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One by one, the members of my family that have communications devices in, confirm that they can hear Kellan, as well as everyone else. Once Kellan confirms that the devices are working, and he loops in Ethan, who will be running security from the house, we wait for Bree to take over.

“Is everyone in position? Team A?” she asks.

Shane, who is leading point on Team A, replies. “Team A in position. We are outside of The Baron’s compound. Declan and his team are taking point at the back, and Lincoln and his team from Southside Security are with me at the front.”

Kellan has the speakers on loud, so Teigan can hear everything. She turns to me, a confused look on her face. “Why is Declan there? I thought he wasn’t part of all this.”

I tap my ear piece so my response isn’t heard by everyone. “He wanted to be there to take down The Baron. I think he’s doing it for all the girls like Esme that he couldn’t save.”

A sad expression crosses her face, and she gets a faraway look in her eyes. “I’m not surprised. The thought of all those poor little kids who’ve had their lives ruined, haunts me too.”

I reach over and take her hand in mine, giving it a squeeze to grab her attention. “Hey, don’t get caught up in the emotions right now. We are literally doing everything we can to help all of these people. There’s no guarantee we can save everyone, and for some, it will be too late in a way.

“Some of these girls will have experienced things that will forever leave them changed. All we can do, once we’ve freed them, is offer them a little support and hope it helps. Until then, we focus on getting as many as we can out of this alive—including my family. Okay?”

She nods once, trying to smile, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Her expression is tight, and I can tell her brain is working a mile a minute.

“Oh, God. What if your family gets hurt doing this for me? I didn’t even think about the danger I’d be putting people in.”

Her voice reaches a high-pitched tone, and I see Kellan out of the corner of my eye, trying to turn away, so it’s not obvious he was listening to our conversation. He’s about as subtle as a fucking boulder, but luckily, Tee is too lost in her fear to notice.

I let go of her hand and capture her cheeks between my palms, forcing her to stop jittering and look at me. Unshed tears are welling in her eyes, and she tries to blink them away. I can tell she’s biting the inside of her cheek to stop her emotions from overwhelming her. My girl cares too damn much.

“Listen to me, Teigan. Every single person that is taking part in this raid—and there are so many more people than you are even aware of—they’re all here of their own free will. We were part of this war before you, and so this would have happened without your involvement, you—or should I say, I—just accelerated the timeline to save you. But that’s the extent of the role you played. This would have happened anyway,” I explain.

Teigan stares at me, unmoving, looking like she’s not completely sure I’m telling her the truth. I’m about to explain more when the speakers in the ambulance crackle, and Bree’s voice echoes around the small space.

“Tee, I’m sorry about this. You should know that although Evan turned off his microphone so we couldn’t hear him, Kellan’s mics in the van are live. Kellan turned them off early on, so everyone else couldn’t hear, but he knows never to cut me out.

“I should have made it clear before that I was listening, and I’m sorry about that, but I thought Evan would be able to reassure you and we’d move on. I can hear it in your voice, you’re not sure if he’s telling you the truth. I can assure you, he is.

“I made it clear I was starting a war on the flesh trade a long time ago. Before we even knew about you, I issued a statement to all the crime families and gangs in the UK. I explained that I was taking over as ruler for the whole area, not just London, as it’s the only way to police this rule. They were given a choice to stand beside me, and I’d help those in that trade find new ways to prosper, or they could stand in my way, and we would take them down.

“I would say almost ninety percent of them aligned with us, which was far more than we anticipated. Several of the smaller ones who stood against us were easy to take down. There are only one or two large families who remain disloyal to us, and they will be dealt with in time.

“The point I’m trying to make is that this war has been going on for a while. We didn’t plan to move on The Aristocracy in this way, just quite yet, as we were waiting for more information. But, you know what, this plan might be even better, as Kellan could get us the information we need while he’s inside. So, it may actually speed things up.

“So while I know you think this is your fault…it’s not. We would have wanted to rescue all these women and children anyway, but thanks to you, we’re able to do it sooner and safer. We have inside knowledge we could never have dreamt of getting before.

“I know you think we’re risking our lives for you, but we’re not. We are risking our lives to do the right thing, which is something we would have done with or without you. It just so happens that having you here on our side means we’re a little safer than before.” With each word, I watch as Teigan begins to lift her head, the doubt and overwhelming fear slowly leaving as she listens to Bree.

As soon as Bree is finished, a smile crosses Teigan’s face, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Bree,” replies Tee. “I really needed to hear that.”

“Remember, Angel. If any of these idiots are stupid enough to get themselves injured or killed, that’s on them, and most definitely not on you,” I add on, and Bree chuckles.

“You have such faith in us, Evan.”

“I have faith in most of you. I would just take great pleasure in Kellan or Kian taking a bullet to the ass,” I reply with a shrug of my shoulders.

Teigan gasps, before slapping me on the arm again. “Do not say that. Nobody is getting shot or injured.”

“Fine,” I grumble, having to make do with the mental image of those two idiots getting shot in the ass. And in my imagination, I’m in no way responsible for said bullet.

It’s a good job Bree and Teigan can’t see inside my head, or I’d be in so much fucking trouble right now,I think to myself.

Bree’s authoritative voice fills the small space again. “If you’re good, Tee, can we put all the comms back on, so we can get things started?”

Teigan takes a big deep breath as she pulls her shoulders back, her face slipping into the mask of indifference I’ve been teaching her over the last couple of days. This is just a role she has to play, and as she slips into character, pushing the real Teigan far from her mind, I can see she’s ready.