Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

ARCHIE

Sinclair had definitely done well for himself when he snagged the hottie computer nerd. I would never try to break up a happy home. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t ogle a man who was clearly blessed with good looks and a functional brain.

There were so few of them on this earth as it was.

“Can you tell me a bit more about what’s needed?” I asked the pair as they stared me down.

My friend was giddy, his body bouncing in the chair as he gave me the widest smile I’d ever seen. His partner was less friendly, though his smirk told me he wasn’t angry at my arrival.

I would think he wouldn’t be since Sinclair made it clear I was going to be helping them.

“The team just arrived. They’ve got several… people who need help. We aren’t sure where they’re from or how long they’ve been gone,” Memphis answered while Sinclair disappeared through the doorway again.

“Several? I’ll do what I can. Hopefully it will be enough.”

I was confident in my abilities. My only concern was over ensuring I got to speak with everyone to the degree they needed me.

Sinclair jogged back into the room, another man hot on his heels. “I’m not even sure if you’ll be able to help them. We need to try though.”

His smile dimmed as he spoke. Whatever this was wouldn’t be good. Anything that made his normally cheerful self so sad couldn’t be.

I didn’t get the chance to ask before the sound of heavy footfall echoed down the hall. I heard ‘incoming’ being muttered, likely from Memphis if the deep cadence was anything to go by.

Whipping around, I braced myself for whatever came next.

The first person I spotted was a large man in full tactical gear. He looked like a fucking Viking, all dark, mysterious, and bloody.

He was really fucking bloody.

With him were more largely muscular men, each with the same earnest expressions. I tried to take them all in at once, but I was quickly distracted by the people behind them.

The crying was what hit me first. Soft, desperate tears as another voice tried to soothe them in a native language I immediately recognized as Finnish. It was one I was least fluent in.

Still, I could understand enough.

“We will get through this.”

“These are good men.”

“No one else will hurt you, sweet girls.”

As the men parted before me, they revealed a swarm of bodies. There were women cradling their obviously pregnant bodies, young boys scowling as if preparing for battle, and frightened girls. All of them were in tattered clothes and covered in bruises.

Vomit rose in my throat as it became clear what I was looking at.

Survivors.

They were all survivors of something horrific. Something I’d never be able to understand no matter what languages I spoke. All I could do now was help.

Squatting down, I made myself as small as possible. “Hello. My name is Archie,” I said in Finnish. I waited to see how many of them would respond. Once I got one language figured out, I could find out the rest.

One of the pregnant women pulled a little girl into her side. I watched her eyes take me in slowly, then she looked around the room. Since I’d only just arrived at the space, I knew exactly what she saw.

It was obviously an office space, though it was also somehow more. The various desks spread around. The large computer screens on the walls. The materials spread about showing mission details and plans of how they were going to handle things. All of it painted the picture of a well-organized team.

And since the men were standing back waiting patiently, one would say it was a team of good guys. At least I knew that last part well enough on my own. Sinclair would never be with someone evil. He didn’t have it in him.

“These men want to help you. I’m here to help them understand,” I told her.

She looked down at the girl, then nodded. “I am Isla. This is Talia, my daughter.”

My eyes widened. “Hi, Talia. Isla, where is home?”

Her face fell, all semblance of relief dropping away. The largest man of the group stepped towards me. The survivors all froze, like they were afraid I was about to suffer some type of punishment for Isla’s reaction.

I watched as the man in tactical gear kneeled on the floor beside me. “I heard names. Are you able to understand them?”

Talia watched us together, her eyes critical over every move we made. I decided then and there to make a point to them all.

Turning, I looked him up and down. “You’re a bit scary. Is it ok if I hug you? I want to prove to them you can be trusted. She only froze when I asked about home. I think… I think they’ve never really known peace.”

Every man in the room froze at my words. You could feel the icy chill that took over. It wasn’t because they were ready to explode with anger. At least, they weren’t going to do so with everyone around. It was more than that.

The man who’d followed Sinclair back into the room came to my other side. He immediately dropped to his knees like I was, then wrapped me in a hug. I was so shocked, I froze.

“I’m Tank,” he whispered when we were close. “This is my team, and I’m willing to do whatever is needed to help these people. Ronan there was just worried his boy might get upset if he found out he was hugging cute interpreters in the office.”

I chuckled at the new information. When I looked at Ronan, he shrugged, his expression a bit sheepish.

“He’s a jealous little thing sometimes. Plus, this group is full of gossips.”

Tank pulled back, then stayed beside me on the floor. Ronan placed a hand on my shoulder. He squeezed gently, then turned to face the group waiting for us.

When I looked back, Isla was still staring. “They are good men. We want to help. If you don’t have a home, they will help you start over new. You don’t have to go back to anyone who has hurt you.”

She tucked Talia against her at my words. Tears flowed down her face freely as she replied, “Thank you.”

Turning to Ronan, I pointed at the two of them. “They speak Finnish. Can we separate by languages as we go? It’s easier for me to work in small groups if I can.”

He nodded, then suggested I tell them the plan. It only took a minute for her to agree to move to the side of the room with another of the men in tactical gear. This guy’s name was Frost, and though he looked as scary as the rest, he was super friendly to Isla and Talia.

Once they were separated, I was able to get through the rest of the group fairly quickly. The children had all been either sold by a family member or orphaned at a young age and living on the streets. Without families to go back to, they were prime targets for human trafficking assholes.

The women were a mix of the same, however couple of them had been taken while going about their everyday lives. One from a grocery store parking lot and another walking out of her doctor’s office. They were each in various stages of pregnancy, though all over six months.

By the time I finished, there was only one boy we didn’t have information on. Oddly enough, he was also the one that had distanced himself from the group since they arrived.

Tank motioned for the man standing with him to come forward. At his approach, I noticed the way the boy slouched as if to make himself look smaller.

“Do you know him?” Tank asked his guy.

The other man nodded stiffly. “I’m pretty sure I do. It’s not something I can really go into right now. But I suspect I know exactly where he should be and how to get in touch with his family.”

“I trust you intend to handle it alone then, Orion.”

Orion scowled. “I have to. There are… answers I need. This boy should never have been anywhere near this stuff. I need to check on things. I know now isn’t a good time, but —“

“It’s never a good time. Get in touch with his parents. You’re not to leave though. They can come here. Clear it with Jared, and he’ll setup security clearance.”

At Tank’s demands, some of the tension fled Orion’s shoulders. I watched the entire interaction with interest. Not only was Orion another uber attractive male on this roster of hotness, but he was also being extremely protective of the child with him. It made me wonder what the story was.

“Thank you for your help tonight, Archie,” Tank said once his team turned away from us. “It’s wonderful Sinclair led us to you at just the right time.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, it worked for me. It’s not like I have anything better to do right now. The job search is not going well at all.”

Tank’s frown held a touch of curiosity. “I don’t have all the details. Care to step in the hall to fill me in?”

Looking around, I noticed all the groups working together. Each man who’d brought the survivors in was now crouched or seated with them and working through what they could. With a better idea of the languages they spoke, they had a better grip on how to get the information they needed. I built spreadsheets for them to fill out since each group had at least one adult in it who spoke the language well enough to help get the children’s basic information down.

Tank motioned for me to follow him, so I went. I hadn’t lied when I said it wasn’t a waste of my time or anything. Whatever questions he had, I’m sure I could answer them easily enough.

In the empty hall, the sound level dropped suddenly. I felt disoriented as I focused on the man across from me. While I doubted he was about to offer me a job, he might know someone who could.

“What’s your story, Archie? Give me the brief.”

I smiled at the terminology. “No story really. I have a love of languages. I’ve picked them up over the years. A few weeks ago, I went to a hiring agency to get help finding a new job. They were helping me along fine until one of the places I’d applied to called my job at the time. My boss fired me on the spot for not being loyal to the company. Since I’m here on a work visa, the urgency of needing a new job is pretty intense.”

“I would say so,” he said. “Are there other options to allow you to stay?”

The way he said the question felt almost like it was rhetorical. I shook the thought away instantly. I didn’t think a man who just helped rescue a shit ton of trafficking victims would mock my citizenship status.

“Not really. It’s find another job or get out.”

He hummed. “Or get married.”

I froze at the three little words.

Get married?

Who the hell would I marry? I hadn’t had a serious relationship in… well, ever.

“I’d need a boyfriend for that. Someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, you know.” I laughed to cover up how awkward things had turned at his suggestion.

Tank didn’t seem as frazzled as I was. If anything, he was pleased by my confirmation that I was single.

“What if you could stay in the country and have everything you need taken care of? Money, a home, food, and anything else you could think of. The only stipulation is that you marry someone for, let’s say, three years. After that, you’ll be a full citizen, and you can get divorced.”

My jaw dropped. I tried to speak but couldn’t. It was as if my brain short-circuited.

“You don’t have to say yes now. I just thought it might be a viable option. The perks of being me would mean I could get you married quickly and have you sitting down with the right people to discuss your stay in this country within days after the papers are filed.”

I would have been less shocked by a unicorn stepping off the elevator and greeting me by name in that exact moment. At least that would make me think I was dreaming.

As it stood, this was all very real.

And while Tank’s offer seemed too good to be true — because it obviously was — I wasn’t going to simply say yes to the insane plan. I didn’t even know the person he wanted me to marry.

Which made me think…

“Who is it you’re trying to tie me down to? Do you have someone in need of a husband?”

His smile didn’t falter. “He doesn’t need a husband, no. What he needs is a partner. Someone who can help translate his words into the world until he’s ready to take hold of the reins of his life again.”

I scrunched my face at the description. A small memory came to mind from my coffee with Sinclair earlier that day.

“The guy who needs to learn ASL,” I said quickly.

Tank tapped his head in a gesture to show I was right. “That’s the one. You two would both get something out of the deal. He’d get to build his skills in a new language, and you’d be able to stay here to live your life as you please. The only caveat is that you’d have to stay married and live together during this time.”

“Live together?!”

“Of course. You’d hate for a surprise inspection to go wrong because you two aren’t in the same dwelling. They don’t take kindly to fraud.”

“I’m not trying to fool anyone like that. That’s why I didn’t even consider it an option before now,” I huffed out.

Tank’s hands went to his hips. “I’ll be honest here, Archie. I like you. Sinclair vouched for you at first, but watching you work — yeah, kid, you’re the real deal. You deserve to stick around, so I’m trying to give you that chance. Selfishly, it also gives me a person to keep an eye on one of my guys. He needs to find himself again. I’m worried he won’t without a push.”

“And you think marriage is that push?”

“I do,” he said with a smirk. “If it’s not, I’ll find another way. My whole life, I’ve trusted my gut on things. Right now, it’s telling me I can hook two fish on one line. You both get what you need, and no one really has to change all that much.”

Except my whole fucking life.

Good grief. I couldn’t believe I was even still listening to this.

“How about this? You can meet him and spend some time getting to know him as a person. If it’s still a no, I’ll see if I can maybe find you something work wise. Deal?”

I stuck my hand out quickly, not wanting him to take back the offer. The marriage would be a last resort. There was no way I’d see this guy and decide to tie my life to his.

That was some storybook shit. My life was far from happily ever after.