The Fall of East

by Nana Malone

  He laughed. "Uh-huh, if you say so."

  I squirmed in his hold, and he snapped his arms around me. "Oh no you don't. We're not done yet."

  I lifted a brow. "Aren't we though?"

  He shook his head. "No, I have plans for you my love."

  "Oh, yes, please tell. I'm curious about these plans of yours."

  "Good, because these plans will make you very, very happy."

  I giggled as he tickled one of my ribs, his lips tracing along with his fingers. But then he nudged the underside of my breasts, and my breath caught. "You know what I heard, Nyla?"

  I choked out a breath. "What?"

  "I heard that for some women, their nipples can be so sensitive they can come from nipple stimulation alone."

  "Um, okay."

  "You know what I've been curious about?"

  I could see where this was going. "East."

  He rubbed his stubble along my breasts, oh so careful to avoid my sensitive nipples.

  "I'm wondering if that's true for you. Can I make you come from just sucking your nipples?"

  I squirmed underneath him, and I could feel the heavy length of him resting against me.

  "I'm curious. Let's see if we can make that happen."

  "East, I just came. I—" He didn't care. East made that determined look I'd seen dozens of times on his face. Brows slightly furrowed, full focus and attention on his quarry. And he bent over one of my nipples, wrapped his lips around it, and sucked.

  East Hale with a task at hand was a man you couldn't deter. And if that task was bringing me pleasure an untold number of times and ways, he was all for it. It wasn't long before his tongue and his teeth were used to bring me to the edge, and then back again, over and over again until my hands were sliding into his hair and I was begging. Just begging him for more, begging to come, begging for it to be over, the torture. At some point, I wasn't even sure what I was saying because my words didn't make any sense to me. They were just a myriad of please, please, please, oh God, please more, please stop, please, there please, just please.

  And as his hands slid down over my body, reacquainting themselves with every nook and cranny they were already so familiar with, he slid his fingers to my apex, lightly caressing my clit, I exploded again. There was no slamming into a train, there was no cascade of lightning through my body, it was just a wave of pleasure that kept coming and coming and coming and I was useless to stop it, useless to figure it out,. Just useless.

  My whole body just succumbed and did what he wanted. As he slid a finger inside me, lifting his head to watch me carefully, my gaze locked with his. He fucked me gently with his fingers as his mouth paid homage to my breasts, and as his two fingers slid into me, a third digit slid just over my pucker and breached the entrance, I exploded in his arms. By now I was familiar enough with how he liked to do this that I knew that it wouldn't be over.

  Torture was just beginning. East had plans for me, and they did not involve stopping now. So as his fingers owned me, he made me beg, made me call out his name, and I whimpered. I reached for him, and all I could do was hold on.

  And finally, only after I'd come so many times I had lost track, did he ease his fingers out of me, and climb up my body. I could barely open my eyes at his question. But he was murmuring something. "What?"

  "Are you ready to say that I can tell you what to do in bed?"

  I dragged my eyes open to stare at him. He was serious. He thought he could get my compliance for his bossiness.

  He couldn’t. Well, he absolutely could, but I wasn't telling him that. I smiled lazily up at him when I said, "Never say die."

  His quick bark of laughter was accompanied by a quick sinking of his cock inside me. I arched my back, and he dropped his face into my neck and said, "Oh you stubborn, stubborn woman."

  "Yes. I'm stubborn. I think you like it."

  And just like that, he rode me to the softest, sweetest orgasm of the night. The one where East and I were all that existed. The two of us, in this place, together. I was his forever, he was mine, and it was everything that I needed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Nyla

  I wasn’t sure which was worse, being in the penthouse under East's watchful gaze, or being at work and having my coworkers giving me those sad, pitying glances. I wanted to scream at them. Which came with a lot of guilt. They’d lost him too. None of them knew what to say or what to do or how to act.

  I wouldn’t know what to say if I was in their position either. Hell, I still couldn’t process my anger at him and the way it intertwined inexorably with my grief. God, if only I could bring him back and make him explain.

  But you're not all powerful, are you?

  I wasn't. I knew it. And not knowing what to do with my feelings, I came to work so I could at least try to do something important.

  Amelia knocked on my door. "Hey."

  "Hey."

  "Did I leave my—"

  I opened my purse and pulled out her earring and dropped it into her waiting hand. "Yeah, East noticed it under the couch."

  "Excellent. I would have hated buying a new pair. I love this pair."

  The diamond seashells that she wore were her staple. They were part of her Amelia Jansen wardrobe. "No problem."

  She sighed as she studied me closely. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

  "You already gave me clearance. It's too late to worry about that now."

  Amelia sighed. "Well, I hoped it would get you to stop moping around the flat. But maybe you need time to grieve."

  "I would have gone slowly mad in the flat. I need to do something with my hands and my brain. Please."

  Amelia sighed and licked her lips. "I know you would have. And I do think it'll be good for you to be here."

  I sighed and nodded. "It's probably better here than at the penthouse. Pretty sure East was ready to kick me out if I didn't leave or do something this week. I don't want him feeling compelled to watch me."

  "Okay, since we're here, let’s try and get your mind off of things. At least for a little while. I have something for you.”

  Just seeing her semi-excited look about having a lead had my blood pumping, and I sat up straighter. "What do we have? Has Hazel said anything else?"

  "No. Other than giving us Garreth Jameson, she's really only giving us clients. No other word on who she worked with."

  "Ugh, God, that's annoying."

  "Well, at least she gave up Jameson.”

  "So, what's the word then? Why haven't you arrested him yet?"

  "It's a little trickier than that. We're trying to corroborate her evidence. And it will take some time to get a judge who's going to give us a warrant for the Jameson property. That's the tricky part."

  "But do we need more? We've already been there."

  "I know. You would think we wouldn't, but we do. He's a noble, Ny. And you and I know he’s Elite."

  I sighed. "All right. What else do we have?"

  "What she's giving us is where the rest of the stolen pieces are. I figured maybe you’d want to go and have a look see."

  I jumped up. "God, I love you."

  "Uh, you're not going to hug me here, are you?" she narrowed her gaze, scrutinizing me.

  I grinned and gave her the tightest squeeze I could manage. "God, why do you know me so well?"

  "I figured maybe you didn't want to be here with the lads, but maybe you'd want to be out there in the field. So this was a good compromise."

  "Is Denning going to be okay with this?"

  She shook her head. "Probably not, because he's still hung up on Theroux. He thinks that's the case that's going to save his fallen career now. He's acting section chief until a replacement is brought in, but he already has bigger problems. I can have you looking into this without him nosing around for now, so go."

  "I don't know what I would do without you, but let's make it so I never have to find out."

  Amelia laughed. "Yeah. You owe me one for sure.”

  I gr
abbed my bag and got out of there quickly. As I was leaving, I saw Denning coming down the hallway. He paused as if he was going to speak to me, but then I swerved and made a hard left to take the back stairs down. We were not having any conversations today.

  I figured, if I could avoid having a word with my ex as I eased back into work, that was for the best. I knew Denning was going to try and act quickly. Try and have everyone forget the narrative of how he'd fucked up by literally sleeping with one of our most wanted. But he wasn't going to use me to do that. Not today.

  I jogged on the stairs and let myself out of the side of the building. Then I checked the directions Amelia had given me again. Damn, the address was all the way across town.

  Like you have somewhere better to be.

  I didn't. So, if this was what was going to happen to get my mind off my father, at least for now, I was going to take it.

  When the driver dropped me off in front of an unassuming townhouse, my phone started to ring.

  "Where are you?"

  I laughed. "East, sweetheart, you know it's weird when you stalk me, right?"

  I could almost see the frown on his face. "I'm not stalking you. I just want to know where you are."

  I laughed. "Right. And you'll find out where I am, by what means?"

  He sighed. "Okay, by stalking you. But admittedly, you were nearly kidnapped not long ago."

  I sighed. "Okay, fair point. I’m near Kilburn Park, but you know that already."

  "Okay, better question… What are you doing in Kilburn Park?"

  "Oh, right. I am chasing down our missing art pieces. It turns out, Not Hazel has been hiding more of her stolen and forged goods here. She said we'd find them ‘illuminating.’"

  He sighed. "I don't like her sending you on wild goose chases. Tell me you have backup?"

  I sighed, because I knew what he was going to say. "Okay, I don’t exactly have backup, but honestly, East, I have to be able to move around freely."

  He mumbled. "All right, I'm sending a driver for you."

  "No, I can do this, okay? I just… I can't go back to the flat. I can't just sit there at work and do nothing. You have to be at work. So does Livy. So does Telly. So does anyone you'd call to come and babysit. Even Emma. She's busy on some new gig."

  He sighed. "All right. I hear you. But just be careful, okay?"

  "I'm always careful."

  "What?" I could hear his exasperation.

  "Okay, fine. I'm not always careful, but everything always works out. I promise you."

  "You know, when you promise something, I want to be able to believe it."

  "You can believe it. I won't get into any trouble. Not today. I’m coming back to you. I could certainly use a hug."

  "Okay. But still, I'm keeping an eye on you."

  I turned around. There was a bank on the far corner with a CCTV camera mounted outside, and I waved at it.

  East chuckled. "How did you know it was there and not the office building across the street?”

  "The office building across the street actually looks like flats. So it's going to be a little bit trickier to get a camera on it. "

  "Hmm, aren't you a smart one?"

  "I certainly hope so. That's why they pay me the big bucks."

  He laughed. "Okay, I will let you do your job in peace, but please for the love of God, Ny…"

  "I know, I know. Be careful."

  "Hey, I only have one of you, okay? I haven't got all the samples I need for my Nyla cloning project yet."

  I snorted a laugh. "You know, I have an idea what you'd be doing with those clones, and I have to tell you that it's unacceptable. It’s pervy."

  He chuckled. "Don't even judge me. I like my special Nyla time. Wouldn't it be great if there were more of you?"

  I snorted. "Oh my God, what am I going to do with you?"

  "Uh, I don't know. Love me forever?"

  "Yeah, that's a good start." I let myself into the building.

  Not Hazel had been oh so generous in providing us information on where she stored the key. Which, of course, was not anywhere near the actual location. So I had to do a retrieval mission first.

  For someone so smart, why did she use up all her time and energy being bad?

  I tried to remind myself that what she did was her only option.

  Just as I'd always seen joining Interpol, following in my father's, or whoever the hell he was, footsteps. That wasn’t really fair. I knew he was my father. He'd raised me. So, like it or not, he fathered me. And for the most part, he'd done a damn crappy job of it.

  Poor man, he'd tried to figure out what the hell pads were and made sure that they appeared in the house once a month. He'd done all those things fathers do. But I needed to figure out how to reconcile the fact that he'd lied to me my whole life.

  Inside the warehouse I’d entered, there were crates, and crates, and more crates.

  To get an idea of where to even start, I headed to the massive modern desk in the corner. The light hit it just right, highlighting the sculptures around it.

  So much beauty in one room, and I knew I’d find more inside the crates. There was paperwork on sales, impending pickups, and a ledger full of account numbers.

  She'd planned to come back. She had never meant for any of this to be the end. She'd never planned to be caught. All in all, she had thought she was untouchable. That she would never have to pay for anything she'd done.

  That kind of confidence was startling. She'd waltzed into Denning's life, well-aware of the risk she took every day, where at any moment, he could find out the truth.

  But Denning only sees what he wants.

  The crates were stacked in neat, orderly piles along the walls and windows, and along the center room of the main warehouse space. Some of the most influential art pieces of modern time. We’d managed to capture some of the most dangerous art thieves in the world.

  But why did all of it feel hollow after my father’s death?

  East

  "So we're doing this, we're really going after them like this?"

  Drew as usual was worried. But Bridge had long had enough. "Mate, it's this or nothing. Can you think of a more ideal way?"

  Drew just shook his head. "This is like the equivalent of stamping our feet in front of a bull. They will come for us."

  Ben shook his head. "No. They won't. There's a reason they elected me Director Prime. I think everyone was tired of the way Van Linsted said we should do things. So we're going to be clear and honest and make this happen. We're going to oust them and put anyone who wants to fuck around on notice. Rhys Mathison and anyone else who's a Van Linsted crony. We're doing things differently now."

  I laughed. "Mate, you are having too much fun with this."

  He shrugged. "Yeah, you know, I'm kind of getting into this Director Prime thing."

  Drew just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we see. But are you sure you want to pull the gloves off like this?"

  "It's just a monthly meeting. It's not like I'm rolling in there and performing a coup. I'm already elected."

  Even Bridge agreed with that. "He's right, mate. They wanted this. They wanted us to come in and make changes, to mix things up. They can hardly bitch about it if we actually do."

  Drew sighed. "I just want us to be sure. Because if we walk in and start challenging them, we become targets. Plain and simple. I'm not sure any of us are ready for that."

  Ben nodded. "Drew has a point. I'm Director Prime for the next ten years. But that doesn't mean I won't be making a few enemies."

  Bridge snorted. "Like I give a fuck about making enemies."

  Ben just laughed. "Mate, we will need friends."

  Bridge gave him the kind of look that said he didn't give a fuck about making friends anywhere he went. And while he might not care, we needed to.

  I sighed. "I've already run it. Every scenario. There will be those that are loyalists to Van Linsted and who want to keep things the same, but so many of them don’t feel that way. B
en, your vote was nearly unanimous. I think they'll get behind us. The question is predicting the Jamesons’ responses."

  He winced. "Yeah, that I don't know."

  "I do know. Garreth is likely to get violent. I suggest we post security at these points here." I pointed them out on our map. "And under our robes I suggest we all wear bulletproof vests. It really will be the safest outcome."

  Drew's eyes grew wide. "A bulletproof vest? Oi? Are you serious?"

  I nodded sagely. "Yeah. He's unpredictable. And given the cufflink that Nyla found, there’s a high likelihood he's involved in Ryder Stone’s murder. This is not the kind of situation where we can afford to underestimate our opponent. Plan for the worst. Sometimes we'll get lucky, but if we're not lucky, at least we're prepared."

  Drew's low whistle told me he hadn't really considered the fact that what we were doing would be unwelcome. Maybe a part of him had just assumed that things would work out. And they probably would, but it was going to take some actual effort. An actual banding together, a plan, a strategy.

  Bridge took the pointer. "Okay, so if we've got security here, how do you plan to do it?"

  Ben grinned. "You know I've always loved theater."

  I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Why does that not surprise me? Something tells me we're going to get some kind of ridiculous theatrical production."

  My best mate waggled his brows. "It's not going to be ridiculous; it's going to be tasteful. But yes, a theatrical production."

  I could only laugh. Drew looked mildly ill.

  He hated confrontation, so for him this was going to be difficult. Bridge clasped a hand on his arm. "Mate, it needs to be done."

  He nodded slowly. "I know. I'm not saying it doesn't need to be done, I'm just shitting myself because no one has ever done anything like this."

  Ben grinned. "Since when do we give a fuck what anyone's ever done before?"

  I glanced around at my mates. In a little over twenty-four hours, member number two, the one who had chosen to hear no evil, would be done. And we would be just that much closer to avenging Toby. It was so close I could taste it.

  Ben smiled at me. "Yeah, almost two done."