The Fall of East (Hear No Evil Trilogy #3) - Nana Malone Page 0,1

see me. She’ll understand."

The other voice was familiar. Sweet. Like a warm hug in the winter. "I swear to God, if you put your hands on her again, I will shoot you right here." Amelia. That was definitely Amelia.

I furrowed my brow. More shooting? If someone was getting shot, I wanted in on this.

And then the beeping was slow but steady, and really close, as if it was right next to me. There was light in the periphery of my vision, but I still couldn't see anything. I tried blinking my eyes, but it was a searing, white light, so I quickly closed them. It was all too much.

"Easy, love." East whispered. Did he always sound so good? I listened to him because his voice was so soothing and made me want to tuck in, even though I wanted to kill the man.

Amelia bit back, "I swear to God, if you touch her, you die."

"She cares about me. You can't stop it. You're stuck with me."

"Oh, I promise you, she will get over it."

East was almost laughing now. "And you really think I'm going to let you shoot me?"

"Oh, let me? I'm an Interpol agent, remember? If you—"

I opened my eyes more slowly, and their voices came into sharper focus as I listened to the two of them bicker like school children over my bed. "If you two are done now..." I croaked.

What the hell was wrong with my voice? Why was it so scratchy?

Both heads snapped in my direction. East was right at my side and took my hand. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

I frowned at him and then slid my gaze to Amelia. "Amelia, you were right. This is why we don't date fuck boys, because fuck boys shoot us." I tried to snatch my hand from his, but his grip was too firm.

The idiot just smiled at me with relief etched on his sculpted face. "Yes, I am a fuck boy. I'm sorry. But Interpol was coming, and Denning... I knew he wouldn't believe that you hadn't seen anything, so I shot you."

I blinked up at him. Sleep was still threatening to pull me down, but I fought it. "You shot me to help me keep my job?"

"Of course. Regardless of what you say, your job is important to you. I know that. So I gave you plausible deniability."

He wanted to give me plausible deniability?

That is sweet though.

I frowned. I didn't want sweet. I didn't want him being wonderful. He had shot me.

Amelia leaned in. "You should go, Hale. I told you if you hurt her that I was going to end you. I'm not going to do that in the hospital because, you know, they’ll likely save you. But watch your back, because I certainly do have plans for you."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not leaving. My family donated a wing to the hospital. You couldn’t kick me out if you tried."

Amelia glared at him. "Who does that? Who casually throws around that they own part of the hospital?"

I mumbled. "He does. The London Lords do. This is all his fault."

"I agree. Completely his fault." She nodded in solidarity.

East just rolled his eyes. "It is my fault. I did this. And I will fix it. The last thing I ever want to do is see you in pain."

"Well," I gasped, "next time, don't shoot me."

He nodded, still holding my hand. "I'm going to take care of you, okay? Anything you need."

"I don't need anything." Especially not from him.

"Well, you're getting it. And might I note that you already live with me?"

"Clearly, I'm moving out. You know, on account of the shooting."

"Well, why don't we wait until you’ve recovered, and then we can talk about it?"

Recovered? I was fine. Surely it couldn't be that bad. I tried to move and then winced. "Fuck. Son of a bitch."

It was his turn to wince then. "I'm sorry. Again."

Amelia laughed. "You’re going to have to come up with a new line."

He glowered at her. "Stay out of this. This is between me and Nyla. I will apologize fifty million ways. I'm very persuasive."

Amelia snorted. "I’ll bet you are."

"Can you two please stop it? My shoulder is throbbing. Where did you shoot me?"

"In that soft tissue right below the clavicle, clean shot through and through. The doctor says I missed all major ligaments, so it was a minor surgery and they just stitched you up. It’ll take a few weeks, but you should have full function in your arm