East Bound by Nana Malone (big ebook reader txt) 📕

She smiled. "Hi, Nyla. I'm glad to see you. You are here to save me from Captain I'm-a-grumpy-arsehole, right?"

"Oh, yes, I've met him. He's quite unpleasant, isn't he?"

"Yes, indeed. East, I really do like this one. Too bad you're a jackhole and didn't keep her."

I winced at that, but Telly took my hand and dragged me in. "God, you're so sexy. Hot too. Really honey, he's lost the plot, he has."

I followed Telly into the penthouse and found East looking as handsome as ever. His T-shirt was tight over his broad shoulders as he leaned over a laptop at the table. "Who is it, Tell?"

"The love of your life."

"Oh, Telly, you know full well I don’t believe in love. Is it the stripper?"

"No, actually, it is the love of your life. I suppose we could ask her to strip though."

East whirled around and scowled when he saw me. "Oh, it's you."

Damn, that didn’t sting at all. "Yes, in all my splendor. Should I do the striptease here, or should I wait?"

His gaze flickered over my body, and I could feel the pulsing heat of it. "That won't be necessary. I've seen it all."

"Yes, I know. It's absolutely bloody fantastic."

Telly plopped on the couch and gave me a wide grin. "While I am a married lady now, I can still look, so feel free to do the striptease for me."

I laughed. "Maybe when we're alone. I don't want to offend anyone’s sensibilities.”

East ignored us both. “We have work to do. The sooner we can find Warlow, the sooner we are all free of Francois Theroux. So pull out a chair and get to work."

"Right, of course." I shucked my shoulder bag and pulled out my laptop before lowering myself onto his plush couch. I had to steel myself so I wouldn’t think about what we’d last done on that couch. "Okay, so I already started a little background checking. I called some contacts at Immigration and had them do a search for me. There was a Henry Warlow who was studying at the University of Milan about thirty years ago. He was enrolled as a graduate student. There is, however, no evidence of him leaving school in the computer records, but so many of those records are still on paper. So they said they were going to look into it for me and let me know. But at least we know Henry Warlow was in Milan around that time."

East's brow furrowed at me, but he said nothing as he turned back around. Telly laughed. "That's his way of saying good work, because thus far, he hasn't been able to get that information. He's a little bit pissed because thirty years ago not everything was recorded on the internet, so East is having a difficult time with this particular assignment."

I nodded and joined them at the table. I worked better when I was alert and focused, so that meant not sitting on the couch, because I was bone tired. I hadn't been sleeping, and really, I honestly couldn't remember the last time I’d eaten, so, I would need to take care of that.

There was another knock on the door, and Telly sprang up again. "That would be the takeout. Now, while you two kids get to work, I actually need to go. Carmen just texted, and she misses me."

East whipped around. "You are not doing this."

"Sorry, mate, but she has already found more information than you or I were able to dig up, so she is a perfect partner. I'm going home. You two kids enjoy this Chinese."

East scowled at her. "You had this planned all along when you said you were going to help me. You set me up."

"Absolutely. I'm sorry." She looked alternately between the two of us. "Was that not clear? This is a set up. And since I knew that he was going to suggest that you search on your own and maybe just exchange information over a phone call, I was meant to be the glue. I have now glued you two together. Not sexually of course, because that would be awkward. So… enjoy."

She dropped the takeout on the table, and the ginger and garlic scents wafted up my nose, making my stomach grumble, and I knew that I would possibly kill someone for beef and broccoli. "We don't have to do this together. I can go home."

But there was a part of me, that lonely, crushing part, that prayed to God he would not send me home alone to my empty flat where I had no boyfriend, no best friend, and no job. The job thing. I could get it back, but like I’d told Theroux, that was going to involve eating a lot more crow, and I wasn't that hungry yet.

But what are you going to do about the aching loneliness?

I had other friends besides Amelia. Mates from my MI5 days. I could call loads of people up for a quick drink, but they would all require some level of effort, and I was not in the mood for effort. But no way in hell would I tell East that I wanted to stay. He wanted me gone, and I wasn't going to shove into where I wasn't wanted.

"No, stay. I can't eat all of this by myself, and of course, your stomach is grumbling, because I guarantee you forgot to eat."

"I did not," I lied easily.

"You're not even lying well. Sit. Eat."

He stood and marched into the kitchen, bringing out plates and serving spoons. When he unwrapped what we had, it was beef and broccoli, honey glazed shrimp, and a mountain of dumplings. My stomach full-on roared.

East chuckled. Actually chuckled. And for a split second, I could remember what it was like a week ago when he still cared about me.

Suck it up, because it's never happening again. Remember what it was like when he cut you off.

Yes. I remembered that. And that was the memory to hold on to.

We dug into our