Team Zero Series 1-3 Boxed Set Read online

  Team Zero Boxed Set 1-3

  Rina Kent

  Team Zero Boxed Set 1-3 Copyright © 2019 by Rina Kent

  All rights reserved.

  * * *

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  Published by RK Publishing House.

  Edited by Annabelle Reid.

  Proofread by Nora Edmonds.

  Cover Design by Rolling Waves Designs.

  * * *

  P.S. Pirates are bad. Not Johnny Depp’s Captain Sparrow bad, but seriously effing bad. Support an author. Buy a book. Don’t be a totally-not-cool pirate.

  Contents

  Also By Rina Kent

  Author Note

  Team Zero’s Reading Order

  Book One - Lured

  Lured’s Blurb

  1. Hades

  2. Camille

  3. Camille

  4. Camille

  5. Camille

  6. Camille

  7. Hades

  8. Camille

  9. Camille

  10. Camille

  11. Camille

  12. Hades

  13. Camille

  14. Camille

  15. Camille

  16. Camille

  17. Camille

  18. Hades

  19. Camille

  20. Camille

  21. Hades

  22. Camille

  23. Hades

  24. Camille

  25. Hades

  26. Camille

  Epilogue

  Extended Epilogue

  Lured Glossary

  Book Two - Crowed

  Crowed’s Blurb

  1. Crow

  2. Eloise

  3. Crow

  4. Eloise

  5. Crow

  6. Eloise

  7. Crow

  8. Eloise

  9. Crow

  10. Eloise

  11. Crow

  12. Eloise

  13. Crow

  14. Eloise

  15. Crow

  16. Eloise

  17. Crow

  18. Eloise

  19. Crow

  20. Eloise

  Epilogue

  Extended Epilogue

  Book Three - Ghosted

  Ghosted’s Blurb

  1. Elle

  2. Ghost

  3. Elle

  4. Elle

  5. Ghost

  6. Elle

  7. Ghost

  8. Elle

  9. Elle

  10. Ghost

  11. Elle

  12. Elle

  13. Ghost

  14. Elle

  15. Ghost

  16. Elle

  17. Elle

  18. Ghost

  19. Elle

  20. Elle

  21. Ghost

  22. Elle

  23. Elle

  24. Ghost

  25. Elle

  26. Elle

  27. Ghost

  28. Elle

  29. Elle

  30. Ghost

  31. Elle

  Deleted Scene

  Epilogue 1

  Epilogue 2

  Team Zero’s History

  Character Profiles

  What’s Next?

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  To all the bold souls.

  Also By Rina Kent

  TEAM ZERO SERIES

  Lured

  Crowed

  Ghosted

  Shadowed

  Misted

  Team Zero Boxset 1-3

  More Team Zero Books to Follow….

  THE RHODES SERIES

  Remorse (FREE)

  Ruin

  * * *

  DARK HIGH SCHOOL BULLY ROMANCE

  Noble Savages Boxset

  Author Note

  This is the first Team Zero’s boxed set. It contains the first three books in Team Zero; Lured, Crowed, and Ghosted.

  Aside from the previously published books, the boxed set contains:

  Team Zero’s reading order.

  Special Epilogues for every book.

  Never seen before character charts.

  * * *

  To remain true to the characters and the author’s origins, the vocabulary, grammar, and spelling of Lured, Crowed, and Ghosted is written in British English.

  Team Zero’s novels have darkish themes, violence, and explicit sexual situations. Please don’t read if any of that offends you.

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  Don’t forget to Sign up to Rina Kent’s Newsletter for news about future releases and an exclusive gift.

  Team Zero’s Reading Order

  Team Zero’s novels can all be read as complete standalones, but the later novels usually contain minor spoilers of the previous novels.

  The series’ world is big and for better understanding of the twists and turns, it’s recommended to read the novels in the right order.

  Team Zero contains a big cast. Not everyone appears in every novel, but they’re all major characters. While every novel focuses on one couple, there are bigger-picture clues that are thrown throughout the series.

  * * *

  Scroll to the end of the boxset for the breakdown of Team Zero’s history revealed so far and the charts of the main characters in these three books.

  * * *

  Team Zero’s reading order:

  * * *

  Lured

  Crowed

  Ghosted

  Shadowed

  Misted

  Inked (Coming Soon)

  More Team Zero novels to follow…

  Book One - Lured

  Lured’s Blurb

  He’s madness and I’m tired of being sane.

  * * *

  I watched him. Studied him. Became obsessed with him.

  Doctor Dominic is a social anomaly. A monster in plain sight.

  A sociopath.

  Beneath the expensive clothes and well-crafted facade lurks a predator who’s searching for his next prey.

  I got caught.

  Now he wants one thing.

  Me.

  1

  Hades

  Power is madness.

  The moment you taste it, you won’t be able to taste anything else.

  When it seeps under your skin and flows in your blood, it turns to poison. Either you find the antidote by claiming more power or you’re dead.

  The best way to snatch power is by exploiting the human mind.

  People are simple.

  Make them crave something.

  Give them what they crave.

  Then snatch it from between their fingertips.

  When they fall, only you will be able to catch them or let them crush to pieces.

  2

  Camille

  How can someone hold so much… power?

  I stand behind the coffee shop’s counter, arranging utensils, but I’m not paying attention to my task.

  It’s been two weeks since I began my little adventure to England from my home in France. Although my anglophile heart danced for finally being able to visit London, the most interesting thing hasn’t been Buckingham palace or Big Ben.
England’s history and sights didn’t hold my interest as much as the group sitting at a large table at the middle of the coffee shop.

  This place is by no means the classiest in London, but it’s cosy and famous for the barista’s special servings. The walls are covered in a calming peach wallpaper. Rounded, antique-style wooden tables scatter about. A few decorative lamps dangle from the ceiling, casting a warm glow on the group of two women and three men. They come over every morning to have their coffee before going to work.

  All of them wear either designer clothes or tailored suits. My co-worker, Nancy, told me they’re either doctors, engineers, or CEO’s. They definitely fit the elite and privileged cliché.

  They’re laughing.

  All except one.

  The one who’s been having my stalkerish attention.

  Doctor Dominic.

  He’s leisurely leaning back in his chair as if he owns the world and doesn’t care about the peasants around him. His dark brown hair is short on the sides but long enough in the middle to be slicked back. A tailored black suit clings to broad shoulders and gives him an imposing, all-domineering presence. His sharp jawline and dark brown eyes drip with so much authority, it’s like he can snap his fingers and the entire coffee shop would cave into him.

  There isn’t even a need to try. He’s smiling along with one of his friend’s jokes, but the sheen of indifference doesn’t leave those frighteningly, alluring eyes.

  He has a way of charming people. He does it so subtly, it isn’t noticeable. The only reason I’m perceptible to his scheming is because Papa is an army man and always trained me to read people. It’s another tactic that Papa used to shelter me with.

  I’ve seen how Dominic took the king’s throne amongst his friends. He laughs and jests and has a cruel, yet grabbing smirk that I’m sure he inherited from Satan. While being his charming self, Dominic manipulates his friends to do his bidding. First, he boosts their egos, telling them what they like to hear, then he attacks. None of those hot-shot lawyers, doctors and CEOs notice a thing.

  He made a lawyer bet his new, expensive-as-hell Jaguar to another friend by just playing on his ego. Another time, he made the friend who won that car offer it to a woman in their circle just because.

  I watched day in and day out, waiting to see what he had planned for his entourage. Sometimes, it’s something insignificant such as the bill. Others, it’s as expensive as that Jaguar. I became curious. I’m curious by nature, but Dominic scored high on my radar. That curiosity turned into a habit and then, within two weeks, it became an obsession.

  I’m fascinated by Dominic.

  I often wonder how the hell no one else sees his manipulations. Granted, he’s discrete enough. The ease with which a predator like him can hide in plain sight scares me sometimes, but mostly, I’m amazed that I get to study a case like him up close instead of reading about it in psychology books and classes.

  “Camille!” Samir, my boss, calls with a hiss from the threshold of the storage room.

  I snap my gaze from Dominic to focus on Samir – or Sam as everyone calls him. He’s a big man in his mid-forties with the most beautiful olive skin; a result of his Middle Eastern origins.

  He motions to the storage room behind him and all the unpacked boxes. I smile sheepishly. I was supposed to organise them, but Dominic’s group came in and I did a very human thing: I procrastinate.

  I cast one last glance at Dominic as he twirls a spoon in his coffee with long, lean fingers.

  Strange heat invades my body. This heat that comes out of freaking nowhere has been happening a lot in the past few days.

  I walk to Sam with a huge grin on my face. “The boxes aren’t going anywhere.”

  He narrows his dark green eyes on me. “I don’t know why I accepted you here.”

  I continue smiling wide. “Because I’m so charming?” Ugh. I hate how the R comes out in my French accent. No matter how much I practised along with TV shows, it wouldn’t disappear.

  Sam pinches my ear. “Stop being a kid and do your job.”

  I wiggle free and puff my chest. “I’m not a kid. I’m twenty.”

  “Finish your job, little bugger.” He laughs at me before he heads to where the barista is. I glare at his back. I really dislike being called a kid. That’s exactly how my small town in South France saw me. Even when I got my baccalaureate and studied for two years in law school. I still have next year to graduate and pursue my dream.

  Once I pass the bar and become a lawyer, I will sue Sam for calling me a kid.

  I sigh and pick up the light boxes to stack them in the narrow storage room. There’s a small aeration space above and a yellow light that brightens the rows and rows of boxes.

  The task is so boring and mundane.

  I’m thankful that Sam gave me a job. He even rented me the room above the coffee shop and next to his family home, where his wife gives me free meals. If they didn’t consider me as one of their rebellious kids, I wouldn’t have survived long. I would’ve run back to France after a week when most of my savings dried.

  My parents sheltered me during my entire life. After his life as a war veteran, Papa decided to escape civilisation by building a house at the top of a hill in a small town in Marseille. As if that isn’t enough, he chose a location where the closest town is more than thirty minutes’ drive.

  Twenty years there.

  Whole damn twenty years.

  I read more books than I can count and basically became a nerd. Although it’s partially due to Papa’s influence, psychology and defence fascinated me for the longest time.

  In the summer break, I’ve had enough of living in my parents’ shadow. I took my passport and my savings and flew to London. I love my parents so much, but I need more. Something, anything, that will shed away the whole small-town nonsense.

  At least for the summer.

  I could’ve gone to Paris, but it isn’t adventurous enough. I wanted to fly over the sea.

  Adventures don’t include stacking boxes.

  For the second time today, I abandon the storeroom. I peek sideways to make sure Samir isn’t in sight then I go back to the counter.

  One of the patrons in the aisle opposite Dominic’s group raises a hand. I grab the menu and stroll over.

  I serve any table surrounding the group, but never them. Watching from afar is safe. If I get close, I feel like I will be sucked into Dominic’s orbit and there will be no way out.

  The man who appears to be in mid-fifties takes the menu. I nod and head back. On my way, I catch a whiff of Dominic’s deep, slightly raspy voice. My toes curl. I don’t know why I have this reaction to it. Add that crisp British accent, and I’m a goner, basically.

  “You had a wonderful gala yesterday,” he says to one of his friends. “You should try it again.”

  I snort. There he goes. The beginning of another series of manipulation.

  Behind the counter, I find my colleague Nancy chatting on her phone. She has soft pink hair and huge blue eyes. A woman in Dominic’s group raises her hand.

  Nancy nudges me. “Go.”

  I shake my head and push her instead.

  Nancy shrugs a shoulder and saunters over to them. I gauge Dominic’s reaction to her, but he only smiles. There’s this thing about his smile. I call it full-of-shit. It’s that type of smile Hollywood actors offer to the camera the entire freaking time. While it’s dazzling and bright, it’s completely fake.

  He’s completely fake.

  Why the hell am I so transfixed with him?

  Because he can pluck you away from your safe goody-two-shoes image. He can be your adventure.

  I shut down that little demon on my left shoulder.

  No adventure is worth getting involved with a dangerous man. The little angel on my right shoulder says, and I nod along.

  But I came here for an adventure, merde.

  Frustrated from listening to a hypothetical demon and angel, I trudge back to the storage room. Dominic’s gr
oup asked for the bill and they will all be driving their dazzling cars into London’s traffic.

  If I’m lucky, I might see them tomorrow. Oh. It’s the weekend.

  My lips twist. I need to read some psychology fiction or something to take my head off this.