by Beth Abbott
Zach glared at JT.
“You told him to talk dirty about Sacha? Really?” He shook his head. “If Kellen and Kris hadn’t pulled me off him, I wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon.”
“We just needed to know we could get you riled up.” JT shrugged. “It won’t be a sparring session on the ship. Every fight is going to be hard, with the last man standing going through to the next round. We didn’t want to see you getting hurt or knocked out.”
“Plus, we need to bring you back with those pretty boy looks intact, or Sacha will cut my balls off with a rusty knife.” Kellen winced. “I was just looking out for your interests, and any hopes I have of one day having kids.”
Zach shook his head.
His team-mates were certifiably crazy.
“Sorry, man.” He turned to Dappy and held his hand out. “I didn’t realize I’d been set up.”
Dappy did some kind of ridiculous handshake, leaving Zach staring at him in bemusement.
“It’s all cool, man. I knew what I was up for.” Dappy shook his head. “I just underestimated how fast you could move that truck-sized body across the ring. I’ll take it as a good lesson learned. Never turn your back on the big old guy you’ve just pissed off!”
Zach watched the kid climb out of the ring, grinning and high-fiving his friends who’d stopped to watch.
Zach pulled his gloves off and threw them to Kellen.
“If I’ve passed whatever test you set me up for, I’m going to leave you assholes to play with yourselves.” He smiled for the benefit of his teammates, but Zach could feel his hands trembling, and his insides were churned up. “If anyone is looking for me, I’m taking a walk back to the office and will be stopping by at Alpha to catch up with Drew and Tony and anyone else who’s in the office today.”
He walked to the changing room where he quickly ditched the shorts and vest, pulling his jeans and shirt back on. There wasn’t much need for a shower since he hadn’t even worked up a sweat.
He wished the team hadn’t pulled this shit on him today, but they weren’t to know what was going on with him and Sacha.
Zach walked slowly back to the office, his bag casually slung over his shoulder, not noticing the admiring glances being thrown his way. As he passed one of the pubs on the main road, he was whistled at by a bunch of twenty-something women sitting at a group of tables outside.
His options were limited to ignoring them, looking up to acknowledge them with a smile, or looking up to find that they were actually whistling at someone else.
“Hey, blondie!” He heard one woman call out. “How about having a drink with us? We’ll even buy the beer.”
As he was about to turn the corner, bringing him even closer to the women, Zach had little choice but to glance up.
Several of the women were now kneeling backwards in their seats looking straight at him. They were obviously a bit tipsy and feeling overly confident.
“Afternoon, ladies.” He said politely, ignoring their invitation.
“Come and have a drink with us, gorgeous.” One of them pouted. “We’re lonely for a good-looking man like you.”
Zach easily swapped his bag into his left hand, swinging it up over his shoulder so his wedding ring was clearly visible.
“Thanks for the offer, but I have somewhere I need to be.” He carried on walking.
“Shit, he’s married already!” One of the women pouted. “Why are the hot ones always either gay or married?”
“I know, right?” The chorus of disapproval was unanimous, but Zach ignored it and kept on walking.
Ok, so it was a little bit flattering to have a bunch of young women hitting on him, but only so far as it reassured him that he was still worthy of his much younger wife.
He still had a dreaded fear that Sacha would wake up one morning, wondering why in hell she was married to an old man.
As he got to the office, Zach pushed the door open and headed toward the elevator. Stepping out into the Alpha Company offices felt strange now he knew his base of operations was a few floors up.
“Zach?” He turned to find Tony standing by the Receptionist’s desk, talking to a young woman he didn’t recognise.
“Hey, Tony.” Zach grinned, giving his friend a lazy man-hug. “How’re you doing?”
“All good here. Busy as usual.” Tony grinned. “But I thought you were supposed to be working out of the Guardians’ offices. Did you get off at the wrong floor?”
“It’s been known to happen, but not today.” Zach smiled. “Actually, I was looking for Drew. Is he in the office today?”
“He should be.” Tony nodded, steering Zach down the corridor and around the corner. “Come on, I’ll take you to his office. We’ve had something of a remodel since you were here last. The creche outgrew its space on this floor so it moved downstairs, and that gave us extra square footage for a bigger conference room, if we moved people around a bit.”
“One of the people in question being me.” Drew stood in his doorway, holding his phone in his hand. “I actually liked my old office. It held very fond memories.”
Tony chuckled, immediately starting to turn red.
“Ok, I really don’t think I’m old enough to hear what fond memories you have of good times spent in your office.” Zach grinned. “I only came in for a quick chat, not to be traumatised by hearing about how you Christened your desk.”
“You heard about that?” Drew asked innocently, before breaking into a grin. “Don’t worry, my desk still hasn’t been Christened.”
“Whereas my desk on the other hand…!” Tony turned and started walking away. “Now, that bad boy could tell some stories!”
Drew shook his head as Tony’s voice trailed off as he headed around the corner with a wave.
“Come on in.” Drew rolled his eyes. “I promise the furniture has all been sanitized and wiped down.”
“Good to know.” Zach grinned.
“Can I get you a coffee? Or I have water or juice if you want something cold?” Drew headed for the small kitchenette in the corner of the room.
“Water would be great.” Zach lowered his big frame onto the sofa under the window and looked around. “This is really nice.”
“It’s a lot better than my other office.” Drew smiled. “It was between Tony and I who gave up their office space for the remodelling to be done. I volunteered because I wasn’t really bothered, but it’s a lot of fun playing the martyr now and then, pretending that I only did it for him. It’s got me more than a few sexual favours, let me assure you.”
“I’d pretend I was shocked, but I may possibly have pulled a similar trick with Sacha a time or two.” Zach smiled. “I think she’s smart enough to know I’m teasing her, but she’s generous enough to play along.”
“Speaking of Sacha, I was holding my phone because I just had a message from her asking if I can spare an hour this evening to speak to you guys.” Drew frowned. “Is everything Ok? You haven’t pissed her off again, have you? I thought you’d grown out of that phase.”
Zach smiled sadly. If only that were their problem!
“No, nothing like that.” He shook his head. “I’m actually here to ask you the same thing. Do you think you can give us an hour of your time this evening?”
Drew stared at him for a few seconds, as if trying to figure out what was going on.
“You know I’ll give you as much time as you want.” He nodded. “But I’m thinking it’s not a social soiree you’re inviting me to. You want my professional help, I’m guessing.”
“Yeah, we do.” Zach nodded.
Drew got up and walked to the door, closing it firmly before coming to sit opposite Zach.
“Can I ask what you want to talk to me about?” He asked, frowning. “Or would you prefer to wait until Sacha is with us?”
“No, it’s Ok.” He shrugged. “It would probably be better if you knew what the problem was.”
Drew sat patiently while Zach tried to find his words.
“Aww, fuck, man!” Drew leaned forward, the shock evident on his face. “I’m so sorry, I hadn’t heard a word about it.”
“No, well, you wouldn’t have. Sacha didn’t want anyone to know.” Zach explained. “Tuck and Candy only found out on the flight over yesterday.”
“Why do I get the feeling that was Sacha’s choice?” Drew asked, almost to himself. “I’m guessing that she’s been pretending she’s fine and that everything is Ok. Right?”
“In a nutshell, yeah.” Zach nodded. “Then a few days ago, she absolutely lost it. Tears, rage, despair, the whole shebang.”
“That’s good.” Drew nodded. “It’s a sign that she’s not still numbed by it all.”
“I figured the same thing.” Zach agreed. “She’s starting to come out of herself, but I still think we need to talk to someone about this. She’s still struggling with guilt and blaming herself for the losses.”
“And you?” Drew asked.
“I never blamed her for the miscarriages!” Zach said sharply.
“Zach, that’s not what I meant.” Drew smiled. “I was asking whether you’re still struggling with the pain as well as Sacha. Mothers have to cope with the physical loss, and the body readjusting itself. But fathers can often get lost when things like this happen. Too afraid to say the wrong thing or admit that they’re hurting as well.”
“You sound as though you’ve been through it yourself.” Zach watched Drew intently.
“That’s because we have been through it.” Drew nodded. “Vicky has actually lost two babies, but only one of them was ours.”
Zach knew Vicky had been widowed in an accident where she’d been badly injured.
“She was pregnant when the helicopter crashed?” He asked, guessing he already knew the answer. “That’s what caused her to lose her first baby?”
Drew nodded.
“And then, before we had Curly, Vicky suffered an early miscarriage. Nobody knows that, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to the family.”
Zach frowned at Drew.
“But surely you’d advise Vicky to talk about what happened.” Zach protested. “I assumed that would be the advice you’d give Sacha.”
“Damn straight it is.” Drew nodded. “But Vicky had good reasons to want to keep it private, which were nothing to do with being in denial or in pain. Plus, she had both Tony and I to talk to about it. We didn’t allow her to bottle up her emotions.”
“Why the secret then?” Zach asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
“Because the miscarriage was attributed to the injuries she sustained when she saved Alice’s life by pushing her out of the way of the van.” Drew shrugged. “Can you imagine how Alice and JT would have reacted if they’d known that in saving their baby, Vicky had sustained an injury that meant she lost her own?”
Yeah, he could only imagine that sort of guilt.
“They’d be devastated.” He nodded. “But she was Ok having Amelia?”
“Vicky needed to have a procedure to prevent the same thing happening twice, and once she was pregnant again, she was confined to bed for a long time until they gave her the all clear to carry on as normal.” Drew nodded. “But apart from that, yeah, it was as normal as it’s possible to be.”
Zach sat quietly, thanking his lucky stars that they’d turned to Drew for help.
“Would you tell Sacha about what happened to Vicky? Would Vicky be Ok with that, and maybe even consider talking to Sacha about her experiences?” Zach finally asked. “I think it would help her a lot to know she’s not the only person we know who’s been through this.”
“I’ll speak to Vicky later and ask if she would be Ok with it.” Drew nodded. “I can’t speak for Vicky, but knowing my wife as I do, I can’t see there being much likelihood of her refusing. She adores Sacha.”
Yeah, everyone did.
He pulled himself up off the sofa.
“Shall we meet up somewhere later?” He asked.
“Come over to the new house at about seven o’clock.” Drew nodded. “Curly has a kid’s party this evening, and Vicky was going to take her. I’ll tell Tony he has to go as well. That’ll make his night. I’ve never met anyone who loves birthday cake as much as my husband. The guy should really be forty pounds heavier.”
“Seven is fine.” Zach headed for the door, stopping and turning back before he pulled it open.
“You’re welcome, and I don’t want to hear anything like it again.” Drew grinned at him. “Families don’t need to be thanked for trying to help, Zach. It’s what we do.”
Zach nodded, certain his voice would have cracked if he’d had to say the words out loud.
He moved through the door and closed it quietly behind him.
Some people were just born to help others, he thought, thanking God and all his angels that Drew was one of them.
Chapter 19 – Kellen
Kellen sat in the Guardians’ conference room, excited and energised from the hours at the gym.
The experiment with Zach had reassured everyone that Gigantor was more than up to the task, and his own time in the ring had just helped him get a feel of what to expect from his opponents.
They had no idea what the other fighting teams would bring to the ring in terms of skills, but at least he was happier now that they could handle anyone who came at them with speed.
Being big guys was going to give them an advantage in so many ways, but going up against smaller guys who were fast, well-trained and accurate was always a worry.
“That was fun.” Kris grinned at him. “Way more fun than hitting a punch-bag.”
“Punch-bags don’t hit back though.” Yuri pointed out.
“That’s exactly the point.” Kris nodded. “The fun part was avoiding the punches, and even when you got hit, knowing you could ride them out and get yourself in a better position to strike back. It’s been a long time since we did any training like that. I liked it.”
Yuri rolled his eyes at his younger brother.
“You were always reckless, even as a kid.” He pointed out. “I would have thought you’d have grown out of the need for adventure and risk-taking.”
“Hey, I didn’t come up with the mission.” Kris held his hands up defensively. “I’m just doing what’s needed of me.”
“You’re enjoying it way too much for my peace of mind.” Yuri shook his head. “I’ll spend the whole time you’re away worrying that you’re gonna be reckless!”
“Aww, bro! Are you gonna have sleepless nights, filled with nightmares that I may come home with a boo-boo?” Kris grinned at Yuri, making Kellen smile.
“No, asshole!” Yuri growled. “I’m more concerned that you’ll come home in a body-bag.”
Kellen noticed Kris’ smile waver for a split second before he caught himself.
“Don’t worry, bro.” He leaned over to pat Yuri on the back. “I’ve left you my Downton Abbey box sets in my will.”
“Asshole.” Yuri muttered, flipping his brother off as he did.
“If Yuri doesn’t want them, I’ll take them.” Hannah grinned as she walked through the door. “I love that series, and I missed half of them.”
“I’ve got The Crown as well, if anyone wants to borrow it.” Kris smiled at the room in general. “Awesome series, and that Philip? Man was he ever a two-timing rat! The Queen should have banished him to the Tower of London for being a cheating scumbag!”
“I watched that on Netflix.” Hannah grinned. “Amazing series. Gave me so much more respect for what the Queen has achieved all this time.”
“Ok, folks, simmer down.” JT walked in and took his place to Hannah’s right. “I’ve just had a call from David, and there’s good news and bad.”
Everyone took their seats immediately, and the room quietened to a hush.
�
�Ok, first of all, the good news is that the Royal Navy have been tasked to have both a sub in the Barents Sea, and a frigate on standby slightly further south in the Norwegian Sea. They’ll have full strike capability should we need to call on them.” JT announced.
Kellen looked around at his team-mates who all seemed as surprised at the news as he was.
“Why would we need to call in the Navy?”
“That’s the bad news. It’s because we’ve just had word that a large arms shipment has gone missing on its way to an army base in north-western Russia.” JT explained. “The significance of that sort of admission by the Russians is not only down to the timing of the loss, but the size of the shipment. If it were just a bunch of assault rifles and grenades, they would have kept quiet about it. For them to have admitted it to a foreign entity means it must be significant.”
“I’ve been speaking to some contacts I have who constantly monitor chatter on the internet, particularly as it pertains to the Russians, and there’s been a lot of talk in the last thirty-six hours about missing parts for someone’s car.” Hannah grinned. “I know it sounds a bit lame, but that’s the kind of thing these guys listen to and then they have to figure out if it means anything important.”
“And missing car parts is unusual because…?” Kellen asked.
“Because the serial numbers of the car parts relate to shipping invoices issued by one of the biggest arms and munitions factories in Russia.” Hannah shrugged. “We’re still trying to get to the bottom of the inventory list, but we’re pretty certain that the shipment included virtually every type of automatic weapon used in modern warfare, plus hundreds of RPG launchers, and an unspecified amount of C4.”
“It sounds like someone is thinking of starting a war somewhere.” Kris frowned.
“No, it sounds like someone is intent on profiteering from selling this shit to someone else who wants to start a war.” Yuri corrected him. “Do we know where Lebedev’s ship is heading?”
“The manifest says it’s carrying agricultural machinery and headed to west Africa.” Hannah nodded. “I don’t doubt the destination is probably correct, as there are enough unstable countries in the region that could be about to implode.”