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

get it. "I'm not working with him. Find someone else."

"I see you still don't understand, Agent Kincade. There is no one else. He is the other half of your team. You'll only be able to do this together. He'll have access into places that you'll never even imagine. So you can either have what you want, or stand by on the sidelines and watch someone else take the glory."

"I don't do this for glory. I do it because it's right."

"Again, spoken like someone else I know. You'll need to move quickly, and I'll need your decision by tomorrow night. I don't care how intimately acquainted you and Mr. Hale are. That's not what this is about. I'm not a matchmaker. I merely need a job done. Either you can do it, or you can't."

Just how the hell did know about me and East?

East

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

I stared at Bridge in the bloody van, armed with my computers all around him. Ben and Drew were on coms at home. "You realize I can do this, right?"

Bridge frowned. "Lucas is out there somewhere in the dark, ready to give you an assist if you need one."

Lucas's voice chimed in the coms. "I'm just a beep in your pocket, mate."

I groaned. "Please stop saying mate."

"Hey, I'm British. Didn't you know?"

God, the prince was such a pain in the arse. "Look, it'll be fine. I'm just going to meet my new partner in crime. I pray that we don't get arrested or shot at. It will be good, right?"

Bridge mumbled something under his breath along the lines of, “God help us all. God save the queen.”

"You don't even care about the queen."

He shrugged. "Yeah, but I care about your arse not getting shot, killed, or exposed. Any of those things really."

Ben's voice was sterner than usual over the coms. "Look, just be serious. Meet who you have to meet. Let's get this shit over with, shall we?"

Bridge once again patted me down, making sure I was ready. "Thanks, Mum. I got dressed all by myself."

He glowered. "Fine, make fun. But that thing there is probably going to save your life."

"Not if they stick a headshot, arsehole."

"If someone's angry enough to take a headshot, well, it was nice knowing you." He shrugged.

"I see. You're so concerned, aren't you?"

His grin flashed. "You're not that pretty. I won't miss you nearly as much as I'd miss Ben."

Ben's chuckle was rich. "I knew you thought I was pretty."

"Oi, would you lot shut it? I have to go out there and pretend I'm a badarse. So let me have my gun."

Bridge handed me a weapon warily.

"I see the look on your face. Might I remind you that I'm an excellent marksman, even if I do prefer computers to actual weaponry?"

"Yeah, yeah, except I haven't seen you on the range lately."

"Arsehole."

I slid the door of the van open, the chilly night air sneaking in and biting me in the joints. "Fuck me."

Lucas joined in. "No thanks. I'd rather fuck Bryna. She's cuter."

"Is everyone done with the jokes now?" I mumbled.

Ben chimed in. "Well, I didn't know that we were having a joke-off, but now that I do..."

"I swear to God, when this is over, I'm taking my position back in the van."

"Promises, promises." That was from Bridge.

I walked on the small path that was lined with perfectly trimmed hedges. Primrose Hill was a familiar neighborhood. I knew the ins and outs, and it was easy to hide, easy to mask yourself as someone who was just simply walking a dog or taking an evening stroll. At the massive statue, I took a left. Then another right, following the path, meandering as if I was out for my evening constitutional. And then I found the bench where I'd been told to wait. I checked my watch. Two minutes early. I'd be fine. Not like a sniper couldn't take an easy aim at me from here.

Relax, mate. Relax. It's fine. 

I was just skittish because an international jewel thief was blackmailing me into helping him. What was there to be nervous about?

I heard the shuffle of feet on the gravel, and I turned my head at the noise. Fifteen meters away, I saw a woman walking briskly. She was dressed head to toe in black, including a woven cap on her head. Her march was familiar. Too familiar. I sat up even straighter. "Mates, are you getting this?"

It was Lucas who spoke. "Yup. A woman. Five foot eight. Could be Caucasian. Possibly Latin. Spanish, maybe? Long caramel colored hair pulled back in a braid. Big rack. Great arse."

Over the coms, Bridge muttered, "What was that all about Bryna?"

Lucas just laughed and quipped, "She has her own incredible arse too. I’m just not blind."

My stomach pitched because I knew who was walking toward me.

Fuck.

Was this some kind of Interpol thing? Had I walked into a trap? I stood before she even reached me. With ten yards to go, her step faltered when she saw me under the light. "East?"

 "Fucking Nyla?"

Over the coms, everyone cursed. Ben, Bridge, Drew, even Lucas. "That's fucking Nyla?"

I shook my head. "I don't know what game you're playing, but turn right back around and go back where you came from.” I pointed over her head to really emphasize she needed to go in the opposite direction.

"Quit your bitching. Theroux told me to meet you here. So I'm not going anywhere until we speak and outline what we're going to do."

"You're going to have to figure something else out because you and I are not speaking."

"What do you want to do, East? This is the deal. I'm who Theroux wants you to meet."

I shook my head. Even though I knew in my bones that I was there to meet her, I still refused to accept it. "No. Fuck that. And fuck you Theroux," I screamed to nobody in particular. "I'm not doing this. I'm not fucking working with you."

She crossed her arms over her