Page 1 of Hap

PROLOGUE

HAP

“Doyou think Sergeant will let us have the weekend off?” Becker asks with a hopeful sound in his voice.

I exhale a slow breath and lean in to take a closer look at my target. “All depends if we complete the task today,” I mutter before I adjust my scope.

“Man, I hope so. We could do with a night off. I hear there is a local bar where the women are obsessed with us.” He sighs.

I lean back on my elbow and look at him. He’s just 20 years old, and he only enrolled in the army because he wanted to please his father and be a man. Becker wasn’t built for the army. Well, not combat anyway. He would be better suited behind a computer screen, cracking the enemy’s defences that way, but he said that ain’t no way his father would see him as a man if he just sat behind a desk like a damn secretary. Instead, he’d trained, worked hard, and came near the bottom of each class of every training module, but he had passed all the same. Now he was with me on tour in the Middle East, fighting in God knows what fucking war. We are nothing but a weapon to our country, and I was okay with that. I just wanted out of the unbearable hell I was living in. Here I have a purpose, and I can at least take out some of my issues on the enemy.

I smirked at Becker. “You’ve been laid before, right?” I ask.

“Yeah, of course. It was just quick,” he replies with a shrug.

“It? As in, you’ve only done it once?” I ask to clarify. His cheeks tinge with pink, and he looks down.

“Yeah, and so what? I ain’t seen you fucking anyone since I joined your platoon 6 months ago,” he protests.

“That is because we have been over here for five of those months. Plus, when we are on tour, I don’t exactly like fucking about. I keep my head down and focus on the task. No distractions,” I state firmly.

He opens his mouth as if he is going to argue with me. “You’re right. I won’t go out if we get time off. I need to focus.” He nods firmly.

“Becker, if you want to go out, go out. You don’t have to do everything I do,” I point out.

“No, I know. It’s just. Well...” He pauses, suddenly looking awkward. “You’re my only friend in here,” he mutters, and his face looks like a sad little puppy dog.

I sigh. “Jesus, alright, fine. I will come out with you, but I ain’t drinking, and I want to be back at the camp by midnight,” I relent.

His face splits into a shit-eating grin. “Really? Aww man. We will have the best fucking time,” he says excitedly.

I just grunt and turn my attention back to the job in hand. After adjusting my sniper, I shift position so I am comfier lying on my front. We’re hidden by the long grass surrounding us, making us ready to strike when the signal is given. I was normally placed alone for these assignments, but they thought Becker needed to be trained up and that it had to be me to do it. I had protested, as I liked to work alone. Even though you are part of a team in the army, I was good at what I did. I was one of the best, so I got what I wanted for the most part, until littlepuppy dog eyes enrolled. I had to admit that I liked having the little asshole around, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Now you’ve got your fucking wish, how about we do our job?” I mutter.

My gaze flickers to him, and he’s still lying there on his front with that shit-eating grin on his face, completely unaffected by my shitty tone.

“Sure thing, boss,” he says, jumping to his feet.

I sigh and roll my eyes. “For fuck’s sake, Becker. How many times do I have to tell you not to?—”

I didn’t get to finish that sentence as the knowing whooshing sound wizzes through the air: a bullet. It hits Becker, and his eyes go wide as he looks at me before his body crumbles toward the ground. I move quickly and catch him in my arms.

The bullet had gone through his neck, and blood was gushing. His eyes were wide as he kept opening his mouth to speak and breathe, but every time he would just keep choking on his blood.

“It’s okay. You will be okay. The medic will help you. Just stay calm,” I assured him. It was a lie. He wasn’t going to make it. As I held him in my arms, his blood coated me, soaking through my uniform as I talked to him. “So, when we go out, I think you should pull a blonde, but don’t come across too needy. Girls don’t like that. I promise, you will be balls deep in a hot piece of ass by the end of the night,” I say, forcing a smirk on my face. He moves his hand shakily to my arm, holding it and gives it a gentle squeeze before his hands fall away, going limp. His chest freezes, and his last gargled breath exhales from his mouth. More shots are fired, and I gently move Becker and lay him down on the ground before I crawl back to my sniper. With my jaw gritted tight, fighting back the tears that are stinging my eyes, I take my aim and kill that mother fucker.

CHAPTER ONE

ALINA

I leanover my desk and switch off my computer, exhaling a heavy sigh. It had been a long day. Standing, I gather the files and paperwork to finish at home. I was going home an hour early, and I planned on cracking open that nice cold bottle of wine that is sitting in my fridge. A knock on my door echoes around my office.

“Come in,” I call out as I continue to pack up my things.

“Sorry to bother you, Alina. It’s just that Mrs. Sutton is here. I told her you were just leaving, but she insisted it was urgent,” Becky, my personal assistant, tells me with a grimace.

I groan and drop down in my chair. “Send her in,” I sigh reluctantly.

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