❀Azalea❀
"Don't look at me like that," he glares darkly right back at me.
"Where'd this confidence come from?" he questions darkly, "you didn't have it a few weeks ago."
My facade crumbles. As so do my big girl britches.
He knew what he did hurt me.
I go to walk away from him again. I'd hate it if he saw the tears gathering in my eyes. He already thinks bad enough about me.
"I fucking told you-" he starts angrily but I cut him off, jerking my arm away from his as hard as I can at the moment.
"I don't care what you told me," my voice turns shaky.
"Lilah-" I cut him off again, turning around to shove my finger right in that stupid gorgeous face of his, not caring anymore if he sees the new tears slowly rolling down my cheeks.
What happened to me never crying in front of people?
"Don't call me that," I let my voice waver.
"I can call you whatever the fuck I want," he keeps his eyes away from me, not looking at me once.
Heck, I don't even have to worry about him seeing me crying. He's not even looking at me.
"I can too," I'll probably regret this later.
"You jerk," his darkly glaring eyes snap to mine only to soften a bit when they see me. Like I care.
"You're mean, you're rude, you don't care about anything, you only think about yourself, you have no manners, you-" he cuts me off jerking me to him softly.
"Shut up," his voice rumbles against me.
"You don't think before you speak, and you have no idea how your words affect other people," I begin to cry harder, shaking my head.
"You're cruel. You're evil."
"I wish you weren't so mean," I finally let out a sob. He crushes my face to his chest, his strong arms holding me impossibly close to his warm body.
With all the feelings taking over my body I sob into the chest of the man who has made me feel this way.
When the words I spoke to him finally register, I regret them. I was mean. No one should be talked to like I just talked to him. That thought only makes me continue to cry.
He smells so good. That makes me cry.
He's holding me. That makes me cry.
He's mean to me. That makes me cry.
A good little while passes with me just crying into him while he holds me to his chest. But then he pulls me away from him.
With softer eyes than I'd ever seen but his eyebrows still pulled together, he wipes the tears from my face.
"Don't cry over me," he speaks in a tone softer than I've heard from him ever before.
"Don't make me," I reply softly, my heart still in pain. His hand goes to my hair, it drifts through my locks before lightly grabbing it and tilting my head up to his.
"I don't know how to be good to you," he finishes and my heart falls.
"I grew up with no mother. No sisters, no grandmother, no aunts," he starts, his dark eyes fixed in on my green ones.
"No one was there to tell me how to do it," his other hand brushes against my shoulder blade.
What about his dad?
"But I never did anything to you," I whisper. I hate to make myself seem full of myself but I don't think I deserved this.
"I know," his head falls downward and I find myself wanting to keep seeing those eyes of his.
"You shouldn't have acted like you wanted to kiss me if you actually didn't," I tell him. More like scold but he deserves it I guess.
His eyes raise back to mine.
"But I did," his voice remains quiet as if someone could hear us if he talked too loudly. There wasn't really anyone around.
The hand not in my hand comes to rest on the side of my neck, his thumb brushing against my jaw.
I can't do this again.
"Grey," I allow my hand to reach up to his. I gently pull it away from me, a little shake to my head. I look up to see his jaw clenched a bit. Nowhere near how it usually is. We're getting somewhere.
"I-I can't do that," I say softly.
Please don't let this backfire on me.
"Friends?" I question trying to keep the hesitancy out of my voice. He slowly takes his hand out of my hair. The same hand grabs onto the hair tie on my wrist. He fiddles with it, keeping his eyes downcast.
He better not think I've forgiven him. I have not.
God he looks so cute.
His jaw clenches twice like he's holding back from saying something. I think we're definitely getting somewhere.
"Friends," he utters as if tasting the word on his tongue. Then, his eyes come back up and meet mine. He lets out a little sigh looking between both of my eyes.
I give him a little nod. His jaw clenches once more.
"Alright," he finally agrees and a small smile lights up my face.
We can be friends. No romantic things. No romantic thoughts. No romantic gestures. And if everything goes okay, perhaps I can teach him what he never was taught.
"Hello!" I greet and his eyebrows furrow in a cute confused face. Stop, no romantic thoughts.
"I'm Azalea!" I smile.
"Azalea..." he drawls out for the rest of my name, now understanding that we're starting over. A second chance.
"Azalea Delilah Carson," I fill it in for him.
"Lilah," he decides, just as the first time. Although, it was in a much nicer tone this time. And there was no glare.
I can definitely deal with this.
"What's your name?"
"Grey," he says shortly, his eyes not acting as if we're strangers. He can't keep his gosh darn eyes off my legs.
"My legs don't have eyes, Grey," I remind him and his eyes snap to mine angrily before they simmer down.
"Then don't wear that," he mutters under his breath, I guess forgetting that we're supposed to not know each other.
"You can't-" he cuts me off. 'You can't tell me what to wear' went down the drain.
"It rose to the fuckin' heavens and the guys saw it," his voice turns dark but I have a hard time figuring out if it's toward me or the guys.
"Free show, amirite?"
"Not funny," he grumbles, gripping onto the top of my waistband. I've decided that a grumbly-Grey is just his personality.
"Friends," I remind him softly and he lets out a harsh sigh releasing my waistband in a more than touchy way, dragging his hands along my waist.
He opens his mouth to say something only to be closed a second later as he finds something over my shoulder.
"Azalea Carson! What the hell?" Aaron's voice fills my ears and my eyes widen a bit. I forgot about him.
I left him waiting, didn't I?
"Who's this?" he questions as he nears Grey and me, his eyes taking on a slightly widened state as they peer at the man beside me.
"Who the fuck's that?" Grey questions down to me although his scowl stays on Aaron.
"Aaron, this is my friend Grey," I hear Grey's knuckles crack as he clenches his fist. Holy cow.
"Grey," I grab his clenched fist and place it behind me so that Aaron can't see it. God knows he'd freak and probably call the police or something.
"This is my friend Aaron," I look between both guys. Aaron's eyes are narrowed at Grey and Grey, well, of course, he's glaring at him.
The fist behind me unclenches and grips onto the back of my shirt as if it acts as some sort of calming solution.
The two don't say anything. They're sizing each other up. Losers.
If I was Aaron, I would be extra friendly to the large man beside me.
It's quite obvious the size difference between the two. Aaron may be fit but Grey is one heck of a man.
"Um," I break the silence.
"I should head on back to-"
"I haven't seen you around here," Aaron chides. He grew up here, he knows a lot of people.
"I haven't been around here," his deep voice grumbles from beside me. We've got a Knoxville boy over here.
"Is that so?" Aaron asks like he's some sort of FBI interrogator. Excuse me Aaron, I'm the one with the qualifications here, not you.
Why so suspicious all of a sudden?
I can feel that Grey doesn't like Aaron's words by the way he releases my shirt before grabbing a bigger bunch of it and leaning closer to me.
"What's your fuckin' deal?" I look up to Grey as he scowls darkly at Aaron.
Aaron raises his arms in surrender.
"We should head back to the store," I interrupt them. Gosh, these two are stressing me the heck out.
I walk out of Grey's grip and toward Aaron. I turn back to him.
"Goodbye, Grey," I tell him softly before grabbing Aaron's arm and pulling him with me.
"I trust that guy as far as I can throw him," Aaron lets out as we walk back to my car.
"That's not very far," I laugh, "he's a lot bigger than you!"
"That hurt my ego a bit don't say it again," he grumbles back.
"There's no reason to 'not trust him.' You don't even know him enough to decide that," I shake my head at him.
"He's a dickhead."
What can he just see that through Grey's stance or something? He's spoken two sentences to him.
"I've already established that he's one of those but you haven't so don't judge," I point my finger out and he lets out a defeated sigh.
~~~
ϟ Grey ϟ
-Warning: Trafficking, rape, drugs, and murder take place or are mentioned after this point-
I slam open the door to the bar. People look my way but I shrug them off.
I push open the door to the back and walk down the hallway. At the last door, I push it open.
"Bossman, did you just have a quickie?" Jonas smirks my way from his seat on the brown leather couch.
I grab him by the front of his shirt, lifting him to me.
"Fuck off 'fore your nose gets broken," I sneer and he backs down. Fucking idiot.
I release his shirt and he sinks back into the couch. Just the thought of them seeing anywhere near under her skirt makes me want to knock them all the fuck out.
"What's got you all riled up?" Maxon inquires, his blue eyes glistening like he already knows the answer.
I ignore them.
She's got me fucking riled up.
"Aaron," I say suddenly, "did Jake ever say anything about an Aaron?"
They look down at the mention of his name. He was one of us.
"His best friend," Theo speaks up, "It was his best friend."
Fuck.
My hands fidget like they always fucking do when I'm stressed.
Lilah's face flashes through my mind. I shouldn't want to do the things I want to do to her.
Like hell I could be friends with her. Not even five minutes after she said we can only be friends, my fucking hands couldn't stay away from that waist of hers.
Kissing her once has given me a feel of what I could have. It was a mistake getting so close to her, I know that. Kissing her and holding her like I was put dreams in my head that shouldn't be there. I shouldn't be glad that they're there but I fucking am.
After that little taste, I felt like I could never be away from her. The way her hands held onto me I could've stayed there forever.
She's too good for me. She's sweet. But I can't fucking stay away.
I'm drawn to her. Every time I see that damn store I have to see her.
She's got a smart mouth, she annoys the shit out of me, and she's wild but fuck if she hasn't grown on me.
It's worse that she's Jake's little sister. And it's even worse that she doesn't know how he was involved with us. Even worse than that, Jake made sure no one went near his baby sister. She was off limits even though none of us had ever seen her.
Except for me. I was the only fucking one that he ever showed a picture of her to and now I can't quit imagining what she'd look like naked.
Fuck me.
I wish she would.
I just can't treat her right. I don't fucking know how. That's what comes with having a shitty father and a nonexistent mother.
"I can't do this anymore," Jai comes into the room dragging his hands through his hair and down his face.
"I hate taking orders, I hate handing people food, I don't like the way people treat waiters like shit, Grey, get someone else to do it, I can't anymore," he breathes out. I tilt my head back and look at him.
"Suck it up bitch-" Jonas starts until I stop him.
"Jonas," I grumble and he turns toward me. I nod my head to Jai who lets out a loud laugh.
"Are you kidding me?" Jonas questions, his mouth open wide.
"I'm not a people person," he adds and I feel my teeth grit together.
"Get the fuck out there before I put you out there after beating your ass," I glare at him and he stands and yanks the notepad from Jai.
"Have fun buddy," Jai calls out as Jonas leaves.
I hate this fucking restaurant but it's a nice cover for our base.
"What time are we leaving?" Jai asks. I look up at the clock on the wall.
"Now," I watch as the clock hits five. We all rise from our seats.
"Do you think he'll give up at a million?" Theo questions, tucking a pistol in the back of his pants.
I pick up the file on the coffee table in front of me.
David Anthony Morris
Documentation from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
DOB - 8/14/76
Birthplace - Griffin, Georgia
Sex - Male
Height - 5'10
Eyes - Brown
Previous Criminal Offenses - Two Counts of Assault and battery, Three Counts of Statutory Rape, Two Counts of Kidnap, and One Count of Domestic Abuse.
Reported Offenses - Human Trafficking
Location of Warehouse - 359 Marly Lane, Greer, Tennesee
Relatives - Ex-wife, Marina Carnite
Fucking psycho.
I give Theo a shrug and we continue loading up.
"You guys seriously are going to leave me here by myself?" Jonas questions as we walk out to the main floor.
"George and the chefs are still here," Jai points to the kitchen and Jonas glares at his big brother.
"You'll get in on the next one," Roman looks around the place, his calculating eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary.
At the coat rack in the closet near the door, Jai passes out the padded leather jackets. He hands one out to me but as usual, I refuse.
"One of these days you're going to regret not putting one of those on," Jai sighs and I glare at his head as he pulls on the jacket.
If they really want to kill me, they'd shoot me in the head.
~~~
I lean against the outside wall of the warehouse as the guys spread out as they're supposed to. Jai takes his place to the right of me at the entrance.
"You look like a fuckin' idiot," I grumble at him as he places a pair of sunglasses on his nose. It's fucking dark outside.
"No, I look official," he argues before knocking loudly on the door. I lean my head back against the wall and let out a sigh.
I hope one of these motherfuckers try me. My fist has been itching to punch somebody.
After a minute, the door swings open.
"Who the hell are you?" a gravelly voice questions and I can only imagine him to be David Morris.
"We've come to make you an offer," Jai talks smoothly which is exactly why he's constantly put in the negotiating position of what we do.
"We?" he questions and I push myself off the wall. I stop at the edge of the doorway, slightly leaning into it. David takes a step back.
"I'll give you a million for the property," I take a look inside, over his shoulder. Half naked women lay on and around men. They look scared for their fucking lives.
I look back at David and try to keep my face emotionless. This motherfucker deserves to die.
"And everything that comes with it," I add.
"A million?" he questions, looking surprised to hear it.
"A million," Jai nods, "cash if you want."
"You want in on the trafficking world?" David smiles and I grit my teeth. My knuckles crack at how hard they're balled in a fist.
"We definitely want in," Jai smirks before holding out his hand, "Michael Jackson."
Fucking dumbass.
"Michael Jackson?" David asks, shaking Jai's hand.
"My parents named me after him," he replies coolly and David looks over at me.
"That's Cruz Marshall," Jai answers and I send him a harsh glare.
"David Morris," he extends his hand toward me. I only glance at it before returning my gaze to his face.
I don't shake hands with fucking rapists.
"He's a germaphobe," Jai explains and as soon as we're done with this bust I'm breaking his fucking nose.
"Oh that's alright," David waves it off, his long greasy hair shaking as he does, "why don't you come inside and look around while I consider your offer?"
"We would love to," Jai smiles as the plan executes itself easily. Jai enters first and I follow.
The smell of weed and even a hint of the fucking nasty chemical-smell of burning cocaine hits my nose. Walking through the main floor I look around at everything and everyone. Counting, finding exits, windows, doors, everything.
I hear a crunch under my foot. I stop in my tracks and look down and the crushed meth pipe.
"Hey man," a slurred voice calls out to the left of me. I turn my glare to him.
"You crushed my pipe," the man calls out, quieter this time. I look at the girl on his lap. She can't be older than fourteen.
Jai walks back to beside me. He sees my stare on the two.
"We'll come back to him," he assures knowing damn well that I'm fixing to throw our whole bust away because of one guy.
I shake the thoughts away and continue through the main floor.
"How many girls do you have?" Jai questions. I've counted thirteen only in this room.
"Thirty in total," he answers proudly, "but tomorrow we're getting a 'shipment' of about ten more."
He leads us into another room. He shuts the door behind us and my senses heighten.
"This place is nice," Jai lies through his teeth.
"Only the best for the bitches," David chuckles, turning. My hands itch to wrap themselves around his neck.
He opens one more door and a dimly lit room is on the other side. Jai walks in first and I follow. Hardly a second after entering, he comes to a sudden halt. He turns around quickly to me and a look takes onto his face.
He's furious.
"Fucking get him," he tells me quietly and usually, I'd beat his ass for telling me what to do but with the look on his face, I understand. Feeling David's presence right behind me, I send an elbow to the side of his head.
He falls into the wall and before he can yell out to the stoned guys in the main room, my fist connects with the center of his face. I feel his nose crack under my knuckles and he falls to the floor.
I barely hear Jai call the guys in with the radio too busy beating this sick motherfucker's face in.
Before he dies, unfortunately, I pull him up, shoving him against the wall. Jai tosses me the cuffs and I crank them onto his wrists as tight as they'll go before letting him fall back to the ground.
"Grey, come help me with her," Jai calls out and I finally get a look at what had him so fucked up.
A naked girl-no, a naked child lays with her hands and feed wired to a bed. I avert my eyes immediately and I wish, I fucking wish I could kill that motherfucker.
Both Jai and I untwist the wires holding her wrists in place, followed by her feet. Jai quickly takes off his jacket, followed by his sweatshirt. He gives his sweatshirt to the girl and she puts it on.
"Thank you," she cries, "are you going to help me?"
"We're here to help you," Jai helps her stand and she does so shakily, the sweatshirt falling down to her knees.
"We work with the F.B.I," he explains, knowing it's easier than telling her exactly what we do.
We're not the F.B.I. We're an independent organization. They pay us for the jobs we do for them and we get the full percentage and ownership of the properties from the criminals we bust.
Money is definitely not an issue for any of us.
"How old are you?" he questions helping her to the door. She wipes her tears and sniffles.
"Twelve."
"Fucking hell," I send David's body a strong kick, most likely breaking a couple of his ribs.
"He-He almost touched me," she explains, "but someone knocked on the big door before he did."
"Did anyone else try to touch you?" he questions and she shakes her head.
"He told them not to," she whispers, "he said he wanted me for himself."
This fucking kid is going to be terrified and scarred for the rest of her life. He opens the door we came in and I grab David's foot, dragging him behind us.
We make it back to the main floor and every guy is cuffed and sitting against a wall. I count only fifteen guys.
There was sixteen.
I drop David's leg and walk to one of the guys that looks the least stoned or drunk.
I bend to his level.
"Where the fuck is he?" I question darkly.
"Who?" the guy questions back but I can see in his eyes that he knows exactly what I'm talking about.
"Don't fucking play with me," I press my fist into his sternum and his eyes widen in pain. His throws his head forward and he headbutts me, his forehead only connecting with my bottom lip.
I spit the blood out and sneer at him.
"He went to a back room before all your fucking pigs came in here," he answers and I rise.
"Shut him up," I tell Roman who smirks and I go to find the sixteenth guy.
I find him in a room at the end of a long hallway, the door cracked open, a girl on his lap, and his back faced toward me.
I stalk toward him and the girl sees me. This one is older than the last two and she's actually got clothes on.
Her eyes turn wide in fear and I shake my head at her mouthing an 'I won't hurt you'.
I begrudgingly take the gun out of the back of my pants. I like to use my fists but whatever.
I press it against the back of his head and he freezes. I click off the safety and he hears it.
"Hands off," I tell him and he raises his hands from her. She runs off as soon as he does.
"Stand up," I growl at him and he does. I see him grab something to the side of him and I internally let out a sigh.
He turns and points the gun at me. I tilt my head a bit. He can't be older than twenty.
"Put it down, kid," I tell him gruffly.
A kill is a lot of fucking paperwork.
He clicks the safety off his own gun and I roll my eyes. I lower my gun, I grab onto the end of his, and I send my knee up to his elbow, breaking his arm and he drops the gun in my hand.
He lets out loud shouts in pain and I grit my teeth at the dramatic loud noise. I drag him harshly back into the main room and Maxon cuffs him as a few of my other guys bring in the remainder of the girls from isolated rooms.
I count all thirty.
The guys begin the protocol on each of the girls. I find the closest one to me.
"Name?" I ask her as Jai hands me a report to write her information down on.
"Anna Terri," she whispers, still obviously scared to death.
"Date of birth?" I finish writing her name and look up at her.
"10/11/03," she says and I grip the pen harshly. She's fifteen for fucks sake, what the fuck is wrong with these motherfuckers?
"Birthplace?"
"Chicago," she says and hope fills her eyes as she realizes she's going to go home.
This is going to be a long night.
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Thank y'all for reading! I gave you a little bit of insight on what Grey does. I'm sorry for this chapter being so depressing and all but human, especially child trafficking is very real and it truly needs to be stopped.
*Not edited*
Word count: 4264
-Ashlyn E. Montgomery