Page 61 of Jack

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Jack is goingto 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 on her at the hospital and furious that Jack would now be going out of his mind with worry and blaming himself.

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand, a mere American with no class or breeding. Jack is destined for greatness. When I take the throne with him at my side, we’ll rule this great land and make it a force to be feared again.”

Astrid snorted as Frederick crouched down, not a crease on his impeccably cut suit. “Fred, you’re whacked if you believe Jack will do anything with you. He hates your guts.”

“Because he doesn’t have the facts and you’re going to help me with that. Jack seems to have affection for you so he will come, and I’ll explain it all.”

“Jack isn’t a fool. He won’t fall into a trap. He has his entire team at his back, even though you tried to break them.”

“Ah, silly girl, do you think I would be so foolish? Eidolon will soon be on their way to London to save the Queen from the bombs I had planted, leaving Jack here alone to save the girl he thinks he loves.”

Jack did love her. She’d had a man who’d said it and didn’t mean it, and she knew the difference. Jack not only said it, he showed it every way—from the soft look he saved just for her that said she was his entire world, to the way he let her leave her stuff all over his home, even though mess drove him nuts, and the fact he brought her coffee in bed before he left for work every morning. All those things showed her how much he loved her, and she loved him with a fierceness she’d never experienced before.

She’d heard people say they would die for those they loved and never got it until him. Astrid would walk through fire for him, would happily take a bullet to save his life, and she was damned if she’d let this man harm him.

“You’re wrong, he does love me, and Jack will find a way. He always does, because he’s a hero, not a traitor like you.”

The blow to her face was sharp and painful, her head hitting the wall behind her as Frederick backhanded her. She tasted blood on her tongue and her vision blurred, but she fought it, not allowing him to see her pain. She’d suffered far worse being done to her and survived.

“You will call Jack and tell him to wait for my call tomorrow at noon. If you don’t, then I’m afraid your sister will be handed over to the men hunting her.”

Astrid felt her blood run cold. It was the one threat that could make her rigid spine crumble. Eidolon and Zenobi were protecting her sister, and Lopez was a near-permanent fixture at the private hospital where she was still in a coma but recovering.

“You’re bluffing.”

“Am I? Your sister Adeline is currently in Beaverbrook Private Hospital under constant guard, but do you want to take the risk that with my son’s team gone, she’ll be safe?”

Astrid felt her mouth water like she was going to be sick and swallowed over and over to keep the bile at bay. “Did you send Ravelino after me?”

Frederick stood and paced to the other side of the room before turning with a smug look on his face. “I did. You see, when I saw the way my Jack looked at you, I knew there was something I could use. So, I looked into you and found some fascinating facts. You’re former CIA and escaped from Ravelino when they blew your cover. I figured there was unfinished business there and that I could use them. I unleashed the dogs if you will. They did the dirty work, although I had assumed they would be better than they were and actually capture or at least kill you.”

He walked back towards her, and she was sure she could see her face in his highly polished shoes.

“I didn’t count on my son’s team being so good, and I should have. That was my mistake.”

Astrid could hear the note of pride in Fredericks’s voice and was shocked by how crazy he sounded. She knew how Jack had spent his life looking for his father’s pride and now for her to hear it, after everything he’d put Jack through made her feel sick. “You’re a piece of shit, you know that, Fred?”

“Make the call.” He pushed a phone towards her, his face florid with anger, his eyebrow ticking, 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.