East End (Hear No Evil Trilogy #1) - Nana Malone Page 0,50

Margaux.

I paid close attention as they talked. And as AJ walked me through the ins and outs of catching the forger, with the devil being in the details and everything from the stroke to the feeling of the painter at the time being a clue, I observed that East was a voracious learner. I would have expected him to be impatient, blasé, cynical. But there was something about him that was always eager to know more.

“You’re awfully quiet. Overwhelming, is it?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s good. My brain is just running through all the scenarios, the forger’s signatures. It’s a lot. But it’s giving me a lot of avenues to investigate. I just need to piece it together.”

“Glad to give you a good starting point.”

We were walking along the streets of Le Rocher, Monaco’s old town. The peach, vanilla and terracotta colored buildings and tight winding streets made me feel like I was transported back in time to long-ago centuries.

East had driven over to this part of town and then called someone to come and get the car so we could take a walk, which seemed like a fantastic idea at the time. But now I saw it was dangerous because next to me, East was almost irresistible with his long-sleeved summer sweater sculpting the muscles at his broad shoulders, showing off the breadth of them, his casual slacks that emphasized the model-like legs, and with his hair a little windblown and smelling like ocean breezes.

But you will resist him, because you don't need that pain.

That was true. And he wasn't hitting on me.

Why isn’t he hitting on me?

And then my memory, of course, helped me out. When I'd met him at the benefit, he had told me he would not lay a hand on me until I asked him to. Well, good thing I had zero intention of doing that.

"A penny for your thoughts?" he asked.

"Sorry, I'm just running the case in my head."

"I’m glad AJ was helpful."

I felt the injection of adrenaline in my blood. “Oh, she was more than helpful. I’m really impressed. The painting was flawless. I mean, at the end of the day, if something can be replicated to that level of detail, is that actually a replica, or is the creator a true artist?"

He angled his head and regarded me, eyes dancing, lips twitching in a suppressed smile. "Careful, Agent Kincade, you don't sound like an Interpol agent right now."

I shrugged. "You'd be surprised. I don't sound like an Interpol agent most of the time. Much to my father's chagrin."

His smile bloomed, and he aimed it down at me. "Let me guess, Daddy's girl wanted to make the old man proud?"

I laughed. "I’ve hardly made him proud. Hell, it’s hard to do that when he keeps me away from most of the bigger cases. He's my father, so I know he worries about me. I just wish that I could, you know, spread my wings. I wish I could really grow. I just always feel like he's ready to clip my wings in case I do something just a little too dangerous."

He slowed his pace, taking us to the square. "Are your feet okay? Do you want to go back?"

I shook my head. "No. I like this. The weather is beautiful, and the company is okay."

He made a shocked face and clutched his chest. "Just okay? I'll have you know I've been told my company is stellar."

"You know what? I actually believe that."

"As you should." He chuckled softly and then took me back to the topic. "So why follow in his footsteps if you think he'll never let you blossom?"

I shrugged. "When Mom died, I lost my person, you know? I was eleven. And Dad tried, but he had no idea what to do for me. He just wanted to be on a chase. And we honestly didn't know much about each other. When Mom was alive, he would leave home in New York and off he would go, whether it was for the FBI or some international task force or Interpol. Then she was gone, and he had to come home and take care of me. He was going to leave his job, but I told him not to. That nothing had to change."

I frowned at myself. I never talked about that time in my life. Why was it so damn easy to talk to him? Still, I added, "I just made a choice, you know, that since he was all I