Team Zero Series 1-3 Boxed Set

by Rina Kent

  The circumstances of what happened to him are weird. Kyle’s been shot in the back one night after President Joe and Johnny’s visit. And there’s been talk of a traitor and war amongst the guards. Kyle was smiling at us only yesterday, and now he could be battling death.

  Is he perhaps... dead?

  My heart thunders as I run to Scar’s room. She’d tell me if Kyle is fine.

  I barge into the room and freeze. Considering her bond with Kyle, I expected to find Scar in chaos. Instead, she’s sitting cross-legged on the bed. No Oasis music blasts in the room. Vanilla scent drifts from five lit candles circling her. Her eyes are closed, expression serene, and hair gathered in a messy bun at the top of her head. She’s wearing pastel green shorts and a T-shirt on which is written, ‘Not a Battle. A Fucking War.’

  My mouth hangs open. Is she meditating right now?

  I crouch in front of her and find a bottle of sleeping pills. Since when did she start taking them? “Scar!”

  When she remains in her zone, I shake her shoulder. “Scarlett!”

  “Don’t call me that,” she hisses.

  Her eyes snap open, and they’re... dead. Completely and utterly dead. No spark of the Scar I know. No ounce of the friendly, enthusiastic albeit weird Scar that made my stay here a lot more tolerable. The dead amber irises are terrifyingly haunting.

  “Scar?” I ask, tentatively. My entire body urges me to step back.

  She blinks, and just like that, life gleams back in that warm amber. Relief floods me. It’s Scar.

  “Ellie?” She smiles although slight surprise resides on her face. “When did you come in?”

  “A while ago.”

  “I didn’t hear you.” Her brows furrow, then she smiles again.

  I bite back the need to ask what’s wrong with her because what’s going on in Le Salon is more urgent. “What happened to Kyle?”

  “Oh, Kylie!” She jumps to her feet as if just remembering something pressing. With a few blows, she puts out the candles and lunges into her wardrobe. Clinks of hangers and rustling of clothes come from behind the door.

  “Scar?” I ask again, approaching the walk in with careful steps. “Is... Kyle alive?”

  Her head peeks from behind the door. “Yup. He’s totally fine. A shot in the back won’t kill him, don’t worry. They’re taking care of him in a safe house at the outskirts of London. He’ll be here tomorrow.”

  I release a sigh of relief as I let my weight drop onto the bed.

  Scar goes back to digging and says in a neutral tone, “But whoever shot him better be scared.”

  “Yeah. I’m sure there will be a war because of this.”

  Gangsters start wars even for a low rank, it could be an apocalypse for someone as high rank as Kyle.

  “Nah, I’m not talking about a war.” She pauses. “Julian would raise hell for those he cares about.”

  My stomach flips at the mention of his name. What the hell? Have I been reduced to a teenager or something?

  Scarlett emerges in skin-coloured lace lingerie. She’s really stunning. I catch a faded scar near her abdomen. It’s an ugly slash, like someone slit her open, but it’s almost blending with the skin. Maybe that’s why I never noticed that before. It seems quite old. I wonder how she got that.

  “Which one?” She holds a short hot pink dress and its twin in black.

  “The black.”

  She tosses my pick and goes with the pink. I shake my head. I’m starting to think she only asks for my opinion just to go with the complete opposite.

  “Kyle always calls Julian Godfather,” I say, trying to gear the conversation back before Scar gets distracted. “I assume they’re close?”

  “Julian raised him like a son.” She snorts. “Though I wouldn’t say it was wise to bring him here.”

  My heart aches for Julian. He must be in a lot of pain because of what happened to Kyle. If only I could comfort him.

  I don’t even know how to comfort people, but I want to try for Julian.

  “Look at those eyes.” Scar is standing in front of me in the hot pink dress, her glare fixed on me.

  Jeez. I didn’t hear her come close.

  She taps her foot on the carpet. “Don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for Julian?”

  “I haven’t!” My tone is so defensive even for my own ears.

  “You better not.” Scarlett points a finger at me, eyes blazing. “You can’t fall for him, Elle!”

  Her anger catches me off guard. What the hell? “Why are you shouting at me?”

  “Julian is a killer!” She continues in the agitated tone. “Did that information settle in your head yet? He kills people without remorse. He killed enough people that he doesn’t bother to count anymore. He deals in drugs and prostitution and gambling. He does drugs. He’s everything wrong and illegal and you should stay the fuck away from him!”

  I flinch back as if every word is a punch to the gut. She’s right. I knew all that and somehow turned the other way. Tears rim my eyes and I wipe them with jerky hands. What the hell is wrong with me?

  My gaze strays back to Scar’s emotionless one. Her fingers are trembling, cheeks painted in crimson, and her body is tense. She appears like overheating or something. Although her words are true, I can’t help countering them. She’s hysterical and seems to make me want to hate Julian on purpose.

  “You said the drug caused him to kill.” My tone is careful. “You said they didn’t have a say in it, and he’s obviously trying to detox.”

  “Forget about that.” Scar sits by my side and clutches my shoulders so I’m facing her. Her expression softens. “If you stay with Julian, you won’t be safe. I just want to protect you, Ellie.”

  “Why?”

  A nostalgic look locks at the depth of her eyes. She’s staring at me but seems to be staring through me. “You remind me of a sister I lost. I’m doing all this for her. I just don’t want to lose you, too.”

  My heart warms. Now, it makes sense why she’s in this type of life.

  “You remind me of a sister I lost as well.” I bite my lower lip. “I think you know her.”

  “I do?”

  I need Scar to help me find her, and I trust her enough to say this. “Her name is Zoe. I think she was your previous roommate?”

  Scarlett doesn’t appear the least bit surprised, more like she’s piecing things together. “That’s why you came here.”

  Not a question. An observation.

  I reluctantly take her hand in mine. “We’re each other’s families. I need to find her, Scar. Can you help me? Please tell me what you know.”

  “I...” she trails off. Her lips open then seal shut. Then, she finally says, “I don’t know much.”

  “Please, Scar.” I tighten my clutch around her hand.

  “Did you know that more than eighty million people died in World War Two?”

  “Scar...”

  “He’ll kill me for this.” She rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”

  I inch closer to her, afraid she’d run out of the door. “So?”

  “Remember when I told you my roommate – Zoe – got involved with the wrong people?”

  I nod, eagerly.

  “It’s Shadow. He lured her to God knows where.”

  My stomach falls. But Zoe mentioned Ghost to Liam. She never uttered a word about Shadow. Liam and I had no idea he existed until I came here.

  “Did he...” I trail off unable to say the words.

  “I don’t think it’s him per se, but it’s for sure that her involvement with him caused her to disappear.” Her scowl falls on me. “I warned her, just like I’m warning you, Elle. She didn’t listen and now, who knows where she is. Are you trying to end up like her?”

  My heartbeat thunders as I ask, “Is she... dead?”

  “Who knows?” Her eyebrows are scrunched as if she’s offended. “They’re keeping it under wraps. Especially Mist. The bitch.”

  Mist and Shadow jump to the head of the suspects’
list. I’ll do everything it takes to uncover the truth about them. A buried voice inside tells me I won’t find Zoe. That perhaps it’s too late, but I shut that voice down.

  I won’t lose hope.

  “Do you know anything else?” I ask.

  Scar shakes her head, and I believe her. She seems genuinely concerned about Zoe.

  We remain silent for a while, then Scar hauls me to my feet.

  “Now, let’s go drink. I need to drown my sorrow in alcohol until they bring Kylie over.”

  “How about your customers?”

  “Fuck them!”

  After midnight, I’m drunk when I stumble back to our room, carrying a half-empty bottle of vodka.

  Our.

  It’s not our room. It’s Julian’s room. Julian the killer and gangster whose best friends could’ve taken Zoe away.

  But this is also the room I’m the most comfortable in. When Scar wanted to drag me back to her room, I sneaked out and found myself here.

  Someone should knock sense into me. Although drowning in alcohol while thinking about all this emotional chaos isn’t optimal.

  I trip on my own feet and almost fall. Vodka droplets splatter on the ground. Oops. I kick the heels away and smile when my bare feet touch the floor.

  My hazy vision falls on Julian huddled in a new recliner chair. I freeze, and my chest becomes lighter. I thought he wouldn’t return tonight. I’ve been searching all over Le Salon but there was no trace of him.

  I release a breath I didn’t even realise I was holding.

  Soft light from the lamp illuminates his half nakedness. He’s only in trousers. My hungry gaze dips from his narrow waist to those defined muscles and abs decorated by intricate tattoos. No idea if it’s because of the alcohol or whatever, but I think I’m going to melt.

  Julian is so damn beautiful and dark and forbidden, I want to jump him.

  Then, I make out a blood-soaked bandage on the floor and a new one wrapped around his wrists. Julian is inspecting his busted knuckles.

  I run to him – as much running as my drunken state allows. More splashes of vodka escape the bottle. My heart pounds loud. Just the thought of something happening to him lodges a deep ache inside me.

  My incoherent steps almost land me on the ground. Strong hands clutch and jerk me forward. I end up straddling Julian’s lap. My legs are on each side of him. My dress hunches to the middle of my thighs. My palm rests on his broad shoulder. He smells of blood and alcohol — or that’s probably me —, but still hot as hell. He’s warm under my fingertips. His embrace is so wrong but it’s also the right place to be.

  “Wow. I feel small.” I slur, but thankfully, his state kicked some sobriety into me. “I hate feeling smaaaall. So why am I not hating this?”

  Not so sober after all. I was supposed to think that, not say it out loud.

  Note to self: don’t drink with Scar again.

  “Someone is drunk.” Julian brushes a stray strand of hair off my face. His lips twitch a little despite the pain swirling in his eyes. The need to hug him and protect him from the world overwhelms me.

  Which is stupid, because I’m the one who should need protection from Julian.

  I hold his hand in mine and brush my fingertips over the injured knuckles. The wound is neatly cleaned. “Did you clean it yourself?”

  “I did.”

  “Did you clean your wrist before bandaging it?” Thankfully, I don’t have a tragic slur when I speak now.

  He places a hand on his chest. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  A small smile escapes me before I tuck it away and ask, “What happened, Julian?”

  “I beat President Joe’s people to get some answers.”

  My palm glides to his face, and I clutch his cheek. “I’m so sorry about Kyle.”

  His eyes close as I stroke the skin beneath his eye and the slight scruff on his jaw. Julian sighs as if lost in the sensation. The tension in his shoulders decreases. My heart grows wings for having this effect on him.

  “I’m sure he’ll survive,” I continue.

  “He better.” His eyebrows furrow. “When he insisted to come here with me, I should’ve stopped him. This place isn’t for him.”

  “But it’s for you?” My chest tightens as Scar’s words slam back into me. I take a swig of my vodka. “Do you like being in this world?”

  His eyes open, and he appears offended. “Of course not.”

  Tingles erupt down my spine. I knew he wasn’t as cold-blooded as Scar painted him to be. “Then why are you still doing this?”

  “I told you. I don’t have a choice.”

  “Why not?”

  “So many questions, Firefly.”

  “Please tell me, Julian.” I plant my hand on his heart, and the steady beat soothes me. “I really want to get to know you more.”

  “It’s better if you don’t.” He pauses for a beat. “For your own safety.”

  “I don’t care. I’m already in your world, aren’t I? If I go out that door, Johnny will be on me.”

  “No one touches you under my watch,” he growls. “Got it, Firefly?”

  My heart does that somersault thing and is now totally under Julian’s spell. I nod. “I know that I’m staying indefinitely. Yours, remember?”

  His eyes spark with a sheen of possessiveness as his arm slips tightly around my waist. “Fuck right I do.”

  I knew that would work. Problem is, I’m starting to believe it myself. “Tell me, then.”

  He sighs, and his fingers dig into my side. It’s slightly painful, but I don’t move. Even as demons seem to possess his eyes, I don’t flinch or run. Probably the alcohol again, but I’m not the least bit scared of Julian.

  He takes the bottle of vodka from my hand and downs what remains in one shot. I stare mesmerised. I didn’t offer, but he accepted a drink from me. This means... he trusts me.

  I gulp to not ruin the moment.

  Julian places the empty bottle on the ground and it rolls across the floor. Once it stops at the foot of the bed, his voice drifts calmly like he’s talking about himself while out of his own body. “We were kidnapped when we were early teens or children by an assassination organisation named The Pit. We were given daily doses of Omega; a drug that shaped our abilities but also destroyed our humanity. Out of fifty subjects, only twelve of us survived. Recently, we lost another one of ours. We found out that we could die any second because the drug is destroying us from within. We decided to detox.”

  Pain explodes in my heart, but I remain completely still, not wanting to alert him. So he’s cuffing himself in order to detox.

  A shadow darkens his eyes as he says, “The Pit’s head has our lives in his hands because he provides us with our doses of Omega. So when he says ‘run this place’, we have no choice but to accept.”

  “But you’re detoxing, right?” I ask. “Once you’re off Omega, you have no reason to follow what he says.”

  A sheen of sadness covers his features. “It’s not that simple. Hades isn’t an idiot. He only dispatched five of us and kept the others with him, to torture to his heart’s content. If we don’t come up with results, he will kill them all.”

  Oh. The five out here are Mist, Shadow, Ghost, Julian, and Kyle. The rest are taken as hostages. My head spins. What type of human forces others to become killers, and uses their bond to make them do even more atrocious things?

  “They’re the only family I’ve ever known.” Julian’s voice drifts into a whisper. “I can’t abandon them.”

  Respect and adoration courses through me at how loyal he is. I know exactly how that feels. It’s my loyalty to Zoe that got me in this place, and that quality is priceless for me.

  Even if his family is the most unconventional ones, even if they have to kill to survive, they’re still his family. It appears that Julian would do anything to protect those he cares about.

  This time, I can’t help it. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him long and deep. My fingers thread in his thick, d
ark hair and my body glues to his.

  There’s no better place to be.

  When I pull back, Julian’s darkened eyes are shining with pure satisfaction. Both his hands tighten possessively on my hips. “You do realise that you screwed yourself further with me, right? Now that you know everything, you’re not going any-fucking-where.”

  Somehow, that doesn’t fill me with dread like it’s supposed to. Instead, a satisfaction so similar to his infects me. “Yes, Julian.”

  His eyes fire up. “Say that again.”

  “Yes?”

  “No. My name.”

  “Julian.” I breathe and trail tender kisses along his cheek and jawline. “Julian, Julian...”

  My eyes flutter closed, and I sleep curled in his arms and murmuring his name.

  20

  Elle

  Three days had passed since Kyle had been shot, and he still hasn’t regained consciousness.

  Two nights ago, he was transported here and taken to a secure room on the third floor. Five or so men stand in front of the door at all times. No one is allowed inside. Ghost’s orders. Even though that bastard hasn’t shown his face. What type of a leader is he?

  A failure, that’s what.

  But I heard he was up to President Joe’s throat about what happened. At least, he’s properly investigating this.

  Scar mentioned that President Joe offered to kill any traitor on his turf if Ghost rules it as such. Scar also said that apparently, the bullet that hit Kyle comes from a gun that isn’t from President Joe’s side.

  That doesn’t prove anything if President Joe bought the gun just for this operation. However, this brings the possibility of a traitor – like the guards in the control room suspected.

  Scar is keeping her peace about the situation, but I’m sure she suspects that, too. Everyone’s been guarded these days. Tension can be seen in the stiff expressions and tasted in the suffocating air.

  Julian’s been taking it the worst. He’s been restless. He disappears for hours with Shadow. I assume he goes to see President Joe with Ghost. When he returns, he usually has meetings with Mist.

  Although I hate it, there’s no room for my jealousy. Julian is tense the entire time. I fear that the veins in his neck will pop.