Reign A Romance Anthology - Nina Levine Page 0,5

vibrating in my pocket had me standing a little taller and pulling the offending object from my pocket. Though I took one look at the caller ID and gritted my teeth.

Regan Ballintine.

I swiped my thumb across the screen and pressed it to my ear. “The answer is no.”

“You don’t even know the question,” he threw back, his tone dripping with amusement.

“I don’t need to know. I told you last time you called, lose my fucking number.”

Regan and I went way back.

Far too far if you asked me.

There were times when the only voice I would hear for a week would be his, through a little fucking earpiece smushed into my ear. His bad jokes and constant commentary making me, at times, almost want to hand myself over to the bad guys I was hunting.

Though, I couldn’t discount the times he’d kept me sane and kept me alive. For that, I owed him.

The problem was, I hated that he fucking knew it.

“Trust me, this time you’ll be glad I called.”

“I’ll reserve my judgment.”

“I’ve got thirty trainees doing drills in a camp in the desert not far from you,” Regan continued, not for a second put off by my sharp retort. “They’re not quite up to scratch yet, and not to mention the handful of them who think they know fucking better.”

My lip curled, and I shook my head.

Ego was always a problem when it came to young recruits, especially in this case. Regan was in charge of recruiting soldiers for special teams. Teams for branches of the government that couldn’t be spoken about, teams that technically on paper did not exist. They were picked from thousands, hundreds of thousands, so you can imagine they were under the impression they were some kind of fucking special, and they thought they were pretty hot shit.

It was up to Regan to bring them back down to earth, and I did love to be the one to send them hurtling back toward the ground.

“Send me the details,” I answered, ignoring the light chuckle that came from the other end of the phone. “I’ll grab the boys and come out tomorrow night.”

3

Zoey

Even as I drove over to the construction site of the apartment building, my hands shook, but I continued to swallow back the vomit that sat at the back of my throat, threatening every few minutes to spew out over the steering wheel and dashboard.

You’d think at this stage in my life, at fucking thirty-two years of age, that this kind of shit would become easier or that I would somehow become more confident. But nope, not a damn hope in hell.

Outside the construction site, I pulled my car to the curb and took a deep breath before reaching for my pink hard hat that I kept in the backseat. I climbed out and grabbed my design folder before heading for what I assumed was the on-site makeshift office.

“Excuse me,” I called and cleared my throat when two men turned toward me. “I’m looking for Drake?”

The temperature out here was horrendous. My black jeans and button-up blouse was clinging to my body as I tried to fight the urge to hold my folder in front of me and use it to fan myself. It couldn’t be helped, though. I’d learned early on that coming to a construction site meant wearing a certain type of clothing. Not just for safety, but for respect.

This was undoubtedly a men’s zone, and while I wasn’t wielding a hammer or a saw, I needed them to see me as a colleague if I was going to get through my time here without having to defend my capabilities.

It wasn’t ideal, no. But I was willing to do whatever I needed in order to prove I was worthy of this job and many more. I’d come too far to let my anxiety, or a bunch of men, get the best of me now.

I could already feel sweat beginning to pool under my breasts, arms and down the center of my back, not helped whatsoever by the two men who stood staring at me, examining me.

I walked closer, the younger-looking of the two standing a little taller and handing off the large design sheets to the other man whose eyes drifted the length of my body before he nodded and turned to walk away.

“I’m Drake.” He gestured with his hand for me to come forward. “Come in.”

I swallowed against the hard lump in my throat and forced a bright smile as I followed