“This morning wasn’t enough kissing for you?” he asked with a smirk.
Elodie couldn’t help but blush. Scott had woken her up an hour before her alarm was set to go off and shown her without words how much he was going to miss her. That was on top of the amazing sex they’d had the night before. He’d taken her so hard and fast, she’d been nothing but a pile of goo afterward, then he’d changed things up and tortured her by bringing her to the edge of orgasm so many times, she’d begged him to please let her come already. They’d laughed, then she’d cried a bit, thinking about how much she would miss him, and she felt as if they were even closer emotionally as a result of their intense lovemaking sessions.
“I’ll never get enough kissing from you,” she admitted truthfully.
His smile disappeared as he leaned toward her. They made out in the middle of the dock for who knows how long, and probably would’ve continued and embarrassed themselves if Kai hadn’t walked by and wolf whistled at them.
“The boat won’t ready itself,” he joked to Elodie as he continued toward the Fish Tales to prepare it for the day’s charter.
Scott stared down at her for a long moment. Neither spoke, but they didn’t need to. “Be safe while I’m gone,” he finally said.
“I will. You too.”
He nodded, then grabbed her hand and they headed for the boat once more. Elodie wanted to cry, but forced the tears back. Scott needed her strength right now, not her breaking down. This was the first time he’d left for a mission since they’d been together, but it wouldn’t be the last. She could handle this. She could.
“Tell Midas I’ll kick his ass if he lets you get hurt,” she joked.
Scott didn’t smile. “I will.”
Realizing she was going to have to be the one to leave first, Elodie reached for the back of Scott’s neck and pulled him down to her one more time. She kissed him briefly on the lips. “See you when you get back.”
Scott licked his lips and nodded.
Elodie took a deep breath and let go of his hand, then turned and headed for the gangplank that led onto the Fish Tales.
“Hey, Melody, you ready for today? Four kids and two adults, here’s to hoping they aren’t obnoxious,” Kai said with a smile.
Hearing the fake name was extra jarring now, especially when she heard her given name from Scott and his friends all the time. “Now you’ve jinxed us, way to go,” she joked. Her heart wasn’t in it, but she was doing her best.
She turned to look at Scott one more time and saw he was already halfway down the dock, headed for the parking lot.
“He’s gonna be fine,” Kai said softly.
“What?” Elodie asked, looking over at Kai.
“Your boyfriend. He’s gonna be fine. He’s badass, and he’ll be back before you know it.”
She smiled at him. Kai was a good guy. Young, in his early twenties, and still figuring out what he wanted to do with his life, but he was polite and respectful and a hard worker. She enjoyed working with him on the boat and knew she could’ve gotten stuck with someone a lot worse as a coworker. “Thanks.”
“You already know he asked if I wouldn’t mind picking you up in the mornings and bringing you home…but did you know he called me again and practically lectured me on making sure I drove the speed limit, always wore my seat belt and, if I had even a drop of alcohol on the boat, not to get behind the wheel when you were with me?”
“He did?” Elodie asked.
“Yup. That man is head over heels for you, Mel. It’s weird, because he’s this muscular, bearded tough guy, but with you, he’s a giant marshmallow. I can only hope to be in a relationship like you guys have one day.”
Elodie smiled. Yeah, Kai’s description of Scott was really accurate. “He’s pretty awesome.”
“Good morning!” a deep voice called out.
Elodie turned to see Perry headed their way.
“Ready for today?”
She wasn’t, but Elodie smiled and nodded anyway. She had a feeling Scott would be on her mind every second of every day until he returned to her safely. She hadn’t asked for his promise, not after the talk with his team, but oh how she’d wanted to. She just had to hope and pray that everything went as planned on their mission and he’d be back sooner rather than later.
It was kind of nice to worry about someone else for a change, instead of about Paul Columbus and what he was doing.
Chapter Seventeen
Paul sat at his desk, drumming his fingers on the top. Andrew had left weeks ago to try to track down this Valentino guy who’d worked on the Asaka Express with his former chef. His friend and capo was using fake identification and had all the money he needed at his disposal to bribe and extort people for information about the man’s whereabouts.
So far, he’d chased the ship the man was supposed to be on, the Asaka Freedom, from port to port without any luck.
Paul was running out of patience. Every day that bitch was free to run around was another day she could totally ruin his life. Jerry was chomping at the bit more and more, trying to take over the family, and if he heard about what had happened—and that Paul hadn’t been able to find Elodie yet, and shut her up—he’d use that opportunity to undermine him.
Andrew had checked in a few days ago, and had said the Asaka Freedom would be docking in Tunis, Tunisia, today. They were five hours ahead of New York time, and so Andrew should’ve gotten back to him by now.
Just when Paul was working himself up into a nice rage, his phone rang. The throwaway one he used only to talk to Andrew, that couldn’t be traced to either of them.
“Talk to me,” he growled as he answered it.
“Got ’im!” Andrew crowed.
“Thank fuck. What’d he say?” Paul asked.
“Well, nothing yet. I paid a prostitute to slip a mickey into his drink at the pub. Dumb bitch didn’t ask any questions, all she wanted was the money so she could go shoot up. I’m gonna keep him out of it until I can get him stashed someplace where it’s safe to interrogate him.”
“Don’t take fucking forever,” Paul grumbled. “I want to know where Elodie Winters is, and I want to know yesterday.”
“He’ll tell me everything he knows,” Andrew said, the glee easy to hear in his voice. “When I’m done with him, he’ll be admitting to every fucking thing he’s ever done wrong.”
“Make sure there are no loose ends,” Paul warned.
“I’m not an idiot,” Andrew complained. “This isn’t my first interrogation.”
“I just don’t want to have to find this guy after everything is said and done, to make sure he doesn’t snitch.”
“Oh, don’t worry, he won’t be snitching about anything when I’m done with him.”
“Good,” Paul said. “I need you back here as soon as possible. People are starting to question where you are, and our cover about your sister being sick isn’t going to hold up much longer.”
“A day or two at most, boss,” Andrew said. “Then I’ll be back and we can plan our next steps. This asshole is going to tell us what we need to know, I feel it.”