For Her Benefit

by Nana Malone

  20

  Livy

  I was running late. I hated being late. And honestly, if Erik had let me drive myself and followed me, I would have been on time. But the man drove like an eighty-year-old pensioner.

  “Erik, I need to get there.”

  “I can’t help the traffic, Miss.”

  “You can help driving like you’re eighty.”

  I could have sworn I saw him smile in the rearview mirror. “I hear you, but I have my marching orders.”

  “Exactly how did you save Ben’s life again?”

  “It’s a long story. Best saved for another day.”

  “But you will tell me sometime?”

  I did see him grin then. He was quite handsome. He was fair, his hair more of a strawberry blond than ginger and starting to sport some gray. He looked a little older than Ben. He was clearly fit, good-looking, and poised. From his accent, I could tell he’d probably gone to one of those fancy boarding schools like Ben and the others. And Bennett said that he owned his own security firm. So the fact that he was guarding me personally was a big deal and likely meant Ben was paying him exorbitant amounts of money.

  “You’re not going to tell me anything?”

  “I happen to be very good at secrets, ma’am.”

  “So if I told you a secret, you would keep it?”

  “If you were the one employing me, then yes. But currently, it’s Mr. Covington signing my paychecks, so you probably shouldn’t tell me any secrets that you don’t want him knowing.”

  “’Were you always like this, so restrained? I can imagine this little Erik, quiet, studious. Was that you?”

  His chuckle was low and rich. And he had a very nice smile. “No, ma’am. I was not quiet.”

  “Well, not everyone is perfect.”

  “Some people are damn near close.”

  I grinned. “Thanks.”

  He shook his head. “And you’re so sure I meant you? I see Ben is rubbing off on you.”

  I nodded. We pulled up to Nicole’s. “Can I go in first?”

  He shook his head. “No, you may not. Scott will ring the doorbell. Then we will flank you both as we leave.”

  I groaned but still followed the rules because Ben needed to trust that, when I was out, I wasn’t going to do anything crazy or dangerous that could get me either kidnapped or shot at again. How had these kinds of things become a normal part of my vocabulary?

  Scott pushed open the little wooden gate, still hanging on by the one hinge and walked to the unevenly paved walkway in front of us. When he rang Nicole’s bell, nothing happened. I frowned as we waited. And then impatiently, I pulled out my phone and texted her.

  Livy: We’re here. Are you ready to go??

  I stared, waiting for the three little dots to tell me she was answering, but they didn’t come.

  I frowned at Scott and asked him to ring the doorbell again. He obliged, but still no Nicole.

  I glanced around, trying to ascertain if there was any way to tell if one of the cars on the street belonged to her, but nothing stood out. Impatient, I hopped down the steps and started tromping around through the garden. There was no path, just overgrown weeds and honeysuckle as well as some primrose.

  Erik was on me in a flash. “What part of be careful is so foreign to you?”

  When I reached the side of the house, I saw the broken window.

  Erik called Scott over and we ran around the side and then to the back door, which was wide open. There was blood. So much blood.

  Erik tried to pull me back, but I was quicker than he was. I wiggled around and ran into the house, careful not to touch anything.

  I didn’t need to go further to see what he didn’t want me to see. Nicole, in her tiny sitting room, her eyes open, staring vacantly at the ceiling, unmoving.

  My stomach cramped and tightened into a knotted ball. “Oh my God, I did this. I did this.”

  Erik’s arms were around me in a flash. “Livy, we have to go right now.”

  “What do you mean, go? We have to call the police. Oh my God. Why? Why does this keep happening?”

  His arms tightened. “Olivia, we need to get you in the car and on the way home. Do you understand me?”

  I heard him, but it was like he was talking through water. All I could see was that pretty woman, her throat slashed because she’d talked to us. Because she’d been more than ready to turn in the Elite.

  I shoved him aside. “We don’t know if she’s dead.”

  “Are you kidding? Look at her.”

  “She might just be passed out.” I struggled in his hold.

  “No, she’s dead.”

  I snapped my head up and glowered at him. “Go check her pulse then.”

  Erik held me firmly, but I wiggled lose. “You’re smothering me. I’m just going to stay in the kitchen, okay?”

  He shook his head. “Don’t touch a thing. I shouldn’t have even let you inside. I don’t think anyone is still here, but we need to make sure.”

  As Scott went to check, Erik glanced around. “This place is a mess. They were looking for something.”

  It was only then that I saw she had a sink full of dishes. Well, full of a few dishes, but filled to the brim with water. She’d been doing the washing. “So, what? They just showed up at her door and killed her?”

  Suddenly, something lit up in the sink, and I gasped. “What the hell?” I stepped closer and peered in, and I saw that it was her phone. “Holy hell.” Before Erik could stop me, I reached into the water.

  “Miss Ashong, no.”

  I shook my head at him. And then when I pulled out the phone, his brows lifted. “That thing is still on?”

  “Yeah. Some of these things can last even in water. We might be able to get it dried out.”

  Scott came back from the living room. “The whole place has been tossed. Someone was looking for something.”

  Scott inclined his head. “We should go in case the police were already called. We don’t want Miss Ashong to get any questions asked that she’s not ready to answer. We’ll call them when we get to the house.”

  I slipped the phone into my purse. “I’m not leaving yet.”

  Erik opened his mouth as if to argue, but sighed and acquiesced. “Fine, but let’s get outside.”

  He reached for me and I held up my hands. “Yes, yes, fine. You don’t have to toss me over your shoulder.”

  “I’ll save that for Mr. Covington.”

  I stopped and lifted a brow. If he tried those caveman tactics again, it was going to get him in real trouble. But I could tell Erik was trying to lessen the tension, and I appreciated it. “How long has she been dead?”

  Scott said, “Not long. An hour maybe. She’s still warm.”

  Erik cursed under his breath. “Don’t think about it.”

  We made it back around onto the street, and Erik opened the car door for me. “Don’t think about the things you could have or should have done differently. Think about what you can do. The ghosts of the past will eat your soul if you let them.”

  He backed away after making sure I was properly belted in, then he closed the door before climbing into the driver’s seat and revving the engine. In the span of a moment, I had been joking with my security, found a woman who I’d promised to protect dead in her home, and had stolen her phone. When the hell was my life going to get easier?

  Ben

  I charged through the house, my heart trying to claw its way out of my chest. “Liv? Livy?”

  When I’d gotten the call from Erik, I was all the way across town, and traffic had been a nightmare. So it took me over an hour to get to her.

  When I ran in the house, she wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room or the library. She was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until I heard voices coming down from my study on the second floor that I located her and realized she had the whole damn team there already.

  They got here faster than you did.

  That thought churned in my gut, but she wa
s my only focus. When she saw me, she stood, and I rushed to her, picking her up from her feet, running my arms around her and squeezing so tight she probably couldn’t breathe. But I needed to touch her to know that she was safe.

  “Jesus Christ, are you okay?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine. I’m just… We were too late. I made her a promise that she’d be safe, and we were too late. Who are these people?”

  “They are the people that I’m going to slaughter and burn to the ground. That’s who they are.” My voice was all acid and bile and full-on aggression.

  From somewhere in the corner, someone cleared their throat, and I said harshly, “You will wait a goddamn minute, while I make sure she’s okay.”

  “Sorry, dude, but you should probably also know about the phone.”

  I glowered down at Livy and she winced.

  “Um, her phone. I found it.”

  I sat her down then. “What do you mean ‘found’? Did you go inside the house?”

  More wincing.

  “Well, I wanted to make sure she was actually dead, because how horrible would it have been if she was still alive and we left her there? I didn’t want that weighing on my conscience.”

  I ran my hands through my hair. “Jesus fucking Christ, woman, why can’t you just stay safe?”

  From the corner, Telly spoke up. “Well, speaking for the womenfolk, why can’t you lads just stay safe? She did what she had to do. Now, quit your fucking Tarzan act and listen. She found the phone. The dead girl’s phone.”

  I snapped my gaze around to the petite brunette, scowling at her. I liked Telly. She was loyal to Livy, good at her job, and she didn’t fuck around. All qualities I respected. But right now, I needed Livy alone. “I’m trying to keep her safe.“

  But Telly refused to back down. “Of course you are. But let’s not forget what this current display is really about. You want to fuck her and remind her that she’s supposed to stay on a pedestal, untouched and completely safe, but we’re way past that now.” She inclined her head at Livy. “Besides, Livy isn’t delicate like a flower; she’s delicate like a bomb. Give her her due. She thought on her feet today.”

  Livy stepped away from me. “Don’t be an asshole, Ben. Telly has a point. There are pressing matters here. I’m fine, and we made headway."

  I forced myself to inhale deeply and then took another breath before I wrapped my arms around her again and kissed her forehead. “Stop fucking scaring me. I’m not sure I can take it.”

  She nodded against my chest. “I’ll get right on that. In the meantime,” she inclined her head toward the coffee table in my study, “I found that.”

  The phone sat in a shallow bowl of rice. “Is there a reason it’s in rice?”

  Telly nodded. “Yeah, it turns out Nicole wasn’t a dummy. She hid her phone. That means there’s something on it that they probably want. The only problem is where she hid the phone. That predicates some rice.”

  I turned back to Liv. “Where did you find that?”

  “Her sink. While Scott went to check to make sure she was actually dead, Erik stood watch at the door. I was just standing in the corner, and then her sink lit up. I reached in and grabbed it. It’s waterproof to a certain depth, and certainly, her sink is shallower than that. She might have hidden it, or she might have just dropped it, I don’t know, but we’re trying to dry it out a little. I’m hoping that between Telly, East, and Ariel, we can figure out what’s on it.”

  I just stared at Liv. I was forever trying to protect her, keep her safe, keep her contained, but in that moment, surrounded by our closest friends, I could see that there was no containing her. She was sharp. Smart. Quick on her feet. And I was doing her a severe injustice by not thinking her strong enough. “That was smart thinking. East, Tell, any chance you can get into it?” Now that I’d seen her and knew that she was okay, the adrenaline started to wane, making my whole body shake. “And what about the fucking police?”

  “We called them from the car. Erik said there was no CCTV camera footage. They came and questioned me about why I was there, what I wanted to talk to her about. I told them that she’d agreed to help with some charity work I was doing for Jessa’s foundation. So that should be easy enough to forge, right?”

  East nodded. “Yup, it’s already done. If they investigate, they’ll find Nicole had applied for a volunteer opportunity.”

  I nodded slowly. “Yeah, okay. Thanks for taking care of that, mate.”

  He just lifted his chin in my direction. “Yup. We’ve already broken so many laws, what’s a few more?”

  Fucking hell. “Okay, so, you talked to the police. What exactly happened to Nicole?”

  Livy shuddered, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her tightly to me. “Her throat had been slit. They asked me a few questions about why someone would want her dead, and then they wanted to know why I had security with me. I had to explain about how I was kidnapped and all that. Needless to say they had a lot of questions.”

  “Yeah, that’s fine. We’ll deal with them. And if—“

  The doorbell sounded.

  Bridge frowned. “Did you call the Winston Isles crew?”

  I shook my head. “No, I was just trying to get here. I don’t think they know yet.”

  He nodded. “Well, I’ll text Lucas and tell them to stay away, but who the fuck is that?”

  I glanced down at the security camera East had pulled up on his laptop, and there she was, Nyla Kincade from Interpol. “Jesus Christ, that woman is like a fucking bad penny."

  East just stared at her. “Yeah, but who is she?”

  I glanced at Livy, and her body sagged. I could tell she was exhausted, but she was the one who spoke. “That Interpol bitch is here at our house.”

  Bridge’s eyes went wide. “Interpol? For what?”

  I hadn’t had the chance to talk to them about the impromptu visit we’d had from her a few days earlier. “Yeah, she paid us a visit. Wanted to know the details of the theft at the Gem Gala and Livy’s abduction afterward. She spoke to me, Jessa, and Livy.”

  East swore under his breath. “Do we know her?”

  I shrugged. “No, I don’t think I’d seen her before that, why?”

  “I feel like I know her.”

  “Have you shagged her? Because that’s not going to help.”

  Livy stood back from me. “One of us has to get the door.”

  “Okay, we’ll both do it. The rest of you stay here and don’t make a sound.”

  I took Livy’s small hand in mine. When we were at the staircase, I leaned over and kissed her. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”

  “That’s not a promise you can make. A woman is dead because of us. We met with her and endangered her life. I don’t know if I can live with that.”

  “You didn’t do it. You are not the one who chose to murder her. We’re going to put the people who did it away. Do you understand me?”

  She nodded slowly. “Right. Okay, let’s go deal with Interpol.”

  When we hit the bottom of the stairs, Livy headed to go put the kettle on for tea, and I went to the door. When I pulled it open, I leaned into the door jamb. “Agent Kincade. I didn’t know we would be seeing you again so soon.”

  Her smile was bright. “Wow, this house, this neighborhood, Belgravia. Nice digs, Covington House. I must admit I’ve driven by before, but it never even occurred to me that this would be your place.”

  Despite myself, I coughed a laugh. “Fair enough. Agent Kincade, how may I help you?”

  “Oh my goodness, you’re not going to make me ask questions from right here on your palatial front porch, I hope.”

  I bit back the sarcastic retort. “No, of course not. Come on in, Agent Kincade.”

  “I have to tell you, Mr. Covington,” she said as she strolled past me to the foyer and into the living area, “I am quite shocked that you don’t have a butler or something.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that Livy had given e
veryone the night off, but I didn’t bother. “I know that butlers can make people uncomfortable.”

  She lifted a brow. “Uh-huh. But I can still see that your security is impeccable. I had to flash my badge. And God, that is an unscalable fence. Who are you trying to keep out?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Or worse, who are you trying to keep in? Trying to keep that pretty girlfriend of yours locked in here?”

  “Is there a point to this kind of questioning?”

  She turned slowly in the living room and whistled low. “Wow, this house is insane. I have never seen anything quite like it. It’s phenomenal. Somehow, it’s airy and stunning, obviously. And the artwork is incredible. That is a Xander Chase. I saw a gallery opening with him once. His work is amazing.”

  “Agent Kincade, does this visit have a purpose? If you don’t mind, you interrupted the two of us.”

  Livy strolled in then with tea on a tray. “Oh Ben, must you tell everyone about our sex life?”

  Agent Kincade grinned at her. “Miss Ashong, it’s delightful to see you again. You are far more personable than your boyfriend.”

  Livy set the tray down and laughed. “Well yeah, I’ve told him that more than once.”

  “You don’t mind if I sit, do you? You seem antsy, Mr. Covington. Have I truly interrupted something?”

  “Yes, you have. I would like to finish having sex now, if you don’t mind.”

  That rattled her. She blushed slightly, but then tossed her hair and plastered that sassy smile back on her face. “Well, some of us are ever so lucky.” She turned to Livy. “But I do have a couple of questions. Firstly, Miss Ashong, how in the world is it that you are involved in yet another criminal scenario?”

  Livy wasn’t so scared this time. Or maybe she was so scared she wasn’t fighting back. “Agent Kincade, when we last saw you, you told us you were chasing jewel thieves. There was an unfortunate event today that I am sure I will never get out of my memory. A woman is dead, and I would love to know why you are at our home asking questions as if we know something about it. Ben wasn’t even with me today.”