For Her Benefit

by Nana Malone

  “Yes, and where were you, Mr. Covington?”

  I lifted a brow. “I was in the South Bank. Client meeting. All day.”

  Her smile was slow. “I’ll make sure to check that.”

  Livy was losing her patience. “You will, will you? You still haven’t answered how this is related to your case or why you seem to think that my boyfriend has any reason to be involved. And taking those facts into consideration, there’s no reason for you to be here.”

  Nyla Kincade blinked at Livy then, as if reassessing her.

  Livy was not someone to be messed with, and she was on a roll. “Also, I’m starting to wonder if your superiors have any idea what it is that you’re doing. You’re chasing ghosts. A woman has died. She was interested in charity work, not jewels. I’m not sure how exactly it’s related to your case.”

  Nyla’s smile faltered. “What’s interesting, Miss Ashong, is that the woman you say was interested in volunteer work was seen at a café two weeks ago with Axel Zolov, one of the men we picked up at that warehouse you directed us to. He’s related to Evan Zolov, and he’s a notorious trafficker. Isn’t that fascinating?”

  Livy lifted her chin. “When we met with her, her references came through, other than that I can’t help you.”

  “Right. I also just wanted to see if you’re okay. When we met, I liked you.”

  Livy crossed her arms. “And you’re full of shit. You want something. But right now what you’re doing borders on harassment. We’ve tried to be accommodating, but this is invasive.”

  Agent Kincade nodded and closed her notepad then pushed to her feet. “Maybe I have intruded too long, and it is getting late. You’ve had a very trying day.”

  “Yes, I have.” Livy said. I was more than happy to show Nyla Kincade the hell out of my house, and the security staff would be getting explicit notice that she was not to be allowed on the premises ever again. Before we reached the door though, she turned. “Those cars in the driveway, are they all yours?”

  Bridge and East only drove company cars, so they would all have company plates. I nodded. “Yep, all mine.”

  She nodded. “Wow, that’s a lot of cars. I wouldn’t even know how to pick which one I would drive on a daily basis. Oh, there is one last thing I wanted to ask. We didn’t recover the victim’s phone at the crime scene. It’s as if someone took it. Like there was something hidden on it. You didn’t see a phone by chance, did you, Miss Ashong?”

  And then my beautiful girl tilted her chin, met Nyla’s gaze levelly, and lied her ass off. “No, I didn’t. I only went around the back to see if she was okay. I thought maybe she hadn’t heard us ring the bell. And then I saw that she was dead, so my security left with me and we phoned the police on our way home.”

  “Right, so you didn’t go inside?”

  Livy frowned. “Why would I have gone inside?”

  Nyla laughed. “Right. Of course, because why would you have gone inside? You two have a good night. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again soon.”

  And with that, she was gone. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but I knew we weren’t done yet.

  Livy’s gaze met mine. “We are out of time. We need to get whatever information is on that phone as discreetly as possible. Interpol is far too close. And I don’t like the way she’s looking at you.”

  It was always going to be my first instinct to protect Liv, to comfort her, so I wrapped my arms around her. “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay. We’ll get the information on that phone, and then we’ll see where we’re at.” Hopefully, I’d said that with enough confidence to reassure her.

  You’re very good at lying to yourself.

  21

  Livy

  “You are a bloody star.”

  Lucas planted both hands on my cheeks and then smacked a kiss on my forehead.

  Ben’s voice was a growl. “Back it up, Winston.”

  Lucas rolled his eyes. “My fiancée is right there.”

  Bryna just shook her head. “Sorry, Liv, sometimes he’s kind of like a slobbering puppy.”

  I grinned. “What did I do?”

  I sauntered into Roone and Jessa’s townhouse. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a pear from the fridge.

  “You forced the Van Linsteds’ hands.”

  “I need you to start speaking English.” I glanced around to East. “Can you translate?”

  “Sorry, love. I don’t speak American.”

  Lucas rolled his eyes. “Look, I don’t know what the hell you said to Interpol, but whatever you said caused Interpol to ask some questions as to why the Van Linsteds didn’t report the jewelry as missing.”

  “Is that a problem? We know for a fact the one you took is a fake. So if they didn’t report it missing, how does that help us?” What was I missing?

  “Well, it helps us because now they have to produce the jewel.”

  Roone came up behind me and grabbed a beer. “Explain it to the rest of us, mate.”

  Lucas sighed and eased himself onto a stool. “Okay, so you told Interpol that old lady Van Linsted was really worried about her jewel. Then Interpol goes to ask them questions about why they didn’t report the priceless jewel as missing if for no other reason than the insurance. So, they’ll have to admit that she lied and that a replica was, in fact, stolen. Which brings about shaky confidence. And the Van Linsteds will do anything to hold on to power. The last thing they want their enemies knowing is that the one thing that’s the center of their wealth and glory and power is a fake. Or that April wears fakes around. They don’t want to communicate that at all.”

  Roone nodded. “Okay, I understand so far.”

  “So now that they neglected to mention to Interpol that the jewel went missing, Interpol wants them to provide the real jewel for authentication.”

  Bridge, who thus far had said nothing, pushed away from the wall, lifting his glass and draining it. “So that means while they’re producing it, we can steal it. And we don’t have to break into the vault.”

  Lucas grinned. “I’m glad one of you is as smart as I am.” He shook his head at Roone. “I’m really sad it wasn’t you. What kind of idiot has my sister married?”

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t start with the jabs. Because we’d all like to know just what you’ve been doing in Europe for the last year and a half.”

  Lucas’s brow lifted. “That wasn’t me. I’m subtle. And I’m not greedy. Plus, no one dies on my watch.” He shuddered. “Squeamish, you see. I don’t like blood.”

  Bryna nodded. “It’s true. I cut my finger last week, and he almost passed out when he saw the blood.”

  “It was a lot of blood, Bryn,” he moaned.

  If I was being entirely honest, there was a part of me that thought maybe he was behind those robberies Interpol was investigating too.

  Roone rubbed his jaw. “No, they’re slick though. And Lucas is right, that group is greedy. They’ve tried things that would have gotten lesser crews pinched.”

  Jessa came around to wrap her arms around Roone’s waist. “Why do you sound like you respect them?”

  Lucas shook his head. “Look, I like moxie as much as the next guy, but they’re killing people. It’s not okay. There’s always an easier way, a better way to make it happen.”

  Jessa gave him a soft smile. “Oh, we’re just giving you shit. Besides, you’re not that good.”

  A scowl furrowed his brow. “I beg your pardon?”

  She and Roone guffawed. “Oh, poor big brother, can’t stand to be told he’s not the best thief.”

  “I have a reputation to protect.”

  Roone slapped him on the back as we all headed back to the living room.

  Instead of letting me sit on the couch next to him, Ben dragged me into his lap. “So, what is our next step?”

  Roone asked, “East, where are they going to do the appraisal again?”

  “Grimwald Authenticators,” East offered.

  Lucas grinned. “Then we are in luck, boys. It
just so happens I’m very familiar with that venue.”

  “Why is that?” Bridge asked.

  Lucas shrugged. “Well, I’ve robbed it before. So as long as they haven’t changed any security parameters it’ll be a piece of cake.”

  Ben sat forward. “You have robbed Grimwald Authenticators before?”

  “Yes. That time it wasn’t jewels though. It was coins. They were authenticating some long-buried coins from Spain.”

  Ben laughed. “Why do you sound nostalgic?”

  Lucas sighed wistfully. “Ah, the good old days.”

  I laughed. I couldn’t help it. His good humor was infectious.

  “Wait, so we’re really going to try this with Interpol sniffing around?” I asked.

  Lucas nodded.

  This time, it was East who tried to reassure me. “It’s all right, Liv. You did good. You at least got Kincade off our trail for a little bit and bought us time. So now we just have to find out everything about her. Figure out the way she thinks.”

  I glanced around. “You guys seem so calm. I’ve been picturing myself in prison jumpsuits since that first interview with her.”

  Jessa nodded. “It was scary. Are you sure about going through with this, Ben?”

  “Yeah. Downs is already moving things forward in our favor. If I don’t deliver that jewel, there will be hell to pay.”

  Jessa nodded and leaned into Roone for support. “There’s something about Kincade. She’s too astute, as if she’s walking into a game where the rules constantly change and she has an early glance at them but won’t tell you what they are.”

  East laughed. “Oh, that’s not terrifying at all.”

  Jessa shrugged. “I’m just saying how I see it. She’s a smart cookie, that one.”

  “Well, we will be smarter then.” East winked at me. “Leave it to me, I will find out everything there is to know about Nyla Kincade. We’ll see how she thinks. None of us are going to jail. Not over this.”

  I just wished I could be anywhere near that confident.

  Ben

  I kissed Livy in my lap. As at ease as she seemed, I did worry about this plan and what it was going to mean for her. East, ever helpful, muttered, “I do look excellent in gray though.” He and Telly were trying to hack into Nicole's phone to find any data that might be useful to us. But for an average woman, they were discovering she sure had a lot of security protocols on her phone.

  I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Okay look, Obviously, we need to hand over everything we have on the Elite to Interpol. We’ll make no confessions about any jewel heist. Everything was recovered and no one was hurt, so no harm no foul. We go back to our lives and the Elite burns.”

  East rubbed at his neck. “I wish it could be that easy, but I doubt it.”

  Bridge agreed with him. “Mate, we all know the level and depths the Elite will go to in order to protect their own. It’s likely they will walk away from this just like they’ve walked away from everything else over the years. And with the Van Linsteds in power, the ones with the most to lose, there’s no way any of this ever comes to light. That pretty Agent Kincade will get reassigned. Watch. You can’t just leave this to Interpol, otherwise nothing changes.”

  “What, so we’re supposed to just dig deeper and deeper into this shit? Livy was kidnapped, let me remind you.” I turned to my cousin then. “So, if you’re going to stand here and tell me that I have no skin in this game, you can fuck right off.”

  Roone puffed out his chest. “Easy does it, cousin. I’m in no mood for your shit, and we both love our wives.” He saw the way my eyes went wide when he said the word wife, and he amended it. “Girlfriends, whatever. You know what I mean.”

  Livy put up a hand. “Okay, everyone needs to chill out. Jessa, were you hurt in any way by Interpol’s questions?”

  “No, I wasn’t. And I know for a fact that I don't need my man to save me. Need I remind you that I've gotten the drop on you before, Roone? Stop acting like cavemen. We all agreed to this, and we’re all in this together.”

  Telly offered up a compromise. “Look, tempers are high, everyone’s worried, and none of us want to go to jail.”

  Lucas waved his hand. “No one is going to jail.”

  Telly rolled her eyes and continued. “It’s a little concerning that Interpol is up our asses right now though. Maybe we should find out why before everyone loses their shit.”

  East perked up. “Funny you should ask that. I’ve already been doing a little research on this mysterious Nyla Kincade, and she didn’t exist until six years ago. No trace, no history, no nothing.”

  I frowned at that. “You think she’s using an alias?”

  East nodded. “Oh, almost certainly. So I don’t know who she is, but the one thing I do know is that Agent Nyla Kincade must have something to hide.”

  Livy frowned. “Or maybe she's in witness protection or something like that. It could be anything. We can’t just assume she’s shady.”

  East frowned. “Yeah, but since she’s the one who’s trying to put us in jail, we’re going to assume she’s shady and go after her with everything we’ve got.”

  Livy sighed. “Yes, we’ll protect our own. Don’t go to jail. All valid and important things we need to do with our lives, but she’s just doing her job.”

  Ariel nodded. “Agreed.”

  Penny nodded as well. “She’s doing what she has to do.”

  Sebastian rubbed Penny’s back. “So then, what do you want us to do, mate? We came to help you. You name it, and we’ll do it.”

  I watched Liv. This whole thing started with me and her in a closet. No way could I drag her any deeper into things. I needed to put an end to it. My mates and I had dealt with this shit for far too long. We needed to walk away. We needed to burn the whole thing to the ground. “Look, like I said, I think we should give the information to Interpol and let them burn.”

  Bridge just shrugged. “It’s no different than your original plan.”

  “We burn them to the ground. Let Interpol do their job, round them all up.”

  East frowned. “Look, I’m a fan of the round-them-up scenario, but what about punishment for Toby? We gave Emma our word.”

  Bridge nodded. “We did give Emma our word. And I think they’ll weasel out of it.”

  Around the room we went. Lucas, of course, was for the heist and for staying the fuck away from Interpol. Bryna was with him. Penny and Ariel said that they’d wait to hear what Livy wanted, and Sebastian was with his brother. Roone, though we were at odds, was with me. Jessa was on team Livy. So that’s how it was working out.

  I looked at Olivia. “What do you want to do? None of this was supposed to happen this way. Tell me how you want this to be handled. I’m not telling you what to do or forcing my protection on you. You just tell me what you want, and we’ll make it happen.”

  Her gaze met mine for several long beats. “Look, I hate to say it, I think Bridge is right. I think that the Elite will find a way to weasel out of this. I think that no matter what we do on the legal end, they’re going to find a way out of it. I think we have to be systematic. Stick to our plan. Unseat Van Linsted and blow it wide open. I know it’s not what you want, and I know you are scared for me, but you don’t need to be. I have my eyes wide open now, and I’m choosing to do this. Don’t give up your fight for your friend just because of me. I think we do both things. We strip them of that jewel that is the seat of their power and bend the Van Linsteds to your will. Then you start to dismantle the Elite. With him gone, you can shed so much light on all their misdeeds. Drew will be the Director Prime or Director Honcho, or whatever the hell it’s called. And systematically, he will destroy them. But then we also take what we have to Interpol. We name names, tell the truth. Without Van Linsted to protect them, they will all tumble. We just have to keep going at it.”

  Why would she never back down?

  You wouldn’t respect her if she did.

  Telly glanced up. “And I am in!” Tel
ly shouted triumphantly.

  East scowled. “I was busy having an argument. That doesn’t count as a win. You used my distraction against me.”

  She grinned. “What, you think I wasn’t listening to the argument? I was. I just know how to multitask better.”

  He narrowed his gaze at her, and she just gave him a cheeky smile before continuing. “The good news is that I know why Nicole was killed. The bad news is that it doesn’t bode well for us.”

  I lifted my chin in her direction. “Go on.” She turned the laptop around, showing us the images that were on her computer. There were sketches of men’s faces. She was a gifted artist. And she had drawn a perfect likeness of Marcus Van Linsted, Adam Hilton, as well as three others I didn’t know very well.

  Livy gasped. “That looks just like him.”

  Telly nodded. “Yeah?”

  Livy's voice was just above a whisper. “We have them.”

  I shook my head. “No, but we at least know who she was going to name, so we can make sure that Interpol finds her phone, and we can certainly put names to the faces for Agent Kincade.”

  East nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”

  Bridge chuckled. “You know you have no shot at tapping that, right? She’s a barracuda. She also wants to put us all in jail.”

  East rolled his eyes. “You have me all wrong. I have zero interest in her. I’m more than happy to do the leg work because I don't think I look good in prison gray.”

  I laughed. “Fine, we’ll make sure Agent Kincade finds this phone, then we’ll be done with this part of the plan.”

  Livy

  That night, as Ben shifted over me until he settled between my thighs, I could feel the heat between us. His eyes had warmed to aqua, and I could see the love there. The softness, the worry.

  I reached my hand up to cup his face. “Hey, you with me?”

  Ben dipped his head to give me a soft kiss. “Always,” he murmured over my lips.

  I knew all the things he wasn’t saying. All the things he was worried about. A brush of our lips became more of a heated tangle of tongues and burning desire.