Team Zero Series 1-3 Boxed Set

by Rina Kent

  I barely reach the deck and Elle jumps off the boat and storms inside the house.

  It’s the wrong thing to consider while she’s obviously perturbed, but there better not be a man inside.

  I’ll kill him with my bare fucking hands.

  There’s no one in the lake house. It’s built in a circular, dome shape with old stone walls and decorated with a few oriental cushions.

  Elle’s gaze darts around as if she’s seeing the place for the first time but also as if she’s lived here her entire life.

  “She always loved this. She used to say that one day, we will make it ours.” Her lips tremble, but she thins them in a line. “Then she left.”

  Who is she talking about? Her mother? But she was dead for years.

  It pains me to see her so lost and hurt like this.

  “Firefly.” I reach out for her, but she darts out of reach.

  “Don’t.” She purses her lips and widens her stance. “I’m strong. I can do this.”

  “You don’t have to. Let me help. Let me take the burden, too.”

  She faces me, her expression on the verge of breaking down.

  And then she does.

  Elle wraps her arms around me and breaks into loud sobs.

  25

  Elle

  I cry until no more tears come out. Until I’m drawing involuntary breaths and trembling all over.

  I don’t remember the last time I cried like this. Crying is for bitches, as Ma used to say. It’s for weaklings. I’m not a weakling. I’m strong. But now, as Julian holds me, strokes my hair and rubs my back, those deeply-seated lies wither away. I can’t pretend to always be strong.

  I’m tired. I’m so fucking exhausted from standing alone and being tough the entire time. Julian has reached inside and shaken that pretence out of me.

  He didn’t even say a word as I cried my eyes out. He just sat me down on a cushion. Or more like, he sat down and curled me in his lap. My arms wrap around his waist while his strong ones surround my back as if keeping me from breaking apart.

  Perhaps I did.

  Or I will.

  Zoe has been life for me. Her liveliness and brightness kept me from drifting to God knows where. If I didn’t have her, I would’ve probably died in one of the rings or messed with the wrong people and got myself killed. She always tamed my anger and the need to vent at anyone and anything.

  She was my anchor, and I swore to be her pillar, too.

  But now, she’s gone and I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t be there for her.

  I can’t even give her a funeral worthy of her. She was born as a nobody and now has died as a nobody. Liam and I are the only ones who will remember her. And maybe Shadow.

  I didn’t think I had any crying left, but fresh tears blur my vision. And then, I’m sobbing again.

  “Hey...” Julian murmurs in a soothing tone and strokes my hair. “What is it, Firefly? Let me help.”

  “There isn’t a body.” I cry, my face is all snot and tears, and I most likely smeared them on Julian’s jacket. “I don’t have a body to bury.”

  “A body?” His voice is soft and careful. He’s being patient, and I couldn’t be more thankful.

  My lips twitch to spill my guts about Zoe and everything in between. She was killed by one of his own, anyway. Not Shadow, because he looked murderous when we watched that video, and he left with that robotic expression that I’m sure means he will kill. But it could be someone sent by Mist. Or that one I thought was Ghost.

  Julian can help me. Julian obviously cares or he wouldn’t have let me cry in his chest for what seems like an hour. And by crying, I mean ugly sobbing that no other human would want to witness.

  I stare up at him, and he’s watching me expectantly. Pain swirls through those dark, enchanting eyes as if it hurts him to see me this way. The affection and care on his face strangles my stupid, infatuated heart.

  There’s no way I can lose that.

  If I tell Julian about Zoe, he will link things together and know that I’ve been here undercover. He’ll think I only approached him to use him. He’ll throw me away.

  My breathing turns shallow at the thought. I can’t lose Julian, too. If he leaves or throws me away as Mist said, what will become of me? After Zoe and Julian, what the hell will I be?

  “Firefly?” he asks in that inquisitive, smooth tone that gets me on my toes ever since the first time we met.

  “Promise you won’t leave me, Julian.” My voice is so vulnerable and weak, I want to punch myself. But at the same time, I need Julian to remain by my side. These overflowing feelings would suffocate me if he discards me.

  His lips brush along my forehead. “I told you that you’ve fucked yourself with me, Firefly. There’s no way I’m letting you go.”

  “Give me your word,” I insist. Julian is so big on his word. I’ve noticed that he rarely gives it, but when he does, there’s no going back.

  He offers a curt nod. “You have my word.”

  My body sags against him, and my breathing evens a little. I’m still so lost and don’t even want to process the reality of Zoe’s death. I have to call Liam and tell him the news. I have to know why Zoe died. But my mind goes blank. I don’t want to think about any of that.

  I just want to forget. Even for a moment.

  My fingers thread into Julian’s hair as I kiss my way up his throat. “I need you, Julian.”

  I don’t have to ask twice. His lips find mine and he kisses me slowly and sensually. My head turns and my heart starts palpitating.

  Julian doesn’t rip any clothes. He takes his time to kiss his way along my face, my puffy eyes, and my drying tears. He kisses them all as if wanting to take the pain away.

  He leans me against the cushion. I wrap my legs around his waist. Time and thoughts cease to exist. I revel in his hands all over me and kiss him with passion and abandonment.

  When he thrusts inside me, it’s not just fucking or sex, or even grief. This time, he worships my body as if it’s the most sacred place to be.

  Although his grip on my hips is controlled, he leisurely rolls his body and savours me. Slowly, almost too slowly. He places both my legs on his strong shoulders. I gasp against his mouth. The position allows him so much depth like never before. He hits my spot with ever thrust. Pleasure crawls through my veins in the sweetest, strongest build-up I’ve ever felt.

  The orgasm shatters me into a million pieces.

  I come, screaming his name and making all sorts of noises. The sweeping sensation is beyond orgasms and fucking. This one is like falling into a deep abyss with no bloody way out. It’s so raw and intense that my eyes fill with tears.

  Then, I realise as he growls and tightens inside me, that in Julian’s way, he’s been making love to me. That alone drives me to the brink all over again.

  I black out from the feral rawness.

  When I come to, Julian is holding me tight against his chest. Both our skins are slick and sweat glues a few strands of dark hair to his ethereal face. Julian grabs his jacket and drapes it around me.

  “Are you all right?” His deeply concerned tone adds to all these chaotic feelings jumbling inside me.

  “I am. Don’t worry.” My voice is above a murmur. I’m still too boneless from that mind-blowing sex.

  He doesn’t look convinced. “Let me take you home.”

  Home.

  Where is that? I don’t have a home. Zoe used to say ‘Home is wherever you want it to be’ – which I still think is a quote she stole from someone. But Zoe was right. For me, it seems that home is wherever Julian is.

  One way or another, he’s become my home.

  He starts to pick me up, but I stop him and curl further in his lap. “Let’s stay here for a while longer.”

  “It’s not safe,” he grunts but remains in place.

  “No one comes here. It’s been abandoned for years.”

  His inquisitive gaze roams around the small lake ho
use that looks like a cottage and is just as cosy. “What is this place anyway?”

  I tell him all about it. How Zoe and I used to consider this our playroom – I don’t mention her name, though. I just say ‘a friend’. How we ran away from our foster homes to meet here. How we used to spar together. Then, I recall she’s never returning here and I almost choke on my words.

  Julian’s hand slips under the jacket and he rubs my back. He doesn’t have to ask, he already knows that the friend I’m talking about is gone. Probably because I’ve been talking about her in past tense.

  “Is this the friend you mentioned the other day?”

  I nod.

  He kisses the top of my head. “Thank you for bringing me to your special place with her.”

  I smile a little. “You kind of followed. I didn’t bring you along.”

  He grins, and the rare gesture melts my heart. “You know what I mean.”

  “Sure.” Zoe brought Shadow here anyway, so I wasn’t breaking any code.

  I wonder why she never told me about him when she obviously cared about him. Was he her secret? If roles were switched, would I keep Julian a secret? I kind of do from Liam. He’d be vehemently against whatever relationship Julian and I have. He has a strong prejudice against criminals to the point of obsession.

  But in Julian’s case, Liam would only be judging the exterior.

  Julian runs a lot deeper. A leader. A godfather. A friend. And the most wonderful man I’ve ever known. He has some possessiveness problems and he drives me crazy at times, but I kind of love that about him, too. There’s also the whole Omega drama, a family of killers, and his closeness with that redhead witch, but I can overlook that. I can even overlook the whole mafia firm because I know he’s not doing it to hurt anyone.

  He’s just a man who’s never been loved.

  I had Zoe and Liam. He had no one. Shadow, Mist and even Kyle don’t count. They’re as screwed up as he is. I don’t think they have the words ‘love and care’ in their dictionaries.

  Perhaps I count?

  I clamp my lips shut around the words fighting to get free. If I say them, there will be no way out. Absolutely none. I bottle them inside and close my eyes, inhaling his intoxicating scent with the hint of cedar.

  No idea what’s out there for me, but as long as I have Julian by my side, I’m not the least bit scared.

  I must’ve fallen asleep because when I open my eyes, we’re moving. Or more like, Julian is moving. He somehow managed to dress me and cover me with his jacket and do the whole boat trip, and I didn’t feel a thing.

  Now, he’s carrying me in his arms towards the car. The act is so effortless as if he’s holding a feather or something. It’s dark outside. I can barely make out the contours of his face.

  “Morning, sleepy head.” His lips twitch in a small smile.

  “It’s night.” I smile, and my head hurts.

  He starts to say something but stops. Alert eyes roam the trees surrounding us. His face turns stone cold as he carefully sets me to my feet and cages me behind him.

  Infected by his level of alertness, I dart my eyes sideways but see nothing.

  “What’s going on?” I whisper.

  I get my answer when bullets fly all around us.

  26

  Elle

  Julian shoves me forward and I land on my knees by the side of the car.

  I’m too stunned to move.

  A few more silenced shots hiss behind us, and Julian counters with his own.

  My palms turn sweaty, and I’m hyperventilating.

  “Keep your head down!” Julian orders as he manoeuvres himself so he’s shielding me.

  I nod frantically. I’m not planning to show my head to them anyway.

  Julian’s face is completely composed. No alert or fear or even reluctance. He’s someone who knows what he’s doing, why he’s doing it, and exactly how to do it.

  A killer.

  That’s it. Julian isn’t a gangster. He’s originally a killer. Someone whose end goal is ending other people’s lives.

  My body is shaking, and I’m scared. No. I’m terrified. Not because of what he is, but because he’s not an immortal and he will die. He might even die right now.

  No.

  A strange pull of energy slams into me. There’s no way in hell I’ll lose him.

  I reach out for Julian and pull him by the shirt. “Give me your spare gun.”

  He stares at me for a fraction of a second.

  A bullet flies over my head, and Julian pushes me down. I gulp audibly as I hide behind him.

  He fires several shots at the scums hiding in the bushes. “I can take care of them.”

  Another shot flies past us and lodges in a tree behind us.

  I yank Julian by the collar. “Give it!”

  He grunts but motions to his waist. I keep my back to the car and inch forward until I’m behind Julian. My fingers wrap around the metal. I check the magazine as he taught me. It’s full.

  My body tightens with adrenaline. I peek over the car’s hood, aim and shoot at the twats in the bushes. Once. Twice. Until no more shots come from there. No idea if I killed someone, but I don’t have the luxury to think about that right now.

  All I’m sure about is that I would do anything to protect Julian. Just like he’s willing to go all the way to protect me.

  A bullet wheezes past me. I’m too stunned to react. Strong arms surround my waist and wrestle me to the ground. Julian. He’s on top of me, face contorting. Droplets of hot liquid fall on my face. Then, I make out the gash in his shoulder. My heart stops beating.

  Blood soaks his white shirt red and it’s dripping wet.

  “Julian...?”

  He grunts as he reaches into his pocket and holds the car keys. “Can you drive?”

  I can’t move. My mind goes blank. Julian’s been shot. He’ll die. He’s going to die. Right here. Right now.

  I’m going to lose Julian.

  My breaths come out in a frenzy.

  I think I will black out.

  “Firefly!”

  I slowly raise my gaze from the blood to his face. Still stunned. Frozen.

  Julian cages my face with his strong hand. “It’s just a graze, but I need you to drive. Can you do that?”

  I nod. Up and down. Up and down.

  “Firefly.” Julian wraps a loose hand around my neck.

  I stop the frantic nodding as new energy courses through me. The arseholes are still shooting. We need to get out of here.

  I snatch the keys from Julian’s hand. If he’s to survive, I need to be level-headed. I open the front door and climb into the driver seat, keeping my head down.

  Julian fires a few shots and sneaks into the passenger seat with an agility that contradicts his shot shoulder. As soon as he’s inside, I speed out of the abandoned neighbourhood.

  No one follows us, but I keep speeding through the half-empty streets.

  My palms are sweaty and my body is drenched into an uncomfortable heat. It takes all my willpower to focus on the road.

  Words tumble from my mouth in quick succession. “Someone should call the police. I mean they used silencers – sorry, I mean suppressors – so maybe no one heard, but this is so huge. We don’t get shootings in England. Shit. We don’t even have mafia in the first place. Just some firms and organised crime rings and the neighbourhood thugs. Liam will go berserker over this. Like are they asking to be arrested or something? I mean, have you seen those fucking cowards ganging up on only two? I want to go back and punch them in the balls. How dare they —”

  “Firefly.” Julian places a hand on my thigh and I realise I’ve been blabbering like an idiot.

  My gaze drifts his way. The front seat is drenched with blood. The red is sickening against the beige leather. Tears soak my cheeks, and I start shaking. He’s going to die.

  Julian will fucking die.

  He squeezes my thigh as if reading my thoughts. His skin is turning pale, but he appears ca
lm. “It looks a lot worse than it is. There isn’t even a bullet in there. This won’t kill me.”

  My lips tremble, and I taste salt. “Give me your word.”

  “You have my word. You can’t get rid of me that easily, Firefly.” He smiles. He’s bloody smiling as if it’s a normal occurrence. I don’t know if I want to cry or laugh in bitterness about how wrongly abnormal his life has been.

  He motions at the road. “You just have to get me to Le Salon safely, though.”

  I give a curt nod, and my grip tightens around the wheel. I drive a bit less dangerously than earlier. My gaze keeps flicking to Julian. He leans against the seat and retrieves his phone.

  One call is to send a cleanup crew. Another call is to get a doctor. His doctor, whatever that means.

  I divide my attention between him and the road. He’s turning paler, and he’s panting, but his speech sounds normal.

  As soon as we arrive at the club, I jump out and swing his door open. Julian tries to get out, but his energy is obviously failing him. I place a hand behind his back and attempt to wrestle him out of the front seat. But he’s too big and heavy. Every second, I’m about to break into tears, but I don’t. Not until I get him to safety. Thankfully, a few guards rush my way and they carry him inside the storehouse.

  Blood drips all the way to the entrance. I follow the trail with my stomach twisting into knots.

  Gloomy thoughts hover in my mind.

  Julian will die.

  I shake my head and focus on him.

  He’s barely walking and his consciousness is fading. I don’t know much about medicine, but if someone loses consciousness, that’s bad, right?

  I’m a sweaty mess when I follow them to the hall. The guards sit him on the bench, but he almost collapses. His breathing is getting heavier.

  “Where’s the doctor?” I shout in Vladimir’s stoic face. “He asked you to get a doctor!”

  If I knew the doctor wouldn’t be here, I would’ve driven him to a hospital. But he could be in worse danger there. I’m sure the staff would report a gunshot and Julian would end up behind bars.