Broken Process Read online

  BROKEN PROCESS

  A Reverse Harem Romance

  by

  Bethany Jadin

  BOOK THREE of THE CODE

  Copyright 2018 Bethany Jadin. All rights reserved.

  This book may not be reproduced or distributed in any form by any means, without the authors’ permission, except for reviewers, who may quote short excerpts for the purpose of review only.

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and action come from the authors’ imaginations and are presented as fiction. Any resemblance to real individuals, alive or deceased, as well as events or locations, is coincidental. All characters depicted are over the age of 18. This book is intended for mature audiences only.

  Subscribe to Bethany Jadin’s newsletter for exclusive content such as sneak peeks of upcoming books, and to be notified when the next book releases! You’re also invited to join the private Facebook group Jadin’s Maidens, for readers who enjoy reverse harem stories and other unconventional romance.

  THE CODE SERIES

  1 Vested Interest

  2 Hidden Agenda

  3 Broken Process

  4 Risky Business

  5 Perfect Design

  Table of Contents

  * * *

  Authors’ Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  THE CODE SERIES

  Authors’ Note

  Broken Process is book three of The Code, a reverse harem continuation series of five full-length novels with a steamy, action suspense storyline that builds in intensity with each book.

  Each book in the series picks up where the previous one left off and they must be read in order for the story to make sense. The entire series will be released by the end of Spring 2018 and all of the books can be purchased or preordered on Amazon.

  We hope you enjoy this story of Emma and her five smart, sexy men.

  1

  Gunner

  Jude knows how to mobilize his troops quickly.

  As soon as Emma texted him an SOS emergency, he sent out the alert to the rest of us, and I’m breaking every traffic law on the East Coast to get to her. I have no doubt the rest of the guys are doing the same.

  Why did Daniel have to recommend we move her to a new apartment? It seemed like the right thing to do business-wise, to keep some distance, but I never liked the plan. I’ve missed her being nearby. She didn’t need space, goddamn it. She was safe with us. And now look. Not even one week away from us, and not only has her apartment been broken into, but her roommate is missing.

  I screech to a stop in front of Emma’s building and hop out of my car, leaving it double parked in the middle of the street — let them tow it, I don’t give a fuck — and take the steps to her apartment three at a time. Despite my speed, I’m the last to get there, and the rest of the guys are already crowding into her small living room.

  She’s flipping the fuck out. And I get it, I’d be going nuclear, too. She keeps rubbing her eyes like she can’t believe this is really happening. Her hands are shaking, and she’s doing this anxious tic where she’s running her palms nervously across her forehead, over the top of her head, smoothing her hair.

  “Have you called the police?” Jude is in crisis mode, all business.

  A look of panic twists Emma’s expression. “No. I just texted you. Oh, God, I should do that.” Her hands shake as she touches the screen of her phone, then she freezes. “But what if... what if they hurt her because I call the police?”

  Trigg is by her side in a second, a soothing hand reaching out to her. “No, I don’t think they will.”

  “But they could have a keylogger or audio trace on your phone,” Daniel says quickly as Emma begins to dial.

  She draws in a sharp breath and puts a hand over her mouth, terrified at the thought.

  “Fuck,” Jude grunts angrily.

  “I’ll call.” Daniel reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, but before he dials he looks at the rest of us, unsure. From the expressions on my friends’ faces, I can see we’re all thinking the same thing.

  None of the unsavory companies we’ve had run-ins with have ever taken things this far in corporate espionage, at least not off the battlefield. We’re in uncharted territory, here. Truth is, we don’t know what BHC might do, but there’s no point in saying that aloud. Emma dwelling on worst-case scenarios isn’t going to help Zoey.

  Emma watches us with wide eyes, her whole body on alert, ready for instructions, information — anything.

  “Give me a second to think,” Jude says, motioning for Daniel to hold off.

  I begin to pace in a small circle behind the guys. I’m wound tight, my fists clenched. Every muscle in my body coils in preparation to strike. “Let’s go to their headquarters. I’ll burn the goddamn place to the ground.”

  Trigg catches my arm as I pace, pulling me to a halt. He tips his head toward Emma and gives me a pointed look. I’m not helping, I know. But I need to do something. Those bastards need to pay for this.

  Jude’s pacing now, too. He stops in front of Emma, his tone full of command. “Tell us what you remember from the call.”

  Emma’s voice is choked with emotion, on the verge of panic. “Just what I told you already.”

  His twin tries a different approach. “Forget what they said,” Jax says, stepping forward. “Close your eyes and try to remember what you heard. Any sounds that could clue us in to where they might be?”

  “I don’t know,” she says, shaking her head. “Um, maybe some faint sounds, like they were in traffic. Or near a road. Sorry, I’m not sure.” She bends over, hands on her knees, her breathing fast and shallow. “My brain was barely registering what they were saying, much less background noise.”

  “You said you were texting her when you were at the store, right?” Trigg asks, and I can hear the strained tone in his voice, as if he’s tries to say the question as calmly as possible for Emma’s sake.

  She glances up at Trigg and nods. “Yes, we were texting back and forth. I was getting us stuff for dinner.”

  Jax tilts his head. “When’s the last time you got a reply from her?”

  She straightens and opens the app on her phone. “Five fifty-two,” she says, her eyes flicking to each of us.

  “And you messaged me eighteen minutes later,” Jude says.

  Emma swallows, looking desperate to be helpful. “Yeah, as soon as BHC hung up. The grocery store is only a few blocks away, and I was in the check-out lane when we were texting.”

  Jude checks his wristwatch then snaps his eyes to Emma’s. “They can’t have gotten far, not in rush hour traffic. I’m betting they’re still in a vehicle. We can find them faster than the police.”

  I glance nervously between the chief and Emma, but she doesn’t balk at Jude’s firm words. Instead, she draws in a deep breath, a look of desperation in her expression, and nods eagerly. “Do it, please, whatever it takes. Just get Zoey back safely.”

  Jude looks over at his twin then to Daniel. A pointed look passes between the three of them. Without a word, they’re already pulling their phones out.

  “Zoey’s cell number?” Jude asks, turning back to Emma.

  She rattles it off, and none
of us have to ask what the guys are doing with it. Jax and Daniel move away from our cluster in the living room as they each quickly dial numbers and put their phones to their ears. If BHC hasn’t destroyed Zoey’s phone, their contacts will have it located in minutes. If the guys had their laptops handy, they’d have Zoey’s location triangulated in record time, but they both know people who can tap into the same networks almost as fast as they can.

  As the guys talk in low voices, Emma bends over, hands on her knees again, trying to take deep breaths, but her legs are shaking. “This is all my fault.”

  “No,” Trigg says. “It isn’t. You didn’t do this.”

  Emma lets out a small, anguished cry. “I did. I caused this,” she protests, an unforgiving hard edge in her voice. “I pushed them too far.”

  Jude and Trigg glance at each other with confused expressions, but the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at her words. I know exactly what she’s talking about.

  My gut drops to my boots with the realization of what I’ve done. Not only am I the least useful asshole here; I’m to blame for what’s happened. I was so focused on Emma — so in need of her — that I was on a high. I didn’t care what was going on outside this apartment. I didn’t care who was watching, or why. All I cared about was being with her. I’d missed her so much, I couldn’t control myself. Couldn’t give her the space we’d all agreed she needed. I seduced her into making love in front of the window, in full view of someone I knew had dangerous intentions. I taunted them, called their bluff.

  And this is their response. Zoey is paying the consequence of my impulsive needs, for my obsession with Emma.

  “Zoey. We have… we have to find her. I can’t—” Emma’s choking out words between rapid gulps of air.

  She’s hyperventilating, on the verge of passing out. A stomach-churning combination of dread and guilt is seeping into my body with paralyzing effect. I stop pacing and stare at her, watching helplessly as the color drains from her face and her body trembles.

  Jude shoots a concerned look over to Trigg, and my roommate moves closer to her. He takes both of her hands in his and guides her to stand.

  God, that look of panic on her face, it’s killing me.

  Motherfucker. Why the fuck did I do that? I’ve told myself that all I’ve wanted to do ever since I saw Emma at that gala is to help her in whatever way I can. But that’s not the whole truth. I’ve been selfish, putting my own needs first. And now I’ve managed to fuck her life up.

  Trigg takes Emma to the kitchen and has her lie down on the cool tile flooring. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but I know what he’s doing. Calm words, gentle encouragement, deep breaths. He’s talking her down from the precipice. No better man to do it.

  Jude turns my way, but I can’t bring myself to meet his gaze. Instead, I stare into the dining room area, where Daniel and Jax are still on their phones.

  “Great. Yes, check the sectors of each tower. I need the coordinates on the last three,” I hear Daniel say.

  “Dammit,” Jude says in a low tone, his jaw set firm, his eyes ablaze. “I knew I should have put surveillance on Emma. Fuck... I just... I don’t...” Jude shakes his head angrily, at a loss of words for the first time I can remember. “I just don’t know how I underestimated the situation this badly. How the hell did it escalated this quickly?”

  My eyes fall to the floor. “I fucked up,” I say quietly.

  Jude shifts beside me, and there is a moment of hesitation before he asks, “What do you mean?”

  “The day I was helping move Emma here…” I know what I need to say, but the shame flooding through me chokes off my words. I venture a glance up at the chief. He’s looking at me intently, but I can’t bear to see the growing alarm in his eyes, and I look away again.

  “What happened, Gunner?”

  “I spotted a guy who’d looked out of place sitting in the apartment next door.” I point at the windows on the far wall, the ones facing the building across the alley. “I knew he was a tail — he was too obvious to be anything else. But Emma’s the one who identified him as part of BHC.”

  Jude takes in a deep breath, and I know that look on his face — the one he makes when he’s trying to keep his temper in check. “You didn’t think to share that with us?”

  He’s giving me more patience than I deserve, handling me with kid gloves, and it just makes me feel worse. I need him to bark reprimands and shout at me. But he stays quiet, waiting for my reply. I dig the heel of my palms into my eyes until I see stars. “I know, I should have called you right then, but...”

  “But what? What did you do?” All the muscles in his neck go tight, and his face is turning red as he tries to hold back his rage.

  I’ve never been so embarrassed or felt so guilty about a sexual escapade in all my life. “I may have gotten a bit frisky with Emma right about then.” A hard swallow, and I spit out the rest of the bad news. “In front of the window. With the BHC guy watching.”

  “Fuck.” Jude spits out the word like venom, his lips curling away from his teeth in a full snarl. “Well, that explains a whole hell of a lot.”

  Daniel and Jax are off their phones now and heading back to us.

  Jude turns his back to me angrily and lifts his chin at them, his muscles tightening, ready to move as soon as they give him an address. “What’s the status? Did you locate her?”

  Jax shakes his head. “No, the phone’s toast. Nothing for the last twenty-five minutes.”

  “Her GPS wasn’t on before then, either,” Daniel tells us. “With some more time, we can access the network’s servers and decrypt the 911 trace signal. But now that the phone is off or destroyed, it would only tell us where she’s been, not where she’s going.”

  “For now, all we have are the most recent hits off the towers, but nothing current,” Jax says with a frustrated sigh.

  Daniel nods. “Looks like she was on the interstate, moving north at a rapid clip before the phone went dark.”

  “Goddammit,” Jude growls. “If they’ve reached the interstate already, she could be anywhere by now.”

  Daniel’s gaze shifts uneasily from my face to Jude’s, no doubt picking up on the increased tension between the two of us.

  Jax notices, too, and he gets right to the point. “What’s going on over here?”

  Jude gives me a hard look over his shoulder and scoffs. “Gunner has just shared some pertinent fucking details about this situation.”

  All eyes turn to me. “What details?” Daniel asks, his eyes darting nervously between us.

  With regret in my voice, I fill them in quickly.

  When I’m done, a long moment of silence fills the space between us. Daniel shakes his head and shifts uncomfortably, a barely concealed look of horror on his face, and Jax is staring past me at the wall, his jaw set.

  Jax is the first one to speak. “So, they know how intimate we’ve gotten with Emma. Or, at least how close one of us has gotten. That’s why they did this.”

  The chief looks ready to punch something, someone — anything. “Exactly. A drastic measure, to counter our influence.”

  The heaviness of the air between the four of us as the guys reach the same realization I had a few moments ago is more than my nerves can handle. We’ve all played our part in what led to this — none of us are willing to give her up, to go back to just a business relationship with Emma. But we’d called a truce of sorts, an agreement to give her some space and let things settle down. Only, I couldn’t do that.

  I glance into the kitchen, wanting so much to go to Emma. To hold her, to find comfort in her warmth against mine, where everything feels right and good. But knowing I’m the cause of her pain right now, the cause of whatever terrible things are happening to Zoey, comfort is the last thing I deserve.

  Emma’s sitting up, breathing steady again, but her lips are quivering, and her eyes are wide with worry. Trigg draws her into his arms, and she melts against his chest. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to h
ave that with her again — if she’ll ever be able to trust me again.

  I don’t want any of this. The crushing weight in my chest. The sharp twist of guilt in my stomach. And I sure as shit don’t want to break down and start crying in front of the guys.

  Why can’t I control myself around her? Why can’t I just slow down for two goddamn seconds and think about what I’m doing before I act on my crazy ideas?

  I take a deep, shaky breath and glance at my friends. Shame is written on their faces, same as mine. But today, this situation right here — with Emma terrified and in tears about her best friend — this is my doing. We’ve all worried about hurting her, but I’m the one who finally did it.

  2

  Emma

  Jude breaks away from the huddle that he, Gunner, Jax, and Daniel have been standing in. The guys have been talking in hushed, strained tones for what seems like ages. From my spot on the kitchen floor, I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I don’t like the looks on their faces — frustration, anger, and something else I can’t quite put my finger on. That unknown quality in their eyes, it’s making my pulse run at light speed again.

  As Jude walks toward us, I raise my head from Trigg’s shoulder. We’ve been sitting on the kitchen floor together since he talked me through a breathing exercise. It helped a little, but nothing is going to fix me until I know Zoey is okay. Not even Trigg’s gentle words and soothing touch — none of which I deserve, anyway, not after giving BHC a reason to escalate their attacks. Laid out across the table like that, in full view… hell, I practically dared them to come over here and do something horrible.

  But while the guys worked on tracing Zoey’s phone, I had nothing else to do other than try not to throw up from the grip my nerves have on my stomach. And Trigg having something to focus on as he led me through the exercises seemed to calm him, so I went with it.