“Gregg, we have to talk. I know what you’ve been doing for the Bratva. It has to stop. And I’m here to help you stop it.”
“You can’t be here,” he said, his eyes widening even further, almost as if he didn’t truly believe that she was actually standing in front of him. “You can’t.”
“Of course, I can. This is my club, too.” Morgan half-expected a rehash of all their previous arguments, but Gregg just kept shaking his head.
“But Barinov said you were…” Gregg’s voice trailed off.
“Dead,” Morgan said, finishing the sentence for him.
Morgan’s heart sank. Suddenly she understood her brother’s expression. He wasn’t surprised to find her breaking into his safe. He was shocked to see she was still alive.
The shame Morgan saw in Gregg’s eyes was all the answer that she needed. But what she didn’t see there frightened her even more.
There wasn’t a speck of relief in his eyes. He wasn’t running up and hugging her. He wasn’t thanking God that she was here at all.
He was just denying it was true.
Morgan hoped she was reading too much into her brother’s reaction. She tried to push down the slow sinking feeling in her belly. Maybe he was just in shock. Maybe he couldn’t see past his fear.
Whatever selfish emotions were freezing her brother in place, she’d deal with them later…after Gregg was safely in Ty’s custody.
Morgan straightened her spine and pulled back her shoulders.
“I’m here for your books,” she said, deciding the direct approach was her only hope of getting through to him.
And it looked like she was right.
His confusion dissipated immediately. He went stock still, his eyes focusing on her sharply.
“What books?” he asked through tight lips.
Her poor brother. The man was a terrible liar. He knew exactly what she was talking about. And it was time for him to stop pretending otherwise.
“The secret ones you keep in your safe for the Bratva.”
“I don’t know—”
“Of course, you do,” Morgan cut him off with a shout. She was done playing these games. Didn’t he understand the danger he was in? Didn’t he see the danger he had put her in?
The hard look on his face told her the answer she didn’t want to hear. He did…and he didn’t care.
“I can’t let you take them, Morgan.” Gregg stepped toward her. His eyes were hard. Harder than she’d ever seen them before.
Morgan slid her hand into the jacket pocket and wrapped her fingers around Ty’s gun. There was no way she would ever use it, but for the first time she was glad she had brought it. Just in case Gregg refused to listen to reason. He would listen to force.
Deep down, Morgan was afraid it might be the only language he would listen to anymore.
“You don’t have a choice, Gregg,” she said. “The FBI knows all about them.”
Gregg froze mid-step. “What?”
For a fraction of a second, fear flickered across his face.
Good.
Maybe reason still had a chance of making it through his thick head after all.
“You didn’t think that I was the only one to figure out what was going on, did you? Of course, the FBI knows. And they’ve been watching you for a while now.”
Gregg shook his head, but she saw the doubt in his eyes. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not,” she said. “Why do you think that I’m here, putting my life on the line to get those books, Gregg? They’ve promised to cut you a deal if you bring in the evidence and agree to testify against Barinov.”
“Why would you do that?” Morgan jumped at the anger in his voice. “Why would you talk to the FBI without coming to me first?”
Well, she could get angry too.
“Maybe because your friends were shooting at me.”
Gregg’s mouth snapped shut. At least there was still shame hiding deep down inside of him. Morgan took it as a good sign. It proved there was still a part of the brother she knew and loved in there somewhere.
“And now that the FBI is involved, Barinov is going to do the same to you.”
Gregg looked up, his eyes wide but wary. “You’re wrong.”
Morgan slowly shook her head. “You know I’m not. The man is merciless. He’s only interested in people that are useful to him. The moment you become a liability, you’ll end up floating in the bay with half a dozen holes in your back. Just look at what he tried to do to me.”
Gregg shook his head, but the seed of doubt had taken hold. “You should have listened to me. You should have minded your own business.”
“I was. You’re my brother, Gregg. That makes you my business,” she said, risking a step toward him.
Gregg gave her a long pathetic look, one she knew well. Sometimes it seemed that he hadn’t changed at all since they were children. She could see the gears in his mind spinning, trying to find a way out of the mess that he made, desperate to weasel out of responsibility.
But even he had to admit that there was no other way. He’d painted himself into one hell of a corner, and she was offering him a way out—the only way that wasn’t going to end with either of them dead.
Eventually, she saw the resignation creep into her brother’s eyes.