East Bound by Nana Malone (best value ebook reader .txt) 📗

the only one who could watch. I had just as many skills as he did in the surveillance arena. As I trained my binoculars on his penthouse from the building across the way, I took a sip of my coffee that helped to warm me from the chill.

What you two have going on right now is not love. 

No, it certainly wasn't. It was mutual disdain. Was Van Linsted right? Despite what my gut told me, could it be that East had lied to me?

You certainly believed him when he told you he cared about you. 

Granted, had he ever actually said those words, or had I just imagined them? Like in my own deranged mind, we were a thing. It wasn't his fault if I had chosen to believe what I wanted.

And there he was, marching around that penthouse like he owned the goddamn world.

This isn't healthy. First, you shag him in the lift, and now you're watching him? 

I considered putting on a disguise and slipping inside the building, but getting up to the penthouse would have been tricky. This way, I wouldn’t be in danger of running into him. Not that I cared.

Oh, you care.

And I did care. Who was I kidding? Now this idiot and his friends were in trouble. Bram Van Linsted had pointed the finger at them, and if he could provide any sort of evidence whatsoever, the London Lords were going to be up a creek.

It's not your job to protect them. They're grown men.

My gut just told me they were on the right side of this.

Oh, our infamous gut. Hasn't it gotten us into enough trouble? 

My gut had, in fact, gotten me into more trouble than I wanted to think about. But sometimes you just had to follow a hunch. And as excited as Amelia was that we might have something on them, I didn't think she was thinking clearly.

Oh, and you are? 

Okay, fair point. I picked up the phone and was about to dial East, even though I knew he wouldn't answer. Sure enough, he didn't. But I could see him reaching down to pick up the phone and look at it.

He could see I was calling. Jackass. What the hell was wrong with him?

Says the woman who's standing on a rooftop, watching her ex. 

At least I wasn't behaving like Denning. I hadn't broken into his place yet.

The operative keyword was 'yet.' And to be fair, he liked to watch. That was on him.

From what he’d said in the lift, he'd really been into watching me the other night. And he'd started this little game.

Oh yeah, real mature.

I didn't bother leaving a voicemail. I'd already left so many. Asking for answers. Never begging though. Because God, that was just pathetic. I had told him to contact me because I was trying to protect him. But he didn't need my protection after all. He was a grown-arse man. Well, more like a grown-arse idiot.

As soon as I hung up, my phone rang, and I damn-near dropped my binoculars in my haste to answer. "Hello?"

"Agent Kincade, dare I ask what you're doing?"

Could he see me? Did Theroux know I was there watching East?

I certainly hoped not. After all, he'd likely be so disappointed that I was the one he picked to bring him in after all these years that he'd change his mind. "None of your business. What do you want?"

He chuckled then. "You remind me of someone. Always direct and to the point. Never any waste of words."

"What would be the point of wasting words? I’ll ask again. What do you want, Theroux?"

"Testy, testy. You didn't have a good day?"

"If you're calling to find out if I'm back in Interpol, the answer is no. But I’m working on it. Can we get this show on the road? The sooner I help you, the sooner you help me. But again, I want some kind of guarantee."

"Ah, we're back to not trusting."

"If you were me, would you trust you?"

He chuckled then. "I learned a long time ago never to trust anyone. You probably need to learn that lesson."

"Noted. Thanks, Dad. Now tell me, what do you want already? This is the third time I’ve asked you that, and I won’t ask again."

"Ah, fair enough. Agent Kincade, I am glad to hear that you are good at following orders, and I trust it won’t be too difficult to get back into Interpol? Not letting your daddy issues get in the way?"

"My father and I are none of your business. Get on with it already, Theroux."

"The next step is going to bring you closer to me coming in, but you'll need to work with a partner."

"No. No partners. I'm not working with one of your low-life criminal buddies and giving them access to Interpol. Let me just be very clear. I don't need to do this, and I'm certainly not going to aid and abet any criminals."

He sighed. "Agent Kincade, you wound me. You would think you would know by now that when it comes to criminals, they come in all shapes and sizes. Those you call law-abiding citizens could be the worst of them all."

"Isn't that the truth."

"Besides, you already know your partner."

My breath caught in my throat. Amelia? Was she working for Theroux?

That sent my brain into a tailspin. But then he said the two words I most certainly didn't expect. "You will be working with East Hale."

I cursed under my breath. "What?"

"Yes. I understand you and Mr. Hale are already well acquainted."

"What the fuck?"

He sighed. "Young lady, I understand it might be a difficult partnership, but it's necessary. It has come to my attention that the task I have for you will be more difficult than I originally thought, but Mr. Hale has some avenues available that you might not be able to explore without him."

"You want me to work with him?"

"Why is this so difficult?"

It wasn’t like the man knew that East and I were like fire and ice, so it’s no wonder he didn’t