Owned: An Alpha Anthology (50 page)

"Thanks for that," I tell Jared as I hold out the sweatshirt he leant me.

"It was no problem," he states, reaching out to take it from my hands, but grabbing at air when Drake grabs the jumper from my hands and throws over his shoulder on the floor.

"What the fuck, Drake? That was beyond childish!" I yell, glaring at him as he folds his arms across his chest and glares at Jared.

"Well he should know that you don’t loan your fucking sweatshirt to another man’s woman. That shit is just fucking wrong."

"This is why you came back, isn’t it? Because of Jared. You were jealous and you came to stake your claim on your woman? Well, guess what, Drake. I’m not your woman. Not anymore."

"I think we’d better leave you two alone," the woman says, taking a hold of the arms of both Aiden, and Jared, who resists for a moment, before walking with them out of there, closing the door of the common area behind them and leaving Drake and me alone.

I hear Jared complain that he needs to sort things out with me, but after something Aiden says that I can’t make out, he falls quiet and goes with them.

DEEP COVER: CASE 001
BY LILLIANA ANDERSON

013

"I am
not
your woman! Not anymore!" I hiss at Drake the moment I think the others are out of earshot.

He steps toward me and immediately, I suck in my breath, his closeness affecting me in ways I don’t want to admit. Keeping his eyes on mine, he reaches down and lifts my left hand, holding it in front of my face.

"Really?" he counters, showing me the gold and diamond ring I still wear on my wedding finger. I’ve never been able to take it off. "This ring says otherwise."

I snatch my hand away. "Well it obviously meant more to me than it did to you. I see you’re not wearing yours anymore."

His hands move to grip me by the upper arms and he pulls me against him roughly, looking down at me and forcing me to arch my neck backward to look up at him. "I
never
broke my vows," he growls.

"Don’t," I whisper, closing my eyes as a wave of emotion hits me. I won’t have him use my relationship with Jared against me. "You were dead and I waited for almost four years. Was I supposed to be alone forever?"

"You were supposed to believe in me. I promised you I’d be back."

"That’s not fair," I cry, pushing against his chest with my hands but not escaping his grasp. "You were gone. I kept your memory alive for
years
. I kept your goddamn fish alive as well. I even kept your fucking clothes until twelve months ago. And where were you? I was mourning
your loss
–and
where were you!?!"

Before I know what’s happening, his mouth is on mine and our arms are wrapped around each other, my fingers sliding into his hair and gripping its length as his tongue enters my mouth, reclaiming me as his. When we pull apart, I’m shaking.

"I was trying to fix things to find my way back to you," he murmurs, his voice rough and raw as he speaks.

I slap him across the face, shocking him with my anger. "Don’t do that to me again," I hiss, feeling too messed up to deal with the man of my past and the man of my present in the same building. "Just tell me what the fuck is going on. That woman told me I’m not allowed to leave. What the hell am I supposed to do Drake? Sit around in a hanger all day and night like a prisoner?"

He steps back, giving me that much needed space to breathe, before he answers.

"No. You’re going back to work but it will be with us."

"Us?"

"Yes. Aiden takes on private military contracts. He’s been helping me covertly over the last few years. He can do things that the law can’t. We’ve just come back from talking to Commander Greer, and he’s agreed to work with us on the Le Doux case. I’ve made it clear that I’ll only be working with you."

"So, they’re just going to forget their vendetta against you and work with you now?"

"The information I have, is worth a hell of a lot more to them than I am. Besides, I’m already dead."

"Then I guess that sorts out the issue of whether we’re still married or not."

He steps toward me. "Trix, you’ll always be mine. And to prove it, I’m going to let you go. You’ll find your way back to me."

"What?" I frown, not understanding what he means until a sharp pain enters my thigh and suddenly, my body grows heavy and my world turns black for what feels like a split second, but obviously isn’t, because when I open my eyes, I’m back at Site Seventeen.

"Ah, you’re up," says Greer. "Best get some coffee into you. We’ve got a big day ahead of us." He hands me a mug from which I take a sip, suddenly wondering if I’m Dorothy and this has all been one incredible, technicoloured dream.

"What’s going on?" I ask.

"Well, in light of your procurement of the payroll list, I’ve decided I was too hasty in firing you. After all, it was Birdwood who switched out the vile Drake gave you, a search of her house after she was taken out, saw that we found the real one. So I guess I was wrong. But we’re going to fix that. You’re going to take on the role of Emery’s partner now, and the two of you will work with Drake to get this case under control once and for all. We’re finally going to shut Le Doux down."

"Wait? I’m an agent again?"

"Of course. Now get off your arse and get to work. We’ve got a long road ahead of us."

END

I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek inside the Deep Cover series. It will continue in 2015 as a monthly release and will follow on from the final book in my Fire & Lies Series, releasing in February.

In the meantime, you can go back to where this world of corruption began with the introduction of Aiden, and Jared in Partners, Fire & Lies Prequel – OUT NOW.

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ABOUT LILLIANA ANDERSON

Bestselling Author of the A Beautiful Series, Alter and the Confidante Trilogy, Lilliana has always loved to read and write, considering it the best form of escapism that the world has to offer.

Australian born and bred, she writes New Adult Romance revolving around her authentically Aussie characters as well as a biographical trilogy based on an ex-Sydney sex worker, named Angelien.

Lilliana feels that the world should see Australia for more than just it's outback and tries to show characters in more of a city setting. When she isn't writing, she wears the hat of 'wife and mother' to her husband and four children.

Before Lilliana turned to writing, she worked in a variety of industries and studied humanities and communications before transferring to commerce/law at university.

Originally from Sydney's Western suburbs, she currently lives a fairly quiet life in suburban Melbourne.

Visit my website at

www.lillianaanderson.com

CONNECT WITH LILLIANA ANDERSON

For updates or to ask questions/ send comments,

you can contact me at
[email protected]

follow me on twitter
@Confidante_Lili

visit my website
www.lillianaanderson.com

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work. I hope to have a very long writing career, producing books and characters you’ll come to love
.

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  MORE NOVELS BY LILIANA

The Confidante Trilogy

Confidante: The Brothel

Confidante: The Escort

Beautiful Series

Too Close

A Beautiful Struggle

Phoenix

A Beautiful Forever

Commitment

A Beautiful Melody

A Beautiful Rock

Devotion

Entwined Series

Our Hearts Entwined

Our Lives Entwined

Drawn Series

Drawn

Drawn 2 – Obsession

Drawn 2 – Redemption

Fire & Lies Series

Partners – Prequel

Played – Book One (December 2014)

Paid – Book Two (February 2015)

Deep Cover

Case 001 (as a part of the Owned Anthology, re-releasing February, 2015)

Case 002 (March, 2015)

Case 003 (April, 2015)

Lesley Jones

Copyright 2014 Lesley Jones
All Rights Reserved

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, real people, and real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are products of the Author’s imagination and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, organisations or places is entirely coincidental.

All rights are reserved. This book is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the express written permission of the Author. All songs, song titles and lyrics contained in this book are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders.