Livy shook her head. Ben's booming voice came from around the corner of the stairs. "I hear awkward apologies."
He ran up, shoved his fiancée out of the way, and also hugged Nyla. But he lingered a little long for my liking. "That's enough, Ben," I muttered.
With a cheeky grin, he winked at me. "Now you know how it feels."
He slapped me on the shoulder and then turned his stupid dazzling grin on Nyla. "Welcome. Don't sweat the whole investigating us. You wouldn't even be the most awkward introduction into the group."
Nyla's smile wavered. “Thank you."
I tugged her inside, and she made the rounds. Bridge and Jessa she already knew, but she had only a passing acquaintance with Lucas and Bryna. And Roone hadn’t joined them on the trip this time. He was back in the Winston Isles taking care of some things for Sebastian.
"Well, it's nice to see everyone."
Telly came from the kitchen then. "Oh, the new kid." Telly's smile was wide as she went and shook Nyla's hand. "I'm Telly, the former new kid. So now they get to give you shit. I’m no longer the rookie.” She gave a fist pump. “Yes."
Nyla's brows rose. "You're Telly Brinx.”
Telly placed a hand on her hip and grinned. "That would be me. I am the best hacker on the squad."
I coughed. "It's so sad that you think that."
Telly looked me over and returned her gaze to Nyla. "Ah. Yes, East likes to think he's my competition, but he's not."
"Listen, Telly, I can still kick you out of here. That's how we roll. Ben's house, my house."
She laughed at that. "Yeah. Good luck getting that idea past Liv."
Liv hip checked me as she darted around to grab a handful of some nuts off the charcuterie board. "Nyla, I'm sorry. Have a seat. Don't mind East. He and Telly are still jockeying for position. Wait till you find out that Telly has a bigger dick than he does."
Nyla coughed. "Not likely."
I grinned at that. Ben and Bridge looked like they wanted to vomit.
Telly dramatically flopped into one of the massive overstuffed couches as she man-spread with a wink. "What do you say, East? Want to pull them out? See who's bigger? I think your girlfriend is biased."
I just shook my head. "Oh, Telly. I know for a fact you looked into me, so you’ve seen that photo from Ibiza. You know exactly who's bigger." Telly flushed then, which I didn't expect. Well then. Fantastic. If that wasn't just awkward for all of us.
Bridge scrunched up his face. "Ew. Must we remember Ibiza? I thought we all made a vow to never, ever talk about it again."
Jessa just laughed. "Nyla, it's good to see you again. You have to overlook them. They're always like this."
We got to our seats, and I tucked Nyla practically on my lap. She tried to shift her weight, but I held her steady and then nuzzled her neck, which made her do this soft purring thing. I could tell she was uncomfortable until she saw Livy practically fall on Ben, who then started to slide his hand up her thigh. God, couples are so disgusting. But suddenly I understood the need.
Telly shoved popcorn in her mouth and spoke around it. "So, we going to talk about the whole Nyla Kincade is part of the crew now thing? And how did that all come about?"
Nyla shifted. I held her steady. "Well, I was helping her on her case, and she found me irresistible. That's how that happened. But the big thing is that Francois Theroux contacted her too."
Bridge and Ben sat forward, and Ben nearly unseated Liv. Liv just smacked him. Bryna's eyes went wide, and Lucas frowned. "How do you know Theroux?"
Nyla shrugged. "He's my father's white whale. Dad's been trying to catch him for over a thirty years.”
Ben frowned. "But why is Theroux contacting you?"
"I don't know honestly. A couple weeks ago I got a phone call asking how if I would like to catch him, followed by a text message with a photo and proof of the date.”
Ben sat back then. Livy just whacked him again and then jumped up to sit next to him instead of on top of him.
Nyla followed suit.
I missed her already.
"All right," Bridge said as he rubbed his jaw. "So, Theroux contacts Nyla, and he contacts us. But who else do you think he has invited to play his game?"
Ben pushed to his feet and poured himself a drink. "Well, it makes sense that he would contact Agent, sorry, Nyla." He gave her a smile. "Using your first name is going to take a bit of getting used to. If he’s looking for some kind of information, it makes sense that he contacted Nyla because she's Interpol. She has access to databases that even East or Telly can't get into legally."
Telly shrugged. "Speak for East. I can get in anywhere."
I scowled at her. "You wish."
Nyla laughed. "I think I like you, Telly."
Telly grinned back. "I think I like you too."
I snorted. "Telly, shouldn't you be at home with Carmen? You guys leave for your wedding in three weeks."
"Yes, and everyone is invited except for you, East. Nyla, you can come without him though."
I just grinned at Telly. "A chance to ruin your wedding? Of course I'll be there."
I was teasing of course. I wouldn't ruin Telly's wedding. She was a pain in the ass, but I sort of liked her. Or at the very least, I'd gotten used to her.
Telly rolled her eyes. "Okay, so Nyla is Interpol."
Nyla added, "I was also MI5 before moving to Interpol. But just as an analyst, nothing fancy."
Bridge whistled low. "Okay, that makes sense then. So why us?"
Nyla frowned. "Yeah, why'd he reach out to you?"
I left that question to Ben. "We're not sure yet, but he claimed to have something that would incriminate Garreth Jameson.”
Nyla scowled at me then. "Yeah, so what were you stealing at the Jameson’s that night?"
I shrugged.
Bridge laughed.
