Brooks (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Gold Team Book 1) Read online

  Brooks (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)

  Gold Team - Book 1

  Riley Edwards

  Contents

  Foreword

  BEFORE YOU BEGIN

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  About the Author

  Other Books by Riley Edwards

  More Special Forces: Operation Alpha World Books

  Books by Susan Stoker

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  © 2019 ACES PRESS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.

  Dear Readers,

  Welcome to the Special Forces: Operation Alpha Fan-Fiction world!

  If you are new to this amazing world, in a nutshell the author wrote a story using one or more of my characters in it. Sometimes that character has a major role in the story, and other times they are only mentioned briefly. This is perfectly legal and allowable because they are going through Aces Press to publish the story.

  This book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it. While I might have assisted with brainstorming and other ideas about which of my characters to use, I didn’t have any part in the process or writing or editing the story.

  I’m proud and excited that so many authors loved my characters enough that they wanted to write them into their own story. Thank you for supporting them, and me!

  READ ON!

  Xoxo

  Susan Stoker

  BEFORE YOU BEGIN

  Thank you for purchasing Brooks. I’m beyond thrilled to once again write in Susan Stoker’s Special Forces: Operation Alpha universe. I’ve been a fan of Susan’s for many years and have read every book she’s published (multiple times.) While I’ve tried my hardest to stay true to her original characters (because, hello, they are already awesome) I am not Susan, I wrote them as I, the reader, experienced them.

  I want fans of Susan to feel like they’re visiting old friends when they see her beloved characters. I hope I’ve done them justice. But please remember, I’ve taken some liberties.

  In Brooks, I use Susan’s characters from her new Legacy SEAL series: Rocco, Ace, Gumby, Phantom, Bubba, and Rex. I’ve also borrowed plot elements from Securing Caite and bad guys, too. You can certainly read Brooks as a standalone but I recommend reading Securing Caite first.

  And of course, The King of All Things Cyber, John “Tex” Keegan makes an appearance.

  I hope you enjoy the world I’ve created for you as much as I loved writing it.

  Sign up for the Riley’s Rebels mailing list to receive a FREE COPY of Unbroken and stay up to date on releases, sales, and giveaways.

  https://www.subscribepage.com/rileyedwardsfreebook

  For Susan.

  Thank you for giving us, your adoring readers, such wonderful characters.

  About the book

  Tatiana Jones is no stranger to the battlefield. One look at her scarred flesh tells the tales of her time in captivity. But it’s not only her skin the bears the marks her failures, doubt and a healthy dose cynicism now clouds her vision. She has also mastered the fine art of deception. In her line of work it is a necessity.

  Former Navy SEAL Brooks Miller is living the good life working as a mercenary. Employed by the highly sought-after Z Corps, a private, special-ops company, there are no shortage of contracts sending him around the world. He lives wild and free with nothing tying him down—just the way he likes it.

  When the Gold Team’s latest mission takes them to Bahrain, Brooks thinks it will be a quick in and out. That’s until he walks into a shitstorm and comes face to face with the woman who’s about to turn his world upside down. There was something working behind her intelligent eyes, and it looked a lot like pain. Not the physical kind, the emotional aftermath of heartache. And when she tries to hide behind snark and sass he decides on the spot he wants to know more.

  Tatiana doesn’t have time for games. She’s on the hunt for the man who left her life in ruins. Brooks has something else in mind, something more, something far more permanent than the no strings fun Tatiana is offering. He had her right where he wanted her until the hunters become the prey and their world explodes. It will take more than the Gold Team to bring down a Saudi Prince out for blood. Their only hope is the one and only, king of all things cyber, John “Tex” Keegan. Can Tex get search and rescue team to them in time, or will it be a recovery mission?

  *Brooks: Book 1 in the all new Gold Team series features Susan Stoker’s new Legacy SEALs. *

  Prologue

  Zane Lewis

  The incessant ringing and vibrating of my phone pulled me from a deep, sated sleep. I angrily snatched my phone off the nightstand and without checking the caller ID, I entered in my ten-digit security code and answered.

  “Zane,” I growled.

  It was two in the goddamn morning, someone had better be bleeding or missing body parts.

  “We have a problem.” John “Tex” Keegan cut right to the chase, one of the many things I liked about the man. That and he had to be hands-down the best computer geek I’d ever met. Though I’d never call the former SEAL a geek to his face.

  “Of course we do.” I glanced over at my beautiful wife as she stirred in her sleep. Ivy sighed and rolled to her side. The sexy sound made my cock jerk. Not even an hour ago, she had made that same sweet sound after I brought her to orgasm with my mouth and fingers. Regretfully, I slid out of bed and grabbed a pair of sweats on my way out of the bedroom and down the stairs. “What kind of problem?”

  “Tatiana Jones called me when she found out Gold Team was in Bahrain.”

  There was so much to process from that one simple statement.

  “At two in the fucking morning?”

  “It’s ten a.m. in Bahrain.”

  “Tatiana Jones is in Bahrain?”

  It was taking longer for my sleep-muddled mind to track than it should have.

  “Yep. And she wants reassurances that the team will not be an issue for
her.”

  “What the actual fuck? I thought she retired. Found herself a nice man to drive off into the sunset with. Oh, wait, I forgot she married that asshole Monroe. Bet that ended badly.”

  Ivy would’ve given me shit if she’d heard me making smartass comments about the failure of someone’s marriage. Or maybe not if she knew what a douche James Monroe was. He was an embarrassment to the Special Operations community and a shit husband from what I’d heard.

  “After she finally got shot of Monroe, she went back to work,” Tex informed me.

  “A new company, or did she go back to her previous employer?”

  “New. She’s running solo now.”

  Well, fuck me running. There was nothing I could do but agree to the meet.

  “Would you mind putting together any intel you can dig up on her and pass it to Declan?”

  “That’s a joke, right? There’s nothing out there I can put in a workup for the team. And even if I could dig something up, I wouldn’t ever divulge it in a report.”

  “Would you take a meet with an unknown?” I asked.

  “Hell, no.”

  “Right. Dec’s gonna want a dossier. I don’t care how barebones it is. We have to give him something. And it should be a quick meet and greet. Gold Team will only be in Bahrain a few more days, tops. In and out.” Tex’s deep rumbling chuckle gave me pause. I’d only ever heard the man laugh a few times.

  “What’s funny?”

  “You’ve seen her, yeah?”

  “Shit.”

  Tex’s chuckle turned into a deep belly laugh. “Good luck.”

  “Ass,” I mumbled. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

  “Anytime. I’ll have something for you by morning.”

  “Night.”

  I disconnected and continued to stare out the floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the marina down below. My gut told me this wasn’t going to end well.

  I actually felt sorry for Declan Crenshaw. It wasn’t too long ago I’d given him the Gold Team. He’d been restless since he’d quit the CIA and came to work for me. I thought giving him his own team to lead would help him work out some of his issues before he burrowed in any deeper. Years of deep undercover work could fuck with a man. He hadn’t shared what he’d seen or done, and I didn’t push.

  Tatiana wouldn’t be an issue for Declan. He’d made it clear he didn’t want to settle down and find a woman. Though, neither did I, until Ivy. One look at her and all bets were off. No, Declan wouldn’t have any interest in the woman. Dec had also revealed when he was ready to find a woman, he wanted a delicate wallflower. There was nothing delicate about Tatiana.

  “Whatcha doing?” Ivy asked.

  I heard her the minute her feet hit the top of the stairs. Even if I hadn’t been trained to detect the quietest of sounds, I would’ve known she was in the room. Every part of me was aware of my wife.

  “Thinking,” I told her when her arms wrapped around me from behind.

  “About?”

  “How good it’s going to feel when I press you against this window and slide inside of you.”

  “Really? That’s what had you so deep in thought?”

  “Yep.”

  I had Ivy in my arms, legs around my waist, and her body balanced against the window before she could ask anymore questions.

  “I love you, Zane.”

  “I love you, Ivy.”

  With my wife’s heat surrounding me, all thoughts of the Gold Team and Tatiana Jones flew out the window. They’d figure it out. Surely, the group of five former special operations soldiers could handle one tiny woman. Even if that woman had the reputation of being one of the best spies the CIA had ever trained before she went rogue.

  Chapter 1

  I knew three things as absolute fact: the woman sitting across the table from me was a liar, her need for a bullshit cover story was not my business, and she had the best pair of legs I’d ever seen. The shiny black fuck-me-heels drew attention from her calves all the way up to her toned thighs. Hot damn. Yep, I had no business checking the woman out, yet there I was analyzing her, and completely distracted by a great set of calves and sexy heels.

  The dossier my boss, Zane Lewis, had sent to the team said her name was Tatiana Jones. Declan, Max, Thad, Kyle, and myself had combed through the sparse documents. Supposedly she worked for the UN as a Political Affairs Officer. The job title fell under the office of counter-terrorism. The department was legit, she may have even been on their payroll, but her body language and knowing gaze screamed ‘operative.’

  We’d barely entered her office when she’d made it clear she wasn’t pleased we were in the Kingdom of Bahrain. She knew why we were in the country. We had a singular objective, follow the money trail and click another piece of the puzzle together. A simple recon expedition that should’ve in no way hindered the UN task force’s counterterrorism strategy. Unless she was bullshitting. Which she was.

  “I’ve been in contact with Mr. Lewis. He briefed me on the Militrix transoceanic cabling contract in the Gulf of Bahrain. My divers inspected the area around the King Fahd Causeway. There’s no cabling.” It sounded as if she’d practiced her speech, wanting us out of her office as quickly as possible.

  “Your divers?” I interrupted.

  Why would a Political Affairs Officer have divers on hand and at her disposal? She wouldn’t.

  “Yes. Mine. The area is clear.”

  Interesting. In her desperation to keep us away from what she was working on, she’d slipped up. Rookie mistake. Maybe she wasn’t as well-trained as I’d originally thought. Maybe she was a junior agent.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to take a look myself,” I pushed.

  I didn’t need her permission, nor did I really care to get it. I simply wanted to keep her talking. Tatiana Jones and whatever she was doing in the region had zero impact on my mission, yet I wanted to know. Actually, I wanted to know more about her in general, which was crazy.

  “There’s no need. I have the utmost trust in—”

  “Right. You may, but I don’t. And all due respect, I trust but verify.”

  Tatiana leaned back and eyed me with a critical stare. Yep. I’d been correct and she was getting ready to show her hand. I doubted many people cut her off mid-sentence. I’d also bet she gave the orders, and wasn’t pleased when she had to follow them herself. There was a glint in her dark eyes that was sexy as hell. A flash of fire and icy annoyance. Yeah, she could order me around anytime. The look made me want to piss her off some more just so I could see it again.

  “I know all about your verification process, Mr. Miller. I’m also well-acquainted with men like you.”

  Here we go. I’d hit a hot button topic for her. Overbearing daddy or husband maybe.

  Men like you… I wanted to tell her she’d never met a man like me and that was a goddamn guarantee.

  “Oh, yeah? And what kind of man am I, Doll?”

  “An overachiever. Demolitions expert. Divemaster. Low and high-altitude jumpmaster. Rappel Master. Fast Rope Master.”

  She was missing a few of my quals, and I had to fight the urge to school her on all things Brooks Miller. Like how good I was with my hands, I was top of my class in close quarter combat. My hand techniques were the best around.

  And it was more than me knowing hundreds of ways to kill a man without breaking a sweat.

  “Glad to see you’ve done your homework. Unfortunately the work-up we received on you was only a paragraph. There was nothing listing your accomplishments.”

  “My accomplishments aren’t important. The only thing that’s imperative is you don’t fuck up my op.”

  Interesting. She’d laid her cards on the table. The question remained, was it intentional, or had she fucked up?

  “Well, Miss Jones. It is Miss, correct? We wouldn’t want to get in your way. I’ll take a quick look around this afternoon and hopefully in a few days we’ll be on our way.”

  “It’s actually none-of-your-busines
s,” Tatiana sparred. “I’ll take you out there myself. Tomorrow, oh-five-hundred.”

  “You’ll take me out?”

  “Good to know all your combat tours haven’t diminished your hearing.”

  “What do you know about diving?”

  “You’re not the only one with special quals, friend. If we’re done, I have shit to do. I was promised you guys wouldn’t be an issue.”

  I wanted to keep pushing the spunky woman, but Declan looked like he was ready to stroke out. We’d been warned not to piss Tatiana off. While the details about her were sketchy at best, the report was clear she knew and had worked with some very important people.

  “There will be no issues from us,” Declan confirmed. “Recon and out.”

  “Good. I have something scheduled in less than a week. I’d prefer you were gone by then.”

  “Ah. You’re kicking us out of your country?” Unable to stop myself I dramatically covered my chest.

  Tatiana shook her head, not the least bit amused by my behavior. “With big egos, comes bigger mouths,” she mumbled. “Have a nice afternoon, gentlemen. Mr. Miller, I’ll see you at the docks off fifty-ninth, slip fifteen.”

  All I needed was a few hours and I’d wipe the disdain off her pretty face. It wouldn’t take long to show her that my big ego was hard-earned confidence and not bullshit talk.