East End

by Nana Malone

  "Where's Drew?” Bridge asked.

  I shook my head. "I don’t know. I don't spy on you lot, so I've been waiting him out. He's been making himself unavailable. I tried for lunch, dinner, a drink. He's busy. And he's avoiding us."

  Bridge laughed. "I know. The question is, why are we letting him?"

  "He has to give me permission to break the no-watching rule."

  Bridge laughed. "When have you needed permission to curb your voyeuristic tendencies?"

  "Hey, we have a pact. I don't watch you."

  Bridge coughed then, and it sounded an awful lot like bullshit.

  "I don't," I muttered incredulously.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Are you kidding? Between you and Mina and Ben and Liv, I’d have to wash my eyes out with bleach."

  Bridge flashed a grin then. And as always, I wished he’d smile more. He looked younger, carefree. I knew different, but God, he was always so serious.

  Bridge eyed me as he bent over the table trying to get the perfect angle to sink the four ball. "And how's it going with Agent Kincade?"

  I sighed. "It's fine."

  Bridge grinned at me. Without looking at the ball, he tapped it with the pool cue, and it sailed easily into its spot. "Uh-huh. You know you get this look on your face when you lie. You're not very good at it."

  "I'm not trying for subterfuge." That was true. For those I counted worthy of my trust, I didn't lie. What was the point? But, as Bridge knew, when it came to other people, I was a very, very good liar. I would do anything to protect the team.

  Oh yeah? Is that why you told Nyla everything?

  I swallowed hard. "She's different, Bridge." She sure was. I’d stayed over last night. Again…mostly by accident. I kept meaning to leave… Then she’d nuzzle me and somehow I’d end up inside her again. At least we’d made promises to provide our doctor’s notes. Because now that I’d been inside her bare, I didn’t think I could stop. And fuck, I liked making her messy with my cum.

  I liked knowing I was leaving a part of myself behind. Which was just… Yeah, yeah, I had problems.

  He grinned. "I know she is. She's got you all twisted up. I can tell. You look somehow satisfied and constipated all at the same time. What are you going to do about that feeling you have?"

  "I want her. But it’s probably not the best idea I've ever had."

  “Do you trust her not to betray you? That's what you're really worried about, right?"

  I scrubbed a hand over my face. "Well, I mean, we did steal a massive diamond. And she’s on the trail of some jewelry thieves."

  Bridge grinned. "Yeah, we sure did. But, in our defense, we returned it to its rightful owner."

  "I still can't believe we got away with it."

  But if you keep fucking Nyla, she’s going to trip you up.

  Maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe she did actually trust me now. Fuck knows I already trusted her more than I trusted anybody.

  "As it turns out, Prince Lucas is a very good thief. It would have been terrifying knowing him as a kid. Can you imagine him cleaning you out every time you saw him? Light fingers that one."

  "I'm sure you knew many like him."

  "You would be correct, mate, but they were small time in comparison. He is something else."

  "Yeah, and we were his accomplices. So you can see how Interpol and me mixing might not be a good idea."

  "Yeah, but you feel how you feel. How much do you want her? Can you walk away?"

  That was easy enough to answer. My whole body jerked at that idea. The idea of walking away from Nyla, leaving her alone, never touching her again, never holding her again… That one hurt. "No, I don't think I can walk away."

  Bridge watched me carefully, and then a slow smile spread over his lips. "Well, well. Looks like you've finally fallen. I wondered when it would happen with you. Because on the surface, you're the most affable of all of us. The good guy. I mean you're a bit of a perv with the watching all the time, but hey we all have our kinks."

  "I like to observe.”

  "On the surface, you're the welcoming one, the one women gravitate to because you're easy to be near. But you're the one who trusts even less than I do, though you're also the most loyal. You would lay down your life for the three of us. For Liv, for Mina."

  Yeah, not so much for Mina. I would lay my life down for her if it meant Bridge's happiness. But on her own? Nope. I wasn't sure I'd even put her out if she was on fire. But I kept that to myself.

  "Yeah, yeah, I’m a good guy. Don't we finish last?"

  Bridge laughed. "Well you're not that nice."

  I grinned at that. "No. No, I'm not."

  "If you actually trust her enough to share anything about yourself, then she's worth it. Your instincts are never off."

  "Yeah, but what if they are this time? We have a lot at stake"

  "You think we all don't worry about that? We do. But sometimes a woman comes along and, no matter what your mind tells you about what's good for you, you can't stay the fuck away."

  "Isn’t that the truth."

  "In that case I'm happy for you. Couldn't have happened to a better bloke. And now you'll spend your life trying to protect her. Good luck with that. She's Interpol. She's forever going to dive headfirst into danger. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

  My stomach cramped at that idea. Fuck.

  "Fantastic. Bloody fantastic."

  Bridge laughed. He moved around to the seven ball and sank it easily, then he stood. "Well, there's the eight. Corner pocket."

  I groaned. "Of course. You know if you're going to invite me to play pool, then at least have the decency to let me play."

  Bridge grinned. "What fun would that be?"

  "Next time it's my turn."

  He chuckled. "Okay, I hear you.”

  And then I asked him the question that I knew he wouldn't want asked, but if we were poking at my inner workings, I was going to poke at his. "So, are we going to talk about Emma?"

  His smile fell, and he flattened his lips, forming tight lines around his mouth. His brow furrowed. "What about Emma?"

  "Well, the thing about Emma is that every time she's around or anyone asks you anything about her, you make that face."

  "She's a pain in the ass, and she's trying to get herself killed. I mean, I understand her vendetta for Toby. I get it. But she should leave it to us."

  I watched him, forcing myself to suppress a smile. He had no idea he wanted her. This was going to be entertaining. "Sure, if you say so."

  "What? You don't agree?"

  "I believe that Emma is extremely capable. I also agree that we should look out for her. And Toby's death, that's on us to avenge. I don't want her hurt. But she's his sister, so I think she has a say. I think we probably need to bring her in on the team, but I know you don't want to." I put up my hand before he could start shouting at me. "Bridge, she's his sister. Without her, we wouldn't have gotten the video of Van Linsted, Jameson, and Middleton and what they did that night. We wouldn't know who to go after. We wouldn't have any proof."

  "I know. I appreciate it and I'm grateful she did that, but she needs to stay the fuck away from this. We lost Toby. Can you imagine if something happened to her? Do you understand what that would do to me, to you, to all of us?"

  I watched him. "Bridge. She's not yours to protect."

  I'd never seen him look more murderous. The furrow in his forehead deepened, and he looked like he was baring his teeth at me. "What?"

  "You're acting like Emma's yours to control. That she's yours to protect. And yes, we owe it to Toby to take care of her. But she's not yours." The way I said it must have finally gotten through to him, because he took a step back and sucked in a short breath.

  "I know that."

  "Do you? Because you're acting like she is."

  "I'm not. I just get angry every time I think about her putting herself in danger. I remember that we weren't able to protect Toby, and we won't be able to protect her i
f we don't keep her out of this."

  "Uh-huh."

  And there went the brows again. "The fuck is that supposed to mean?"

  I put my hands up and slid my cue stick back into its holder. "What that's supposed to mean is your level of anger right now, this whole macho, me-Tarzan-she-Jane situation you’ve got going on for Emma, you know, not your fiancée, tells me a lot about your feelings for Emma."

  He coughed a harsh chuckle. "I don't have feelings for Emma."

  "Okay. But you might want to figure out what the hell this is before you get married."

  "East, I love Mina. You know that."

  "I know. I've always known. Which is why I allow her to stay."

  Bridge lifted a brow. "You couldn't do anything about it even if you didn't want her to stay."

  I smiled. He and I both knew different. If I wanted to vanish her, I could. Mina Tomlinson would no longer exist. But I wouldn't do that because he loved her. At least that's what he said. But now I could see Emma lingering on the edges of his consciousness. Maybe she was a better choice for him.

  It's not for you to decide.

  No it wasn't. Bridge was going to have to do that all on his own. "I hear you. You love Mina. So we'll drop it."

  "Good. Also, you lost.”

  I glanced down at the table. No more balls. I sighed. "Fuck you."

  And then he was back. My Bridge. But I had already seen it. He had feelings for Emma Varma, and he had no idea.

  18

  Nyla

  My hands were sweating. My mouth was dry. The last place I wanted to be was inside the tidy row house in Richmond upon Thames. Was this where Denning had moved?

  The house looked like everything that he would want. Crisp and clean, pristine garden. Nothing out of place. Nothing too wild or too bright. Staid.

  "Wow, this is boring."

  East's voice was low and rumbly and made me smile. "It is isn't it? So, this is where the twat that broke into your house lives?"

  "Please, East, can you behave?" I still couldn’t believe he’d agreed to come as things between us were so new. I wasn’t even sure what the hell this was. I just knew I couldn’t turn up at dinner alone. Even I didn’t have that much self-confidence.

  He put his hand over his heart. "Of course, just for you. I'm absolutely going to behave. Whatever you want. And then later tonight, I’ll misbehave in those other ways."

  A warm flush spread over my entire body. I ignored the little voice in the back of my head that screamed this is dangerous. Because God, I knew this was dangerous, but I felt myself completely falling. And I was still on that precipice where it might be safe enough that if I torqued my body just so, I would be able to grip the ledge and not fall over, and I would be safe. But I was in that breath between thinking I could recover and feeling myself falling, and if anyone didn't say that was the scariest part of any ride, just at that point where you knew you were going to make the tumble away from safety, they'd be lying.

  "Hey." He stopped me, holding my hand and then wrapping his arms around me, cocooning me in his heat and his scent, and my knees felt like a puddle. But it was instant relaxation, and I felt safe. When I inhaled deeply, he laughed. "Are you sniffing me, Agent Kinkade?"

  "Yes, I am. You smell amazing. What is that? It's like pine and something."

  "Honestly, I don't know. It's some fancy French shit Jessa got me for my birthday."

  "You're telling me you don't even know what you're wearing?"

  "I have a lot of cologne."

  I took another whiff. "I don't think that's the cologne. I think that's you."

  His chuckle was low, and it sort of felt like he was vibrating. It felt amazing.

  Stop it. Stop it, stop it. You will fall over. Fall deep, no climbing back out of this one.

  But even though I was fighting, I knew it was too late. I knew because I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anyone in my life. "Right. All right, firing squad."

  "You know, you don't have to do this."

  I sighed. "Well, yes, I do, actually. Because if I don't do this, it says I'm afraid. And while I am afraid, I'm not going to let him know that. I'm not going to sit in my flat too cowed to do anything. He stepped over the line, and I'm going to face him. I love my job. I need my job. But I don't need this. I won’t hide. I won’t be afraid. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  He kissed my forehead. "That's right. And don't forget I'm here for you."

  "Yes, you are. You recognize that when we walk in there, it’ll be like I'm waving a red cape in front of him, right?"

  East grinned then. "Oh, I know. I'm counting on it."

  He rang the doorbell, and Hazel answered with a bright smile. Honestly, there was no reason to hate her except that she was just so damned exuberant and seemingly warm. And even I recognized that I should tell her run, girl, run. Run as far and as fast as you can. Not that she would listen, because I hadn't listened to that voice, and she looked like she was in love. Even though I knew that she was not to blame, there was a part of me that just couldn't like her. But still, I plastered a smile on my face. "Hazel, hi. Thanks for having us."

  "Oh, I'm so glad you could come."

  She pulled me in and gave me two kisses on my cheek, and I stiffened. I didn’t like being touched by people I didn’t really know. But East was there, smoothing the edges of my discomfort. With his charm and his smile, he introduced himself. Hazel just blinked up at him, jaw slightly agape. Would I get used to that? Women staring at him like he was a giant, lickable ice cream cone on a hot summer day? I wasn't generally jealous. But the way she looked at him made me want to scream, go get your own man. I felt East's fingers press into my lower back, and Hazel led the way into the house.

  Past the foyer, the living room was to the left. It was dark, but warm. Fireplace, neat and tidy. Books stacked evenly on the bookshelf. I knew Denning well enough to know that they would be categorized by author last name and each shelf would be different. My bookshelves were haphazard, disorganized, tossed together. But I liked reading to be an adventure. I liked not knowing what I was going to pull off the shelf. At any rate, past the living room, further to the right, was a staircase leading to the second floor, and then down the hall, I could hear chattering voices from the dining room. When we entered, my father stood. "Nyla. You're here."

  "Yep. Guess I am."

  Dad frowned when he saw East. "You brought a guest."

  I sighed. "Yes, dad. This is East Hale."

  East was completely at ease. He shook my father's hand. "We've met before.”

  My father coughed then. "Yes, sorry. Guess I'd forgotten our interaction."

  East grinned. "I'm sure you did. It's all right though. Nice to see you again."

  Something in the set of my father's jaw made me frown. Why was he being an ass? East kept his hand around my waist, but it didn't feel like a brand; it felt like support. What the hell was going on with my father? Amelia came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Holy hell. He's even more gorgeous up close."

  I smiled at her. "I know."

  "I'm going to need details."

  I flushed then. "Um, not all the details."

  "Well, some of them. Because, wow."

  We were whispering, but I could knew East could hear us because his fingers trailed just past my waist over my hip, and was that… Did he just grab my ass?

  The two other members of our team, Kyle and Jacinda, came over, and introductions were made. Tony and Ayalla were on assignment, so they weren't joining. Denning hadn't bothered to greet East. He stayed seated. Not that it bothered East one bit. When we took our seats at the dinner table, East made a point to sit right next to him. Denning was at one head of the table, and my father was at the other. Next to Denning were East and Hazel. For the most part, Hazel kept the conversation to innocuous topics, sports, vacations, things like that. Although during the sports discussion, my father and East got into a heated debate about the future of Manchester United. But about halfwa
y through dinner, I started to relax. I felt Denning scowl, but it didn't bother me because East was my barrier.

  He was my shield. He was keeping me safe.

  But when Hazel turned her attention to East, eyeing him again, she smiled. "How long has this been going on? You two seem awfully cozy."

  Amelia leaned forward, traitor that she was. "Yes, you do seem very cozy."

  "I, um—”

  East jumped in. "Well, it's new. Trying to convince this one to go out with me was shockingly difficult."

  Denning muttered, "I'm sure you usually flash money. Makes it easier when the women are hookers."

  I heard, Hazel heard, and of course East heard, but my father, Amelia, Kyle and Jacinda hadn't. Hazel turned a shocked expression on Denning and gave him a disapproving shake of her head. "What was that about?"

  East grinned. "Well, as everyone here knows, Nyla is a tough cookie, smart, intuitive. Keeps me on my toes. That's why I like her."

  My father, on the opposite end of the table, heard that particular comment. "And just how many relationships have you had, Mr. Hale?"

  "East, please. Not many. That's what makes Nyla special."

  Denning was an outright ass then. "Yeah, well, you don't call the ones that you shag and leave behind relationships, do you now?"

  I hissed with an intake of breath. Hazel piped up then. "I am so sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him. Denning, that was rude. Apologize to our guest."

  Denning frowned at her. "What? It’s Nyla who should apologize for bringing the likes of him in here." He glanced around the table. "Has everyone forgotten that not two weeks ago Nyla had a hard-on for the London Lords? She was convinced that they were up to their eyeballs in corruption."

  I winced. "Well, clearly I was wrong. And now, I actually know them." East took my hand.

  Hazel shook her head. "I'm so sorry. Denning, stop."

  My father cleared his throat. "Denning, that’s enough."

  Denning shook his head. "No. It's not enough. We're all going to sit here and pretend that two weeks ago Nyla didn't ask your permission to get taps on them?"