Page 1 of Breaking Into Love

Chapter One

I was lost in my work. As my best friends, Emma and Soph, would say, I was always lost in my work. As far as I was concerned, they were both partly to blame. They’d left me and gone off to have adventures and chase their lifelong dreams. Needless to say, I couldn’t be mad at them. I was excited for them.

They’d been chosen to take part in the Alpha Enforcer Squad project, as I liked to refer to it. Recently, Command had decided to take a closer look at the increased mortality rate of our Enforcers. Then they’d decided to do something about it.

Emma Certze had been the first female Enforcer attached to the project. At six foot tall in her bare feet, with long, black hair and green eyes, she managed to be fierce and sexy at the same time. Her father is the lieutenant over our station. She’d been linked with two male Enforcers, one of whom is the son of Liege Commander Diamato. Funny thing was, Emma had hooked up with Diamato and his partner, Dracon, the night before they were paired up by Command. She’d decided to go out with a bang. More like she started with a bang! The chemistry those three put off had singed everyone around them. From the Intel I’d managed to gather, Emma and her men had continued setting off sparks. Only now, they were doing it in the Fifth Quadrant.

The Fifth Quadrant. It was a major hot bed of criminal activity. Enforcers trained to go there but didn’t always make it out, not even in a body bag. Dangerous was an understatement. Anything was for sale in that zone if the price was right, drugs and sex were staples, and nothing was off limits. The word no meant nothing. Most women would die to stay out of there. My friends… They couldn’t wait to get in.

Soph was in the Fifth Quadrant, as well. She was a part of the Alpha Enforcer Squad project, linked with three alpha Enforcers. She’d been bubbling over with nervous excitement when she’d left. If I’d known what was up, I would have shared everything I knew with her. Command was big on confidentiality, though. Especially when it came to their little projects. So all I could do was assure Soph how amazing she was. Trust me. If anyone could handle three men, it was Sophia Burrelis. She was a pint-sized, blonde bombshell, but she was also born to kick ass.

Then there was me. My real name is Mandriella Vectors, but thankfully, not many people know that. Everyone calls me Mandy. Unlike my best friends, I’m not an Enforcer. I’m an intelligence officer. My staple is codes. Until my most recent assignment, I’d never met a code I couldn’t break. But my current project was driving me crazy. Someone was sending a signal from within the Fifth Quadrant directly to an Enforcer communication network. How they were managing it was one question. The type of code was another. It consisted of a series of sounds that made no sense. At least, not yet. I was still running tests on it.

I worked for Liege Commander Diamato. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy with my inability to break this open and tell him what it was. I was beyond frustrated myself. Honestly, I was just frustrated in general.

“Mandy!”

“Ah!” I yelped and almost threw my handheld unit in the air. I’d been working late, so I was still in uniform. No Enforcer black for me. My uniform consisted of gray pants and shirts along with gray boots. I’d always thought the gray made my blue eyes stand out, but that was just vanity talking.

I’d barely hung on to my device and now, turned a glare onto the person who’d startled me. Miles stood there, pushing his glasses up on his nose and looking at me as if I were dinner and he were starving. I could kill Soph. I knew she was behind this. She and Emma both worried about me. They thought I needed to go out more, live it up, lose my virginity. Sigh. There, I admitted it. I was a virgin. It wasn’t because of some antiquated, prudish ideals like those that had ruled the women of our world centuries ago. I’d just never met a man who made me want to get naked with him.

Anyway, Soph had probably wanted to make sure I didn’t stay holed up in my room with her and Emma both gone. So she’d spoken to some of our friends about checking in on me. I was sure she meant well, but Miles had taken the suggestion to watch over me a little too personally and decided it was open season on Mandy. He popped up everywhere. My nerves were fried.

“I thought I’d see if you’ve had dinner yet.”

Miles’ gaze was on my breasts. I was only five-feet-ten-inches, but he was a few inches shorter than me.

“Sorry, Miles. I just finished.”

“Oh, well. We could go for a drink or something.” He licked his lips.

I held in my shudder of revulsion, barely, and turned, walking backwards down the corridor, moving closer to my quarters and the safety of my door.

“I appreciate the offer—”

“Um—”

“But I’ve got a lot of work to get caught up on.” I waved my handheld in the air to show him I wasn’t lying.

“Mandy!” My name squealed from his lips as I collided with what felt like a wall of sheer steel.

Firm hands captured my hips, and I was tugged hard into the solid wall behind me. I glanced up and over my right shoulder. A dark-green gaze captured mine. He’s gorgeous floated through my mind first. Alpha quickly followed as I took in the uniform with the tiger emblem, complete with alpha symbol. Then I saw the close-cropped black hair and knew I was in big trouble.

“Oh, shit,” I muttered and found myself turned and tossed over Tor Dayes’ broad shoulder. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Orders,” he replied firmly.

I heard a door slide open and glanced up, gripping Tor’s waist to help me balance, and watched Webb Xantor step out of my quarters with a bag in his hand.

“Well, well, well,” he said as he sauntered over and squatted behind Tor. He lifted his handheld and glanced from it to me. “Good eye, Tor. Mandriella Vector, your presence has been requested by Liege Commander Diamato.” He waved the bag in front of my face. “Looks like you’re packed and ready to go.”

“He did not send Neanderthals to get me.”

A shiver went through me at the look in Webb’s gaze.

“No, Mandriella. He sent the best for you. Feel lucky.”

“Um, Mandy?”

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