We stopped at a light and I frowned at him. "Wait, so let me get this straight, my Director Prime is telling me to shag the Interpol agent? The agent who's been far too curious about the Elite for, I don't know, two months?"
Bridge interjected, "Your Director Prime is not saying that, because he’s not an arsehole. But I am. I’m the mate who knows you well and knows that she is exactly your type, and all I’m saying is that if you are shagging her, you might give her something else entirely to focus on."
I shook my head. "You know what? You lot have the worst love advice. Remember Camilla?"
Bridge groaned. "Oh, come on, I gave you one bad piece of advice. One time."
"I've never forgotten it. I believe you said, ‘You’ve got to hoover the clit,’ right? Because they like that."
Bridge groaned. "Look, mate, what the fuck did I know? I was seventeen. You were taking advice from an idiot."
"Yeah, I know that. I won’t make that mistake again."
Ben just laughed. "Bridge, you were such a git."
Then he frowned, thinking of advice Bridge had given him. "I feel like you told me to stick my finger in Marley Adamson's bum too."
Bridge laughed. "Yeah, but didn't she like that?"
Ben snorted a laugh as he picked up his pace. "Yes, but she preferred that only when she was coming. At first she was livid."
"I still hold it was solid advice," Bridge mumbled.
I shook my head. "I feel like this just caused me to never believe a word you say, Bridge."
Bridge rolled his eyes. "You know what, you're just jealous because you know I'm better with women than the two of you."
Both Ben and I coughed. Neither one of us going anywhere near the possibility of detonating the ‘him and Mina’ bomb. Ben and I knew exactly what the deal was with Mina. But we'd made a promise, along with Drew, to never, not once, say a word. So, we were keeping our oath.
As the run continued, we made our way over toward Primrose Hill. Bridge pushed the pace. He was the marathoner of fucking London and loved running even more than I did. Ben could take it or leave it. But Bridge, that asshole loved to run. And I was too competitive to let him win.
When we reached Primrose Hill, Bridge called time. It was all I could do not to collapse in front of them from the heat. They never would have let me live that down. So, I pretended I was stretching while I forced air into my lungs and prayed to dear God that Ben was going to call a halt to this ridiculous pace Bridge was setting.
Instead, he kept up the inquisition. "So okay, real question. How big of a problem is Agent Kincade going to be for us?"
"Too early to tell."
Bridge scowled at that. "What do you mean, it’s too early to tell? We need to figure it out. It's your job to keep her distracted."
My dick seemed to like that idea. It twitched in my shorts, and I scowled at myself. My shit was complicated enough. I did not need her to further complicate my life. But still, I wanted her, so there was that.
"Look, like I said, I have it under control. When Ben said he had Olivia under control, didn't we trust him?"
Bridge screwed up his face into the universal are you fucking kidding me expression.
Ben laughed. "I completely had her handled."
Bridge snorted at that. "No. No, you did not. She had you handled. Pretty much like I assume Agent Kincade has East handled."
"I'm not handled like Ben was handled. We just have to be more careful. And I'm not trying to shag her."
Liar.
"If you say so," Ben said as he stood. Bridge turned to me before he started running again. "Okay, you're not shagging her. But, you know, if you were thinking about it, how bad do you want her?"
I frowned at that. "I don't know what you mean."
His pursed lips told me he was going to ask an actual important question, one that wasn't about giving me shit. "How much do you want her? Enough to make a mistake? Because that's the real question."
I had to think it through. I had a lot of balls in the air, especially now that I knew she might be in trouble, and I couldn't very well sit back and let her be in trouble. "I haven't thought about it."
Bridge nodded. "If you say so. But if you want her, you need to be more careful. Shag her if you want. But if you get close, just know she's not dumb. She's not like the usual sort of air-headed models that are stunningly beautiful but give no shits about anything other than their Instagram followers. She's smart. She's determined. And she can put an end to the secrecy we need to maintain. So do what you want, but fucking be careful. Everyone's future is on the line."
I stood up to my full height and met his gaze. Sometimes, even though he was Bridge and seemingly emotionless, he saw far too much. "She's not a problem for me."
It should have worried me how easily the lie chirped off of my lips, but it didn't, which was the most concerning thing of all.
13 East
This was a mistake. I knew it was a mistake. But still, I couldn't help myself, and I had valid reasons for being there. First, I wanted to see her and make sure she was all right. Second, my dick was still hard. No. No. That wasn't it. Second, I had someone for her to talk to. Someone AJ had recommended who'd attended Slade School of Art and had managed to make a name for herself with her raw talent and a knack for copying the greats. That knack had landed her in prison. But now that she was out, she worked for a prestigious
