Jack (Eidolon Black Ops #8) - Maddie Wade Page 0,64
to us about something like that, but I can’t wrap my head around it at all, not in the fucking least.”
“Me neither.”
“It explains a lot, though. Like how easily I got the contract for Eidolon and why I was the one they contacted.”
“Yeah, it also explains the email I got asking me to set up the funds and company.”
Jack stopped, and Will turned back to him. “They emailed and asked you to set up Eidolon? I thought it was your idea.”
“Well, it was, but I received an email suggesting I should use the funds and I should make use of your talent. The natural thought process led me to a Black Ops team.”
“Was it from Fitz?”
Will nodded. “I traced it back to him, yes.”
Jack resumed walking, wanting to get to Astrid now and tell her everything. “That sneaky fucker.”
“Yeah, but it worked out. Eidolon is a force to be reckoned with now because of you, Jack.”
“I appreciate you saying that, brother, but without your funds, it wouldn’t be what it is today.”
“We make a good team, don’t we?”
Jack slung his arm over his brother’s shoulders. “We sure do.”
Will grinned. “Astrid has changed you, Jack.”
“For the better?”
“Not better or worse, she’s just shown you it’s okay to let go sometimes, to show people how you feel.”
“It’s hard to undo a lifetime of conditioning, but I’m trying.”
“You’ve always been a good man, Jack. Who else spends thousands of pounds on play equipment so his admin manager can bring her daughter to work?”
“Hey, without Autumn I’d be lost. That’s just good business sense and she’s worth every penny.”
“Whatever, bro.”
“What do you think the girls will make of this?”
“Not sure, but there’s Aubrey now. Let’s find out.”
“Hey, Brey. Where’s Astrid?”
Her panicked look suddenly registered on Jack’s face, and his chest tightened with anxiety.
“I don’t know. She went to the toilet fifteen minutes ago and never came back. I checked everywhere, and I can’t find her.”
Jack’s whole world seemed to fade to nothing except the urgent need to get Astrid back to him where she belonged, and he didn’t care what or who he had to kill to make that happen.
His phone rang, and he saw it was Alex. “Alex.”
“Jack, police just found a bomb outside the Palace gates. We need to go.”
He knew this was his father. Divide and conquer was his aim and by attacking the Palace he knew Jack would send his team to protect the Queen while holding Astrid over Jack’s head. “I can’t. My father has Astrid.”
“Fuck.” Alex sounded torn.
Divide and conquer, except his father hadn’t bargained on his secret weapon.
“Take the team and Fortis to the Palace. I need to find Astrid.”
“Jack, who’s going to help you?”
“I have Zenobi and my family.”
Jack hung up safe in the knowledge that Alex could handle things and called the one woman he’d vowed never to ask for help.
“Roz, I need your help.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Jack is going to kill you when he finds out you’ve taken me.” Astrid glared at the man she’d only seen in pictures and hated that she saw any of Jack in his handsome face, but the two men looked alike. It was inside where they were like night and day. Jack was a protector, a hero, and a loyal friend; his father was nothing but a roach.
He flicked his wrist in an off-hand manner that made Astrid want to break his face. “My sons will never kill me. Jack is too soft to kill the man who gave him life and William is nothing more than a nuisance.”
“Yeah, well I won’t have any such hesitation, asshole.” She wriggled her cuffed wrists against the pipe in the cellar of a large old house she knew too well. It was the cellar of Jack’s mother’s home.
Frederick laughed and it made her itch to throat punch the fucker who’d tried to ruin the man she loved.
“You’re a delight. I can see why Jack is having fun with you. Of course, you’ll not do for the long term. With a family such as ours, breeding is important, and we can’t have you polluting the bloodline.”
Astrid twisted to get more comfortable on the cold floor which only contained an old set of garden furniture and two dog beds, nothing she could use, at least that she could see. “What the hell are you talking about, old man? Bloodline? Have you finally lost your mind and joined the cuckoo clan?”
She probably shouldn’t bait him, but she was angry with herself that he’d got the jump