The Trouble With Temptation (Second Service Book 3)(13)

“I think I can handle your brother,” Ty said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Yeah, so can I, but…” Morgan’s eyes focused somewhere across the empty dance floor.

“But what?” he prompted.

“Nothing.” She shook her head. Her gaze slowly came back to focus on him. “Listen. I like you, Ty. You’re adorable.”

“Adorable?” He arched a brow. He’d heard women call him many things—sexy, sinful, hot—but never adorable.

“You’ve got to trust me on this.” Her legs swung out again and Ty’s gaze was pulled toward their sway. “You have to mind your own business. Come in at the regular time. Make the drinks. Collect your tips. Go home. Do it all over again the next night. Don’t worry about anything else.”

“I can’t ignore screaming.”

Her shoulders sagged as she sighed. “Yeah, well, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll find a way.”

Ty froze as a wave of understanding crashed over him.

Morgan Kincaid was trying to protect him.

That’s why she wasn’t saying anything. Sure, she was afraid of the Bratva. But the fear wasn’t solely for herself. She was afraid for the people around her. Her brother. The staff. Him.

That’s why she’d gone toe to toe with her brother. She was trying to save Gregg. Not just from Barinov, but from himself.

Just like she was doing now to Ty. She was taking on the risk so no one else had to.

It was brave.

And stupid.

The Bratva had put people in the ground—a lot of people—for digging into less. She didn’t have any idea who she was going up against.

And Ty couldn’t tell her.

But now that he had proof his investigation was on the right track, he could kick it into high gear. It sounded like Morgan had found money discrepancies. She might not know the full extent of what was going on inside her club, but Ty was certain that with just a little more digging he and his men could uncover the whole scheme.

The easy thing to do would be to take Morgan in and reveal the whole plan to her. It was obvious that she disliked the Bratva’s presence in her club. Ty was fairly certain, with the right coercion, he could get her turn state’s evidence. It wouldn’t take much convincing on his part to get her to see it was the best way for her to protect the people she cared for. Until Barinov was out of business, no one around Morgan would be safe.

But he couldn’t. Not yet. After last night, the Bratva had to be watching Morgan. They’d know if he took her in. And then they’d destroy the evidence he was after.

Morgan had her suspicions, and she was on the right trail, but she had no idea what she was getting into.

But Ty could build on what she knew. He was close. A few more days—a week at the most—and the case would be strong enough for him to get a search warrant.

He had little doubt now that one good sweep of Gregg Kincaid’s office would give him everything he needed to take Barinov down.

Until then, Ty would just have to stay by Morgan’s side as much as he could and make sure that she didn’t get herself into any more trouble.

He’d had worse details.

Much worse.

Ty gave himself a mental shake as Morgan jumped down from the bar. Bright red pigtails bobbed at the side of her face.

For someone who was so sharp, she was wrong about one thing.

He wasn’t the one who was adorable.

She was.

She walked up to him, not stopping until she was so close that he had to tilt his head down to look into her sweet brown eyes.

“Promise me,” she said.

“Promise you what?”

“That you’ll stop playing the White Knight and start minding your own business.”

Ty couldn’t help the smile that pulled at the corner of his lips.

“Only if you promise me that you won’t do anything stupid,” he said.

“Deal,” she said, and put out her hand.

“Deal.” Ty slid his palm against hers. Her fingers were soft and warm against his skin. He held on to her for a second too long.

She laughed, a sweet, low sound that traveled right through him, making his heart pound a little faster.

“You can stop looking at me like that now,” she said.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re into me.”

“Excuse me?”

A gentle blush lit up her cheeks. She glanced down for a second, making him think that whatever she was talking about, it wasn’t completely unwelcome.

“The soulful stare. The lingering touch. It’s the same bit you gave me the day of your interview, but the audition was over days ago.” She kept talking as she walked away. “Let me give you some advice. Don’t waste your Grade A material on me. Save it for the girls who tip.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ty called out. Except, deep down, he had a terrible feeling that he did.





Chapter Six




Morgan was making the stupidest mistake of her life. She knew it as she crouched down in front of her brother’s office door and slipped the thin metal rod into the lock.

She fiddled with the pin in her hand until she felt it click into place. At least, she thought that she did. She couldn’t be sure. What the hell did she know about lock picking? Everything a couple of hours watching video tutorials on the internet could teach her. Which was to say, not very much. It seemed this was a skill that took a lot of time to master.