A look of relief washed over her face.
He squeezed her shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Just fine.” Another fake smile. For his benefit. “You should probably start getting the bar ready.”
“You should come with me.”
“Excuse me?”
“I could use your help.”
It was an obvious lie, but a necessary one. He hadn’t just endangered his whole investigation to leave her alone with Gregg again.
Morgan’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Ty. It was obvious that she was conflicted. She finally had the opportunity to confront her brother, but she hadn’t gotten the answers she wanted.
Ty understood. He hadn’t gotten them either.
But he knew from experience that investigations like this took time. Required patience. That didn’t seem to be a quality that Morgan had buckets of.
“Oh for God’s sake, Morgan. Go with the man,” her brother said. “He’s obviously not leaving unless you do.”
“Fine,” Morgan said, casting a glare at Ty.
He didn’t mind. Not really. She could dump whatever frustration she needed to on him. He could take it.
“We’re done here anyway,” Gregg added as Morgan started for the door.
“Like hell we are,” she called out from the hallway.
Ty glanced back at Gregg Kincaid one last time before he followed after Morgan. Gregg quickly became absorbed with some papers on his desk. It seemed he didn’t have any parting quips for Ty.
The man might be a worm, but it looked like he wasn’t a total idiot.
Morgan had already disappeared onto the club floor by the time Ty made it out of Gregg’s office.
He followed her through the swinging door, and found her bent over, digging into one of the under counter fridges beneath the bar. She pulled out a green bottle of fizzy water, wrenched off the cap and downed half the contents.
“Whoa, there tiger,” Ty said, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorjamb. “You should probably pace yourself. That’s powerful stuff.”
She shot him a glare. “I told you yesterday to mind your own business.”
Ty slowly shook his head. “No. You told me you could take care of yourself.”
She took a step toward him, gesturing at him with the bottle. “The mind your own business was implied.”
Ty shrugged. “Sorry. Guess I’m a little thick.”
“Lecia was right,” Morgan said, narrowing her eyes. “You are a White Knight.”
“Excuse me?”
“A White Knight.” She took another swig. The anger in her eyes was almost extinguished. “You get off helping people.”
Ty arched his brows. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
Morgan walked to the end of the bar and hopped on top of it. Her legs dangled off the edge. She lazily kicked them out and back again. “How much trouble you get yourself into.”
“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.