East Bound

by Nana Malone

  "You can do that?"

  "Doesn’t Interpol have fancy facial recognition programs that you can do that with?"

  "Well, I guess. But why do you, a civilian, have such things?"

  He arched a brow, the move accompanied by the dark stubble on his jaw, making his beautifully handsome face into something more rakish with a dirty-bad-boy vibe. "Are you really going to ask me that kind of question?"

  I handbagd my lips. "Never trust a hacker."

  He nodded. "Never trust a hacker."

  He was quick. Watching his long skilled fingers as they flew at the keyboard, I was more and more aware of my body, the throbbing ache between my thighs, how much I missed his fingertips over my skin. His voice in my ear telling me that everything was going to be okay. We'd only been together for a couple of weeks, but in those couple of weeks, I had been myself. Entirely, wholly myself, and I missed that. Because I had no idea who I was now. Without my job. Without him. And I didn't even want to think about the fight with Amelia.

  He sat back. "Well, facial recognition is running, but it’s going to take a while. Do you have anything?"

  "Well, I spoke to my contact at Interpol. She's going to give me updated phone numbers of classmates, so I can call them in the morning."

  He nodded slowly, and I couldn't meet his gaze. I had to look away. And the only thing to look at was the photo on the projector, since everything in the penthouse reminded me of the last time I’d been there and all the places he’d had me. And then I frowned, stepping closer. "East?"

  I was shocked to hear his voice directly behind me. Low, and mellow, and fuck, so sexy. "Yeah, Nyla?"

  He might have said yes, and my name, but it sounded like he was saying, 'Bend over, so I can fuck you.' Which, of course, he wasn't saying. I pointed at the projector. "Who does that look like to you?"

  He squinted. "It's a faded photo. I don't know. Maybe he looks familiar?"

  "Yeah, that looks like Garreth Jameson."

  He frowned, leaned forward, squinted, then stepped back a little. "I mean, a little. Around the eyes, maybe the forehead. But Jameson is my age. He's thirty. He couldn't be in that photo."

  "No, but it could definitely be his relative."

  "Maybe. Maybe his father."

  "Is there a list of names with that photo?"

  He shook his head. "It only names a few of the students, but it doesn’t identify what name goes with which face. One thing of note. One of the blokes in the photo is Marcus Van Linsted. That's all I’ve got."

  "I'm telling you, that's the elder Jameson. If he knew Warlow, he could lead us to him. Obviously Van Linsted won’t help us."

  "Well, we'll do some more digging, and then we’ll see if you're right."

  I crossed my arms, because I knew I was right. I knew it. That man in the photo was the elder Jameson. Which meant that Jameson knew Warlow. And maybe all we needed to do to get answers was to ask.

  Chapter 11

  East

  I’d lied to myself.

  I knew I didn't want to work with her, but I’d told myself that I could. That it wouldn’t cut deep.

  That was a lie.

  The night after Nyla and I began the search for Warlow, she joined us at Bridge’s house for a Theroux meeting.

  Every move she made, every breath, I could sense her. I could fucking smell her. And now she was shifting on the couch, rubbing her thighs together as if she was trying to get comfortable. But of course, I kept thinking about why she was pressing her thighs together. Did she miss me? Was she thinking about me?

  No, you knob.

  Drew was the first to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. "Got to say, it's good to have you back. Someone's trying to hide his true feelings, even if he still looks angry."

  I scowled at him. "She's not permanent. Don't get used to her."

  Nyla's brows furrowed, but she didn't say anything. She merely crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze. A part of me wished she would fight back, give me some of that fire I’d seen the night I'd watched her in her flat, or some of the fire from the lift.

  All the blood in my body started to rush south with that thought, and I willed that shit off. All I had to do was think about walking into that secret flat of hers and seeing the photos of me and my mates everywhere. I did not want that viper anywhere near us, but at the moment, we had no choice. I had to work with her. Which meant, my team had to work with her as well. But it was only temporary.

  If you say so.

  I tried to ignore her. If I could just pretend she wasn't there, maybe it would make that feeling go away. That constant hum that was present whenever she was around. That restless energy buzzing through my body, demanding that I touch her, or hold her, or talk to her. When the fuck had that happened? I had never had that problem before. The complete inability to focus on anything else. Bridge and I were the logical ones. Think it through. Don't get emotionally involved. It was easy.

  Until Nyla.

  She leaned forward. "Well, Drew, thank you for having me here, and I thank the rest of you for not trying to shoot me when I walked in, East notwithstanding. Um, the good news is we have some information on Henry Warlow. The bad news is Francois Theroux is demanding it in person, and I don't like it. It's dangerous. He's letting us decide the terms of where to meet though."

  Livy piped up. "Obviously, it should be somewhere public. No chance in hell you two should walk into anywhere that's closed off and secluded. That's a recipe for disaster."

  I watched as she joined Nyla on the couch. What, the two of them were friends now?

  Nyla nodded. "No, that's not an ideal situation. Fortunately, we don't have all the information on Henry Warlow. We just have a photograph, and we need Theroux to verify it’s the right guy. He has no reason to hurt us, especially since it’s only a small part of what he asked us to do in finding him, but since there's just two of us, he could hold one of us until the other completes the job, so I don't like that either. I agree, public is best."

  So what, she and my friends were pals now? Everyone else could just forget that any of this had ever happened? Well, I couldn't. I needed this over. The sooner we picked the location and came up with our plan, the sooner she would be out of my hair. "Okay, let's focus. What about Grimwald Square?"

  "You mean right next to the train station?" Nyla asked. "I mean, it could work. It has a big open square. Multiple points of entry and exit. It's entirely possible."

  Bridge leaned forward. "Safety is what we’re looking for here. And we need to be armed and ready as well, but carrying is a problem. Even though the square is massive, and yes, it’s always busy, there are lots of alleyways and exit points.”

  Nyla gave him a direct look when he said that. "Excuse me, Mr. Edgerton, I don’t see how that would work. I've been suspended, so I'd get in as much trouble as anyone else if I were caught carrying a gun. Besides, I need Theroux. If we spook him and he's in the wind, I'll have nothing. So I won't be the faulty wheel here."

  Bridge held up his hands. "Well, I'm saying you're an unknown quantity. Not that I don't trust you."

  "No, I get it. East doesn't trust me, so you don't trust me. Fair enough."

  It was Telly who waived away the notion. "No, you already proved your trustworthiness. We're better as a team. Working together. If we go in small, anything could go wrong. If one of you gets captured, then you can't make the meet.”

  Ben was sprawled back in Bridge’s club chair, looking every bit a king on his throne. "Telly has a point. There is no purpose to keeping this small. Yeah, poor Bridge and Drew could freeze their balls off, but mine are already in Livy's handbag, so I'll be fine."

  Livy coughed a laugh. "So I made you pick wedding colors the other day. Jesus. Are you still mad?"

  "I'm mad that I now know the difference between mauve and wine. No self- respecting man needs to know that."

  "Well, you didn't have to help."

  I sighed. Things were deteriorating fast. "Please focus. I'd
like to get this over with."

  Surprisingly, it was Nyla who helped me. She leaned forward. "All right, if the meet happens, then Grimwald Square is the best option for us. We have these possible exits." She used the Skittles that she and Livy had been sharing to mock us. "If this is us, Theroux would likely put his men here.” She put all the purple Skittles on the rooftops in sniper positions. Despite myself, I leaned forward. She was right; those were the best positions.

  "You think he'll have snipers?"

  Nyla shrugged. "I have no idea. He knows we have no choice but to agree to meet him, but if he gets wind of this game, or he gets spooked, he might start shooting."

  I didn't want to respect her or her intelligence, but she was smart. Which was what made her dangerous. And she was right. If Theroux was indeed watching us, we had to be very careful. "Nyla and I are going in together."

  Her eyes went wide. "I don't think so."

  I lifted a brow. "What, now you don’t want to work together?"

  "No. We have a common goal, but it just doesn't make sense for us to go together."

  "Are you afraid?"

  She pressed her lips together in a tight line, and there was an urge that made me think about kissing it off her face. "No, I'm suspended, they've taken away my firearms at the moment, so I just have my bare hands."

  Livy leaned forward and clasped her hand. "Something tells me that, even with only your bare hands, you're pretty dangerous."

  Nyla smiled. "I'm decent. I can take care of myself. I’d still feel better with a weapon."

  I don't know what made me say it, or why I volunteered, but the moment the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them and wanted to cut out my own tongue. "You won’t need a weapon. You’ll have me."

  Nyla

  It's not real. It is not real. Goddammit, it is not real.

  I didn't know how many times I tried to mentally tell myself that East, with his arm around me, holding me close, nuzzling my hair, wasn't real. My body apparently didn't believe that massive lie.

  As I curled into him, I placed a hand over his heart and wrapped an arm around his waist as we walked together to Grimwald Square, seemingly lovey-dovey, and my body believed it. She believed that after this, East and I were going home together, that East and I were going to tear off the sheets and make up for the last week of being cold and apart, make up for lost time, make up for it all. My body was a moron.

  That was the only explanation. My body had a death wish. Because clearly, my heart couldn't take whatever the hell he was doing right now. And I needed to remember that. But oh no, I wanted what he was selling. His cologne hit me like a whiplash of sandalwood, and God, he smelled so unbelievably good. I just wanted to lean in and sniff. But that was dumb. I knew better. The last thing on earth I needed to do was to lean in and sniff the man as if I wasn't being punished enough already. This wasn't real. And I needed to remember that, otherwise I was going to groan.

  “It's not real,” I murmured softly, but it didn’t escape East’s ears.

  "What's not real?"

  East's voice was husky, and the heat of his breath sneaked up my neck as I answered out loud, "Nothing."

  "More secrets you're keeping?"

  "For the love of God, East, if you don't—" I cut myself off. "It doesn't matter. But I do have to give you credit. The way you did it was spectacular."

  He frowned down at me. Everything about his body language said, we were a couple in love on a romantic stroll on an autumn evening. But it was a lie. Just like everything else.

  "Oh, you're giving me beef for the way I handled everything? It was best for both of us. Clean. But it seems like you found a way to stick around anyway. Ugh, we're not doing this now."

  He was right. Now was the world's shittiest time to discuss it. But as he'd been avoiding me and we hadn't really had time to be alone, I took the chance to at least ask something. "Do you want to at least tell me what you were doing in my flat while I was gone?"

  His step faltered. "I was picking up something I’d left behind."

  "You could have just called me for it, and I could have left it with your doorman."

  I felt rather than saw his hard swallow. "It was something I didn't want to be seen by anyone else."

  "Are you going to tell me what it was?"

  "Nope."

  We were almost at the clock tower, and his grip on me tightened.

  "So we're just going to pretend that nothing happened and that I didn't exist to you?"

  He still didn’t answer me. Instead, his feet faltered just a little and he held me even tighter. "Something isn’t right."

  "Yeah, it's not right. You can't just freeze me out, East. Not without a grownup conversation, at least."

  It took me a moment to realize that he wasn’t talking about us. He meant that something wasn't right about the meet. The air. It was too still.

  I halted alongside him and breathed deep. "We're being watched."

  He nodded and dipped his head down. His lips were a whisper from mine, and I froze. Oh, hell no, he was not going to kiss me. Not fucking now.

  But he clearly wasn't. Instead, he used the opportunity to whisper to me, "Not only are we being watched, but we’ve also got a tail. West exit. Obviously, I can't see behind me, but I'd bet the south exit too."

  I did my own assessment, and he was right.

  "Yep, I see him. In sweatpants and camo. Looks like he's stretching."

  In our earpieces, Livy sighed. She was the closest to that exit. "Yeah, let me see if I can waylay him."

  Ben's voice was loud and clear. "You will do no such—"

  From what I could see, Livy was already on the move. Never mind what Ben had to say about it. I'd always liked her. Ben's curses rang loud and clear.

  Bridge, from his position at the southeast exit where he was doing some light window shopping for some Prada bags, said, "What are we going to do? Do we abort? Do you think they're Theroux’s?"

  I snuggled into East even more, my heart hammering. It was a comfort to feel the rapid ta-pa-ta-pa-ta-pa of his heartbeat. "That's not where Theroux would place his men. Honestly, if I were him, I'd be very well hidden. You wouldn't even see my men.”

  From wherever the hell he was, Ben just muttered. "They're not Theroux’s. Too sloppy."

  I watched the one to my left who appeared to be running through the park at a nice and easy slow pace. I frowned because he stopped at a bench to presumably tie his shoe. A shoe that hadn't been unlaced.

  And then I saw him press his fingers to his ear. I kept my voice low, but it was clear and harsh. "Abort. Abort."

  East's grip tightened on me again. "What? What do you see?"

  "To the east, by the bench. He's a cop. I don't know what branch yet, but he's police for sure."

  There was cursing ringing on the line, and Bridge grumbled. "East, what's your call?"

  East leaned down, his gaze searching mine. His eyes held mine for a long moment before he muttered, "Abort. Meet back at the Long River’s point."

  The Long River's point was Bridge's house. There were many ways in and out of Belgravia Square, and everyone on the team all had different exits.

  It was then that East leaned low. I knew he was following our protocol for our exit strategy, the one we'd come up with last night, but it was probably apparent that I wasn’t thinking clearly, because he wrapped his arms around me and let out a low rich laugh.

  He's playing the part. He is playing the part. Do not buy it.

  And then he picked me up and twirled me around easily. The swing and the rush of the air made me dizzy, intoxicating me. When he put me down, I knew what was going to happen next. If he nuzzled me on the left, I was to go around and go with Livy. And so we would kiss, turn back around, head for the cafe, and then we would make some show of having forgotten something. He would then go and retrieve it, presumably from the car. And that would leave me to go ahead to the cafe where I'd meet Livy and leave together. If he kissed me on the ri
ght, I was to join Bridge at his post. If he kissed me on the lips, I was stuck with him.

  As his lips drew near, I didn't know what I was in for. I didn't know what was going to happen. All I knew was that his lips were coming near me, and I needed to control my response. When his lips brushed over mine, my heart froze. Instant recognition flared in my heart. I knew what it was like to be with him. I knew it as I remembered it, like my own instinct.

  Jesus Christ. I was rewarded with the tap-tap-tapping of his heart under where my hand laid on his chest. Well, at least I wasn't the only one being tortured. When he pulled back with a smile, he took my hand and we headed north to our back up. That meant someone had been watching us a little too intently. Jesus Christ. How had this gotten so fucked up?

  With my hand in his, we moved with the lazy confidence of people who knew exactly where they were going, knew exactly how long it would take to get there, and how quickly they could move without drawing suspicion.

  Two squeezes of his hand told me that we were being followed. Up ahead, there would be a doorway. It would lead to the back of a tavern. We'd follow that, head out the front door, come out on the other side of the square, and then we’d go east.

  I couldn't breathe. Jesus Christ. What the hell was going on? What in the world was happening?

  When we vanished into the alley, he released his hold on my waist but tugged me through by my hand. "Keep up."

  "I can keep up just fine. Let me go."

  "Hey, this isn't for my benefit. I'm just trying to keep you alive."

  "So sorry to be a goddamn inconvenience."

  "Jesus Christ, did I say you were an inconvenience? Is that what I said?"

  "Isn't that what you meant?"

  "Fuck, woman. Just once, can't you be easy?"