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

Ben pushed to his feet. "Mate, calm down."

"Of course, you'd come to Livy's defense," I spat.

"Yeah, well, she's my fiancée, isn't she? Look, I get it, mate. This is a problem. But we're all here, and we'll figure it out."

I knew what he was doing. Trying to diffuse me. Like letting a kettle sing for a bit after you turned off the stove to let the pressure dissipate. "Fuck, you make it sound so easy. She's fucking Interpol, and I told her about the Elite, like a wanker." The center of my chest tightened. Fuck, why was it so tight? I tried to breathe through the constriction and found I was only able to take short breaths. Then the room started to spin.

Fucking hell. I was having a goddamned panic attack. I hadn’t had one since I was a kid.

Stop it. Your panic isn’t real. Control the situation. There is enough air.

I forced three deep breaths which brought my temperature down.

Bridge, usually my partner in rationality, eased back in the couch, spreading his long legs out, trying to get comfort and space. "So what are you going to do? You can't put that cat back in the bag. So she knows about the Elite. Does that matter?"

"What are you fucking on about, mate? Of course, it matters." Why couldn't they see it? "I have employed Bird's Eye Protocol. She won’t be able to breathe without me knowing about it."

Telly, uncharacteristically quiet for most of this argument, perked her brow. "What the fuck is Bird's Eye Protocol?"

Livy didn't seem to know either. But Lucas, Lucas had a clue.

The prince pushed to his feet as well. "Dude, that path is fucked. I get it. I have no intention of going to prison. I'm too pretty to be someone's bitch. But, bro, this isn't the way. When she finds out, it's going to be open fucking season."

That was only if she found out. "She won't find out. I am that good."

From her chair, Telly asked again, "What in the fuck is Bird's Eye Protocol?"

Ben shrugged, familiar with my security protocols. "It's full surveillance. Cameras everywhere. In her home, in her office, her car. The full monty."

Telly turned her gaze to me then. "You think that's wise? Poking our noses into things we probably shouldn't even know about half the time?"

"Yeah, because we have to see what's coming. Theroux already got to us."

She threw up her hands. "How the fuck were you supposed to know to look to the sky? You took out the cameras, every last one of them on the CCTV. We were literally untraceable with that diamond. How were you supposed to know Theroux had a drone in the sky? You’re not God."

I was supposed to be pretty damn close. "It's my fucking job to know."

She sighed. "One man can't know everything. And sooner or later, you're going to have to see that. You have no control over this. I get that. And it is terrifying. I get that too. But this whole person-of-interest angle you've got going on, it's a problem. She's law enforcement. And when she finds out you've been watching where you shouldn't be, we'll have bigger problems than we do now. In the meantime, why don't we focus on something we can actually control or at least get a handle on?"

I rolled my neck. The tension knots had been there all fucking day, and there was no easing them.

You could ease them by talking to her. 

Fuck. It's like no matter what I did, my rallying point was always her. Like my body was fighting me not to go to her.

Drew sat forward again. "All right, if you don't want to talk about Nyla, we won’t. Just a reminder that you gave your word. No Bird’s Eye Protocol on any of us."

I scowled at him. "Oi, mate. First of all, the last thing I need to see is your naked arse. I saw plenty of that when we were at Eton. Secondly, you know I have a moral compass. I don't spy on my mates."

Livy grumbled in the corner, saying something along the lines of, "You love her, you idiot, and she won't forgive this."

I didn’t give a fuck if she forgave it or not. Even if I had feelings for her, I would show her no quarter.

"Good thing I don’t need her to forgive me.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. I needed to get them back on track. “Okay, so Theroux. He’s asking for a meet on Friday. I think Ben and I should go and meet with him."

Bridge laughed. "Mate, if we decide to do this, you'll be in the van. Coms guy. You’re obviously not thinking clearly. Drew gets to come."

I shook my head. "No, if we're meeting with him, I go."

Bridge calmly continued. "Mate, Ben and I are both better at hand-to-hand combat. Drew is an excellent negotiator. You're the tech guy."

"Which means I can at least scan the property, check out the perimeter, see what kind of security he has."

Ben spoke slowly to me, as if I was an idiot. "Mate, there is no way he is going to actually take us to one of his safe houses. There won't be anything to examine. You're the lookout and driver."

He had to be kidding me. "Oh, hell no. I'm security. I go in with you, or we don't go at all."

Ben scowled at me. "What is with you? There is nothing to prove here. We've all made mistakes. Remember that time I had to trust a woman I didn't know with sensitive information? She's my fiancée now."

Livy beamed at him. "More like you foisted your contraband on me and almost sent me to jail, but that's really beside the point."

"Are you two done playing loving and happy families?”

Surprisingly, it wasn't Ben who took a piece of me. It was Telly. She slowly leaned forward in her seat. "Oi, mate, you think you fucked up. And even then, none of