Epilogue I

EPILOGUE I

TAKESHI

If Tank hadn’t hired a guy to take out Mordecai right away, I’d have lost my fucking mind the second Archie showed up for sale on that site. While Memphis had turned off his system in the war room, he’d kept the apps running on his personal phone to ensure anything that popped up for Mordecai or Archie got our attention.

And it definitely got my fucking attention.

My husband was on a human trafficking website going for millions of dollars. The numbers on the screen climbed higher and higher, each bid growing by thousands. Whoever these people were, they thought my Archie to be a catch.

I intended to find every single one of them to show them just how taken he was. I’d string them up one by one until no one was left.

“It’s going to work out. Trust my guy,” Tank whispered in my ear.

While I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t find it in me to agree. The screen was damning, as was the fact that we hadn’t heard anything from his contact yet. If he had Archie, surely he’d have called, right?

My thoughts were interrupted when Tank’s office door flew open. I stood quickly when I saw who was on the other side.

Archie.

My Archie.

He ran straight to me, tears brimming in his eyes. I tugged him to my chest, my heart aching as I realized this was real. It wasn’t a dream.

“Well, fuck. That was quicker than expected.” Tank grumbled the words, though I heard the relief mixed in.

A large man stood in the open door, a leather jacket with patches on the chest and a pair of jeans so tight I could tell he worked out more than the average person.

He gave me an up-nod once our eyes met. “Glad I could deliver him in one piece. He needs a shower and a doctor checkup. The bitch was feeding him, so heaven knows what’s in his system.”

I pulled back to examine Archie. My hands roamed over him, checking to see if anything was amiss. Outwardly, he was fine. I caught the scent of vomit, though I didn’t mind.

If I could smell him, then he was really here.

“Thank you,” I signed to him. Archie grinned at the motion, then turned to the man and said, “He’s telling you thank you. I’ll say it too because we both mean it. You saved me.”

“It’s no biggie. Besides, I couldn’t turn away a three-favor deal from Tank. That’s too good an offer for an easy job like this one.”

“How did you even know where to go?” Memphis jumped into the conversation; his patience clearly gone. “I’d searched high and low for Mordecai, yet you stormed the place within hours of hearing from Tank. Seems suspicious.”

The man stood to his full height, his gaze hard. “You trying to accuse me of something? No need. My club runs on a system of checks and balances. I knew Mordecai was about to wind up in hot shit, and I only needed one reason to go in and take her out. Besides, I had to wait until the rest of my guys could come help me free the others.”

Archie gasped and spun to fully face the man. “The men in the collars, right? You saved them all?”

The guys smiled softly as he nodded. “Yeah. My boy Slayer took a few of the others and went to grab them once we cleared the place.” He turned to Tank. “It’s your call what happens next. We can torch it all or you can dig through the evidence she left behind. Either way, the favor count remains the same.”

Tank shared a look with Memphis. They communicated without saying a word.

“We’ll take a look at the evidence. How big of a mess is there? Can you pile up the bodies to burn outside or is it too residential?”

The pair shared a laugh, then the other guy shrugged. “We can make it work. Doubt your team wants to work around all that death and blood anyway. Can be a real deterrent.”

Archie shivered in my arms, which made me wonder just how much death my husband had to see today. I vowed to make sure he wouldn’t have to see any more in this lifetime. The only blood he’d ever see was from a papercut or a blood donation drive.

As if hearing my thoughts, he turned to me, face turned up. “I rinsed my mouth before we came over. Can I kiss you, husband?”

My mouth was on his before he even finished speaking. I didn’t care who else was in the room or how the situation might not have called for it. I needed to possess my husband now that he’d made it back safely.

I’d promised to never let him go again, and that much was true. I hoped he understood just how close we were about to become because I planned on spending every waking moment by his side.

Cohen’s voice broke through the calm I felt. “You know, this is really going to make proving that citizenship stuff a piece of cake.”

Silence followed his words for a moment before the group broke into laughter. Even Archie seemed amused at the offhanded comment from our goofiest team member.

“I’m just glad Carver was able to find me so fast. I never doubted you guys were coming. And though he wasn’t who I expected, I’m grateful all the same,” Archie said to the group once everyone calmed. “He’s a good guy, Tank. Well worth the favors he intends to ask.”

The man we now knew to be Carver grinned wide. “You hear that, Tank? No whining when I come calling those babies in. Archie here believes I’m a good guy.”

With that, he twirled out of the office like he was the happiest guy in the world. We watched him leave, none of us saying a word.

Tank broke the silence after we heard the chime of the elevator. “You need to see the doc to get your head checked, Archie boy. Carver is not a good guy. He’s one of the deadliest men I know with a temper to rival Ronan and Memphis combined. He doesn’t have friends or relationships. The only people consistent in his life are his club members.”

Archie shrugged before tucking himself further into my chest. “I’m just saying what I saw. He’s got a heart of gold beneath all that violence.”

My boss scoffed, though he didn’t push. Instead, we were all given our marching orders to head home and rest. It had been a long day of chasing leads. With Archie home, we could take a few minutes to get some sleep.

I looked forward to holding my husband all night long.

In our bed.

In our home.

Safe and sound where he belonged.