Free Blood Money (Bad Money #1) by Ali Parker Page B

me that night looking for shelter or help. I just didn't get there fast enough."
    He reached out and brushed his hand along her arm as her eyes filled with tears. She was a damn good actress or was telling the truth. He had no doubt in his mind that Adam had gone to her. She was tough as nails and beyond beautiful. His brother must have fallen in love with her somewhere along the way to put himself in front of the girl when he was most vulnerable.
    "You did what you could. Now... help me catch these guys."
    "No. You need to back off. I came to divert you, but I can't make myself do it. I'll not be helping you and it's not because I didn't care for your brother. It's simply the way things are. They will kill you and honestly, they will kill me if they see us together too many more times. My life is in danger all the time, but yours doesn't have to be." She shrugged and stood up, reaching down and picking up her drink. She walked to the sink and washed the cup. Jon turning and keeping his eyes on her every movement.
    He didn't want her to go.
    "I can't do that and you know it." He leaned back in his seat, dropping the half-eaten bacon on his plate and reaching for a napkin.
    "Where were you when Adam needed someone, Jon? When he left at thirteen, broken and destroyed by your folks. Where were you?"
    Her tone wasn't accusatory at all, but her words stung him deeply. She had pulled the question out of left field, leaving him with nothing more than a defensive response.
    "I don't know you and I'm not having this conversation with you." Jon sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He wanted to open up to her, but he had yet to really process the answer to her question for himself. She might appear to be innocent, but until the case was closed, she was still a suspect. He needed to remember that and not let his guard down again. 
    "I understand. Probably not my place to ask. I just wish I had someone when I was younger that pulled me back and reminded me that not everything inside of me was tainted." She shrugged and walked toward the door as he stood. His eyes moved to her legs as her muscles contracted, the dress she wore barely covering her shapely thighs. He stifled a groan, the need to know what color her panties were washing over him.
    "Don't come over here again, Kate. I don't want anyone threatening you and I can't have myself implicated in something existing between us. You're still a suspect in the case I'm working. Whether or not you’re fully innocent is still the question of the day."
    "Something between us... No, officer, no one would believe that. I only date bad boys." She smirked as she looked over her shoulder, her words stinging him as they were most certainly intended to do. "You're not at all my type."
    She slipped out the door as he groaned softly. She was lying and he knew it. Something sat heavy between them, something he wanted to explore, even if it meant putting a serious hurt on the thug she called her boyfriend. It wasn't going to happen... it couldn't, but he couldn't seem to convince his hormones of that.
    He reached down and stroked himself, his erection pressing hard against his jeans as if begging for her attention. "What the fuck is up with you? She's just a girl. Stop acting like you haven't ever seen a nice rack and pretty legs before."
    He stroked himself again over his jeans and let his head fall back, his eyes closing as he swallowed the truth. She wasn't just some girl. She was the exact type of girl he could lose himself to - body, mind and heart.
    Too bad she was off limits and uninterested.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    Kate
     
     
    She shouldn't have gone over there. It had been a mistake to see him in the comfort of his own house. It was dangerous enough that she could have brought the thugs after her to his front door, but even worse, that she had developed a healthy curiosity. His smooth chest and back lined with taut muscles had yanked her attention from the moment he opened the door. He