviously knowing what the look Daniel gave her meant. Angel was about to get a good old-fashioned pounding.
Angel stood in the centre of the bedroom and waited for Daniel to approach her.
“Stay there,” Daniel stated
He slapped her arse as he walked past, heading toward the bed, removing his T-shirt and jeans in two quick movements. He lay down on the bed and stared at her seductively.
“Take off your clothes…slowly,” he instructed, his arousal evident as he lay naked before her.
Angel unhurriedly unbuttoned her shirt, revealing the curve of her breast as it swelled from the shiny satin bra. Daniel watched as the shirt slipped down her arms and fell to the floor. Angel ran her hand over her stomach gradually and glanced down at the button of her jeans. She undid it and leisurely slid the zip down. Forcing the material down over her thighs and calves, she stepped out of them and kicked them aside. She ran her hands back up her legs,
over her hips, and up her torso as she straightened up. She cupped her breasts before letting her fingers slide across the hard nubs that pushed against the material of her bra. Daniel groaned and his erection flinched. He saw her nipples bud tighter and poke firmly against the satin. She reached around and undid her bra, letting it slip from her breasts, the material brushing her stomach as it fell. She slid one hand down the front of her panties slipping a finger in between her legs. Angel smiled as she bought the moistened finger to her lips and gave it a suck. She moved her hands back to the top of her knickers, turned so she faced away from the bed, and slowly began to remove them. Daniel suddenly wondered if the command for her to undress had been a wise one. She was so sexy, each move playfully seductive. Angel bent forward as the lace panties cleared her hips, the material brushed against her thighs, giving Daniel a perfect view of her arse and pussy. By the time she stepped out of the lacy undergarment Daniel wanted to howl. Angel turned around, and the smile on her face was sensually wicked.
“Here. Now,” Daniel commanded.
Daniel pulled her over his lap. His erection rubbed against her stomach and Angel squealed as Daniel landed three firm strikes of his hand on each cheek of her arse. He quickly rolled her off his lap and onto her back, pinning her hands above her head as he hovered over her. Daniel noticed the pout of her lips as she stared up at him.
“That little spanking was for touching yourself when all I told you to do was undress.” He smiled.
He held Angel’s wrists with one hand while the other roamed over her body, making Angel shiver. His hand slid between her legs. Two fingers parted her lips and slid along the wet slit into her eager hole. He felt Angel’s cunt clench against his fingers as he gave three forceful thrusts into her. Daniel heard Angel moan and removed his fingers, bringing them up to his lips and sucking them gently.
“Mmm, very tasty, now I know why you seemed to enjoy it so much a moment ago,” he teased. “But let’s disperse with the preliminaries today, shall we?”