York felt his cheeks heat with the notion that he was romantic, but really? What did he care? He knew he loved Josie. He was meant to, she was his mate. York was also very aware that he needed to take care of this before his daredevil lady would do something insane, like confront Milo Steiner. York wanted this whole mess over and done with, so that they could start their lives together.
Mostly, he just wanted Josie in his arms again. They had been in constant contact since he had left New York City. He hated that he’d had to go the day after they had been intimate. It hadn’t been enough, and he was concerned that Josie would think he was just taking advantage of her.
Even though she knew why he had gone.
York hadn’t felt this completely unstable in a long time. He knew Josie was his, he loved her, and he wanted to get back to her. But, he was also in a new kind of situation. One he couldn’t control without the help of the Interpol agent. He couldn’t start the life he wanted with Josie, when she was a wanted criminal.
He was going to do his level best to make it all go away.
But, he didn’t know if it would be enough, and that’s what made him feel unstable.
Finally, twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. York grumbled to himself, all the way to the door. He could all but hear Josie telling him to stop being so grumpy. He swung the door opened and ushered in Agent Amy Porath.
The agent had recently helped Beth and London in their own mess, and now that was all put to bed, the woman was going to have to help York with his mess.
“London, Beth, hello,” Agent Porath greeted her hosts as she sat down in the living room, choosing the most uncomfortable looking wooden chair in the corner of the room. It was the best vantage point to analyze and watch them. York had wanted that seat, damn it. He needed to gauge every single reaction the agent would have.
“Would anyone like to explain to me why I’ve been summoned here?” the agent asked.
“Right,” York snapped. “This is about one of the thieves on the Interpol’s wanted list. It’s come to our attention that one of them isn’t actually a thief. That is to say, she steals, but only because she is being blackmailed. Has been for years now.”
Agent Porath seemed skeptical. “Who is doing the blackmailing of which thief?”
“I want you to remove the Jeweled Lady from your wanted list.”
The agent scoffed and crossed her arms. “You want us to remove the Jeweled Lady from our list?” She shook her head. “No. Why would we do that?”
“Because she is being manipulated. Blackmailed by Milo Steiner.”
Her eyes flashed with interest. “The Milo Steiner.”
York nodded. “That’s right. I have all of the financial records that prove that Steiner is the one behind every single theft ever done by the Jeweled Lady.”
“What did he have on her?”
“Family stuff, not important for the purpose of our conversation.”
“I disagree,” Agent Porath responded dryly.
“Milo Steiner is blackmailing the Jeweled Lady. She committed all of her crimes because he has threatened the life of her family.” York took the manila envelope that was on the coffee table and slipped the contents into his hands before passing it along to the agent. “Those are years of correspondence, as well as pictures Steiner sent to her, threatening to kill her family.” He took more papers out of the envelope, this stack much thicker. “And these are the financial records that demonstrate Steiner is the one benefiting from the thefts.” The lies were easy enough to get through, especially when York had years of fabricated proof cooked up by a forensic accountant, who had been handsomely paid. “I want you to remove the Jeweled Lady from your list and go after Steiner instead. He is using the thefts to fund his other operations. Drug running, extortion, sex trafficking, fraud, tax evasion, racketeering, blackmailing, and the list goes on. Steiner is a bad guy.” And he was. He was, without a doubt, a despicable human being.
“Why would we do this? She still committed a crime. A jury would need to decide if she should be punished for her actions and involvement.”
York nodded. He had anticipated as much. He took a second manila envelope from the coffee table and held it up for her to see. “In this envelope, there are three different world leaders, who are being blackmailed by Steiner. I have this information, and I will freely give it to you under two conditions.”
“Which world leaders?” she was pretending not to be interested, but oh…she was. She was all but salivating. This could make her career, York knew.
“Good ones. Important ones.”
“What are the conditions?” she begrudgingly asked, her fingers twitched for the envelope.
“You take the Jeweled Lady off your list without ever knowing her real identity, and I bring you Steiner. I’ll keep you updated on my progress. Hell, I might even let you know when I’m about to take him down. But I am taking him down. Those are my conditions. They are non-negotiable.”
York was a dragon. Both in shifter shape and also in negotiations. That is to say, he always got his way. This would be no different.
Agent Porath looked at the second envelope, her eyes playing about twenty different scenarios. “Three world leaders? Which continents?”
“Europe and the Americas.”
If she had been slobbering to get to the information before, she was practically begging for it then.
“Fine,” she said, holding out her hand.
York pulled the envelope out of reach. “I want this in writing,” he instructed.
London pulled out a contract and a pen, handing it over to the agent. She read it over, and after a few moments of deliberation, and lots of heavy breathing, she signed her name on the contract. York handed her the envelope and she tore through it excitedly.
“Fuck me,” she whistled. “This is…”
“A game-changer,” York finished. “I think you’ll find you’re getting the better end of the bargain.”
Agent Porath got to her feet. “It’s always interesting to deal with you Warwicks. It’s been a pleasure.”
York watched the woman leave, and once the door closed behind him, he took a deep breath of relief.
The first part of the plan was done.
Now, he got to go home to his mate and start on phase two.
Chapter Eighteen
Josie
The door of the brownstone wasn’t even fully opened, when Josie jumped into York’s arms. Thankfully, the dragon had fast reflexes, and he quickly caught on to what was going on. He grabbed her on her launch as she leapt into his arms, closing her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Josie rained kisses down on every single inch of his face.
“I missed you, I missed you,” she repeated through the kisses.
York laughed deeply. “Really?” he teased, squeezing her ass. “I couldn’t tell.” He cupped her cheek with one large hand and kissed her, long and hard, leaving both of them breathless.
Josie’s lady parts were doing the happy dance at the thought that they had gotten their man back, while her heart unclenched for the first time in seven days.
“I missed you, too, love,” he whispered against her lips. “We’ve got things to discuss about Steiner.”