Page 28 of Jack

Chapter Eleven

Jack strodetowards the conference room on the floor that was set up for the meeting. It was only two doors away from the Royal Suite, so he left two men outside the door. He’d served with some of the Fortis guys and had worked closely with the rest since and knew Jace could handle anything. Dane was equally trustworthy and competent. He wouldn’t have called them otherwise, and God, did he need them. Keeping this tour going and the Queen and the Prince Consort safe was a task on its own but add in his father, and now Ravelino, and it had become a nightmare.

He’d hardly had a second to himself since the attack except for the two hours’ sleep he’d managed to catch on the plane. He’d rather have talked to Astrid, but his body had recognised it was past exhaustion even if he hadn’t and shut down.

Waking, he’d found her still next to him, her hand where he’d left it in his, reading a book about knitting techniques. She was such a paradox, and the more he got to know her, the more he wanted from her. She was sweet and funny, sensitive, but still full of fire and attitude. She never let him get away with his shit and didn’t think twice about calling him on it.

It was one of the things that had made him notice her. Not that any of the women in his world were scared of him and rightly so. He’d never harm a hair on their heads and would die to protect any one of them—even Roz. Although he had no intention of ever letting her know that.

He walked in and noticed his team were already in situ spread out across the back of the room. The men from Fortis were seated closer to the front.

Zack approached and shook his hand. “Thanks for coming, Zack.”

“No problem. We were just spinning our wheels anyway, and God knows you’ve helped us enough in the past.”

“Well, it’s good to have you here because this shit storm just became a fucking tornado.”

He saw Astrid take a seat beside Lopez and had the urge to move her closer to him and away from his friend. His firefly had no idea the effect she had on men. Lopez was unknowingly walking a very fine line as he laughed at something she said and leaned in closer as she smiled back. A surge of jealousy hit him, and he wanted to rip Lopez away. He wanted to own her smiles, be the one she graced with her laugh. It was fucking ridiculous and something he’d never experienced before, and he didn’t fucking like it.

Zack followed his sightline and his eyebrows rose. “Oh, it’s like that, is it?”

“No, I just need his head focused on work.”

Zack chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Seriously, Jack, you watched it happen to all of us and half your team. Accept your fate now, and it will be much easier.”

“It’s not the same.”

Zack shrugged. “Fine, have it your way.”

He walked away to sit with his team, and Jack pressed the button on his laptop to link with Will. His face filled the screen behind him as he clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Okay we have a lot to get through so let’s get started. Firstly, thank you to Zack and his team for joining us. Hopefully, we can get through this tour without anyone getting hurt or having any more major incidents with your help. I’m going to run through the plan for the next few days, and once that’s done we’ll move on to other matters.”

He caught Astrid watching him, her focus clear and on the job. He wondered how she managed to compartmentalise when his focus was shot to shit every time she was in the same room as him. It was as if, suddenly, she was the only thing that mattered. Not his job or the Queen or even his vendetta against Frederick; just her safety and him getting to see the smile she wore when she was truly happy.

Her lips twitched and she winked at him, forcing him to lose his train of thought as he looked away, needing to get his head on straight. They had a few kisses between them that would hopefully become some hot sex, and he’d get her out of his system and back in the friend zone where it was safe.

“As I was saying, Fortis will mainly cover the night duty so that my team can be on during the walkabouts and events Her Majesty has planned. There will be some overlap in that some of the Fortis crew will attend a few evening events for extra cover. It will also allow the teams to give a proper security handover.

“We have four events planned here before we move to Montreal. A reception tonight at the Prime Minister’s home, which is small, tomorrow is the opening of a hospital wing for patients with dementia. The day after will be a walkabout at the new government building followed by the theatre in the evening.”

“Seems straight forward.” Zack crossed his arms over his chest and balanced his ankle on his opposite knee. “What about the threats we know about?”

Jack caught Astrid’s eye, not wanting to betray her confidence in any way, and she nodded, giving him permission. “As you know, we have the threat from Frederick Granger still hanging over us, and we’ve had a sighting here in Canada. Which was confirmed by Will earlier.” He turned to his brother, who took it from there.

“Cameras caught Daddy dearest going through customs at Toronto International Airport four days ago. We have him at different locations in the city before he disappears. Kanan is using his contacts on the ground there to find out where he might be hiding. The problem we have is Frederick knows how we think, so we need to think outside the box on this one boys and girl.”

Will had a very different relationship with their father than Jack. He always had and seemed hardened to it or was used to the man letting him down and betraying him, while Jack was still struggling to come to terms with that.

Jack turned back to the team. “Thanks, Will. As you know, we don’t know why or when or even how but we know his end game is to eliminate the Queen. Perhaps we need to work some different angles, but until we get home, the priority is to protect the Queen and get through this tour, not to go after Frederick.”

“What about the Ravelino Cartel? Where do they fit into this?” Nate asked.

Nate was a good man and crack shot with a sniper rifle. He would be a good pick for the walkabout, and Jack made a note to speak to Zack about it.

“I believe I can shed more light on that, Jack.”

He watched Astrid stand and face the room, her spine straight despite the tension he could see on her face. It took everything in him not to go to her and offer his support.