The American Soldier Collection 10: Compromising Love
Aspen Brooks is a fighter, a survivor set out to destroy the nightmares from her past by being a workaholic and dominating the business field. But she can’t seem to put the past behind her, especially once she figures out who was responsible. These are bad men. Russian mobsters who rule the streets and the businesses she’s involved in. As she initiates her attack against the Russian mob boss, she also draws the attention of five retired Navy Seals, who are friends with her brother and always seem to show up wherever she is. They’re made men, too. She is completely attracted to them. But ignores it because she feels she’s incapable of love. As business deals turn awry, her sneaky maneuvering hits the Russian mob boss where it hurts, in his wallet. Aspen must decide between seeking that ultimate revenge and compromising true love, or embracing her destiny and with it her true identity and a family tie far more dangerous then the man she’s set out to destroy.
Note: This book contains excessive violence against the heroine by a villain.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 64,242 words
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER COLLECTION 10: COMPROMISING LOVE
Dixie Lynn Dwyer
LOVEXTREME FOREVER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: LoveXtreme Forever
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER COLLECTION 10: COMPROMISING LOVE
Copyright © 2014 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-591-2
First E-book Publication: November 2014
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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DEDICATION
Dear readers,
Thank you for purchasing this legal copy of Compromising Love.
When many people think of their homes, their bedrooms, they think of security, comfort and peace of mind. But Aspen Brooks is alone in her penthouse, night after night waking in terror caused by fear from her past. She shares this with no one, not even her brother, or her closest friend. She doesn’t want to feel vulnerable, weak, or to give into the label of “victim.”
She is not the only one who has placed armor over her heart, her soul, in order to remain battle ready. She even engages in business dealings close to where the person responsible for her fears conducts his own business. The Russian mafia are not exactly an organization to challenge. But she has her own ways of seeking revenge that eventually lands her in a heap of trouble.
Fate has a way of exposing the truth, and bringing together those scarred souls and making them heal, and eventually be free. Revenge is a very deep, controlling emotion that easily becomes an obsession. That obsession could cause Aspen to lose everything, including the ones who penetrate her armored heart.
May you enjoy Aspen’s journey.
Happy reading.
Hugs!
~Dixie~
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
About the Author
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER COLLECTION 10: COMPROMISING LOVE
DIXIE LYNN DWYER
Copyright © 2014
Prologue
Storm Jones awoke in a cold sweat. The sound of screams filled his dreams awaking him once again. Sleepless nights were customary for any soldier who experienced war in their lives. For any man who conducted crimes, committed murder, even if only by giving an order from their command. He experienced it all. But nothing. Not the battles he fought to defend and protect his company and his team, nor the gruesome acts of violence he witnessed others commit on the innocent, stood out like that one night on US soil.
He ran his hand over the gruff on his face as he sat on the side of the bed calming his breathing. He stood up and made his nightly journey to the kitchen being sure to walk with light feet and not wake his roommates, his team members.
But he knew they heard him. Night after night, hours of sleeplessness, for they shared the same nightmares, the same feelings of fear at what could have gone so terribly wrong if they took thirty seconds longer to get to the scene.
When Storm entered the kitchen there was Zin.
He shouldn’t have been surprised to see him there, too. He gave a nod to his friend, his brother in arms and the best sniper shot Storm ever came across in his sixteen-year military career.
Zin poured him a glass of water and pushed it across the large granite island in the modern kitchen. They were surrounded by black granite, stainless steel, and black custom cabinetry. They all agreed that they liked the darker colors, the sleek appearance of a modern, high-class penthouse. It was far
from the places they stayed while serving in the military and even the shit holes each of them grew up in. But really, all that steel, stone and blackness represented so much more, like each of their personalities.
“Back to Chicago for the next few weeks. I hate leaving Salvation. I like it here,” Zin said as he took a sip from his glass of water never looking at Storm. They didn’t talk about emotions, about the fears they had. None of them did. Not him, not Zin, Winter, Weston, or York. They had desires, dreams that grew because of what they witnessed around them, but none seemed to fit into their feelings of being complete except for her.
He cleared his mind best he could. He had to keep his focus on the businesses and the direction they wanted to go in.
“It looks that way, but it’s temporary. We need to show our faces or God knows what these employees of ours will do to fuck things up,” Storm replied.
“I know. It’s not that I don’t like Chicago. It can be a fun city with the right people. But Salvation is different. Hanging out at the end of the week at Casper’s with some of our buddies makes me feel normal.”
“Normal? What’s not fucking normal about our lives?” Storm asked and then leaned back in the chair and took a sip of water from his own glass.
“Being fucking billionaires. Running both types of businesses and trying to act like we’re legit when really we’re not. We’ve been saying that we want out. That we want to be free from the mob, yet here we fucking go again.”
“What? We’re doing what we need to survive. None of us want to truly give up the power, the connections and contacts we have out there. We’re pretty fucking powerful, and we’re not killing people or committing murder for money, or running prostitution rings. We’re collecting on money, money we helped these businesses acquire. We can’t just pass that up. It’s not how this works and you know it.”
“I know that. Nicolai likes that we’re still involved. But you know he could take over our share of this shit. We could just take him up on his offer of being silent partners.”
“Like that would last long? I’ve known Nicolai longer than any of you. It’s his way of squeezing us out nicely because of our relationship.”
“Which is exactly what, Storm? What is the deep connection between you and Nicolai?”
Storm placed the glass down and locked gazes with Zin.
“We’ve known one another a very long time. There are things that happened before I entered the service. Things I don’t need to look back on but tied me to Nicolai in a way that can’t be severed. Let’s focus on what we need to do. With Sotoro fucking around behind our backs and God knows who else he brought in to help take over our businesses, I think we have greater concerns right now.”
I can’t tell him or the others about the blood we share. The connection deeper than a business relationship.
“Yeah, like securing our company Pro-Tech Industries and trying to eliminate the competition of Sparks Industries.”
Storm chuckled. “You know Gary Sparks will be moving on soon enough. He’s playing a little hardball right now with the numbers and doesn’t realize that we haven’t even begun negotiations. He’ll come through.”
“He’s also Dmitri’s connection with that new multimillion-dollar construction job here in Texas. Do you think Dmitri even has a chance of landing that job with Andrei Renoke all over that?”
Storm felt his anger rise. He hated Andrei Renoke and his team of Russian and Slavic mobsters with a passion. He couldn’t do anything about it. The different families that ruled the territories Storm and his team did business in here in Texas and in Chicago had the respect and the acceptance of Nicolai Merkovicz, the head of all of it. But if Dmitri landed the job, then Pro-Tech Industries would get the contracts for all the security jobs including the work for their friends’ company, Liberty Construction and Development. Asher, Avery, Beau, Blade, and Cason were some of their closest friends and colleagues now living in Pearl.
“In all honesty, I don’t know if Dmitri has a chance. Winter’s connections believe that Andrei’s got it wrapped up. We’ll know soon enough.”
Zin ran the tip of his finger over the empty water glass.
“Have you heard from Porter?”
Storm took a deep breath and released it. Porter was Aspen’s brother and a close friend of theirs from the military. Zin worried about Aspen. Him and the rest of the team talked about offering her a job retraining their employees that were in charge of evaluating potential clients searching for missing people. One case nearly backfired and cost a woman’s life when her ex hired their company. If better, more in depth questions were asked, then they wouldn’t have had to send in Porter and his team to help save the woman’s life.
“He’s supposed to touch base tomorrow.”
“It is tomorrow,” Zin said and then smirked before he stood up and walked his glass to the sink.
“I’m going to try and get a little more rest.”
Storm nodded his head and watched Zin leave the room.
His men were good men. They were strong, resourceful, loyal, and they all wanted the same thing, yet knew they could never have her.
As their commander, he had access to their personal files back in the military. He picked and chose them by their experiences, their abilities and their survival instincts. They were so much like him in many ways, and their connections, their common grounds brought them closer than any of them expected.
Each of them, Winter, Weston, Zin, and York had troubled pasts as teens who came from broken homes and poverty.
They entered the military for a way out of their shitty homelives and as last resorts to surviving life. They each had a story to tell. They were so much like him and the family he came from.
Storm swallowed hard. He entered the military as an escape from his responsibilities and knowing that he wanted his own future, his own dreams and accomplishments, and not one attached to a name. But so much had changed. All the years he and his team served doing all those special operations and risking their lives didn’t leave them the security, the monetary cushion they all deserved for all they did. Instead it left them on their asses with nowhere to live, no better way of life, and ultimately him making a decision to save not only himself but also his team, his family.
Truth was, they had all been so used to taking orders, completing dangerous missions and so filled with anger and a need for that adrenaline rush they felt whenever they were in the midst of war, a battle, gunfire, that working for Nicolai felt right. Storm had a knack for business as did Winter and Weston. Zin and York were great at organizing, planning, working those numbers and putting on the pressure to get a response. Together they were feared, and eventually in two years’ time they became part of an organization Storm had joined the military to get away from.
He looked around the room at all the upscale items and décor. He preferred their house in Salvation on the ranch way outside the city and twenty minutes from Casper’s. Zin was right. This was where they felt most normal. But they weren’t “normal.” They were made men. They made the decision when faced with surviving civilian life, and that decision had its positives and its negatives.
They were trying so hard to go legit, but it seemed like they were never going to be able to get out of the Russian mafia. Their connections lay deep, and their abilities. The assets they now had were worth way more than any monetary value. They couldn’t make Aspen be part of this type of life. She would never be free. She would immediately be placed in danger as their enemies constantly searched for ways to penetrate their empire.
No, they had to stay clear of Aspen. Keeping her safe, watching over her as Porter asked when he was away on business or working on their estate in Tranquility was as close as they could get to her. Offering her a job retraining their employees was really a ploy by Porter to keep her out of Chicago and away from threats from her past. But the damn woman was stubborn, but also the only woman Storm would ever love. The only woman his team would ever want. But th
ey had to keep that love, that desire, a secret. It was the only way to keep her alive.
Chapter 1
Aspen Brooks crossed her legs and watched Clarence Cartwright’s eyes zero in on her body. She wanted this deal to go through for so many reasons. Initially revenge ruled her mind. Knowing who some of the players were and risking her life, her soul to get the information she wanted hadn’t even fazed her. She was so damn hallow inside and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. That saying that time heals all wounds was a load of bullshit when it came to her and her experience. No, she wasn’t healable.
This was the third damn meeting with this man, a multimillionaire who wanted to build a major business complex in Texas that would eventually expand over thousands of acres of prime land. If successful, which she truly thought he would be without a doubt, he would be worth billions.
“I’m impressed with the work you’ve done with these numbers, Aspen. Your concepts and Dmitri’s are so much better than anything I’ve personally come up with in designing,” Clarence said as he looked over the portfolio and her own personal ideas she felt he would be impressed with. Clarence leaned forward and looked her over.
She was dressed a little less conservative in her designer knee length, beige skirt that hugged her shapely figure and the camisole in pale yellow that showed off a bit of cleavage. Her designer bangle bracelets were in great contrast to the small heart of tiny diamonds that her brother had brought her right before he left for the military. She was only a kid, barely a teenager, but she cherished it.
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