Lured (Team Zero #1) by Rina Kent

My mouth is still hanging open and my core tingles.

Because I said so, Camille.

Why the hell would that turn me on so much? I blink a few times to get my bearings together.

The whole meeting must’ve been all a dream.

My obsession with Dominic reached the level of hallucination.

I need a psychotherapist. They’d have a field day with me.

“Caaaam!” Nancy barges into the storage room. Her pink bangs fly all over her face as she jumps up and down with the most excited expression. “What was freaking Dominic Johnson doing here?”

Okay. So it wasn’t a dream.

Or Nancy is crazy like me. Which is believable considering the way she’s jumping like she’s on a happy pill – or drugs.

I shrug. “He wanted to ask me out… I guess.”

It sounds super weird when I say it out loud. Dominic asked me out because he knew I was watching him.

Actually, now that I’m not distracted by his proximity, the whole thing is actually dangerous.

It’s true that sociopaths like attention, but it has to be on their terms. Unwanted attention – like my morbid curiosity – isn’t welcome. Maybe he’s asking me out to shut me up somehow.

How does he intend to do that? If he wanted to kidnap me, it would’ve been easier without getting in touch with me. Maybe he wants to play with my head first.

Merde. Now, I really want to know what he has in store for me.

Nancy stops jumping and waving around. She remains frozen in place. Even her eyes are almost bulging out.

“Nancy…?” I run a hand in front of her face, worried about her.

She gulps in a long breath then blurts. “He asked you out? Like date out? Like he’s bloody interested in you?”

“I guess.” I really am not sure. He’s hard to read.

“OMG! OMG!” She goes back to jumping, only this time, she attacks me in a hug. “Go get it, girl! When you sleep with him, I want all the dirty details. I’m so curious about how he is in bed.”

That’s Nancy. No filter.

I pull away. I want to tell her that it’s early to talk about sleeping with him, but who am I kidding? That’s most likely what he wants from me. Judging from how he measured me and the way he said, ‘Because I said so’, he’ll be getting to the sex part in no time.

Heat creeps up my cheek because… I might let him.

“Do you want me to lend you one of my dresses?” Nancy asks.

“No. I’m fine.” And it’s not because he told me not to change, but it’s because I refuse to become a chameleon for anyone. That’s probably why my high school boyfriend Pierre dumped me.

I’m too hot-headed, he said. I make no compromises. I like controlling everything.

J’en ai marre, Camille. Were his last words.

It hurt so much back then. I was so attached to him and he told me he was fed up with me. After that heartbreak, I decided to never expose myself to that vulnerability again. I spent my two years in college refusing any advances and just focused on my studies.

Dominic is different. I doubt he’d be proposing any type of relationship. I stare at the mirror across from the storage room. My cheeks are flushed and my green eyes I inherited from Papa are gleaming with a smile.

After two weeks in London, I finally found my adventure.

I’m so thrilled, and slightly scared, about what Dominic can do to me.





The place in which Dominic asked me to meet him is a hotel’s underground pub. The infrastructure seems decades’ old, and I’m glad it isn’t one of those ridiculously expensive hotels. It isn’t a cheap one either, but a happy medium.

I can’t help wondering why he picked this place. Is it so I can feel more at ease and therefore, he can make me agree to anything?

He doesn’t need a setting to do that. His personality is domineering enough.

I slide into a stool at the bar and order a coffee. I spilt juice on my shorts at work so I changed into a mid-thigh denim skirt. I always liked wearing short things. Maman’s influence, I guess. She says my legs are too toned and beautiful, it’s a shame to hide them.

No ounce of makeup covers my face. I was never keen on that and I won’t start for Dominic.

I already had my lunch so he won’t feel the obligation to feed me. I’m not here for the food anyway. The sooner we get to what he wants, the better.

And I’m sure he wants something. His kind always does.

I have a shift in two hours, so it’s a good excuse to bail out.

My defences are all set. Now, I just have to wait for his move. I’m giddy just thinking about it.

This feeling is similar to when I played Chess with Papa. He has a strong strategic mind, and it’s nearly impossible to predict his next move. However, I still felt excited and pumped every time I tried to read him.

If I didn’t run away from home, Papa would be so effing proud of me if he knew I detected a sociopath. Only… well, he only taught me to read people so I’d avoid Dominic’s type, not become obsessed with them.

The bartender, who doesn’t look much older than me, smiles while sliding the cup of coffee in front of me. Give it to the British to have coffee in their pubs. It’s one of the best things they ever did.

“Thank you.” Both my hands surround the cup and its warmth seeps straight to my bones. It would’ve been better if I had my favourite mug with me, but oh, well.