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

take care of yourself, because you can. I'm just terrified. My control over this situation's not getting any better. And it makes me worried. But I trust you. As long as you trust me, I trust you."

I could feel the tension ebbing from her shoulders. "I trust you."

“Good.” I leaned forward and slid my lips over hers. "Now, how about you let me apologize properly for being a world-class wanker."

"I am eager to see how well you apologize Mr. Hale."

Nyla

I hustled into the building. I was late. Really, really late.

It wasn't my fault, though. I put my tardiness squarely on East. He had been distracting me.

It was the only explanation, because goddammit, I was late.

I had gotten the Where the fuck are you? text fifteen minutes ago and started hustling to get to work. After taking the stairs two at a time, wincing with each one because East had gotten inventive when he woke me up and I was sore in places I wasn't even sure I could be sore in.

But dear God, it had been good. So good that, well, now I was late.

Just move your ass.

At the top of the stairs, I made a left, chucking off my coat and slinging it over my shoulder as I swiped my badge. I tried to tuck my hair behind my ears, knowing I probably looked freshly fucked because I hadn't had time to wash it. I’d just spritzed it with some conditioner and water and finger-combed it, enhancing my natural curls.

As I was leaving the penthouse, East had given me that look that said he was ready to drag me back to bed again. His voice when he saw my hair had gone all low and gravelly. "I've never seen your hair like that before."

"I've never been this late before. Usually, I wash it and blow it dry."

"I like it like this. In fact, maybe you could come back to—"

I'd laughed, and then locked myself in the loo so I could put my clothes on.

And somehow, I was still late.

Okay, it was because I had allowed him to give me the kind of kiss that curled my toes, and then we'd spent a full minute dry shagging against the door as he tried to fumble my pants open, because I didn't want to leave him any more than he wanted to leave me.

Fucking hell. This was all his fault.

Sure it is.

When I finally made it to the conference room, it was standing room only, and I frowned. Amelia was in the back, and I wove through a couple of people before tapping her on the shoulder. "Thanks for the heads-up."

She leaned back, arms crossed sternly, focusing on Denning as he and my father gave the address to the team.

"You're welcome. What's gotten into you? A little billionaire?"

I coughed to cover my laugh. "A very big billionaire actually."

Amelia lifted a brow and turned her head slightly to face me before looking me up and down. "Oh, you don't say. Go, East."

We both had to stifle our giggles then. "What's going on?"

"You didn't miss much. They've been going on about how they need all hands on deck for this new case, But I don't know what it is."

I frowned.

Finally, my father got to the point and switched the projector to a photo of Lord Walter Jameson.

I pinched Amelia's elbow, and she nodded because she couldn't turn around. She had to stay focused.

"We received a call from Lord Jameson. He has good reason to believe that Francois Theroux is going to rob him during his birthday celebration this weekend."

My breath caught. No. There was no way. If that was what Theroux's plan was, he would have called. He would have said something.

Amelia pinched me back.

My father continued up front. "So, we will be going with teams prepared to defend against Theroux and we are planning to capture him. Alive. Have I made myself clear?"

Someone in the front that I couldn't see raised a hand and was called on. "So we're not going with a tactical team?"

My father sighed. "We are, but they've been instructed. Theroux is dangerous, but we are going to do everything in our power to preserve human life. I want him alive. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone murmured their agreement, and the pit of my stomach fell. No. This was not how it was supposed to go. Theroux was mine. Why did Jameson think Theroux was coming for him?

My phone buzzed in my hand, and I glanced down.

Amelia: After your adventure, Jameson might know what we’re up to.

Nyla: Fuck.

Amelia: Exactly.

Garreth must have told him that I was nosing around after our interview. Why else call Interpol? I'd tipped my hand. I had fucked up. Mentioning Henry Warlow's name had been a mistake. And now, Jameson was going to thwart our plans.

Chapter 27

East

For once, Livy, the one who was usually up for anything if it involved keeping Ben safe, stared at us like we had lost our minds. "So what you're telling me is that we are going to go to a party, where your sworn enemy has invited us, and then while we're there, we are going to steal things?"

"Um, how do I explain? Okay, the last time I broke in there, I took files off the computer. We thought that was enough, but we weren’t looking for Henry Warlow then. Now that we are, we need to tap into some devices that aren't readily accessible. I’ve done some research on the property and discovered he’s had a server room installed that controls the access to his vaults. I need to be on-site to actually hack into those servers. It's going to take some time."

Livy nodded. "Uh-huh." She then cast a glance at Nyla. "And you're telling us that Lord Jameson has now called for the assistance of Interpol? He’s convinced that Francois Theroux is coming for his art, and he would very much like Interpol to investigate?"

I glanced at Nyla, and she met