Page 2 of Fatal Temptation

Gemma had a far-off look on her face, and he was sure she was trying to disassociate from the situation. He wasn’t surprised when she turned to him, though. She gave him a flat smile and reached out to squeeze his hand.

“We’ll get them,” he told her. “No matter what it takes.”

There was a flash of something deathly in her eyes as she nodded.

“Let’s nail these fuckers,” she said, conviction in her voice.

While he liked his team, Gemma was the one he felt the closest to. They’d connected instantly and she was the only one on the team he cared to see outside the job. Granted, they all went out for beer and wings every once in a while, but he considered Gemma a friend. The fact that they hadn’t seen each other outside of work for a few weeks never seemed to matter. They always picked up right where they left off. Sometimes, there were just periods where hanging with someone from work was too much for one or both of them.

Their latest case had been a shock to the system. They’d cracked down on a pedophilia ring and the footage they’d had to watch had given him nightmares and an aversion to food for a good few weeks.

The case they were working on now probably wouldn’t be any less heartbreaking. The local PD had gotten a tip for a location where a trafficking ring they’d been hunting for the past three years might have some of their girls stashed away. The police had asked them for assistance and while Sanchez was busy coordinating the op with them, all the rest of them could do was wait for the green light.

Knowing that someone was hurting while they sat on their asses was rough as hell. Unfortunately, they had to. They needed to make sure they had enough evidence, otherwise, it would’ve been for nothing. If they couldn’t convict those sick bastards, that meant they’d be straight back out there hurting people again.

Footsteps had him looking up to see Special Agent Evan Torres walking toward them. Evan had short black hair and lively brown eyes. He was five-eight, shorter than even Gemma, though only by half an inch. Despite his short stature, Evan was vicious on a sparring mat, often holding up longer against Mo than the rest of them.

Considering Mo’s slow pace, Lucas knew not to expect much of an update.

“Any news?” Gemma asked, though the light drawl to her voice told him that she too wasn’t expecting much.

Evan shrugged and pulled out his desk chair, dropping into it with a sigh.

“Tahir’s getting the van ready, but Sanchez and the others are keeping a tight lid on the op.”

There had been a shift lately. More closed doors. Less intel flowing. He knew what that meant. He wasn’t surprised either. There was only one way an organization as big as this trafficking ring could remain undetected and ahead of the FBI for so many years; they had someone on the inside. Corruption wasn’t anything new but whoever was doing it had to be sick in the head to assist these bastards.

He often wondered how he ended up on the Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. It was one of the hardest jobs an FBI agent could have. Murder was one thing. These people were alive. They had to see what those sick fucks were doing to little kids. He had to take home with him the knowledge of just how many deprived people existed in the world. It sometimes made it very hard to function like a normal human being.

He’d given up a life with his ex to become an FBI agent. To dothis. He had to make it worth it. Chris’ brother had been involved with an outlaw motorcycle club, and they found out too late that it meant Chris couldn’t join the FBI. He’d been forced to choose between the job he’d always wanted and the man he’d planned on marrying.

He’d told Chris once that he’d chosen wrong and yet, he wasn’t so sure now. Chris was happy. He’d returned to his hometown and become a detective. Then his brother had been murdered, and Chris had suspected his motorcycle club was responsible, so he’d gone undercover only to fall for Diesel, one of the full-patch members of the club.

When Lucas had arrived in York to investigate the club for being involved in trafficking, he’d gotten way more involved himself than he’d expected, throwing his badge to the side to help Chris and the bikers. Diesel had turned out to be the son of a Yakuza boss. The one who was actually doing the trafficking, and when he had taken Diesel captive, Lucas had helped Chris and the motorcycle club to get him back.

When they’d gone to rescue Diesel, they found someone else, too. Akio. Diesel’s younger brother. Their father had held him captive his whole life. He didn’t think there had been sexual abuse though there had been plenty of abuse. Akio had lived in it his whole life whereas his brother had escaped when he was a child.

Chris and Diesel had taken Akio in, and he was now in his last year of college. It had been four years since he’d sat at Akio’s bedside in a small hospital in York, Pennsylvania, telling himself he hadn’t put his life and career on the line for a bunch of criminals but for a young boy who looked at him as if he’d hung the damned moon and stars.

It had been a year since he’d been at Akio’s twenty-first birthday. He’d almost swallowed his tongue when he’d seen the man he’d become in what felt like the blink of an eye. Akio was still slim and delicate but gone was that scared little boy he’d bribed with chocolate ice cream just to see him smile in that hospital. A lot had changed in such a short period of time. He’d done his best to avoid Akio from then on. The way Akio looked at him had made it pretty fucking clear to him that he needed to stay away. Akio being off to college would’ve been great if said college wasn’t located in the same city as he was.

CHAPTER THREE

Akio

HIS NIGHTMARE had shaken him. It wasn’t anything new. He’d been having that nightmare since that dreaded day he’d shot his father and was finally freed. He tried to keep quiet about the nightmare, but Chris and Diesel always seemed to know anyway. Which was probably why Chris had been making pancakes for breakfast instead of their usual cereal. It was likely why Diesel had given him a tighter hug than usual before leaving for the day.

He couldn’t find it in himself to complain about it. He knew all it meant was that they loved him.Love. It had been hard to accept at first. Their help, too, despite how desperately he’d wanted both.

He was in a much better place now, having had a real family for four years with all that came with it. The good. The bad. The endless support and love. The nagging, too. He almost hadn’t accepted Chris and Diesel’s offer to go to college because he’d have to leave them, and he knew especially Diesel didn’t really want him to go. He’d needed to, though. He’d realized that after his first week away. He’d needed that space to grow.

He heard the door open and close and rose from his desk chair, leaving his laptop on, the white page utterly blank as it had been for hours. His assignment wasn’t exactly moving along smoothly but statistics would have to wait.

He headed into the hallway and walked downstairs, unsurprised to find his sister sprawling on the couch, feet on the coffee table. Her backpack was on the floor next to the couch along with her jacket.

“D’s gonna kill you if he sees those dirty feet on his coffee table,” he said with a smile on his lips.

Addie looked up at him with a raised brow.Right. Diesel wasn’t here. Yet.

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