Page 13 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

“Really?” He crossed his arms and nodded at the two in the living room. “So how do you explain having our resident hacker and a guy with a briefcase hanging out at our place? I knowyou’re not having drinks, since you haven’t bothered to offer either of them one.”

“Because this is business,” I said, capping the shaker and giving it a few rough shakes. “Personalbusiness. Feel free to shoo now.”

“Seriously? You’re telling me to get lost?”

“Well, I wasn’t so crass about it, but yes, if that makes it easier to understand, get lost.”

West looked to where my latest guest was unsnapping his briefcase and handing over a manila file to Harry. “Whatever you’re doing, is it going to require I have bail money on hand?”

I snorted, then refilled my martini glass. “Please. Would I ever do something that would land me somewhere I wouldn’t be able to access high-end liquor and my bank account?”

“You’re right. Whatever was I thinking?”

“You were looking out for your friend.” I reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Which I appreciate, but I don’t need you for this, and trust me, it’s best you don’t know what’s about to go down. You wouldn’t be able to stomach it.”

I wasn’t lying. If West ever caught wind that I was down on my knees for Zac on the regular, he’d lose his lunch. Zac wasn’t exactly a fan favorite in our crew—and King? The group might look at him and wonderwhat if, but they’d never have the nerve to follow through.

Luckily, I wasn’t that easily deterred.

“Okay, then.” West held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Much appreciated, my man.”

“Butif you need someone to bounce ideas off or talk you out of doing something disastrous…”

“I know where you sleep. Got it.”

West waved me off and headed to his room, and as soon as I heard his door shut, I made my way over to my busy worker bees. “Okay, let’s see what you’ve got, Kristóf.”

My PI handed over the file Harry had just flipped through, and when several photos of King jumped out at me, heated flames of excitement licked through my veins.

Fuckthe man was hot. Tall and commanding, Professor Kingston filled out his camel-colored trench coat with broad shoulders that emphasized his towering physique. The color complemented his dark complexion, and with his short black hair and shadowed jaw line, it wasn’t only his presence making you do a double take, but the strong features of his face. The man just demanded attention.

How the hell Zac worked in such close quarters with him was a mystery to me. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from offering him some extracurricular activities. But that was the whole point of this little mission, wasn’t it? Finding out a way for us to get up close and personal with that tall drink of water… Okay, maybe vodka.

“So the pictures are nice”—more than nice, if I were honest—“but what have you got that I can actuallyuse?”

Kristóf cleared his throat and gestured to the folder. “I did as you asked and tailed your professor for a week. Most of the time it was pretty slow. Work, home, a function here and there. Nothing of much use.”

It was all I could do not to roll my eyes, but clearly he was leading somewhere. After all, he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t have the goods. I wasn’t paying for pretty pictures. Even if I might make use of them later, in bed, alone.

“Then Friday came around and the professor’s whereabouts got…interesting.”

I looked down at him over the rim of my martini glass. “Defineinteresting.”

“I wish I could, but where he went is nowhere to be found. I have an address. A photo of the building. But when you look it up, it doesn’t exist. The amount of men going inside makes me think it’s definitely a place you want to be, though.”

Thatwasinteresting.“Like a club? Something hot and exclusive?”

He nodded. “I’d assume so.”

I turned to Harry, who was nodding, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “I’m working on it.”

“Work faster,” I said, then looked back to Kristóf. “What time Friday?”

“Eleven thirty.”

“What was he wearing?”

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