Page 17

Chapter Ten

B ili was waiting for her in their room in the party house.

“Don’t you look all freshly ruined! Your strategies were successful then?”

Lottie kicked off her heels and flopped backwards onto their ridiculously large bed.

She stretched like a cat and hummed contentedly.

Well, mostly contentedly. It was three in the morning, her nerves were still singing from the pleasure Zynara had pushed through her, and the thrill of the explosion.

She’d taken advantage of the luxury of Zynara’s apartment after the Qasira had left—she wasn’t so stupid she’d waste an opportunity like that—but there was still a considerable amount of tension she would have liked to have worked off.

Preferably on Zynara. But yes, Lottie was feeling just fine.

She twisted the hum until it was lecherous and spent.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Lottie rolled onto her side and propped her head up on her elbow. Bili was already in bed, a laptop on her thighs, her phone in her hand. Bili was working . Lottie had just had what was possibly the best fuck of her life and she was having a little trouble concentrating.

“So hot,” she breathed.

Bili gave her a look. “What, the weather?”

Lottie snorted.

“Oh, her Highness?”

“Hoo yeah. Her whole brooding, untouchable thing is pretty magnificent just as it is, but when she lets you in? Fuck. Babes, I have had a very intense night.”

“Intense?”

Her whole life had changed, but Bili didn’t need to know that.

Lottie grinned. “She took me back to some insanely gorgeous tower in the middle of the city, to her stupidly swanky apartment on the 150th floor and shagged me up against the window. I’m surprised you missed it. All of Ain Zargiers could see us.”

Bili blew a raspberry. She typed, reading out loud as she went: “ Primary target appears receptive to Agent Finch’s diplomatic overtures .”

Lottie giggled. “Is that your field report? Okay, okay, write this: Agent Finch conducted an extremely thorough assessment of the Qasira’s assets.”

“I am not writing that.”

“ Further intel gathering will be expected through repeat close-quarters reconnaissance.”

Bili snort-laughed and slapped her. “Eww!”

Lottie groaned and rolled onto her back again. “God, she was so deep inside me—”

“—don’t need to know!—”

“—I was just about to eat her out until she begged me for mercy—”

“—for fuck’s sake—”

“—and then I was totally cockblocked by a massive fireball of an explosion that literally tore the night apart. Tell me that was Malik.”

That sobered things up.

“Of course it was. He was gleeful about it.”

“Figured. You get anything solid?”

Bili nodded. She scrolled through her phone and pulled up a video. “I was on the yacht with him when it happened. He had it all timed. Even called all the guests up to the top deck to watch like it was some sick fireworks display.”

They both watched the explosion again blossoming impossibly bright in the dark night.

Lottie remembered the shock—and then the awful resignation—on Zynara’s face and felt her stomach twist. “Arsehole.”

“He was laughing,” Bili said. “Laughing. Called for vodka shots like a cartoon villain. He kept crowing about ‘the problem with renewables infrastructure’ and asking people if they’d ever heard of the Hindenburg.

Like that was completely hilarious. I’ve got a good five minutes of that on vid, as well as his Saudi mates shitting on about ‘good old crude oil.’”

Lottie sat up, a beautiful response already forming in her mind.

“I’m going to blow up his boat.”

Bili blinked. “Sorry, what?”

“His superyacht. His stupid floating palace. You saw him earlier, flaunting that thing out front of the summit, carefully positioned to blow diesel fumes all over the cocktails. It was all designed to humiliate Zynara. He loves that boat. It’s an extension of his dick. Tits for tat. I’m going to blow it up.”

There was a silence. Bili frowned at her.

Lottie knew exactly what she was thinking.

Bili knew her way too well. Sure, detonating the heir to the throne’s luxury private yacht probably wasn’t what the Nightingale had in mind when she sent them there, but as far as Lottie was concerned, all was fair in love and espionage.

And she wasn’t even the slightest bit surprised to find the word love floating around her mind whenever she thought of the Qasira.

She recognised a tired, lonely soul in Zynara who needed a little something to brighten her life. This would be a romantic gesture.

She crossed her legs and dumped a pillow in her lap.

“ Zynara now, is it?” Bili sounded cautious.

“ The Qasira ,” Lottie corrected. “You know what I mean.”

“I do.” Bili pretended to type again. “ Based on preliminary field observations, it is this analyst’s opinion that the Qasira poses a significant distraction to Agent Finch’s professional objectivity.”

Lottie poked out her tongue. “Don’t be like that, Bil.”

“I’m just not sure I see the strategic advantage to blowing up the Qasirim’s superyacht.”

Lottie lifted her chin. “Any means necessary, the Nightingale said.”

Bili looked doubtful.

“It’s symbolic. Psychological,” Lottie insisted. “Malik thinks he’s untouchable and this will remind him he’s not. Desperate men do desperate things, and that will give us something to work with. And bonus points? Zynara will love it. She hates that boat.”

Bili typed again. “Agent Finch is demonstrating an unprecedented level of dedication to mission parameters.’”

Lottie ignored that. “Come on,” she wheedled. “Strategically, it’s very satisfying and a brilliant excuse to play with explosives.”

“You are thoroughly bonkers. It’s honestly a miracle the Nightingale lets you out unsupervised.”

“Pleeeease?”

Bili exhaled. “Alright, you lunatic. We’ll talk with Ace in the morning.”

Lottie hugged the pillow. “Awesome. What have you got on Malik?”

A truly vicious smirk stretched Bili’s lips. She patted the sheets next to her and indicated Lottie should shuffle up. Her screen was alive with a scrolling Discord server and Bili was mining it for intel. She was just as ruthless as Lottie in her way. They were a good team.

“What haven’t I got? The Discord is on fire.

I’ve pulled a tonne of filth on that Saudi mogul who won’t stop leering at anything with a pulse.

Billionaire slimeball and world class predator.

The girls have listed all his predilections.

He and Malik are busy screwing over a bunch of Zargieri businesses too. ”

“Tell me more.”

There was a litany of bank transfers, offshore accounts and records of under-the-table deals with Malik, not to mention a good dozen photos of the Saudi prince in any number of compromising positions.

Lottie felt the game level up and her grin sharpened. “Oh, that’s beautiful. Are we leaking it?”

“Already queued it up for a journalist with Al Jazeera. Should be headline news by morning.”

“I love you.”

Bili nudged her in the ribs. “Do you, though?”

Lottie sighed, her mind instantly back on the Qasira and her incredible fingers. She snuggled down next to Bili but got shoved in the ribs again.

“Nope. Go take a shower. I’m not sharing a bed with you while you smell like sex.”

“Great sex!” Lottie protested, on top of the world again in a microsecond. That was the thing. She’d thought seducing a princess would be easy. She hadn’t counted on being seduced herself.

She rolled off the bed in one exuberant tumble and struck a pose in the middle of the room. “Who shagged the princess?” she asked, triumphantly.

“Get out of here!”

“On day one? Who pulled the hottest royal currently walking the face of the earth? Who landed in the royal bed—?”

“Thought you said it was the window—”

“Lottie Finch, baby! Lottie freaking Finch from Bethnal Green.” She floofed out her hair, plumped up her boobs, and swung her hips. “I have the Qasira totally eating out of my hand.”

Bili was not fooled. She bashed theatrically at her keyboard again. “Mission status: ‘Someone’s catching feelings.’”

“Am not.” Lottie stuck her middle finger up to cover the truth, grinned like an idiot, and took a shower.