At the Pleasure of the President (The Perfect Gentlemen 5)

Zack tried to smile. At least he had the appearance of innocence going for him.

He cast a sidelong glance Elizabeth’s way. Her eyes were wide, and she blinked at Freddy like the loon he was. Zack had to hand it to her. If she was acting, she deserved an Academy Award.

Suddenly, she turned those blue eyes on him. They were full of sympathy.

God, he didn’t want to believe she wasn’t genuine. He wanted her to be exactly the sweet, caring, strong woman he’d met so long ago, the one he’d waited years to be with.

And if she wasn’t? Did that mean he couldn’t be with her? What if he could find a way to have her, even if she was a traitor? It occurred to him that being constantly on top of Elizabeth was a damn fine way to keep tabs on her.

Freddy rolled his eyes. “Of course not. He’s smart.”

Mad’s patience was obviously wearing thin. “Damn it, I know you hated the army, but you were an excellent intelligence officer. What does all that training tell you?”

Freddy’s lips went mulish, but he finally sighed. “That he’s a pawn. He’s not playing the game the way they hoped he would, so they’re planning to sacrifice him and move a better pawn into place.”

All kinds of crazy with a thread of sanity—that’s how Lara had described Freddy. Though the man actively hunted for Sasquatch and believed that ancient aliens walked the earth, he was incredibly good at cutting through the smokescreens and the everyday BS to find the nuggets of truth others overlooked. Zack couldn’t deny that Freddy had also ridden in to save the day when Dax and Holland had been in grave danger. Though now Zack suspected he’d done that at Mad’s behest.

“All right. But if they murder and bury me in the backyard, I’m going to haunt your ass,” Freddy vowed. “You know I promised myself I wouldn’t be buried on federal land.”

Because he was certain the government had made a deal with whoever ran the afterlife, according to Lara.

Connor’s wife got to her feet and joined them. “Freddy, I promise nothing will happen to you.”

Freddy turned, his eyes softening on her like he thought the world was a terrible place full of terrible people…all except Lara. “I know you would try to save me, but this goes deeper than even you know.”

Mad put a hand on Freddy’s shoulder. “If Zack kills you, he’ll have to kill me, too. I’ll make my last wish for you to be cremated, with your ashes carefully portioned out and scattered in safe spaces across the globe. They won’t be able to bring you back.”

Lara took over, working her magic on the man. “Did Zack deal with us fairly when I showed him proof that Joy was the assassin’s real target?”

“What?” Elizabeth gaped in both shock and horror, looking his way with an expression that said she prayed it wasn’t true.

He gave her a grim nod, then Gus stepped in, quietly explaining what the others knew. Zack was grateful to Augustine in that moment. She would know how to tell Elizabeth exactly what she needed to know without embellishing or sugar-coating the truth.

Freddy gave him a considering bob of his head. “Yeah, I suspected he might have me killed then, too. He could have sent someone after me.”

“You make me out to be far more Machiavellian than I actually am,” Zack pointed out.

He’d ditched his suitcoat and tie for the evening, but the women, except Elizabeth and Gus, were still in their cocktail gowns because they had nothing else to change into. He rather hoped their clothes wouldn’t arrive tonight. If they didn’t, Elizabeth would be given a clean white T-shirt to sleep in—his. He might not ever see her in it, but he could spend the whole evening fantasizing about it.

“Well, I voted to have you silenced, but not because of your investigation. I simply find you annoying as hell,” Roman commented. “And for two guys who’ve managed to stay off the grid for months, you’re not very good at whispering.”

Zack repressed a grin. His friends could be assholes. But he loved that they often said the very things he couldn’t.

Lara turned to glare at Roman.

Gus merely rolled her eyes. “I want to know how you found Freddy. Because he was Lara’s neighbor?”

“We’ll get to that. The better question is, why did Freddy try to out me to Lara? If he was working with you, why did he send the target of my investigation”—Connor gestured in his wife’s direction—“a complete rundown on her new lover?”

Freddy had written a letter to Lara that Connor had intercepted, outing Connor as one of the Perfect Gentlemen. If Lara had seen it, the missive would have blown Connor’s cover utterly. Zack felt sure the entire situation would have exploded in their faces.

“I obviously didn’t know about that,” Mad replied. “Nothing about that particular op went the way we thought it would.”

“You were in love with her,” Connor said softly.

Freddy didn’t deny it.

“It’s okay,” Lara’s husband assured. “I understand. She’s incredibly lovable.”

Lara smiled as Connor leaned closer and tugged her onto his lap. He kissed his wife, proving the morose bastard had become much happier than he’d ever been during his single days. Then again, Lara brought out her husband’s lighter side.

Zack didn’t want to dwell on the fact that every single one of his friends had a woman by his side now. Sara might be holding out, but she was also pregnant, and their baby would tie them together forever. Funny, he’d married before any of them, but it hadn’t been for love, rather duty and politics. And now he was alone, probably for good.

Freddy returned Connor’s gaze. “I was never going to make a move on her. I…I don’t think I’ll ever have a wife or kids, and that’s for the best. There’s a part of me that’s broken. But I did…do care about her. You sleeping with her was never supposed to be a part of the plan. I didn’t realize you were falling in love with her. I thought you were simply using her and would break her heart. Mad promised me she wouldn’t get hurt, so I went around him and tried to separate her from you. Obviously it didn’t work, and that’s for the best. I know you treat her well.”

Connor’s lips curled up. “Because she’s told you or because you still spy on me?”

Freddy shrugged. “Old habits, you know.”

“We’re going to have a talk about that, but I understand why you did what you did. We’re cool,” Connor said.

“I didn’t count on you two getting together,” Mad admitted. “Or Roman being such a massive asshole.”

“Hey,” Roman began, then stopped. “Okay, that’s fair.”

“To get back to business, I’ve explained what happened the evening Ivan Krylov visited me,” Mad began.

Holland gaped. “The head of the Krylov syndicate?”

Zack looked pointedly at Dax. “I thought we all agreed to fill the women on what we know.”

Dax winced. “I meant to, but I might have been excited to see my wife. We didn’t have time to talk. My mouth was busy, if you know what I mean.”

Holland groaned. “Really?”

Zack should have guessed. While Mad had talked to Sara, Zack and Roman had filled in Gus and Elizabeth about how Mad had risen from the dead. Gabe and Connor had spoken to their wives, but Dax and Holland had disappeared. Apparently they’d had way more fun than the rest of them. Newlyweds… Hadn’t they gotten enough during their Maui honeymoon at that cozy bed-and-breakfast?

“Mad was investigating the situation with the girls’ foundation when the head of the Krylov syndicate beat the piss out of him in an attempt to stop him,” Zack explained. “What I don’t understand is why the syndicate wouldn’t simply kill him. And why, when they left him alive, he didn’t call his friends. Why would you decide to investigate by yourself?”

He wanted Mad to put his whole truth out there. They’d been tiptoeing around the honest reason Mad had faked his death.

“I didn’t know what to think, Zack. Ivan Krylov told me you were the one who sent him to silence me,” Mad explained simply.

Lara gasped and scrambled off her husband’s lap. “That’s not possible.”

“Of course not. We know that.” Everly reassured her friend with a quiet squeeze of her hand, then pulled her back to the couch. “I don’t know why Mad didn’t come to the same conclusion…but let’s hear him and Freddy out. I suspect there’s a reason Mad has returned now.”