Page 5 of A Temptation Too Great (Knights of Purgatory Syndicate #3)

Chapter Three

Moira

T his morning, I’m on edge. The police department called me yesterday and said that even though I have video footage of my brother assaulting me, it will be hard for them to make a case because he’s family—and a police officer.

I’m frustrated, and everything is irritating my nerves.

Giselle and I are making our way onto campus when the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

I look around and behind us. Giselle looks too.

One of Brody’s club guys is watching us as we get our morning caffeine fix.

"Do you know him?" Giselle asks as I watch her intently, noticing her looking into her wallet.

Something is up with her. I want to ask her what’s going on, but my crappy mood makes me afraid I’ll say the wrong thing and cause her to shut down. She’s opening up more and more to us, but she still keeps so many secrets.

"No." I huff. "But I have a feeling that arsehole, Tiernan, sent him." I know it’s Brody. Even though I’ve ignored all his texts, he won’t leave me alone.

"Why would Aidan set a guard to watch you? I thought we were safe now that Patrick is gone?" she asks, stopping her inspection of her money. Her body shivers as she speaks.

"Ugh." I throw up my hands in irritation. I can’t even hide the fact that he pisses me off.

My emotions are all over the place. She knows what happened to me the other night, everyone does.

"It's not Aidan. It’s his fecking brother, Brody.

That arsehole thinks I want to date him.

He keeps sending his biker brothers to follow me. "

"Brody does stare at you a lot,” she says, barely able to contain a giggle.

I twist around and raise an eyebrow. "Kind of like how Shane stares at you?" I smirk, watching her blush, which confirms what I suspected.

"I heard he brought you home last night." I smile, but she drops her head so I don’t see the soft smile on her face. I’m sure she likes him, and that’s a first. No guy has ever caught Giselle’s attention.

"Yeah, he took me to dinner."

We bump shoulders, me practically checking her. "Do you like him?"

She takes a moment to think, biting her lip. "I do, but I can't."

"Why?" I ask as we grab our drinks.

She takes a sip of her mocha before answering, and I’m thinking she’s going to ignore my question.

"It's a long story, but I don't do relationships. He wants me to give him a chance. I said I'd try, but I don't see it going anywhere."

This is the most she’s ever said about her past. Usually, she changes the subject or stays quiet. But for her to admit she doesn’t do relationships tells me she’s had a bad experience.

Her honesty makes me open up too. I release a deep sigh as we step outside.

"Sometimes I wonder if I were different, if I didn't want to be a police officer, or didn’t have the family I do, maybe I could be with Brody."

I stop talking when I hear the loud pipes of a motorcycle approaching. I know it’s him. My body hums with awareness. Why does he have to affect me like this?

He pulls up beside his friend. His brain bucket helmet covers his curly hair, and dark sunglasses hide his eyes, but I know he’s looking at me. I feel it. It’s like a caress over my body, and I shiver.

"But then I see that smug look on his face, and I want to slap it off." I huff and head toward campus with Giselle, trying to ignore him and focus on my studies.

As I make my way across campus, I cut between two buildings. I’m grabbed and yanked into an alley. I swing at the person, but they block the punch. I twist around and freeze. It’s my brother.

“Eoin, what are you doing?” I shove away from him, putting space between us.

“Drop the charges, Moira, or you’ll regret it. If Dad wouldn’t miss you so much, I’d make you disappear.”

His words hurt, but I must have heard him wrong. He hits me, and I move to block, but he knows what’s coming and nails me in the ribs before striking me again. I’m left trying to catch my breath.

He comes at me again, but this time I react on instinct, drawing on the martial arts I’ve been recently studying. I won’t let him hurt me anymore.

I grab his wrist mid-swing, my other hand clutching his jacket.

He braces, expecting a kick, but instead I pivot, using the motion to build momentum.

Twisting into his body, I throw him over my shoulder.

He lands hard on his back. I punch under his armpit, where I still have a hold of his arm, then take off running.

I don’t go to the library like I planned.

Instead, I head straight home so I don’t have to see him again.

When I get to my room, I walk into the bathroom and slip my shirt off.

My ribs are already bruising. My sternum, where he hit me the second time, is sore and turning dark.

I step into the shower and let the hot water wash over me, hoping it will ease the aches and pains.

Brody

My phone rings from my desk, and I answer without checking to see who it is.

“Prez, the peelers just showed up at her place. She took off from campus, and I almost missed her, but I made it to her house just in time. The peelers went inside and are questioning her.”

“Feck.” I don’t know what this means, but I don’t like it.

Dropping my phone back on the desk, I access the security feeds Lex hacked a year ago for Aidan.

I click the one for her living room and listen in.

Fiona’s cousin Mikayla had these installed to protect her.

Lex, my brother’s hacker and basically a brother to me too, gave me access after I offered him something in return.

That arsehole never does anything for free or just because he likes you. There is always a catch.

I smirk when I think of what he wanted. One of my prospects to discreetly follow a girl.

The bastard is twisted up over someone, just like Aidan, Shane, and me.

She happens to be one of Moira’s roommates, so it’s no big deal.

It means there are always two sets of eyes on that house when both girls are home.

“Ms. Kelly, Officer Kelly states you attacked him without cause,” the officer says, and I almost come out of my seat.

“He attacked me first,” she says firmly.

I notice she’s moving stiffly. She’s dressed in another one of her loose sleep sets, the pants hanging low on her hips.

She’s in a full-length top this time, but I can see her sexy cleavage.

Her B cup knockers fit in my hands perfectly.

I can’t wait to get them in my mouth again.

A long robe flows over the top of it all.

Her damp hair hangs loose down her back, like she just stepped out of the shower.

“Ms. Kelly, this complicates your case against him. It could look like you retaliated for his attack.” The peeler pauses for a moment. “Or that your brother came after you for pressing charges.”

“Are you fecking kidding me? He pulled me into that alley and attacked me. I have the bruises to prove it. He only has one bruise on his body, unless his arse is bruised from where I put him on it. Yes, he came after me because of the charges. He told me to drop them.” She pauses, and I know she’s holding something back.

“He’s your brother. This should be handled within the family. In fact, your father said he’ll take care of it.”

“No.” She raises her voice. “I’m tired of my brother hiding behind his badge and my father letting him get away with it.

This has been going on for years. If you can’t help me, then maybe I need to take this to another agency that will actually investigate, like the Ombudsman’s office,” she says firmly, and they quickly try to shut her down.

“No, ma’am, don’t do that. We’ll see what we can do. We’ll talk to Officer Kelly.” They stand to leave, and I’m ready to kill the fucker for putting his hands on her again.

I stand from my desk, done with this distance she’s putting between us.

“Hey, Prez, Mr. Tiernan is here.” I look up to see my father standing behind the mechanic who doubles as my receptionist when I’m at the shop.

I close out of the feeds, still not ready to tell him what’s going on in my life.

He went to Fiona’s work and introduced himself without Aidan knowing.

I don’t know how my father will react to me being with a peeler’s daughter—or a woman who wants to be a police officer.

“Hey, Da, what’s up?” I walk around my desk, and he pulls me into a hug. He’s as tall as me, and when he thumps me on the back, it’s with the heavy hand of a man half his age.

“Thought we could go to dinner. I have some information for you.”

I walk out of the shop I manage and glance over at the dealership, not seeing any issues. I slide into the back of the armored SUV my father uses when he comes to town. His guards climb into the front, and a second car follows us.

My father was once the leader of the Tiernan organization, but he didn’t build it into the syndicate my brothers and I run now.

Aidan manages everything, both legal and illegal.

He not only controls the racetrack but also our worldwide trade companies, which help us hide the arms shipments moving around the globe through our shipping fleet and ground transportation.

We don’t deal in drugs or humans. Tiernan International is Aidan’s baby.

When he made me the president of the Knights of Purgatory MC, many wanted me to prove myself, and it didn’t take long for me to earn my nickname.