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“You’re trembling,” he whispers, lifting his hand to my jaw and gently caressing my skin before dipping his hand to my neck.

“I want to touch you so badly. Scatter everything off this desk and make love to you until they hear you downstairs, but…” A shudder rolls down my spine when he trails his thumb over my lips, slipping his thumb between them when they part.

He groans when my mouth closes around his digit, and I run my tongue over it.

“Fuck,” he growls, pulling his hand away.

“I’m this close to putting you on your knees and fucking that pretty mouth, but I am not that reckless. ”

“Y-you should go,” I force out when in actuality, it’s the last thing I want to happen. “Please go. My father will kill you if he finds you in here.”

Gray studies me for a moment before pushing back. “I hate seeing you this scared,” he says, seeming surprised by his own words. “So I won’t stay long. You promised to help me bring your father down.”

Not in those exact words, but I do want to help him. “What do you need?”

“Evidence,” he says, slipping his hands into his pockets as he backs further away from me. “I need evidence that your father owns the Den.”

I blink at the man. “The Den? What is that?”

“I assumed you knew all the businesses the Vipers are affiliated with since he trusts you with the money and all.”

“I mean, yeah, but I don’t know anything about a place called the Den.”

“It’s a gentleman’s club.”

I shake my head. “The Vipers don’t own a gentleman’s club. My father has connections with a couple of nightclubs in the city that pay the Vipers for protection, but that’s about it.”

Gray watches me for a long time, and I read apprehension in his eyes. Does he think that I’m lying? “Your father bought you a luxury high-rise apartment,” he starts, and I see him weigh his words carefully. “Do you really believe the money comes from protecting businesses in the area?”

“No,” I answer truthfully. For a while, I suspected that my father was exploiting these businesses, considering the numbers he was pulling, but the desperate part of me that wanted to move out of his house and live on my own convinced me to accept the apartment as payment for a job well done.

“I don’t know how he makes the money. My work is to balance his books and hide the money. ”

“The Den is—was a gentleman’s club where trafficked girls were auctioned to rich men.

” My heart nearly stops at his words, and I stand frozen on the floor, eyes wide with a mix of surprise and horror.

“Saint and his VP, along with a bunch of others, rescued a girl and closed it down. We suspect that the Vipers ran the place, and now we need evidence to prove it.”

I struggle to find my tongue, my head a jumbled mess even as I try to piece together words to voice.

“My father…” I croak, clearing my voice before attempting to speak again.

“He would never do anything like that.” I pause when I realize I am defending a monster.

“I know he is a bad man who does terrible things, but…human trafficking? You must be mistaken.”

“We’re not.”

I shake my head, unwilling to reconcile his words with what I know of my father. Sure, he’s threatened many times to sell me off to the highest bidder, but isn’t that what fathers like mine tell their daughters to keep them in line? He wouldn’t actually do it.

Right?

Christ, I don’t know anymore.

“Gray—”

“The records,” he says. “I need you to make a copy of the original records of his revenues. Before you tampered with them. I’ll follow the money, and we’ll see how he made it. I’ll also need a list of all his properties.”

His words give me pause. My father trusts me with his financial records because he believes I would never sell him out, not if I know what is good for me. By handing the records over to Gray, I would basically be signing his death warrant, and possibly my own.

“It’s dangerous,” I argue, my heart aching at the thought of this man getting hurt. “If he finds out…”

Gray crosses the distance between us and slides his hand to my nape before pulling me in for a kiss, and in turn, scrambling all thoughts from my mind.

I close my eyes at the soft brush of lips.

This is not the time or place, and I know I should push him away, and I lift my hand to do exactly that but find myself pulling him closer, breathing in the smell of leather clinging to him.

My heart is racing when he finally pulls back, those blue eyes searching mine. “You don’t have to worry about me, princess,” he promises, placing another kiss on my lips. “I can take care of myself. You’ll get me all those files, and I’ll bring him and the rest of the Vipers down.”

“Okay,” I breathe, feeling lightheaded from the kiss.

“Good girl. I’m going to leave, but I’ll see you later.”

“Later?”

“Your father asked me to give you a ride home,” he says with a smirk, pulling back, and I immediately miss his warmth. “We can finish this later.”

I’m blushing fiercely when he finally leaves, closing the door softly behind him. He’s seducing me, I realize. I’m not blind to what is happening, but I am helpless to stop it. I’m being seduced into betraying my father.

There’s hardly anything I can do but let it happen. I just have to hope we both survive the fallout.