Page 20 of Secret Redemption

Chapter Ten

The atmosphere in the conference room was tense, everyone was talking as they sat around the table and waited for Zack to begin. Every member of the team was there, Dane and Daniel on each side of him, Jace, Lucy, Ava, and Nate beside Daniel. Drew, Liam, and Will beside Dane.

Celeste was currently cancelling all the jobs they had for the near future.

Roz and her girls flanked the back wall opposite him, all standing with arms loose and every one of them looked ready to take down the first person that stepped out of line.

They looked like Charlies Angels only more lethal. They were currently getting lots of cautious looks from Jack and the Eidolon team, who were standing on the wall facing the door, arms crossed over their chests. They all wanted eyes on the door as if waiting for someone to attack, which as things stood was a possibility.

Jack had gone over and said a few words to Will. Zack had noticed the firm clasp on Will’s shoulder from Jack and how Will had visibly relaxed afterwards.

They had gone through a very tough time when Will was younger and getting into trouble. While their relationship for the most part was good now, it could still be rocky at times. Jack had had some of his security clearance revoked after Will had been caught hacking into some major government databases and it had taken him months to prove himself innocent. The relationship had suffered, but ultimately that had been what had woken Will up and made him become the man he was now.

Will was the fucking smartest man Zack had ever known and despite everything he had done, none of which was with evil intent, Zack would not have anyone else in charge of his cybersecurity.

Noticing that they were all getting antsy, he banged the table to get everyone’s attention.

“Okay everyone, settle down. We have a lot to discuss, and I don’t want to waste time.” Immediately they all went silent and gave him their full attention.

“Now, as some of you may know, I found out last night that I’m a father.” Zack watched as Ava’s eyes shot to him and then a blush crept up her face. It was hot and made him want to see how far it went on the rest of her body. He walked around to stand behind her and felt her muscles tense as he laid his hands on her shoulders.

Lucy was grinning like a loon, as was Daniel, although probably for different reasons. Jack looked surprised, and his eyebrows shot to his hairline, while Roz and her team looked bored.

“I’m sure this means fuck all to you, but to me, it’s life changing. Yesterday I was fighting these fucking Divine bastards for justice and for country, but today, I’m fighting for my family. Last night those fuckers put my son in danger, so now we go to war. I understand that some of you are already feeling that,” he said, looking at Lucy, Dane, and Daniel as he spoke. “And I’m sorry for not getting it sooner.” His hands tightened on Ava’s shoulders, and her hand came up to briefly touch his hand in a show of silent support. “I get it now. So now, we go to war!” Zack remained standing behind Ava, the contact was a balm to his soul. She was the link to his son, and just being near her made him want to blow up the world if it meant keeping her and Riley safe.

The room erupted in shouts of ‘fuck yeah’, and ‘about fucking time’. Having made his little speech, he sat back at the head of the table. Looking at the three teams in front of him and seeing how they all had the same common goal, he felt confident that the Divine Watchers had no fucking idea that they had just unleashed hell.

The next two hours were spent going over the intel from Fortis, Zenobi, and Eidolon. He watched as Roz and Jack went head to head, both thinking their team was better. A little posturing was good, but they had to work together.

The best course would be to put them on different intel missions so that they could each lead their own team. They had both agreed that he would take the lead on this, though he knew it was killing them both.

“Jack, can Eidolon get some leads on the doctor? We need to shut her down and find her base of operations.”

“Sure.” He turned, and ushered his men out of the room, but not before shooting a look at Liam. “You good here?”

“Yep, I’m where I need to be, and Nate needs me, don’t ya mate?”

“Fuck off, you cockney twat,” Nate grinned, “I don’t need you. I need your weapons stash, and you’re not sharing.”

Liam laughed and looked back to Jack, “Yep. See, he needs me. I’m good.”

With that Jack offered a salute to Zack and left to try and find out what they could about the doctor.

“Roz, can Zenobi get a lock on Rhea Winslow? She’s disappeared off the face of the earth, and I want her found, but keep her alive.”

“Done, but can I torture her?” was said in a completely deadpan voice, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to torture people.

“Do what you need but keep her alive,” he replied. That bitch had sent people after his son. Zack had no regrets about her being tortured by Roz, and he knew for a fact she was fucking good at her job, almost as good as Zin. At the thought of Zin, his good mood disappeared.

Roz and Zenobi left then with the promise to keep in touch regularly. That just left his team. They were all looking to him for guidance, and he felt the weight on his shoulders for a second, until Ava flashed him a small grin of encouragement. It was as if she was tuned into his feelings somehow. Fuck he was turning into a skirt!

Running a hand distractedly through his hair Zack sighed and faced his team. He was about to speak when the security monitors that had recently been installed by Will, Nate, and Liam sounded an alert. He flicked his eyes to the cameras lined up along the wall. Every member of the team went on alert with Dane and Daniel standing and moving to the door, hands on their weapons.

Zack’s shoulders relaxed when he saw the man on the screen. Fucker couldn’t just call, he had to make an entrance. Well, this was sure as fuck going to be interesting. Striding to the door, he turned and spoke to his team. “I need five minutes. Grab a coffee, and I’ll be back shortly.” Without waiting to see if they backed down he strode from the room, making a beeline for the front reception area and the shit storm that was about to hit.

~~~

Ava watched Zack and couldn’t help but check out his tight ass. Her emotions were going haywire. Her body and heart wanted to wrestle him to the ground and jump his sexy bones whilst declaring eternal devotion. Yet her head was screaming to stay away and keep some distance, or her heart would be left in tatters.