Page 54 of Anything But Convenient

Godric slipped his hand over his boyfriend's mouth. “That's enough out of you. We need to be serious.”

Cohen frowned and turned to look at me. His expression morphed into determination. I appreciated Godric getting his boyfriend under control. I would hate to lash out at him simply because I was worried.

Tank took the hint as well. “What I can do is reach out to an associate of mine. If they happen to know about this Mordecai individual, then they can give us a clue of where to go next.”

Damari raised up out of Ronan's lap. “If we thought this person could find Mordecai, why didn't we use them before? Why were you waiting?”

Tank's hands went to his hips. “Because I deal in favors, Damari, and sometimes it gets really fucking complicated to figure out who has what favor and how I'm going to pay off thatdebt. The favor I called in to get rid of Ajax is one that's been on my books for about ten years. The favor I'd have to call in for Mordecai is one that I don't really want to have. He and I have traded back and forth over the years, and for some reason, I always come out a little worse for wear when I do work for him.”

The way his fingers tightened on his waist told me everything. This person was powerful enough to help us, but it would come at a cost to our boss and friend.

Before any of us could say or indicate he should hold off, Tank waved his hands as if clearing something away in front of his face. “It doesn't matter what I have to promise or do, I'll do it. Archie is one of ours. They will not take him from us without getting their dues. You all need to be ready to go at a moment's notice because if this works out the way I think it will, it's going to be a real quick turnaround.”

Memphis watched Tank leave the room as the rest of the group huddled together to chat. “How the fuck does he think he's going to find this guy when I couldn’t?”

Cohen blurted out, “Because Tank has a magic dick that does what yours could never.”

Godric let his face fall into his hands as he groaned. In that moment, I really missed Orion because he would have had something to say to combat against Cohen's words. Ronan was too busy checking over Damari to intervene, and Godric was clearly fed up with the man beside him.

And my voice was gone. There was nothing I could say, no quick-witted thing I could do to ease the mood.

Because the truth was, whether it was Tank's dick or some other reason, I didn't care. So long as we got my husband back and the men who took him paid for their crimes, Tank could fucking shit fairy dust all over the office. None of it mattered.

I only wanted Archie. Once I had him back in my arms, I would burn this fucking city to the ground to avenge him.

CHAPTER 21

ARCHIE

I haveto say that getting kidnapped, thrown into the back of a van, and hauled away from my husband and my new friends was the worst thing I’d ever experienced.

Granted, I didn't remember most of the kidnapping since they knocked me out. The last thing I recalled was feeling a sting in my neck and then waking up bound in the back of an unmoving van. It was dark from what I could see through the front windows.

And fuck, it was cold.

When we were outside of the NightShade offices, the sun was still high in the sky, and it was pretty warm. That difference alone told me it had been hours. I had no idea how far away we are from home. We could be a few blocks away or several hundred.

I tried not to freak out. It was really fucking hard though. Especially considering I had no clue what would happen.

Were they going to just leave me in this van to die? Should I expect there to be a whole bad guy speech coming? Or was it that I’d be shot the minute someone showed up?

I watched way too many cop shows and knew that the minute I saw someone's face, I was screwed. So I closed my eyes andpretended to be out just a little bit longer to see if I could get a feel for things.

Without a clock or anything to tell me how long it’d been, it felt like it took a long while for someone to come back. When I heard murmured voices, I kept as still as possible hoping that a person would believe I'm out. As soon as they were close enough, I could tell it was two men. They were arguing back and forth about how things were going to go with the boss. Apparently, they're a real hard ass and they feel disrespected.

“I’ve been at this longer than Mordecai's been alive,” one guy said.

The other choked out a laugh. “Well, yeah. You're basically the fucking crypt keeper.”

My brows furrowed at the conversation. Neither of them seemed especially scared of this Mordecai person. Both held some kind of respect, it seemed. It was hard to decipher without seeing their faces. I kept as still as I could when the door opened.

“Kid is really knocked out. We didn't even tranq him that hard.” That came from the guy who was being accused of being super old.

As I listened, his partner reached in to grab my legs. I nearly jerked at the feel of a palm wrapping around me. He yanked me down, causing my head to hit the bottom of the van.

“Whoops,” he grunted.

I groaned softly, attempting to make it sound like I was only just waking up. “There he is,” the other guy said. “The boss will be happy. They want to talk.”

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