by Elle James
Breaking Free
Delta Force Strong Book #4
Elle James
Twisted Page Inc
Contents
Breaking Free
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
SEAL Salvation
Chapter 1
About the Author
Also by Elle James
Breaking Free
Delta Force Strong Book #4
New York Times & USA Today
Bestselling Author
ELLE JAMES
Copyright © 2021 by Elle James
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
© date Twisted Page Inc. All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: (Ebook edition)
ISBN-13: (Paperback edition)
Dedicated to my children who share my love of travel and adventure.
Elle James
Author’s Note
Enjoy other military books by Elle James
Ivy’s Delta (Delta Force 3 Crossover)
Breaking Silence (#1)
Breaking Rules (#2)
Breaking Away (#3)
Breaking Free (#4)
Breaking Hearts (#5) coming soon
Breaking Point (#6) coming soon
Visit ellejames.com for titles and release dates
For hot cowboys, visit her alter ego Myla Jackson at mylajackson.com
and join Elle James's Newsletter at
https://ellejames.com/contact/
Chapter 1
“I still don’t understand why I got stuck with the job,” Bull said.
Rucker pounded him on the back. “It’s because you’re the biggest, best looking guy on the team. Most of all, you know what manners are. The rest of us are clueless.”
“I should never have told any of you that my mother sent me to a cotillion,” Bull muttered.
“Got that right,” Dash said. “That just opens you up to a whole lot of grief.”
“Here, let me take a look at you.” Blade stood in front of Bull and adjusted his collar. “I don’t understand why they’re not sending me in.”
“Are you kidding?” Mac shook his head. “You think you’re some kind of ladies’ man. You’d be screwing every female in there.”
“I’m not some horndog looking for a little tail.” Blade grinned. “I’m a little more selective than that.”
Rucker laughed. “Not much. Still…while Bull’s eating steak and drinking wine with the hot shots, we’ll be stuck bunking with each other, eating MREs.”
“Not necessarily,” Dash said. “We have our cover, too. We’re supposed to be a mix of contractors and tourists, so we’ll get a chance to sample some of the local cuisine.”
“Yeah,” Blade said, “but it won’t be steaks like they’ll be having at the embassy.”
Bull would rather have stayed with the other guys. Being the lone man on the inside wouldn’t be as much fun. “What exactly is my job inside?”
“To keep us informed,” Rucker said. “The ambassador will fill you in when you get inside. It’s supposed to be super-secret, just between us and him.”
Bull swallowed a groan. Great, he’d probably be babysitting the ambassador the entire time. And he wouldn’t be allowed to take in his M4A1 rifle. “Can I take any kind of weapon?”
“Maybe a pocketknife but no guns,” Rucker said. “That’s why we’re sending in the biggest guy. You’re the best one at hand-to-hand combat. You can take down just about anybody inside that compound. Hopefully, you won’t have to though.”
Blade grinned. “Look at you, all dressed up. You almost look like a civilian.” He stood in front of Bull, straightened the collar once more on the button-down dress shirt, adjusted the necktie and ran his gaze from top to toe. “Look pretty good to me. That cotillion practice did you some good.”
Bull tugged at the knot at his neck. “I hate neckties.”
“Consider it like you’re taking one for the team,” Dash said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Bull muttered and glanced down at his watch. “Damn. I’ve only got fifteen minutes to get inside the compound to be on time for my meeting with the ambassador.”
“Better get going,” Rucker said. “You know where we’ll be for the most part. You have your cellphone in case you need to get in touch with us, and a radio, should the cellphone get compromised.”
Bull patted the pockets on his suit and grabbed the handle of his black, wheeled suitcase.
“Now, remember your name is Greg Smith,” Rucker reminded him.
“Greg Smith,” he repeated.
“You have everything?” Rucker asked.
Bull patted the fake passport in his pocket and glanced down at his suitcase. “I think so.”
“The guard at the gate should let you in, no problem.” Rucker stood back and looked him over. “Let’s go through the checklist. Passport.
Bull patted his right pocket. “Check.”
“Cellphone.”
Bull dug in his left pocket. “Check.”
“Radio headset in your ears now.”
A hand to his ear confirmed Bull had the earbuds in place. “Check.”
“Formal wear.”
Bull touched the handle of his suitcase “Inside the suitcase. Check.”
“Dress shoes?”
Again, he tapped the suitcase. “Also, inside the suitcase. Check.”
“Condoms,” Blade piped in with a grin.
Rucker back-handed Blade in the belly. “He’s going in on a job, not to play.”
“Never go anywhere without them.” Blade crossed his arms over his chest. “If you’re a good boy scout, you’re always prepared.”
Bull didn’t mention that he’d been an Eagle Scout, nor did he mention that he did have condoms packed in his shaving kit. Only because they were already there. Not because he thought he’d need them.
Rucker clapped his hands together. “You’re ready. The taxicab will pick you up in front of the hotel across the street in T-minus-two minutes. You’d better get on down there.”
“I expect an extraction operation if things get terminally dull,” Bull said.
“Ha,” Rucker said. “I’m sure you’ll find something interesting to keep you from being bored.”
Dash chuckled. “You’ll just have to deal with it and drink tea with your pinky sticking out.”
“I don’t drink tea,” Bull growled.
“Well, you may have to suffer a little while you’re inside. If you’re entertaining Turks, they like their tea.”
“I’d rather have a beer.” Bull would give anything for one at that very moment. He’d chug it for that little bit of buzz it would give him. It might take the edge off.
“You’ll have to draw on your cotillion experience,” Rucker said. “That’s why you’re the chosen one.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Bull muttered beneath his breath. He tugged once more at the tie around his neck and nodded. “I’m ready.”
“Break a leg, cowboy,” Dash called out.
Rucker clapped him on the back. “Remember to report in once you’ve settled in and gotten your assignment.”
“Roger.” Bull left the hotel through a side entrance, circled the block, crossed the street and came back to the hotel where the taxicab was waiting for him. He entered the side of the hotel and came out the front. The taxi was there, waiting, the driver standing by the rear door.
Bull handed him the address for the U.S Embassy, stashed the suitcase in the trunk and climbed into the backseat of the taxi. The embassy was barely a block away and within sight of the hotel where his buddies would be roughing it.
In the blink of an eye, the taxi pulled in front of the U.S. Embassy.
“I’ll walk from here.” He paid the driver and got out of the cab. At the gate, he presented his passport. The guard checked it thoroughly, had him load his suitcase into an x-ray scanner and directed him to walk through the body scanner. The scanner went off and the guard made him back out.
“Sir, please place your cellphone, keys and anything else in the tray, and then go back through.”
He emptied his pockets into a tray then walked back through the scanner. He worried that the radio headset might set it off, but he went through without a warning beep.
“Sir, please follow me.” One of the guards led him to the embassy building and left him at the front reception desk.
“May I help you, sir?” A woman dressed in a conservative navy skirt suit glanced up over the top of her glasses. “Do you have an appointment?”
Bull nodded. “I do. With Ambassador Grey.”
“One moment, sir.” She checked his passport, nodded, and then hit the button on the phone in front of her. A couple minutes later, a man in a business suit emerged from an elevator and strode across to the reception desk.
“Mr. Smith, if you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to the ambassador.”
He followed the man into the elevator, and it rose to the top floor. They exited and walked down a hallway to an office. A middle-aged secretary with brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses manned the desk outside the office. She glanced up with a welcoming smile. “Good afternoon, Mr. Smith.”
His escort stepped back, turned and walked away.
“You can leave your suitcase here.” The secretary pointed to the side of her desk then motioned toward a door. “Ambassador Grey will see you right away.”
He parked the suitcase next to her desk and walked through the door. A tall man with graying hair stood up from behind his desk and crossed the room with his hand held out. “Mr. Smith, so glad you could come.”
He took the man’s hand in a firm grip. “Nice to meet you, Ambassador Grey.”
“Please, have a seat.” The ambassador motioned toward a conference table in the corner of the room. He went back to his desk and punched a button on his phone. “Ms. Moore, could you call her one more time? Thank you.” He shook his head as he walked across to the conference table and sat in the chair at the end. “I appreciate you and your team getting here so fast.”
“Yes, sir. What exactly do you want us to do while we’re here?”
“As you know, the government in Turkey isn’t as stable as it once was. The president has made it more of a military state than a democracy. There have been multiple uprisings, making it more and more dangerous for diplomats, their families and tourists. I’m concerned about my staff. I don’t believe the security details assigned to the embassy are enough. They’re doing a good job, but if the embassy were stormed, there’s no way we would be able to fend off a large-scale attack.”
“Sir, the addition of my team might not be enough either.”
The ambassador nodded. “I understand that. What I want from your team on the outside is an early warning. And anything they can do to slow down an attack or get my people out before such an assault.”
Bull nodded. That was the briefing the Delta Force team had been given.
“As for you,” the older man drew in a deep breath and let it out. “I have an entirely different assignment.”
Bull’s brow furrowed. “Sir?”
The door to the ambassador’s office burst open, and a dark-haired young woman rushed in. “Sorry, ambassador,” she said as she hurried across to sit in one of the chairs at the conference table. “I had the driver make a detour on my way back from the elementary school. We stopped at the shopping mall so that I could pick up a gift for Ms. Moore’s birthday.” Once she’d settled in her seat, she glanced across at Bull and then back at the ambassador. “What’s this meeting all about?”
The ambassador turned to Bull. “Layla, this is Greg Smith. Mr. Smith, my daughter Layla. She will be your assignment.”
Layla glanced from Bull back to the ambassador. “Wait…what?”
Bull blinked. “Sir?”
“That’s right, Mr. Smith. Your job inside the embassy is to gather intel wherever you can, but your number one priority will be looking after the safety and security of my daughter, Layla.”
“But, Daddy,” Layla said, “I don’t need a bodyguard. I already have a couple of guards who follow me around.”
“And you keep losing them,” the ambassador said with a frown.
Her dark eyebrows swooped downward. “I can’t help it they can’t keep up with me.”
“Your previous guards couldn’t go with you everywhere,” her father said, “and that’s how you were getting away from them.”
“I wasn’t intentionally trying to lose them,” Layla said.
Her father gave her a tight-lipped glare. “Things are getting a little bit too volatile around here for you to be out on the streets by yourself.”
Layla leaned back in her seat. “What about sergeants Mitchell and Ramirez? Are you firing them?”
The ambassador shook his head. “They’ll still be assigned as your escorts when you leave the embassy compound.”
Layla’s frown deepened. “You’re telling me that I’m to have three bodyguards now as I leave the embassy compound? Do you know how hard it is to get three people into a cab? Now I’m going have to get four into a cab?”
“You’ll have to make do. And as part of his intelligence gathering function, Mr. Smith will be by your side at every event—dinners, socials and balls.”
“How am I supposed to perform my social functions when I have a bodyguard standing next to me?”
“I’ve thought about that.” Her father smiled. “We will present Mr. Smith as your fiancé, not your bodyguard. Your fiancé will be invited to all the functions and all the gatherings, without question. He’ll sit at the table with you, stand beside you in receiving lines and basically be your shadow everywhere you go.”
Layla rolled her eyes and groaned. “Seriously, Daddy? I’m a grown woman. I don’t need a babysitter. Haven’t I functioned as your hostess without fail?”
He nodded and laid his hand across his daughter’s. “I’m not questioning your ability. I’m just concerned about your safety.”
“Daddy, I don’t need another bodyguard.”
His lips firmed. “The decision has been made. If you are to stay here at the embassy, you will accept Mr. Smith’s protection without question. If you can’t do that, then I need to put you on the next plane home.”
Layla leaned toward her father. “Daddy, you need me here.”
“I don’t need you here if it means risking your life.” His brow dipped, and his voice deepened. “If the situation gets any hotter, I will send you home.”
She snorted. “Home? And where might that be? You sold the house I grew up in. We don’t have a home back in the United States.”
“Home is the United States,” he said.
“I have more family here in Turkey than I do back in the US.”
“Your mother’s relatives don’t recognize you as part of their family. They disowned her when she married me. What makes you think that they would accept you in their homes?”
Layla frowned. “I’m working on that.”
“You do that,” the ambassador said, “as long as you take Mr. Smith with you and stay off the streets when the riots start.” He looke
d from Bull to Layla and back to Bull. “I suggest the two of you come up with a cover story for your engagement.” He fished a small square box out of his pocket and handed it to Bull. “This was Layla’s mother’s engagement ring. I had it sized to fit Layla’s finger. As of this moment, the two of you are officially engaged.”
Bull’s gut knotted. “Sir, I’m not sure I want to be a part of this. I’m a soldier, not an actor.”
The ambassador chuckled. “Trust me, Mr. Smith, you’re going to need every bit of your army training, especially your Delta Force skills, to stay up with my daughter. And to keep her safe.”
The ambassador pushed back from the table. “The people in this room are the only three people who will know that this engagement isn’t real. That it’s a cover. You’re not to share that information with anybody else, except maybe your team, if they need to know. But they can’t share that information with anyone else.” He stared at his daughter. “And you’ll make it look real. I’ve assigned Mr. Smith to the room beside yours, Layla. The closer he is to you the better he can accomplish the job of keeping you safe.”
“But Daddy, the embassy is surrounded by guards.”
He nodded. “And they’re doing an admirable job,” he agreed. “But we’ve seen what’s happened in other countries where embassies are attacked. They can be quickly overwhelmed by numbers. I want to know that you’re going to be safe. That the man in charge of your security can get you the heck out of here if the walls are breached.”
Layla frowned. “Do you know something that you’re not telling me?”
