Page 63 of Jack

Chapter Twenty-Four

A roar rippedfrom 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 stop him, and he couldn’t live with that. “Can you handle that?”

“Yes, of course.” Aubrey stood, dropped a kiss on Will and went to use Alex’s office.

“Any word from Alex?”

Jack folded his arms over his chest and leaned against his desk, legs spread. “Yes, he says they’ve found four devices around the perimeter and that they’re sweeping the entire Palace, but they’ve secured the Queen in an unknown location.”

“Unknown to you?”

“Yes, I don’t want to be compromised in any way, so the less I know, the better.”

“You think he’ll use Astrid to try and get the location from you?”

Jack snorted. “I know he will.”

An alarm from the gatehouse had him looking at the monitor to see Roz with four of her girls. He pressed the button to let them in and moved to the door as Will followed.

“Never thought I’d see the day you and Roz worked together.”

“Me neither, but I’d work with Satan himself if it meant getting Astrid back safe.”

“You love her a lot.”

Jack glanced at his brother and nodded. “More than I ever thought possible. I can’t lose her.”

Will squeezed his shoulder. “We won’t, Jack. She’s sharp. She’ll stay alert until we can find her.”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t think she wants me to find her. She could’ve given me any number of clues and didn’t. I think she plans to handle this on her own so I don’t have to.”

The fear of that realisation hit him in his heart, and he had to force himself to stay focused through it, or he’d make a mistake.

“She’s trying to protect you.”

“I don’t want her protection, dammit. I want her safe. It’s my job to protect her, not the other way around.”

“I’m sorry to say, brother, you didn’t fall in love with a meek woman who’s willing to sit back and be saved. The women we love are warriors in their own right and they love us enough to want to protect us too. We have to accept that because it’s part of the reason we love them.”

“I’m not sure if I can.”

“You already made a choice, Jack. Now you have to have the conviction to stand by it.”

“So, what? I just sit back and let her take risks?”

“No, of course not. We go find that asshole, kick his ass, and save the girl, but we don’t underestimate Astrid either.”

Jack nodded, understanding his brother’s words, having seen it time and again with his men, but he’d not fully understood the terror they felt until now.