"East. I want to help."
"You don't need to do anything."
"I want to be there for you."
It was my turn to lift my brows then. "Nyla, you're Interpol. You can't help. You can’t be involved in this."
"Yes, I can. I can do something. Your friend died. And someone hurt you. So if someone hurt you, that means that they hurt me. I have a stake in this."
That was not what I’d expected her to say. "No you don't. I want you far away from this."
"In that case, I'm getting out of bed now."
I held her still. "No, you're not. You and me, we're doing this."
"Yes, but that means together. You don't put me in a corner. Don't call me Baby. Don't put me on a pedestal. Let me help."
I could tell she was serious. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes. I'm sure. Because I don't know why, but I trust you. And I don't trust anybody."
"Well, welcome to the party."
"So what, this means that I'm yours?"
"Hey, let's just be clear, you didn't kick my ass. I let you win."
Her mouth opened and she was about to scoff, but I leaned down and covered her lips with a kiss. When I pulled back, I whispered against her softness. "Hush, woman. I understand last night you came in here to get shagged. If you can be careful with my side, I can definitely take care of that for you."
"You're injured."
"Oh, let me show you just how injured I'm not."
20 Nyla
I felt like a teenager sneaking home. Instead of getting up on time, I’d let East convince me to stay in bed. What was I supposed to do? The man was a miracle with his tongue.
And so there I was, sneaking into my own damn office. It wasn't like I could claim to have been researching a case, following a lead. For all anyone knew, I’d gone to ask East more questions.
Sure you did. Like, how big is your dick, East? How many times can you make me come? Or like, just how good are you at eating pussy?
I knew that answer now.
"There you are."
I whirled around and plastered a giant smile on my face. "Amelia. Heyyyyy, I was just going to come and find you."
"You bet your arse you were. I want to hear every single detail about East Hale. The man looks like he was made to kiss."
A flush crept up my neck.
“I… Um…”
“Oh. My. God. You’re sneaking into the office. That is bed head. That is your I shagged last night and have to wear a bun because my hair is too unruly to tame look.”
Fuck. She knew me too well. “For the record, I did go home to shower and change.”
“Yes. Tell me everything. Deets! Friends don’t tease friends like this.”
“Okay, but can we do it one night after work? Wine and curry at mine? After last night, I don’t want to risk Denning lurking and overhearing.”
“Deal.”
“So what’s up? You look like you want to tell me something.”
"Actually, I have excellent news."
"Okay, tell me your excellent news."
"Look, I know that we've been looking at the London Lords really as an entity. As these sort of power brokers, right? But what if it’s more than that, and what if it's not just them?"
Oh shit. I knew where this was going.
"Not just them?" I hedged.
"Yeah, what if they're part of a network. Think of it like a club. We all know that London has a long history with secret societies, right?"
My stomach pitched. "Uh-huh."
"Well, think about it, something elite like at Eton or Oxford. The sons of the richest and the wealthiest. What if it's like that and it's more than just the London Lords? It's all of the richest men in England? Denning actually gave me the idea last night. He was on and on about his favorite secret society movies."
I hated to lie. Hell I was bad at it. But East had trusted me. And Amelia is your partner. "I mean it's entirely possible. Secret societies aren't an uncommon thing. But again, no one ever admits to being in one, and we can't prove that a whole secret society is bad. What have you found that supports your theory?"
"Well, let's pretend that the London Lords are in one. And Bram Van Linsted claims to know all about them. So, assume he's part of it, right? And remember when you went to pick him up and arrest him? They were having some kind of party. Everybody was black tie, that sort of thing. But what if that's their headquarters? What if it's real?"
"Okay. Say it's real. How do we prove that they're up to something?"
"Well, we can question them about the sex trafficking ring, their involvement. I mean because what if it's like Eyes Wide Shut?"
I coughed out a laugh. "You think they're having crazy sex parties in London?"
"Maybe. Maybe that's how the trafficking began?"
"Remember, we found not a hint of evidence that linked the London Lords to sex trafficking or anything illegal. And as far as we can tell, if they are part of any organization, they did things the hard way. Except for the financing for their first boutique hotel, they begged, borrowed, and stole what they had to in order to get started."
She worked her bottom lip. "Right. But there is one link in there between all of our sex trafficking arrests and the London Lords. Drew Wilcox of The Wilcox Financial Firm. He handles financing for all of the people arrested for sex trafficking as well as many of London's best and brightest."
“Did the Wilcox Financial Firm handle any of the black-market money?"
She shook her head. "No. But in case I missed anything, I have the forensic accounting experts going through it. We can go over it at the safe house I have set up. When Denning broke into
