2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Milan "Ajay" Patel

" I don't know what you're going to tell them during your debriefing, but if you want to keep your job, I hope you at least have some information to give us," Agent Markum said as he escorted Milan "Ajay" Patel to their boss' office. The Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Bernard Perry. They traveled hours straight from the prison to their branch office in Tampa. It was nighttime, he was tired and hungry, but also ready to get this all over with.

"I know exactly what I want to say," Ajay said right before he knocked on his boss' door. After he was given permission, both he and Special Agent Markum entered.

ASAC Perry sat behind his desk, a sour expression on his face. The man had spent over twenty years of his life working for the DEA and at one point, Ajay had looked up to him. Now, Ajay knew he was about to kiss the future he thought he wanted—to one day be where Perry was— goodbye .

"Leave us," Perry told Markum, who obeyed, leaving Ajay alone with their ASAC. "What happened in there?"

Ajay took a deep breath, then released it slowly. "I wasn't able to get anything on the Lords, sir."

Perry scoffed. "Because you weren't trying to. What did you tell them about our operation?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Bullshit. You mean to tell me you've been sleeping with one of their members and they didn't tell you anything and vice-versa?" Perry snarled as he leaned back in his chair. He glared at Ajay with palpable anger.

Ajay could feel all of the emotions in Perry's expression and it made him uncomfortable. This was a man he never had wanted to upset or disappoint, but to him, The Lords and TT were more important.

Ajay cleared his throat. "I wasn't lying before. The Lords didn't tell me anything. I was in the prospecting phase. They make applicants do it for a full year. I was in prison, meaning I wasn't in any position to have to perform duties that would expose me to their lifestyle. I did their chores. Cooked for them, did laundry, cleaned cells, stuff like that. My goal was to get close—"

"Your goal was you were supposed to earn their trust so you could get us inside information," Perry snapped after cutting Ajay off. "Not to fuck one of them. You've compromised yourself. Nothing you say here can be believed." He scooted his chair back and stood up, walking around the desk toward Ajay. "I know you know something about them. Stuff we don't have on file. I also know you told them details about our cases. Even if you say you didn't, I don't trust you anymore."

Ajay looked his superior eye-to-eye. "What makes you think I told them anything?"

Perry returned Ajay's stare with the same level of intensity that sent sparks throughout the area. Ajay could feel his heart thumping in his chest, his palms grew moist, and he loosened his fists to let them air out. He didn't want to show any signs of nervousness. Didn't want to make them even more suspicious of him than they already were, but he wanted to know just how much they did know.

"Why don't you tell me how you got those bruises?" Perry asked as he eyed each fading bruise on Ajay's face from his bouts with both Tiny Tim and Dragon after they found out the truth.

"I got into a fight."

"With them? Did you tell them that you were an undercover DEA agent? Did they do that to you?" Perry asked, nodding his chin at the bruises.

Ajay could tell a lie if they didn't know the truth and just say that he'd gotten into an altercation with another prisoner in the laundry room or something like that. But he didn't want to. What would be the point when he'd already decided that he was quitting? Also, telling the truth in this matter might lend some credence to him telling them that he didn't divulge any DEA information to the Lords. Mixing truth with lies was something he specialized in.

Ajay sighed and nodded. "Understandably, they were upset."

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Perry growled; his lips twisted in a grimace.

"I was thinking that I would turn in my badge as soon as I was out," Ajay said.

Perry frowned. "Are you kidding me? You're quitting? Because of them?"

"I don't expect you to understand—"

"That you're choosing to be with a criminal rather than uphold your duties as a sworn officer of the law? No, I don't understand. Was his dick that good?"

"Crude."

"Was it? Because whatever they did to you in there, clearly, you weren't strong enough to endure it," Perry said. "You weren't the man or agent I thought you were."

Ajay scoffed. "I've been compromised. I told them that I was a Secret Agent and I fell in love. I know that I can't keep my career and be with Tim, so yes, I'm issuing an official notice of resignation. I'll follow this up with an official letter."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing. I had held out hope that you just had a lapse in judgment, or that you were somehow using your body to gain information, but this... this is simply pathetic," Perry said.

"If that's all, sir, I'd like to clear out my desk," Ajay said. Then he stepped over to Perry's desk and placed his badge on the varnished wood. The one that Markum had given to him on the long car ride over in hopes it would remind him of which team he was playing for.

"You've worked this hard towards advancing your career, you were on your way to becoming a damn GS-13, and this is what you're doing?" Perry tried again to see if he could talk some sense into the promising agent, who'd obviously messed up significantly but wasn't a lost cause. "What if we offer Tim Davis immunity? You can use your position to your advantage. Both of you can give us the intel we need."

Ajay laughed then and shook his head. "Are you serious, sir?"

"I wouldn't have made the offer if I wasn't."

"Then you don't know the men of the Lords of Chaos if you think any of them would betray their brothers and club," Ajay said.

Perry snorted and put his hands on his hips. "Jesus Christ, just listen to yourself. You're sounding like one of them. Please tell me that you don't respect them now. They're a bunch of fucking gun runners, drug dealers, and traffickers. God knows what else they're into and what they're about to be into now that they're with the Castiello family. We know they've murdered people and will commit more, and these are the sons of bitches you're trying to protect? Get your fucking head on straight."

"I'm not your way in and Tim Davis won't help you. He'd rather die than betray his oath to the club. If it were easy to take them down, you wouldn't be offering him immunity," Ajay said.

"So, what are you planning? To join them? To be a criminal too?" Perry lowered his hands from his hips and stepped up to Ajay, poking his chest. "Don't think we won't arrest you and put you in jail... for real this time."

"Duly noted," Ajay said.

"So, this is it? You're actually quitting?"

Ajay nodded. "I'll clear out my desk and deliver my letter tomorrow."

"What about your husband?"

Ajay smacked his lips. "What about him?"

"Don't you think you're disrespecting him and your marriage?"

"That isn't any of your business, sir. But since you brought it up, he cheated on me first. That's why I'm demanding a divorce," Ajay said and got a bit of satisfaction when he saw Perry's shocked expression for just a flash of a second. The man was known for keeping his temper in check. This was one of the few times he'd experienced ASAC Perry this emotional, so to speak. Probably because this was a situation he couldn't control. "If that's all."

"We'll be watching you," Perry said.

"I know." Ajay left the man's office and as soon as the door closed behind him, he felt some weight lifted from his consciousness. He'd been wondering about this day since the moment he knew he'd fallen in love with Tim. How would he say goodbye to the life he knew, the one he'd cultivated since he was eighteen? It was easier than he thought it was going to be.

Markum had been waiting outside the office, sitting in one of the chairs, and when he saw Ajay exit, he approached him. "How did it go?"

Ajay began walking toward the supply room where he was sure to find an empty box. He didn't have much to pack up, as he'd taken most of his stuff home before going deep cover. But what was left, he did want to keep. He found a box quickly, then began walking toward his desk.

"So, are you going to answer me?" Markum asked.

"I quit."

Markum grabbed Ajay's arm, stopping him and turning him to face him. "What the fuck do you mean you quit?"

"I mean that I'm no longer a DEA Agent and that I'll be turning in my letter of resignation and firearm tomorrow, but I turned in my badge today," Ajay said with a smile. He shook Markum's hand off his arm and began walking toward his desk. He put a few items into the box as other Agents looked at him. Several approached him and asked about him, wondering if he got fired. Just like he told Markum, he told them.

When the protests came, Ajay held his hand up. "I have already made my decision. And I don't regret it."

"You will," said Markum. "Especially when we're dragging your boyfriend's club to jail to join him. I can't believe you allowed yourself to fall so low."

"And if your opinion mattered to me, I still wouldn't give a shit," Ajay said, then shoved past Markum with his box. He took everything he wanted and ignored everyone as he made his exit. The fresh air that hit his face as soon as he was out of the building smelled more fragrant to him. The breeze was gentle and cool, it was beautiful in Tampa and he was going to enjoy the freedom he now had, both from his job and the prison. The months he'd spent in prison were made sweeter because of the men of the Lords. Already, he missed them. He took a cab home and while sitting in the back, he knew he had to find a way to let TT and Dragon know what had happened. He didn't want them to think he'd abandoned them or that he'd betrayed them. Especially not with that incriminating video they had on him.

He'd prove to the Lords that they'd never need it and he'd make sure TT would never have to worry about being loved ever again. First things first, he needed to make amends with the rest of the members of the Lords. That was one visit he wasn't looking forward to.