Jack (Eidolon Black Ops #8) - Maddie Wade Page 0,66

showing he wasn’t as calm as he wanted her to think he was.

“Uncuff me, asshole, so I can dial.”

“No, give me the number and I’ll dial it.”

Astrid rolled her eyes and gave him the number, trying to figure out how she could send Jack a clue.

Barking from upstairs caught her attention and then she knew. The dogs were upstairs and would need feeding with Carolyn in the hospital. She just needed him to know where she was, but he’d come now, and she needed to end this herself before Jack had to. He would kill his father to protect her; she knew it in her heart, but she also knew it would break something inside him to do it, and she couldn’t live with that on her conscience. She’d find a way to take Frederick down before he ever got the chance to put Jack in that position.

“You need to wait until the dogs have stopped barking or Jack will hear them.” She hated helping this man in any way, but it was for the greater good.

“Ah, so not so stupid after all.”

Frederick disappeared for a few minutes, as he went upstairs, and she could hear him walking around, probably giving the dogs those chews they loved to shut them up. Her mind went to Jack. She’d spent so long wanting him that she’d been afraid he’d break her heart by the time she had him, and she couldn’t have been further from the truth.

He made her feel strong, nurtured the side she showed the world which was full of sass and fire but fed and nourished the side she kept for him, which was soft and vulnerable. He’d shown her what it felt like to be loved and to love with no expectations or limits, and she wasn’t giving him up now or ever—not without a fight.

Footsteps on the old, wooden steps made her look up as Frederick came back and held out the ringing phone.

“Hello?” He sounded cautious and wary, and she prayed his mother was okay.

“Jack.”

“Astrid, oh thank God. Are you okay? Has he hurt you?”

“I’m fine. Look, you need to wait for a call from your father at noon tomorrow. He’ll give you instructions.”

“Is he there?”

“Yes.”

“Put him on the line.”

She heard the steel in her man’s voice and knew Frederick had picked a fight he couldn’t win. “He wants to speak with you.”

Frederick smiled and put the phone to his ear. “My boy, I apologise for the way this is playing out.”

Astrid saw Frederick go still, his smug smile falling, his eyes pulling together in a frown. “When you hear what I have to say, I assure you, you’ll think differently, my son.”

His eyes flashed to her, and he looked angry again, the pulse in his temple throbbing. “Your mother needs to keep her mouth shut and know her place, then maybe I wouldn’t have had to poison her to shut her up.”

Astrid heard the roar that came down the line—not the words, just the fury. Frederick had gone after the two things Jack loved the most, her and his mother, and now he’d see the beast he’d awoken.

Chapter Twenty-Four

A roar ripped from Jack as he hurled his phone across the room, watching with red tinging his vision as it smashed into pieces. His breathing was hard as he paced the room in an effort to control the rage pouring through his blood. Never in his life had he wanted to kill his father, not even after everything he’d done to him and Will—until now. Now Jack wasn’t sure he’d even be able to stop himself if he wanted to.

His father had threatened and hurt the two women he loved most in the world and he’d pay for that. He opened his eyes and looked at Will, who was watching him silently. “He’s been poisoning her.”

Will sat forward, his body tense as he felt the strain of the last twenty-four hours too. “Sorry, what?”

“Mum. He said she should’ve kept her mouth shut and he wouldn’t have had to poison her.”

The chair hit the floor as Will jumped up. “That bastard.”

“We should let the hospital know so they can run her blood and find out what it is and if it has any lasting effects. Then find out how so we can stop it.” Jack nodded at Aubrey, who hadn’t left them since his father had taken Astrid. Jack knew she was blaming herself, but he didn’t. She would’ve likely ended up dead if she’d tried to