I frowned. "You went to one of the London Lords?"
"No. I went to someone who I know hates them. Bram Van Linsted. Obviously, I knew it would be flagged if I went to visit old man Van Linsted because of all his sex trafficking crimes, but the younger Van Linsted is in prison only for fraud. Much easier and less visible to go chat. He hates the London Lords, the lot of them. He insists that they set him up."
My heart started to race. "What do you mean he insists?"
"He insists that he and his family had the original Canary Jewel. That Ben Covington and his friends stole it from his family."
My brow furrowed. "What do you mean stole it?"
"I'm just telling you what he told me. He said that they stole it from his family, and that if we can locate it, we'll know that they're the ones who belong in jail. I asked him about the finances and if he had any idea what the hell Elite Pops Ltd. was, and you know what? He started talking a mile a minute. He said he'd been abandoned by the people he called his brothers so he owed them no loyalty."
"Jesus Christ." I couldn't breathe. This was it. This was what I'd been looking for.
"He said they are all part of a secret group, like the Illuminati or whatever. This is huge."
"Easy does it. We're not going to jump into conspiracy theories here, but what do you mean a secret group?"
"Okay, you know how Eton has the Pops, right?"
I nodded. "That’s no secret. Everyone knows most prime ministers come from Eton and were part of their elite group called the Pops.”
“Well, there's an even higher echelon, the cream of the crop, and they are absolutely secret. Until now. They call themselves the Elite. So you first have to be tapped to be Pops, and then you have to be recruited from there to the Elite. He says he and our merry band of billionaires are part of this group. Van Linsted says if we are looking for dirt on them, he’s willing to name names. He gave me those three specifically. He said if we can get him out, he's willing to give us more names."
Holy shit.
Amelia was on the cusp, and I didn’t know how to stop her.
East
My gut churned. I had known right away that morning that something was off. I could see it in her eyes. Something was bothering her, and she had zero intention of telling me.
Instead, she'd lied. I'd seen the lie in her eyes before she'd even spoken it. When she told me she wanted to go into the office, I knew it was bullshit. Wherever she was going, I knew it wasn't the damn office. So I'd kissed her to make it seem like I was heading back to my car and then followed her.
The tracker I’d placed on her phone when I’d been concerned she was investigating us was still active. The prickle of shame stung. She still didn’t know how closely I’d been monitoring her.
I’d promised myself I was going to trust her, but she was lying. Which meant trouble. And as much as I wanted to keep her safe, I had an obligation to my mates first. She couldn't go kicking at the hornet's nest. The CCTV feed on my phone indicated she was going the opposite direction of her office. "Fuck."
Even as I followed her on the cameras, I made a call to Ben.
"Hello?"
The three words I spoke had him on high alert. "We've got problems."
"Nyla?"
I sighed. "Yup. Something is up. She just told me an unnecessary bald-faced lie. This is just informational. I'll find out what it is, and let you know."
"Yeah, okay. Thanks, mate."
I checked the GPS location. It had her getting out of the tube and headed to the Doyle Flats. That wasn't too far from where I was, so I drove over and parked. Good thing I had an all-access parking pass. God, I loved that thing. I could park anywhere in London that I wanted and not get a ticket or towed, which was fucking fabulous. I kept an eye on the CCTV to see where she had gone. Some flat nearby. Nice neighborhood. Quiet. I watched as she used a key to enter, and I grabbed my lock picking kit. I just prayed it wasn't rusty. I waited until she came out of the flat. Amelia Jansen was with her.
I climbed out of the car, my gut churning. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want her to have lied to me. Last night had felt different, like something real. It had been a long time since I'd had something genuine with another person. I wanted it to be real.
But you knew the risk.
A neighbor smiled at me as she walked past. Once I was in the main entrance of the building, I frowned, trying to assess which flat it was. But lucky for me, all I had to do was follow her GPS marker. She might not be inside now, but I had everywhere she’d been for the last twenty minutes. I went down the hall to the left and found it easily enough.
I unlocked the door with ease and let myself in. I didn't need to turn on the lights because I could see everything in the main living area of the flat. Kitchen to the side, open concept. Lots of light coming in from the living room. And on the massive wall on the right, were photos of me, Bridge, Ben and Drew. Livy too. Thankfully, none of Lucas or Roone, or Alexi and Xander who had helped us. The London Lords were the focus. But unfortunately, so was Livy.
