“I’m pulling you out,” Will told him. “I’ll personally sub in with Maddie until we figure out how the hell they found you.”
Jack lifted a brow. “That could make it difficult to avoid the lovely Ms. Davenport, Will.”
Will’s jaw tightened reflexively before he could check his reaction. “If it means keeping you alive, then I’ll take my chances. Come back to Chicago, lie low for a while until they lose your trail again.”
Jack shook his head, his expression growing more serious. “No. I made a mistake letting Kozlov live that day. God knows how many lives have suffered for it. I’ll handle this.”
“And if he gets the drop on you instead?” Will prompted.
Jack leveled his gaze at Will. “Make sure Maddie doesn’t learn the truth.”
Will shook his head. “Jack, don’t you think she should know why you really bolted?”
“I won’t have her remember me that way,” Jack insisted. “Please, Will. I want your word.”
Will considered his friend’s request for a long moment. There wasn’t a single Templar who didn’t have regrets. God—he was probably right there on the leader board when it came to shit he wasn’t exactly proud of. Abandoning a certain woman at a Nigerian hospital when she needed someone most and then letting her believe he was dead, telling himself it was toprotecther, when he knew damned well it was himself he was protecting, was probably chief on his list of things he would change if he could. The other one involved failing the people he loved most in the world. So, yeah, Will could relate to Jack not wanting Maddie to find out his deepest, darkest secret from someone else.
“You have my word that Maddie won’t hear anything from me,” Will vowed. “But you need to tell her, Jack. Do you really want it to come from someone like Antonovich or Kozlov?”
