Page 34 of Jack

“You’d better get over that quickly then.” She held her hand out to him, and he grinned as he took it and let her pull him up. “Come on, let’s go update Bebe. We also need some food, and after I might help you with your shower situation.”

Jack kept hold of her hand as they walked to her room and let themselves inside. It still looked like a whirlwind had been through, but it didn’t bother him so much this time as it had the first time he’d witnessed it.

Astrid knocked on the adjoining door. “Bebe, it’s me.”

It opened immediately, and he watched the two friends embrace.

Bebe pulled away and ran her eyes over Astrid. “Jesus, you scared the crap out of me.”

“I’m fine.” She turned towards him with a beaming smile that made him want to kiss her. “Jack got in the way of me and the bullet.”

“Thank God he did.”

Jack acknowledged the unsaid words when Bebe looked at him with a nod. He hadn’t done it for anyone else but Astrid, the thought of her not breathing gave him chills.

“I thought I’d check in with you and see what you found out?”

“Not a lot, but I know Juan Ravelino is at his home in Mexico, and it’s all quiet.”

“And how do we know this?”

“Because you’re one of us and the second Roz heard someone attacked you, she pulled Mustique and Laverne in and sent them to Mexico.”

“She shouldn’t have done that. This is my mess.”

“Hey!”

“No!”

Both Jack and Bebe started to speak, and Bebe let him go first with a knowing grin but he didn’t care. He wouldn’t have her blaming herself for any of this. Jack strode forward, his hand reaching for Astrid and pulling her against his body, surprised when she came so easily.

“Don’t blame yourself. This isn’t your mess as you put it, this is on Ravelino and what happened with Adeline. It’s natural you’d go looking for your sister. God knows I chased Will across the world when he went off half-cocked to save Aubrey, and I’d do it again because he’s my brother and I love him. Of course you’d look for Adeline.”

She looked up at him her eyes twinkling. “Does Will know how lucky he is to have you?”

Jack pursed his lips and shook his head sadly. “No, and I try and tell him at least once a day, too.”

Astrid laughed, and he felt the tightness in his chest loosen. “Idiot.”

Bebe pointed a thumb back towards her room. “As that’s out of the way, I’ll get back to work. I have a few leads to follow up, and I’m meeting an informant later.”

“You need back-up?” Jack didn’t like the idea of anyone working this alone, and it had nothing to with their sex. He knew the women of Zenobi were easily as deadly as his men, not least because people never saw it coming with them.

“No, this one is a little jumpy, so if I show up with back-up, he’ll run.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, now go rest, and I assume tomorrow is as planned?”

“Not sure. I meet with Fitz in the morning, and we’ll decide.”

“Let me know.”

Astrid grabbed some stuff and shoved it in a bag before they made their way back to his room down the hall.

Jack used the key card and cleared the room with Astrid beside him, her own weapon drawn. He liked that she was as dangerous and confident as he was. Something about a strong woman was attractive to him, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to take care of her, which was new.

Normally he found that part of a relationship exhausting, the constant need to think about someone else and consider their feelings. Still, with Astrid, it was coming naturally, and they weren’t even in a relationship. The truth was he didn’t know what they were, just that it was important to him in a way nothing that had come before had been. Was it love? Not yet, but he could see it going that way very easily.