Free The Temptation Trap, Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Club BBW Romance) by Alexa Wilder Page B

fucking clusterfuck . I’d had jobs that had gone wrong before. One memorable occasion things had gone so totally sideways, we’d had to refund the client’s money. A lot of the time, there were clients I didn't particularly like. If I had to like all the people I worked for, I'd have a lot of free time on my hands. But my inner radar had been pinging ever since we’d taken William Harper's case.
    Emma didn't fit the profile of an embezzler. I still couldn't see her committing corporate espionage, even with all the evidence staring me in the face. And her reaction when I’d taken her to Harper had been completely over-the-top. Emma was not a drama queen.
    In my gut, I didn't believe the last few weeks had been an act. At least, not on her part. Was that why I was feeling so off balance? Because I’d been lying to her? But, if I was right, she’d been lying to me.
    And if I was wrong… If I was wrong, I’d just made an enormous mistake.
    I got in the front seat of my SUV and put the keys in the ignition, but didn't start the vehicle. Something inside me wouldn't let me pull away from the curb without Emma.
    It wouldn't hurt to double check. Clicking a button on my steering wheel I called into the office. It only rang twice before a deep, alert voice said, “What's up boss?" Hank Stevens, one of my best guys.
    "We have ears on William Harper's phone?" I asked.
    "Affirmative, boss. All’s quiet."
    "No calls tonight? Nothing going in or out in the last twenty minutes?"
    “Only the call from you twenty-four minutes ago lasting approximately nine seconds. Nothing else.”
    That wasn't good. If Harper had planned to press charges against Emma, he would've called the police by now. He should've called them right away. If I hadn’t been so blinded by emotion, I would have forced him to call while I was still there. Emma had made a lot of accusations in those last few minutes. If even one of them was true, she was in danger.
    “Pull the roster for the Vegas FBI office,” I said to Hank. “Look for an Agent Tierney."
    "Yeah, just a second." I heard the tapping of the keyboard and less than a minute later Hank was back on. "Got it right here boss. Agent Alan Tierney. Works mainly with RICO cases."
    Fuck. Emma was either exceptionally devious, or Harper had played us. Played me. Normally, the thought that I'd been played would be enough to get me monumentally pissed off. This time, I wasn't angry, so much as scared. Fear was not a familiar emotion for me. I didn’t get scared. In my business fear is a luxury, one I can’t afford. I plan my jobs and mitigate risk. But I don’t get scared. Not until now.
    The things Emma had said on the way over: that Harper was working with the Russian mob, that they were trafficking drugs, guns, and worst of all, women. It was bad stuff. And I just delivered Emma to him. I'd had run-ins with the Russian mob in Vegas before, and if Harper was working with them, that meant one thing, one guy.
    Sergey Tsepov.
    I wanted Sergey Tsepov nowhere near Emma. I didn’t want him to know she existed.
    On the other end of the line I heard, “Boss, you still there?”
    “Yeah, I'm here. Do we have contact info on Agent Tierney?”
    That kind of thing wasn’t usually available to private citizens, but we had access most people didn’t. And there had been more than one occasion when it had paid off to be able to call exactly the person we needed at the FBI. Like this one.
    “Texting it to you,” Hank said. I hung up and waited. My phone beeped with the number a second later, and I placed the call.
    “Tierney,” a gravelly, quiet voice said.
    "Agent Alan Tierney of the Las Vegas FBI office?" I asked.
    "Yes. Who is this?”
    “This is Axel Sinclair. I need to know what you know about Emma Wright."
    "I'm not at liberty to discuss anything that might impact an open investigation," Tierney said in a board, somewhat annoyed tone.
    "I understand," I said. "You know who I am?"
    "I know who you are, Mr.