Dom (Hell Squad #18) Read online

  Dom

  Hell Squad #18

  Anna Hackett

  Dom

  Published by Anna Hackett

  Copyright 2019 by Anna Hackett

  Cover by Melody Simmons of BookCoversCre8tive

  Edits by Tanya Saari

  ISBN (ebook): 978-1-925539-74-5

  ISBN (paperback): 978-1-925539-75-2

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  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, events or places is coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form.

  Contents

  What readers are saying about Anna’s romances

  Anna Hackett Box Set

  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

  Preview - Hell Squad: Survivors

  Preview: Among Galactic Ruins

  Also by Anna Hackett

  About the Author

  What readers are saying about Anna’s romances

  Cyborg - PRISM Award Winner 2019

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  Edge of Eon and Mission: Her Protection - Romantic Book of the Year (Ruby) finalists 2019

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  Unfathomed and Unmapped - Romantic Book of the Year (Ruby) finalists 2018

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  Unexplored – Romantic Book of the Year (Ruby) Novella Winner 2017

  * * *

  Return to Dark Earth – One of Library Journal's Best E-Original Books for 2015 and two-time SFR Galaxy Awards winner

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  At Star’s End – One of Library Journal's Best E-Original Romances for 2014

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  The Phoenix Adventures – SFR Galaxy Award Winner for Most Fun New Series and “Why Isn’t This a Movie?” Series

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  Beneath a Trojan Moon – SFR Galaxy Award Winner and RWAus Ella Award Winner

  * * *

  Hell Squad – SFR Galaxy Award for best Post-Apocalypse for Readers who don’t like Post-Apocalypse

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  "Like Indiana Jones meets Star Wars. A treasure hunt with a steamy romance." – SFF Dragon, review of Among Galactic Ruins

  * * *

  "Strap in, enjoy the heat of romance and the daring of this group of space travellers!" – Di, Top 500 Amazon Reviewer, review of At Star’s End

  * * *

  “Action, danger, aliens, romance – yup, it’s another great book from Anna Hackett!” – Book Gannet Reviews, review of Hell Squad: Marcus

  Sign up for my VIP mailing list and get your free box set containing three action-packed romances.

  * * *

  Click here to get started: www.annahackett.com

  Chapter One

  She shouldn’t be out here.

  Arden had snuck out of the Enclave again. While she was beyond grateful for the safety of the secret underground base she called home, sometimes she needed to breathe. Sometimes, she needed a break from the walls around her.

  She lifted her face to the sky and took a deep breath. The Enclave provided safety and security, and protected the human survivors from the alien invaders. The reptilian Gizzida had come two years ago, and ripped the world apart.

  Torn families apart.

  Arden’s belly clenched. The aliens had killed friends, lovers, parents, husbands, and children. She had quickly learned that grief had very sharp claws.

  In the early days, after she’d lost her husband and kids, she’d been shredded inside, but now, she didn’t bleed quite as much.

  She stared at the sunset. The sun was sinking down beyond the western horizon, turning the sky shades of gold streaked with pink. She sighed at the beauty. She could see the beauty now. For so long, the world around her had been nothing but dreary shades of gray.

  But now she could smile at the sunset, and remember the family she’d lost without ending up curling into a ball and weeping.

  I miss you, guys.

  Jason, her husband, had been a high school principal. A lanky, easygoing man with a mop of sandy-colored hair, he’d been dedicated to his job. He’d loved his school, loved his wife, and adored his family.

  Her kids. Arden bit down on her bottom lip. Elisabeth—call me Beth—had been eleven going on twenty. Emmett had been her sweet, kind seven-year-old boy who’d loved soccer and drawing.

  Letting the emotions flow inside her, Arden pulled out her sketchbook. She lifted her charcoal and quickly started sketching the sunset. Behind her, the eastern horizon grew darker, and night started to sweep across the sky.

  The Enclave was near Wollongong, just south of Sydney, Australia. The area consisted of rolling, green fields, and small towns that had at one time thrived from the constant buzz of nearby Sydney—once the capital of the United Coalition of Countries. Now, this place was home to the survivors, and the squads fighting back for humanity’s survival. And most of the time, everyone stayed safe and secure, deep within the Enclave.

  With the exception of a couple of the survivors, like Arden, who had tricks up their sleeves for sneaking out.

  The reason she could sneak out so easily was that she was a comms officer for Squad Nine. She smiled to herself. She’d never imagined she’d put her office-manager skills to use providing comms and intel to a tough squad of soldiers fighting against aliens, but here she was.

  She was good at her job. Not only that, being a comms officer had helped her through her grief, kept her sane. And because of it, she knew all the camera locations around the base, and the patrol schedules. It made it easy for her to slip in and out when she needed some air.

  She dragged in another deep breath and tipped her face up to watch the stars appearing in the sky. Just a few more minutes and she’d go back inside.

  “I warned you about coming out here.”

  The deep voice made her freeze. It held a touch of a sexy Italian accent.

  She turned slowly, her belly quivering and her skin prickling.

  Dominic Santora was the definition of dark, lean, and lethal. He had thick, black hair with a hint of curl, dark eyes, sharp cheekbones, and skin a glorious shade of bronze. He radiated a dangerous intensity that often made people take a step back when they encountered him.

  He was scowling at her.

  “It’s dangerous for you to be outside the base,” he said.

  Arden straightened. “I know.”

  He was wearing his black, carbon-fiber armor, his carbine slung over his shoulder. He stepped closer and she smelled him. She was pretty sure he wore some sort of cologne. Her gaze slipped down his lean, muscled body. She’d never thought she’d find carbon fiber sexy.

  “You have a death wish?” he growled.

  She sucked in a breath. “No.”

  “I warned you the last time I caught you out here. If a raptor gets close enough, they’ll snatch you quicker than you can blink. Or if some canid jumps on you, it’ll tear that soft skin of yours to shreds.”

  She stared into his dark eyes and her brain went blank. Reflected in the darkness of his gaze, she saw that he was a man who’d seen way too much in his life.

  And not just the death, blood, and destruction of the Gizzida invasion, but in his life before that.

  She’d heard the whispers. That Dom had once worked for the Mafia in Italy.

  “Come on
.” He grabbed her arm.

  As soon as he touched her, electricity snapped between them. She gasped and he cursed. His fingers flexed around her bicep. He was wearing gloves and, for a second, she wished he wasn’t.

  Then he tugged her toward the closest entrance back into the base. As she moved, her sketchbook fell from her hand. Darn, she’d forgotten about it. It landed on the grass, opening on the page she’d been working on, with her sunset picture.

  Dom went down on one knee and picked up the book. He studied it. “This is good.”

  “Thank you.” She rarely showed anyone her work. She’d drawn as a child before she’d given it up for “real” work. It was only recently that she’d started doodling and taking some art classes. She reached for the book, but he held it away from her.

  Her heart started pounding. “Don’t—”

  He flipped the page.

  Oh, God. She felt heat wash over her skin. The next page showed a sketch of him.

  His face was in profile, the hard lines of it etched on the page. He stared at it for a moment before he turned the page again.

  Another one of him. In this one, he was in his armor, his hands on his lean hips. She’d done it from memory, from one of the numerous times that she’d seen them in the Hawk quadcopter hangar, getting prepped for a mission.

  Arden licked her lips and wondered if the ground could just open up and swallow her whole. When she looked up, that dark gaze was resting on her face.

  She waited for him to say something. To do something.

  Sensations danced in her belly. She realized she wanted him to do something. She swallowed, and wondered how she could feel so desperate, excited, and afraid all at the same time.

  Then Dom snapped the sketchbook closed and handed it back to her. “You have talent.”

  He reached for her arm again and pulled her toward the hidden Enclave entrance.

  Blinking, Arden stumbled. Thankfully, he steadied her.

  That was it? He’d seen that she’d been sort-of stalking him, drawing pictures of him, and he had nothing to say about it?

  He paused beside a group of trees, and touched a hidden keypad. The secret entrance to the base opened in the ground below.

  He nodded his head. “Get inside.”

  She walked down the steps and into the base. Of course, that was it. Dom was part of Squad Three—the wild, bad-boy soldiers known as the berserkers. Several of them had recently fallen in love and found partners, but there were plenty of stories about the berserkers. They could have their pick of any willing, gorgeous female in the Enclave. Arden had overheard plenty of sigh-filled stories of wild, sexy nights.

  Why would anyone want an almost-forty-year-old, uninteresting woman like her?

  “Arden?”

  She looked up at him. He stood above her, the night casting him in shadows. If it was possible, he looked even more dark and dangerous than usual.

  “I warned you once, and this makes twice. I catch you out here again, there will be consequences.” His deep, liquid voice rolled over her.

  Then, a second later, the door closed between them.

  Arden blew out a breath.

  She stood there, staring at the heavy-metal door. What was wrong with her? She pressed her hand to her flushed face. This was crazy.

  Because she suddenly realized that she wanted consequences.

  She was finally shaking off the worst of her grief, only to find herself hopelessly attracted to a dark, deadly man. And she had no idea what to do about it.

  Finished with patrol, Dom headed down the Enclave corridor, his carbine over his shoulder. He was due to meet his squad in the Command Center.

  He turned into another corridor and heard the noise from the dining room ahead. It was dinner time, so the place was packed. Survivors were in there, eating their meals, talking, connecting.

  As he moved past the doors, without realizing, he scanned the crowd, searching for one slender figure with porcelain skin, light-brown hair, and eyes of such a pretty blue they looked violet.

  Sei un idiota. He swung his head to look straight ahead and kept walking.

  Arden Erica Carlisle was not for him.

  She was beauty, grace, kindness. He ground his teeth together. He wouldn’t sully her with his darkness.

  He approached the Command Center, the glass doors whispering open. Staff members were busy at the tiers of computers. A large screen dominated the main wall. As he stepped inside, he spotted his squad. They were a rough bunch. Most of the squads were made up of soldiers and former law enforcement.

  Squad Three, however, was made up of former mercenaries, bikers, and criminals. A smile tugged at his lips. They were the wildest squad in the base, but they knew how to fight.

  As he approached, the guys lifted their hands and called out hellos. At the front of the room stood Niko Ivanov, the civilian leader of the Enclave, and General Adam Holmes, the man in charge of the military and security side of things. The general nodded at him.

  Dom felt a weird throb under his ribs. It happened all the time. He was welcome here. He’d never truly belonged anywhere before, and had either been ignored or eyed warily. But at the Enclave, his squad mates were now his friends, and he was respected by the general and Niko.

  In his previous life, he’d attended plenty of high-powered meetings. He’d witnessed more Mafia power games, standing at Salvatore Denaro’s side, than he liked to remember. The man had been the ruthless head of the Ndrangheta.

  And Dom had been his enforcer, his bogeyman used to scare Salvatore’s rivals. Salvatore’s personal killer.

  Shaking off the memories, Dom joined his squad. But even as he pushed the memories away, he still felt the darkness clinging to him like filth.

  Holmes stepped forward to address the squads. “The tracker on the Gizzida bomb is still functioning. It’s moving slowly north.”

  On a previous mission into the mountains, Dom’s squad had located the mysterious octagon bomb the aliens had created. No one knew exactly what chaos it could cause, but they’d managed to get a tracker on it.

  “They haven’t found the tracker?” Marcus Steele, leader of Hell Squad asked.

  “It appears that they haven’t,” the general said.

  Niko frowned. “Although if they have, they could be leaving the tracker active in order to set a trap for us.”

  “A risk we’ll have to take.” The general’s piercing blue eyes scanned the room. “Once the bomb stops moving, the plan is to send in some squads to investigate. Squad Three, you’re on standby for the mission. Squad Nine will be back up.”

  “Bring it on.” Hemi Rahia pumped a fist into the air. The bearded berserker was always ready for a fight.

  Dom saw their squad leader and Hemi’s brother, Tane, lift his chin. Today, his dark dreadlocks were pulled back from his face. He had dark-bronze skin like Dom, but his was thanks to his Maori heritage. The former mercenary was a hell of a fighter and a good leader.

  When the meeting broke up, Dom followed his squad to the gym.

  His friend, Griff, fell into step beside him. “How was patrol? Boring?”

  “Yeah.” Dom’s thoughts instantly veered to Arden.

  Griff smiled. “I don’t know why you always volunteer for extra patrol shifts.” The former cop and ex-con shook his head. “While you were out there, my woman nabbed me.” Griff grinned widely. “I got lucky.”

  Dom studied the man and noted the lipstick on his collar. No guesses needed to work out what Griff and Indy had been up to. Indy was the wild, bold comms officer for their squad. After dancing around each other for quite some time, Griff was now happily besotted with his woman.

  It was good. Dom was happy for his friend. After everything he’d been through, Griff deserved some good in his life.

  They reached the gym, and while the others started working out, Dom headed into their squad locker room. He stripped the rest of his gear off and stowed it in his locker.

  In the men’s room, he w
ashed up. As he looked himself over in the mirror on the wall, he thought of Arden’s sketches of him.

  She’d been drawing him. He pressed his hands to the edge of the sink and sucked in a breath. That meant she’d been thinking about him.

  What he’d seen in those pictures… His fingers curled around the cool porcelain. She hadn’t drawn him looking scary or evil. She’d drawn him looking thoughtful, heroic.

  He stared into the mirror. She clearly had a good imagination.

  He glanced at the black ink resting on his hip. It was in Italian—vivere liberamente. Live freely. The words were a harsh reminder to himself that he was never free.

  Back at his locker, Dom pulled on his workout gear, then headed back into the gym.

  The others were spread out—Levi and Ash running on the treadmills, Hemi and Griff lifting weights, and Tane kickboxing with one of the heavy-duty bags hanging from the ceiling. Dom headed over to join Tane.

  “So,” Hemi called out, “with Griff all loved up with Indy, that means we need to find Dom and Tane some women.”

  Tane ignored his brother, landing a hard kick to the bag. The chain rattled.

  Dom lifted his fists and landed a few hard jabs to the canvas. He never used gloves.