Dirty Money (Bad Money #2) by Ali Parker Read Free Book Online Page A

that night. He was going to stay with her, wake up with her in the morning and make sure she was all right. He had broken all their rules tonight, but she wouldn't remember.
    He just wasn't sure he would survive the pain of needing it again, of needing her again like this.
    Nothing good would come of it and yet he couldn't leave her - wouldn't leave her - ever.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Jon
     
     
    Jon woke the next morning with very little memory of the events of the night before. He remembered going into the bar and reading through Kate's file, but the rest was fuzzy. He got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, still fully clothed in his jeans and t-shirt from the night before. He still had on his damn shoes. The file sat on the table, a note from Marcus on the top of it.
     
    Jon,
     
    Not cool that you have this file, you fucker. I'll work on getting you out, but it will take time. We're going to Victor's tonight and you're going with us. After that... stay away from Kate. You've done enough.
     
    Marcus
     
     
    "Shit," he swore under his breath before walking to the coffee pot. The last person in the world he would want to know that he had the file on Kate was Marcus. Why hadn't he thought of that before he invited the thug to join him? Namely because the liquor lied to him as it always did.
    The file was fucked up anyway. It had been tampered with, but who would have access to do that? Seth?
    It had to be Seth. Victor wouldn't have had a way to get a hold of it and if Seth needed to push his plan forward, he could do it by forcing Kate to the fire. That information on her must be damning. Who had she almost killed? How was she stopped, or did she stop herself?
    His brother's funeral was at eleven. Eating didn't sound like the right thing to do. Enjoying anything seemed like an affront to his responsibility to bring Adam back. It was his fucking fault in the first place that his brother went into a dark alley and sought release. If only he had been able to handle his father's death better. If violence and sex hadn't been part of the resolve then Adam would still be there. Jon had been a coward, an angry jerk with no maturity at all to work through his father's death. Leaving Adam alone in the midst of their loss with nothing more than his non-responsive mother was his greatest regret in life.
    Jon ran his fingers through his hair and let out a shaky breath, swallowing the hot lump in his throat. He could spend the afternoon after the funeral beating himself up for all he had done to cause his brother’s death.
    "Just add that to the list of my transgressions." He poured a cup of coffee as his thoughts shifted to Kate. He hadn't called her in a week and had ignored the texts and calls she had sent during the first day. "Coward."
    Indecision tore at him about what to do where she was concerned. He wanted to fall madly in love with her and almost seemed to be at the precipice of it. She was everything he could imagine wanting and so much more. The way she carried herself, the strength that she exuded was as much her as the soft docile fear she felt in the bedroom with him. His body roared to life at the remembrance of making love to her. Why hadn't he taken her again before shoving her away?
    She deserved better and he knew it.
    Marcus wasn't "better" though. He needed to at least talk to her before he walked out of the situation completely. He would heal over the loss of her eventually and she would certainly be fine without him. Victor was the most likely candidate to take her and sweep her off her feet. As much as Jon hated the thought of anyone with her, it was inevitable.
    Seeing her at Victor's tonight was likely to kill him, but he would just remain professional. Surely she wouldn't be at the funeral. She was a suspect in Adam's murder and though acquitted, she still had her name slung all over the records.
    Some part of him begged God silently to have her there. He almost wanted to punish himself with what could have