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

saying didn't ring correctly though. "But you knew this before even speaking to him, so why now?"

Amelia sighed. "Well, not that this affects you at all, because I doubt that you were in Grimwald Square, and I seriously doubt that you and your boyfriend were there to meet, oh, I don't know, a notorious thief, because that's not something you would do."

I could feel the bottom drop out of my stomach. "What are you talking about?"

"Right. I have a good resource that would swear men working for Bram Van Linsted took shots at who he thought was East Hale and my agents in Grimwald Square four nights ago."

I held my breath. "Shit."

"Shit is right."

"He's in prison. How did you get this information?" I sputtered.

She sighed. "Okay, let's just cut the shit. I had a guard in holding with him. He found a piece of paper that showed the layout of Grimwald Square. And on it was written the names of the London Lords and one other name, Valter Kinnick. A little research turned up the fact that Kinnick is an assassin and former German KSK. Dishonorably discharged. He’s a sniper for hire now."

My mouth fell open. "Oh my God, he wants to kill them."

Amelia rocked back on her heels. "It would appear that way. So I went to Grimwald Square with Denning and the team."

I tried desperately to keep my face impassive. Showed no emotion, gave nothing away. But she knew me better than anyone. She had to know I was withholding something. "Okay, so you went there to work the assassination tip?"

"Something like that. But while we were there, apparently Denning got a hot tip that Francois Theroux was on his way to maybe meet someone. So Denning has it in his head that Theroux was there to meet the London Lords, so he's coming for them."

I nodded slowly. "All right. That's interesting news, I guess."

I was desperate to get out of there, to reach out to East and the lads and let them know what I'd heard. If it was even useful information. But Amelia was still talking.

"Fuck. I'm sorry, okay? I fucked up. I wanted my shot so bad I was willing to ignore the fact that I had an unreliable witness. And something tells me you're in the crossfire of something dangerous, and I just want to help. I know things are weird with us right now, and I'm sorry. You've never been anything but amazing to me. All the other shit really has to do more with Interpol and my career than anything else."

I studied her closely. "You don't have to apologize for all the other shit because there's truth to it. When I'm on a case, I can't even hear anything else, so there might have been times you were trying to talk to me, let me know how you felt that I wasn't listening. That makes me a shitty friend."

"You're not shitty."

"Well, sometimes I am."

"Well, if you wanted to maybe notify a certain Englishman, let him know who was behind taking shots at him the other night, not that I'm saying he was the one who he took shots at, but just in case, because you know, reasons."

I could barely hold back my smile. "Right. Reasons. Ah, thank you for the heads-up, I guess."

"Yeah, of course. I'll just, um, get out of your hair."

She turned to leave, but I couldn't let her walk away like that. "Wait, Amelia, wait."

She halted and turned. "Yeah?"

"Stop being so sad. Do you want to come with me? I'll fill you in on what I'm working on."

She frowned. "Shouldn't I already be in on what you're working on?"

"Yes, you should. But this is important Amelia. And we haven’t been exactly chummy these past few days, so…"

"Because I refused to listen, was absent, damn near got you killed probably… not that you were there."

My lips twitched again. "Not that I was there."

"What's happening? What are you up to?"

"There's a lot going on that I really haven't exactly shared with you. I just want to make sure first that you trust me. And if you do, we can go. But be warned, your whole world might turn upside down."

Her gaze met mine and searched it, waiting for me to reveal that I was lying or joking, or that something else was going on, but all she saw was the truth. "What's going on, Ny?"

"We’re getting closer to closing the Theroux thing. Do you want in?"

Her eyes went wide. "Are you shitting me?"

"No, I'm not. Come with me, I'll tell you on the way."

Chapter 19

Nyla

Since we had a problem with trust, I opted to text East before I headed over to Bridge's house. No doubt he would lose his shit when he saw Amelia. But if she'd come to warn me, they needed to know that.

The car service dropped us off in Belgravia Square in front of Bridge's house, and Amelia gawked. "Wow, you've come up in the world."

"Nope. It's not my house."

She nodded with a laugh. "Okay, good point. But still, nice friends."

"Yeah, well, the jury is still out on whether or not they're my friends. I think East and I are back on track, but Ben and Bridge will probably take more time to convince. Actually, just Bridge. Ben will go the way of Livy, and she likes me."

"Even after we pretty much turned her life upside down?"

I winced as I rang the security gate. "Do you have to say it out loud though?"

"Well, we sort of have."

"I know. And she's been nothing but gracious. Which is almost worse. She's so nice."

"Well, maybe if we catch the arsehole who's trying to kill us all, they won't be mad at us."

I turned and gave her a wide smile. "I like the sound of 'we.’"

"Yeah, me too. And can I just say, it felt weird not having you and me being a team effort. Don't quit again, okay?"

"Is that what they told you? I didn't quit