by Nana Malone
More like you’ve been putting that conversation off.
I brushed her curls back over her shoulder. "Let’s talk about that later. You should—"
"Christ, Ben, I'm not some Jane Austen heroine that needs to lie down at the faintest whiff of trouble. Besides, you didn’t seem to think I needed to rest last night when you were busy dicking me down, right?"
There was a stunned silence from the room, and then East, Bridge, and Drew, traitors that they were, laughed their asses off, quickly followed by my cousin and then Lucas. Jessa and Bryna just gave her nods of appreciation. "If you all are done now?"
She went to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice and poured herself a glass. "Okay, if you are all here, that means we have other problems." She finished the glass and landed her gaze on Lucas. "What's wrong with the jewel?"
"It's a fake, love." Lucas said
Livy swore under her breath. "That bitch. I knew it. I knew it when I was locked up with her."
All gazes landed on Liv. "What do you mean?"
"She said it when I was locked up with her. I was just coming to, so I wasn’t certain I’d heard it right until now. She said, 'Oh thank God, I decided not to show it.’ And I didn't know what she meant then. I thought she was just babbling because she was annoyed with me. But she wore a fake. The goddamn jewel must be in the vault. She never intended to wear it at all."
"Okay, so the Van Linsteds weren’t at all worried about the jewel because she wore the fake replica?" Jessa asked.
Liv nodded. "Yeah, they probably do it all the time. It only appears as if she's rocking it when she goes to these big-name events. But she's not. It probably never leaves the vault."
Lucas plopped back in his seat and leaned back. "Well, that answers one question. So, the real one is exactly where we thought it was. Which means we're going to have to go to plan F."
I glanced over at him. "What the fuck is plan F?"
"Plan F is fuck it all. Go big or go broke time. Who wants to break into Fort Knox?"
Bryna asked, “Liv, why do you think the kidnapping is about your mother’s book?”
"As I told the police when they interviewed me, we were taken by Eastern Europeans. And there was something they kept saying to each other. Libret. I wasn’t sure what language they were speaking, but apparently it was Albanian. Telly checked it out for me."
Telly nodded. "It's Albanian for book. Liv said that they kept asking her, saying the word when they were trying to get information about where she'd stored all her files."
"One of them spoke English. I don't remember much, but they said my mother's name and that word, libret. I think this has to do with me. This isn't a London Lords thing."
Everyone was silent for a minute, and then Drew let out a low curse. "So what the fuck does that mean? We've gone to great lengths to keep her safe. If she got herself in danger, why are we about to rob the fucking Van Linsteds?"
I didn’t know when he'd started to turn into such a little bitch, but East was quick to remind him. "Even if this is true, and that's why they took Livy, it doesn't matter. The point is, the Van Linsteds still fucking covered up for Bram and all the other people responsible for Toby's death. I still say we rob them blind."
Bridge nodded. "Yeah. The plan still stands."
Drew cracked his neck. "Listen to yourselves. We're too fucking divided. As if Ben’s going to let it slide that some goddamn eastern Europeans snatched his woman from under his nose."
Liv put up her hands. "Okay look, stop. I'll just put the book on hold. Lay low. Keep my hands clean. No reason for anyone to stop on account of me."
Jessa shook her head. "It's too late for that. Besides, you already have an editor and a publisher waiting for you. And this is about your Mom’s legacy too. You can't just put this away."
Bryna agreed with her. "Besides, they're trying to shut you up, and we can't let that happen."
Drew threw up his hands. "Like I said, the fucking team is divided."
Telly raised her hand. "Okay look, I know I'm new to the team."
East lifted a brow. "You're not on the team."
She grinned and then winked at him. "Of course, I am. Liv says I am, so obviously, I am. Bestie rules. Sorry, handsome." She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to me. "Look, handsome number four over there, Blondie, he has a point. We are a team divided. But we have some badasses in the house from what I'm told by Liv here. And a full-blown princess. How about the girls work on the book angle and get as much information as we can about who snatched her. I've got some resources that I can exploit, and you fellas get the fucking diamond back. Or steal it to begin with, whatever you need to do."
I rolled my eyes. "Liv, you've been busy."
She shrugged. "Best friend rules. I needed someone else to balance against all of yours."
I turned my attention back to Telly. "She has a point."
Drew eased himself onto one of the stools. "It was my idea to begin with."
I chuckled then. "Oh, don't sulk, mate. It’s still a good idea. Okay, Liv, Telly, Jessa, and Bryna, you guys focus on the book. The rest of us will figure out some kind of plan to get the goddamn diamond away from the Van Linsteds."
Roone nodded. "We'll need more Royal Guards."
Jessa groaned. "Oh my God, I do not need a shit ton of Royal Guards. Why don't you just call Ariel? Have her come."
Lucas shook his head. "No. Abso-fucking-lutely not. If Ariel turns up, Tristan will be here. If Tristan comes, Sebastian is going to start to worry why everyone is in London and has abandoned him in the Winston Isles. Besides, if Ariel comes, then Penny comes, and Sebastian will soon follow. We're keeping my brother out of this."
Roone clapped him on the back. "Mate, right now, we need all hands on deck. You think you have enough of a team to raid something with the security of Fort Knox?"
Lucas rubbed his temples. "We are not involving my brother."
Jessa shrugged. "I know you don't want Sebastian here. I get it. You think I want the look? The I'm disappointed in you expression? But we don't have a choice. We need a whole team. Plus, Ben is right. It wouldn't be bad to have more security on board. Do you know anybody who's better than Ariel?"
Lucas groaned. "We are so fucked."
I glanced at Liv. "How do you feel?"
She met my gaze and gave me a small smile. "Looks like we are in a pile of trouble, and we need all the help we can get. I'm not going to say no."
"All right then, looks like we need to call the rest of team Winston Isles."
Livy
I didn't want to tell Ben that he was right.
Matter of fact, I would rather cut off my damn arm. But I had no choice. Because the truth was, I was exhausted.
I felt like I'd been run over by a truck, twice, but I sauntered out of the living room with a saucy smile. Saucy was the best I could manage with my lip throbbing like I needed to tear it off my face and start with a new one.
"All right, if we're going to do this whole two teams-one goal thing, let's get to it."
East clapped his hands together and grabbed his laptop off of the island. Telly lifted a brow. "Oh, is he tech support? Because I'm pretty sure I'm tech support."
I could have sworn I heard Lucas chuckle, "Oh, nerd drama. How cute."
I crossed my legs on the couch, pretending I was perfectly fine. Yup, that's right. Nothing to see here. Not like I really wanted to lie down. Not like the whole left side of my face felt like I'd been kicked in the face by an elephant. Nope. All good.
I shifted my gaze to Ben, who stood behind me, arms crossed and standing like a statue. He lifted his brow as if to say, 'I told you so.' I just glowered back at him. So what if he'd told me so? Why should he get to have all the fun?
East plopped in the chair just a little left of me and started tapping away. "Right, first we'll get the best description you've got of whoever you saw clearly. And then—"
Telly laughed as she opened her laptop. "Oh, you're cu
te. While you're busy dicking around, I'm just going to crack the backdoor to the NSA, and I’ll get facial recognition in less time."
East glanced up at Bridge. "She's not on the team. Tell her she's not on the team."
Ben just chuckled. "Mate, if Liv says she's on the team, she's on the team. Chill."
East muttered something under his breath, but I couldn't hear it, and Telly just laughed. "Liv, why don't you describe who you saw?"
East shook his head. "You and I both know I'll get there faster."
She shrugged. "We'll see.”
Both of them looked at me expectantly. My gaze ping-ponged between the two of them. "Oh my God. I don't care who does this. It just needs to be fast."
East nodded. "Don't worry, it will be." As I spat out information that I remembered, Ben eased a hand on my shoulder and gently massaged the knot of tension with his thumb. I almost moaned. His hands were strong but gentle. He was well aware of where my bruises were, what to touch and not to touch. He had magic hands. The thing was, the more he rubbed, the more pliant I became, the more aware of him. I was in a roomful of people with his hands on me, and I still got those zings of electricity. My core throbbed as if answering an invitation.
I tried to ignore it. I described his eyes as not too far apart. Round, not slanted. His nose was straight. Roman, but it looked like it may have been broken several times. His skin was sort of olive, but ruddy, with lots of pink tones as well.
Feature by feature we went, and I did my best to describe him, the man pulling in when I had been pulling out. I hoped that I was getting this right because my life depended on it. When I was done, East pressed a button. "Okay, I think we’ve got enough to go on." But then he frowned at the screen and said, "Ben, mate, doesn't that look like—"
I glanced up at Ben, who was looking at East's computer. "Like who?" I asked.
"It's fine. East, just see what you can get. We need confirmation."
Telly laughed. "You know I want to be faster, right?"
While she and East bickered, I continued to stare at Ben. "Who does he look like?"
"It looks like someone we might know. But before I start going down that road, let's get our confirmation."
Why did I get the feeling he was hiding something from me?
Maybe because you still don't trust him?
No, I did trust him. We loved each other, and it was not the time for keeping secrets. Besides, after everything we'd been through, no way would he be keeping secrets from me.
As it turned out, Telly was right. She was faster. "I'm into the NSA. I've uploaded the photo. They'll come back with matches until we have one."
East scowled. "You might be into the NSA, but I'm into Interpol and FSB’s database."
"Okay. May the best man win."
Lucas laughed. "Okay, while the nerd brigade works on that, then maybe we figure out how the hell we're going to get into the Van Linsted’s version of Fort Knox."
Jessa spoke up. "You might not like this... Actually, none of you are going to like this, but why don't we walk through the front door?"
Drew laughed at her. "Are you insane?"
"You know, I'm not sure I like you."
Lucas and Bryna laughed behind their hands. Roone gave up and just laughed out right. "Jessa, try not to provoke one of our hosts."
"What?" she asked. "It's true. I don't think I like him."
Drew blinked several times, and I wasn't sure if he was unaccustomed to someone being quite that direct with him or if he was just shocked that somebody might not like him. Either way, it was hilarious. He tried to speak again, but Jessa held up her hand, effectively shutting him up. "Obviously, whether he likes it or not, Marcus Van Linsted owes you one. Liv brought his wife home safe and sound, whether she was trying to make her own bargains or not. The point is, you brought her home and that's going to be worth something to him. May we suggest having a party in his wife's honor and make Livy a guest?"
Ben shook his head. "I don't like putting her in their crosshairs, especially if we don't know for sure whether or not they're behind any attempts on her life."
Jessa nodded. "I hear you, but that would get us into the building."
"Yeah, but how the hell are we going to get the diamond out?"
"Well, I'm sure Lucas would think of something."
Her brother pondered, rubbing his jaw. "So you're suggesting we walk in the front door. No Mission Impossible-style antics?"
"Well, you said yourself the best cons are simple ones. Everyone would be paying attention to one thing, April Van Linsted, who would love being the center of attention. And obviously, members of the Elite would be there. In the meantime, the rest of us who are not on the radar will be in the vault or finding a back exit and sneaking it out."
Bryna perked up. "Actually, that's kind of brilliant, Jessa. There's no reason for increased security. Sure, it will be a party in honor of his wife, but it won't be anything big or huge. It'll be intimate. You know, maybe a hundred people. There's no reason for any member of the Elite to want to steal from them. It's brilliant. Lax security means we can walk right out of there with it."
I knew from experience that Bryna wasn't demure by any sense of the word. But her voluntarily rushing into danger didn't seem like her. "You two are mad."
Bryna shrugged. "Actually, it's simple and it’s smart. It puts, at the very least, the four of you on the premises. Five, counting Livy. And though East won't have access to his tech, we have Telly. And if Ariel comes on board, that means we have another tech head available and handy. And if anything needs to be dealt with on sight, East will be available."
East opened his mouth to protest, and I could see his brain working. "You know what, she has a point. There is simplicity in walking in their front door, because nobody is going to be looking for us. And from what I've heard tell of Ariel, she's a badass."
Bryna nodded. "Actually, you know what? We should ask Neela to help too. She's a former code cracker."
Ben nodded. "Neela. I've met her before at Roone and Jessa's wedding. Beautiful, olive toned skin, big giant brute of a man hovers over her when anyone gets close?"
Roone snorted. "Yup, that would be Jax. I love my mate to death, but he's very protective of her."
Bridge leaned back on his seat. "Jesus Christ, how many hackers do you people know?"
Telly shrugged. "Don't look at me. I wouldn't classify myself as a hacker."
East lifted a brow. "Oh, you know, we're just going to casually walk through the backdoor of the NSA while covering our asses. If you're not a hacker, I don't know what you are."
"Maybe in my youth, but now, I'm a respectable businesswoman."
"Is that what we're calling you?" East muttered.
I looked around the room. "Jessa, Bryna, that's mad, you know that."
Jessa grinned. "But it might just work."
I slid a glance over at Telly. "Tell, what do you think?”
My best friend laughed. "You're right, it is completely mad. But it also might just work. Now we don't have to worry about how the hell we're going to get into the building and access security feeds that can't be accessed remotely. If they’ve got the kind of security I think they probably do, they’ll control access on site, which means we have to be there. Or at least someone has to be there to shut it off to give our team outside access."
I glanced up at Ben, and he shook his head. "No, this is mad, love."
I grinned up at him. "But it just might work."
East muttered. "Son of a bitch. Isn't that Evan Zolov? He's the one who took Livy?"
I frowned and then scrambled up giving no thought to the stitch in my side, or the fact that my feet still screamed in agony over the glass I'd stepped in when making my escape. I leaned over his computer, and my breath caught as I gasped. “That's him. Burnt hand."
Telly muttered a curse. "I found him."
East gave her a smug smile. "But I found him first."
Ben snapped his fingers. "Fuc
king focus, would you?"
East winced. "Right, yeah. Didn't I just look him up for you, mate? What's he doing taking Liv?"
My gaze snapped back to Ben. "You know him? Why?"
Ben's gaze never left mine. But something in the set of his full lips told me that he'd been keeping something from me. "Everybody out. We'll reconvene tomorrow evening."
"No, they should stay. What the hell do you have to say?"
"Liv, let's talk about this privately."
I shook my head. "No. You and I said no more secrets, so spill it."
He was in no mood though. With a growl, he marched over and picked me up. "What the hell are you doing?"
There was a snicker from somewhere in the corner. Bridge, Roone maybe? "That's one way to handle an argument."
But Ben didn't seem to care. Instead, he carried me down the hall, into the library, and closed us both in. "I may have something to tell you."
"Yeah, no shit."
8
Ben
“You lied.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
That wasn’t exactly true. I hadn’t lied; I’d withheld for her own good. But I shouldn’t say that because that would be dickish, and she was furious.
“Liv, I didn’t lie. I just wanted to be sure first.”
“Sure of what?” She touched her head and then eased herself onto the settee where she had books stacked up for research.
“Are you okay?”
“Do not do that. You don’t get to be the concerned, loving boyfriend now.”
“That’s basically who I am all the time.”
“Bennett.”
It was the first time she’d ever used my name in anger. The problem was, my cock didn’t know the difference. Just hearing my full name off her lips, he was ready to go. But now was not the time. Down boy. “Liv, just let me explain.”
“Shut up. Start talking.”
Smart-ass that I was, I couldn’t help but mutter, “So which is it, shut up or start talking?”
