Bind (Manhattan Lux Book 1): Manhattan Lux Read Online Free Page B

favorite?”
    “Oh stop,” Jinx hissed back. “Have some professionalism.”
    “C’mon. Pick one.”
    Jinx twisted her mouth to hide her smile and then filled it with a forkful of basil chicken. She stole another glance as the men talked, deep in conversation now. Serious. Manly. Each of them in their own way. Jack, with his fancy suit and four-hundred dollar haircut was definitely hot, but too stuffy for her. Bryce—that sun-kissed bronze mane was impressive when he let it out of the bun, but long-haired guys had never really turned her on, even one that had a way with words.
    Her gaze shifted to Wyatt. Blue eyes, great build, straight nose, and bold jawline, now those were things she’d always liked. But he was kind of goofy. That, combined with the blond hair? It was like he was a giant toddler.
    “Choose,” Aiko insisted.
    “Why?” Jinx turned to her. “Are you planning on seducing one of them?”
    “Nope.” Aiko popped a dumpling in her mouth. “Just curious. If you had to choose one, which would it be? Your taste in men is so hard to pin down.”
    “No it’s not, I like—” What did she like? Huh. She wasn’t quite sure. Her love life had been rather dry of late. Boring. That’s how she’d describe the kind of guys she’d been dating. Nice. Sweet even. Dependable, polite, and dead fucking boring.
    “What?” asked Aiko. “What do you like?”
    “You know…I don’t think I even know anymore.”
    “Well it’s time to find out.” Wyatt’s voice boomed across the table.
    “W-what?” Jinx stammered.
    “What this is all about. Why we’re here. Ya know, the cloak and dagger etcetera.” Wyatt waggled his eyebrows and did some swoopy magician-ish movements with his hands.
    Jinx pressed a hand to her chest. For a second she’d thought he’d overheard her conversation with Aiko, but no, he was just being…a toddler.
    “Jack?” said Wyatt, gesturing to his cousin. “You want to explain?”
    “It’s complicated.” Jack sighed. “The matter is delicate and involves not only Glow, but Bryce as well. Because of this I’d rather not get the police involved. So Calvert Consulting will be handling everything,” Jack explained, referring to the New York firm he’d built from the ground up into one of the most successful and influential in the city.
    It was partly due to Calvert Consulting’s success that Glow had been a hotspot since it first opened its doors. Everyone in the city knew that if Jack Calvert had a hand in something, it was golden. As a consequence, Glow wasn’t just a place to have a good time and dance; business deals, careers, relationships and more were both created and destroyed in Glow’s VIP booths.
    “So what does that mean?” asked Jinx. “Everything?”
    “Whatever is needed,” said Jack. “When a client has a need for something a little…special, I handpick a group to satisfy that need. This situation is very special, so this group,” he gestured to the others at the table, “we’ve been working on it for some time now. Aiko, Wyatt, Malcolm, and myself.”
    “Working on what ?” Jinx asked again as the men at the table exchanged looks. Silent communications—of what, she had no idea—but whatever it was, she was tired of it. “What about Bryce? Is he the client or—”
    “It’s complicated,” said Bryce, his jaw set hard.
    “Alright that’s it,” Jinx said. “Enough dicking around. Lay it out Jack, all of it. If I’m going to be involved, which it sounds like I am, then just spit it out. I’m a fucking grown-up, I can handle myself, I can keep a secret, and I can damn well go find a job somewhere else if you don’t start explaining in three…two…one—”
    “Somebody hacked Calvert Consulting’s network,” Aiko said in a rush. “Months ago, and they’re still doing it. They think we have no idea, obviously, but we do, and we’ve been watching them, well, on the network I mean, tracking the breaches, trying to figure out what’s