Page 27 of Secret Redemption

Chapter Thirteen

Ava was pumped with adrenalin at what she had discovered, her body humming with excitement that maybe this was big. Although perhaps some of it could be credited to Zack, not that she let him know that. Her mind whirled with barely suppressed energy as she thought about the possibility that she was onto something with her discovery.

As soon as she'd seen the missing book in the chained library, she had thought it strange but couldn't figure out why. She knew it was significant but didn’t know how it fit. Then she had seen the reference to the Basilica of the Holy Blood and all the pieces had started fitting together.

Turning her head slightly, she watched as Zack manoeuvred through the traffic towards the Cathedral. They passed Lauren's old place, where Drew was now living and pulled into a space just up from there. She couldn’t help but admire the way he smoothly parallel parked the big car as if it was a mini.

"How's Riley doing? Did you check in with your parents?" Zack asked bringing her out of her thoughts. She felt the smile tug at her mouth at his words. Zack was turning out to be an amazing father so far, as she had known he would be.

"Yeah, I called mom earlier. They’re out in the garden playing cricket. They found an old bat in the garage." She hesitated and wondered if he would mind that her dad had been snooping, "I hope that was okay?"

Zack swung his gaze to her, "Of course. What's mine is Riley's as far as I'm concerned. K and I used to play all the time when we were kids. They have the run of the house and grounds. The only place off limits is my office," he stated with a devastating smile.

Ava felt her heart melt, and her tummy flip slightly at his words. The fact that he considered his home to be Riley's home made her fall in love with him just a little bit more. While she hated that, she also couldn’t help her feelings. Zack had always been able to do this to her, the trick to keeping her heart intact was not letting on to that fact. So instead of answering she just nodded and turned to get out the car.

Zack stopped her with a hand to her arm, "Wait for me to check first," he said exiting the car and moving around the front of the vehicle. All the while his eyes were scanning for threats. He opened her door and proceeded to help her out, his hand skimming her breast as he took her arm. The surge of desire that flared through her made her feel lightheaded and also angry.

Why did he have such an effect on her and more importantly why couldn't he feel the same? She almost wished she was the type of woman that could settle, but Ava knew in her heart she couldn’t. It was all or nothing.

She shook his hand off and stepped away giving them both some space. He looked at her quizzically, then his lips tipped up, and she knew he knew the effect he had on her. She wanted to smack his gorgeous square jaw but knew she would probably break her hand on his granite chin. The thought pissed her off even more, so she glared at him and he fucking outright smiled.

"What's up, Green Eyes? Are you feeling sexually frustrated?" he asked, and she stopped short at his audacity.

She shook her head. "No. I am not," she denied hotly.

"Uh huh," he answered without even looking at her.

Urgh, men! They were so annoying. She would make sure Riley didn’t turn out like that, although with Zack's genes so strong she was probably fighting a losing battle.

They reached the entrance to the Cathedral and walked straight past the queue of visitors. Ava looked up, and dead centre as they walked in on the far wall was the SAS memorial stained glass window. She felt drawn to it, and her feet took her there until she was standing below it. The myriad of blues and turquoise mixed with the summer sun was stunning and gave her a wondrous feeling of peace that she had never felt before. It also made her emotional to think the beauty of that window and those colours and patterns represented some of the bravest and selfless men that ever walked the earth.

Men who had made the ultimate sacrifice to keep their families and their country safe from evil. It struck her that Zack was one of those men and how close he had come to being one of the men the window represented. Her throat thickened and she felt a sob crawl up her neck as the enormity of it all hit her.

An arm came around her, and she felt Zack's heat as he curled her into his body, his aftershave—the one he had always worn—engulfed her and she let the sob slip free. Ava wrapped her arms around his waist and held on with everything she had. Tears streamed down her eyes and into his shirt. Zack remained silent but kept kissing her hair and holding her tight, somehow knowing what she needed and letting her take it from him. After a few minutes, she pulled back and wiped her tears away with her hands.

Zack let her go but kept his hands on her hips, grounding her somehow. "Better?" he asked.

Ava nodded as she raised her head to look at him expecting to find ridicule and instead found understanding in the intense gaze that held hers. Her lips parted and her pulse spiked, her desire for this man was off the charts, but it was the love she felt for him at that moment, that made her eyes prick with tears again.

It had always been him, since the first moment she’d laid eyes on him it had been him for her. Her heart beat only for him and Riley. She was about to speak and tell him that she couldn’t play his game, that she couldn’t risk it when something caught her eye.

Her head snapped up, and she sucked in a breath. Zin was standing on the other side of the vast Cathedral watching them. Zack spun around, his eyes immediately landing on Zin. Both men froze for a second and then Zin lifted his hand in a salute. And in the next instant, he disappeared through a door behind him.

Zack grabbed her hand, and they took off after Zin.

"Zack, wait. He could be dangerous."

Zack didn’t listen he just kept running, dragging her along.

Ava dug in her heels and pulled her hand back making him stop. "Zack, stop!" She demanded.

He stopped and whirled on her, "Ava, I’ll explain later, but you have to trust me. Please!" She looked at his intent face and knew she trusted him with her life and more importantly with the life of their son. "Fine but if I get shot, then I'm coming back to haunt you," she muttered.

"I'd never let anything happen to you Ava. I'd die before I let anyone hurt you." Just like that, he went from annoying to fucking hot.

"Fine, lead the way," she answered with an overly bright voice, hiding the effect his words had on her.

They rounded the corner and passed the main altar, making their way towards the crypt. Ava tried to keep up with Zack's pace as she walked past effigies of medieval knights and bishops. She wanted to stop and study them, exploring the history of the Cathedral. It was so fascinating, and she could spend hours here.