I barked out a laugh. "What? You're insane. And Hale has actually been helping me on this case today. He took me to meet Marielle Lipton."
He frowned. "The forger?"
"Yes, the forger. She got out of prison a few years ago, and now she works for an insurance company.”
“Have you heard of the Elite?" he suddenly blurted out.
I frowned at him. "What?" The hairs on my arms stood at attention. I knew I was being paranoid, but I’d only just found out myself that they existed.
"Yeah, it's a bloody secret society they're part of. Hale and his mates. I asked some contacts of mine. It’s one of those organizations shrouded in secrecy.” He stood and began to pace. “That secret society stuff. No one can get any information on it. And I have asked all over Interpol. It's a hush-hush group, which means, of course, there are probably several special agents at the highest level who are part of it. I know Hale is part of it. All I've been able to piece together is that Ben Covington is the head.”
"You’ve already come here once to warn me, and I told you it wasn’t necessary. And now I find you in my flat, in the dark, drinking my scotch, and you’re talking about how I need to be careful of East Hale and some secret society?"
"Technically, it’s my scotch. I know you don't like scotch. I left it behind."
So like him to twist the subject. "Well, for your information, I bought some for a party. And you would never buy this kind of stuff because you're a cheap bastard."
He winced. "I'm just frugal."
"And that's good. So am I. I just don't like my every decision to spend money frowned upon, especially when it's my money."
He sighed. "Same old argument, damn it. Why can't you just let it go? Why are you so fucking compulsive and irritating and bossy and—"
I glared at him. "The best part of everything you just said is you no longer have to deal with it because you dumped my ass, remember?"
He sighed. "This man, East Hale, he's dangerous. His mates are dangerous. Why can't you see that?"
"You’re a hypocrite."
He stopped pacing and crossed his arms. “I’m trying to do the right thing. Hale shouldn’t have come anywhere near Interpol. I’m going to make a task force. Take them all down.”
"You know full well you need cause for that, and without it, you won’t get anywhere. Besides this is bullshit. You could have backed me at the briefing, but you didn't. And now you're in here with the same bullshit trying to act like you believe my theories? Please don't. This is plain old-fashioned jealousy. And maybe East Hale and his mates are part of some secret organization. I don't know,” I lied. “Right now, Mr. Hale is someone assisting me with an investigation. If you can't handle that, have me yanked from the case. But if you do that, I'm going to ask a whole lot of fucking questions.” I held up my phone. “And I'm going to send my Dad this little video here of you in my flat, drinking my alcohol, acting like a weirdo. Even you can't explain this away."
He stared at me. "Are you that vindictive?" He watched me warily. "Nyla, I'm just trying to keep you safe."
"No!” I made a slashing movement with my free hand. “That’s some bullshit men use to excuse their behavior. And guess what, I'm no longer in the mood to excuse any of your bullshit behavior. You used me. You dumped me. Now you're feeling jealous. I have no time, and I am in no kind of mood to be good to you. If you come near me again, you'll find out just how far you have pushed me."
"You need to understand. Men like East Hale are dangerous. You think I chewed you up and spat you out? All that money, all that power, imagine what he's going to do to you."
A laugh slipped out. "The joy of that is that even if I were dumb enough to get involved with anybody again, whether it was a man like East Hale or a bum off the street or the next Jack the Ripper, that would be for me to determine. Not you in your ivory tower, making your decisions and condemning me to them. No, I'm not here for that today. Or any other day for that matter. So I will be filing a harassment charge with HR, asking that they keep this matter private, but it will be on your permanent record. Come near me again, and it will be the end of your career.” I narrowed my eyes and glared. “Do I make myself clear?"
His brow furrowed, and he stared at me. "You’re making a mistake."
I tilted my chin to stare up directly into his eyes. "No. We are done. Your jealousy is your problem, not mine."
"Nyla—"
I marched to the door and yanked it open. “Out.”
For a long, horrid moment, I didn’t think he would comply. But the moment he did, I engaged all the locks and leaned back against the door, tears pricking at my eyes.
Make the call.
I didn’t want to make it, because I was scared about what was going to happen, but I made it anyway.
Before he could even mutter a greeting, I blurted out, “I need help. Can you please come?”
East
The git really was going to force my hand.
Belinda's husband tumbled out of the bar with his arm wrapped around a woman who was not his wife. They both swayed on their feet. When the woman tried to shimmy out of his grip, he grabbed her wrist hard and tugged her back to him. I almost stepped out of the shadows then. Luckily, some other drunk outside had a sense of right and wrong and called out, "Oi. That's no way to handle a lady."
Jack Lloyd was no gentleman though. "Mind your fucking
