Surrendered(30)

I shrug. “Sure. Why not?” I decide not to harass him any more about Molly, it’s clearly a sore point, even if he won’t admit it.

I spend the rest of the day hanging out with Hugo. It’s weird, we never do this any more, but we used to do this all the time. I guess Hugo just makes me feel normal. He has no problems except where his next lay is coming from, and whether his house is stocked with adequate booze.

Hugo is still in that place where money can buy him happiness, and I’m almost jealous. I do love Lilly, but relying on someone else to make you happy sucks balls. Their sadness is yours. Their weaknesses hurt you. It’s a blissful state that comes at a price.

In the midst of all the shit surrounding me at the moment, being with Hugo is easy, straight-forward, care-free. I wish I could go back to this in so many ways.

My phone rings. I check the screen. It’s Miles.

“Hey.” I answer curtly.

“Hey, so it wasn’t easy, but I think I’ve pin pointed her location. I don’t have an address though.” He tells me.

“Okay, what have you got?”

“Well, I used the account you gave me. The money was transferred to an off shore account within twenty-four hours. I’ve managed to track it. It was then separated into three different accounts, and a large chunk of cash was withdrawn. There have been no transactions since, until yesterday, when someone used a debit card to withdraw cash from one of the accounts.”

“Where?” I ask quickly.

“Monaco.”

“Monaco? What the hell? Why the fuck is she in Monaco?” I ask, mainly to myself.

“You gave her one point five mil. Why wouldn’t she be in Monaco?” He replies.

“Okay, so you can’t pin-point her address?”

“No, the cash was withdrawn from a cash machine. It was a small amount, taken from a machine in The Fairmont Monte Carlo. She may be staying there. What do you need from me?” He asks eagerly.

“I’m going to make some arrangements, but I may need you to come with me. Can you fly out tomorrow night?” I ask quickly. My mind is flying through logistics.

“Sure.”

“Okay, keep looking. See if you can pin point her location.”

“I’m scanning all the cameras in that area for facial recognition.” He says. “If she pops up, I will find her.”

“Thanks, Miles.” I hang up the phone.

I don’t have the time to fly to Monaco on the chance I might find her. That said, I don’t like loose ends, and I don’t like not knowing the outcome of a situation. I like to control people, by whatever means they choose. Some will be controlled for money, others for favours or my connections/ Whatever it is, I can usually sway people to my whim. Jane Sampson is an anomaly that I thought I had under control. I don’t like being fucked over, and she has royally fucked with things. There won’t be a second chance for her. I’m Theodore Ellis, and if she thought I was some wealthy push over businessman, then she is very much mistaken. I promised I would destroy her if she did anything to hurt Lilly, she clearly didn’t take that threat very seriously, or maybe she did, after all, she is running. For her sake, she had best keep on running, because if I catch her, I’m not sure what I will do. I need her to retract her statement, and seeing as money is clearly not a strong enough incentive, it looks like I’ll be resorting to threats.

Hugo enters the room with a beer in hand. I tilt my head and narrow my eyes at him. “Do you still have that apartment in Monaco?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Sure. Why? You fancying a bachelor weekend?” He grins.

“No, but I may need your help. Fancy a trip to Monaco?”

He shrugs. “Yeah, why not.”





CHAPTER SEVEN

LILLY



“Oh my god, you’re out.” Molly shrieks, the second Harry walks through the door. She throws herself into his arms, almost knocking him over. She’s sobbing as Harry tries desperately to console her.

George pulls me into his side. “You okay Lill’s?”

I nod and smile. “Yeah, for now.” I know I should just be happy that Harry is out on bail, but the idea of a case hangs heavily over my head. I can’t quite find it in me to be happy about the temporary reprieve.

“For now will do. I hear that you and Mr. hotter than hell got back together.” He wiggles his eyebrows.

“Yeah¸ he helped get Harry out. He’s been so great about all this.”

“Well, the guy is obsessed with you. You need to take advantage of that shit…and take advantage of him of course…the things I would do to that boy.” He shakes his head and bites his lip.