Page 10 of Anything But Convenient

He squeezed my biceps, his hold tight. “You never have to thank me for being a kind person, Archie. I personally think there should be more of us in the world. What do I know though? I'm just a barista.”

We both laughed at that since I knew he owned the place and had turned it around when it wasn't doing that great. I also knew that he'd gone through a rough patch not that long ago and he’d overcome it with flying colors.

Plus, he came out of it with a boyfriend who, quite frankly, wasn't bad to look at. He wasn't necessarily my type, but it had been so long for me, I didn't really have a type anymore.

Not that I would sleep with anyone, but that's beside the point.

I snatched up my coffee and left the shop ready to put my best foot forward. One way or another, I had to find a way to stay here. This was the only life I really knew and loved.

I wouldn't go down without a fight.

CHAPTER 4

MEMPHIS

All the screensshowed we were good to go. I tapped the button that connected everyone's mics together.

"All right, team," I said. "Is everyone in place?"

“Alpha team is good to go,” Ronan called through.

“Beta in place.” Frost’s echoed over the line.

“Delta in waiting.” That came from Anders, who was tucked away on the top of buildings across from our targets. We had called him in last minute to have some cover. While none of us wanted to put him back in the driver's seat of a sniper rifle, we knew he was our best chance.

Besides, the man only grinned whenever we asked him. There was no remorse there. Curiosity, sure, since he thought we handled only protection detail.

We would need to sit down and have a chat with him afterwards.

It wasn't that Tank didn't want anyone to know we crossed the line every now and then. It was more that the number of people who knew could make it dangerous. We still needed to take the Gilded Ones out. Once they were handled, we could let loose the reins a bit.

Hell, after them, we probably wouldn't need to do any more of these types of missions.

But I knew it would be foolish of me to speak too soon on the topic. I had a feeling our boss had caught a bug, one that screamed vigilante justice.

After I knew everyone was in place, I checked the cameras inside. They were under an encryption that had taken me nearly all day to break through. It was meant to be protected by whoever ran tech for the bad guys. They had the cameras to spy on the women and children they'd taken hostage to make sure none escaped.

I'm sure it was also to keep some of their degenerates in line. Everyone knew that trafficking victims would be hurt by not only to who they were sold to, but sometimes by the people meant to guard them. No one cared about their safety or innocence.

We did.

It's why we were about to go raid this place and take down every last fucker who had tried to hurt them. I bristled at the thought, my anger growing as I stared at the screen full of young boys and girls, women rounded with pregnancy, and teen girls huddled together crying.

This would forever taint them. It would traumatize them in ways no one could truly understand.

I couldn’t think of that now. It would send me spiraling.

I focused back on the task ahead. Watching the main area, I kept my eyes on who appeared to be the ringleader of this whole thing. He wasn’t a Gilded One, but he was high enough to be trusted with this tonight. I had no doubt where he got his ‘product’ from.

He wore a fancy suit and big ass watch. His hair was perfectly styled and everything about him screamed impotent. He strutted around the room, greeting people. Even from a distance, I knew his eyes had to be cold as death.

Once he was headed towards the stage, I gave the men the signal to move. We had to stop this before those people were sold. Money could not change hands or else we'd be dealing with a bigger cluster fuck.

On screen, I watched as the guys quietly opened the outer doors. They had already taken down the guards on the outside. They slipped through the halls quietly.

“Alpha Team turn right,” I said, then slipped my gaze to the other screen. “Beta, keep going straight. Two are coming up on your left.”

As I watched, the men moved with fluid grace, taking out the targets they needed to until they reached the back room. Inside, the women all perked up at the sight of our guys.

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