27. Deke
Deke arrived at the restaurant ten minutes early, leaving Loch sitting in a van around back. It was one of those mom and pop places, sat smack in the middle of a strip mall in a middle-class suburban neighborhood. The front was glass, like all the other shops, but the walls were wood-paneled at the bottom with an ugly floral wallpaper along the top half. Inside was a worn counter with a toothpick dispenser, a glass case full of pies, and a shockingly modern cash register.
A woman in her eighties, or maybe even nineties, sat behind the white tablet, waiting patiently as a woman with a toddler on her hip and a preschooler clinging to her leg swiped her card. She gave Deke a smile that exaggerated the lines on her face. Was she the owner? The owner’s mother? Wife?
When the woman finished paying, the older lady reached behind the counter and brought out two lollipops, handing them over with the receipt. “You bring those babies back to me next week, Brenda. I mean it.”
The woman laughed, rolling her eyes as the boy at her legs started jumping to reach the candy. “Like I have any choice. You’ve got them hooked on your crack candy.”
“What’s crack?” the boy asked, yanking the lollipop from his mother’s hand.
Before Deke could hear the mother’s answer, a plump woman in a hunter green polo shirt approached him. Her face was smooth but her blonde hair had about two inches of gray at the roots. She wore jeans that looked uncomfortably tight and tennis shoes that looked a day away from giving up entirely.
“Just you, sug?”
Deke shook his head. “No, my brother’s meeting me.”
“How nice,” she said with a quick smile.
Deke returned the smile reflexively. “Could we have that booth all the way in the back?”
The woman looked around the nearly empty restaurant. “The back? By the kitchen?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” She looked like she was contemplating saying no, so Deke upped the ante. “My dad just died. We have a bunch of hard stuff to talk about and…well, he’s a crier, you know? Don’t want to make the other tables feel weird.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. You’re so young. Of course, you can sit in the back. I’ll take care of you myself, just in case. I’m Mena.”
“Thanks, Mena. Cool name,” Deke said truthfully.
As he followed her to the back table, he took in the decor. Dozens of old signs and black and white photos covered the ugly wallpaper. There were also framed pictures of celebrities, their names scrawled in Sharpie across the bottoms. The place had clearly been there a long time. Likely since the lady behind the register was Deke’s age.
When they reached the booth, Deke shrugged off his—Binnie’s—coat, balling it up in a way the other alpha probably wouldn’t have appreciated.
“Sorry about that,” Mena said. Deke followed her line of sight to the black electrical tape criss-crossed over the faded red vinyl seat. “We don’t usually let people sit here. You can have a different booth if?—”
“This is fine. Really. It’s no big deal.”
Mena smiled. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
Deke didn’t really care about the coffee so much as the warmth. It was cold and dreary outside. He tossed the coat into the booth, then sat facing the door, looking up at the ugly light dangling overhead, offering just enough light for Deke to read the place mat that doubled as a menu.
Once Mena left him alone, he settled back against the bubbled back of the booth.
“Can you hear me okay?” he murmured quietly.
A moment later, Deke’s phone chirped. He thumbed it open to see the thumbs up emoji from Loch. He nodded to himself, then turned the sound off, though he wasn’t sure why. Getting a notification would hardly seem suspicious. Still, he didn’t turn it back on.
He did glance at the time, though. Three minutes. Would his brother show up on time? Would he show up at all?
The thought had barely popped into his head when the bells over the door jingled. Deke looked up just in time to see Bas smile at the woman behind the counter. He wasn’t alone. Win was with him. Deke watched as they both shucked off their coats, Bas stopping to slip their plain black umbrella into one of those long plastic baggies.
Win spotted Deke first, a smile spreading across her face as she waved in his direction. Deke gave a half-hearted wave back, screwing a smile into place as they walked towards him.
Bas hadn’t said anything about Win joining them. But, to be fair, Deke hadn’t said Ollie wouldn’t be joining them, so maybe there had been a miscommunication. Mena waited until they sat, their coats draped across their legs, before she approached, flipping over the three white ceramic coffee cups that were already on the table.
Deke and Win allowed her to fill their cups, but Bas covered his, requesting a Diet Coke instead. Mena went off to fetch Bas’s drink, leaving the three of them staring at each other. Like Deke, they were also dressed casually, but it was clear that their couture had not come from the consignment store, unlike Deke’s.
Mena returned with Bas’s soda. Deke watched as his brother unwrapped his straw and stuck it into the beverage, then took a sip before giving an exaggerated sigh afterwards. Something about the gesture settled Deke’s mind. Did villains drink diet soda? Did they get that stupidly happy over one?
Once they were alone, Win turned her full attention to Deke. “I hope you weren’t waiting for us for too long. I had rounds this morning and then Daddy called in the car and gave me the third degree about you. I had to practically hang up on him just to get us in the door.”
Deke could feel himself blinking rapidly. He hadn’t anticipated anyone bringing up Hearst so quickly. “You’re not late. I got here just before you guys did.”
Her shoulders sagged, like she was relieved, but then she frowned. “Where’s Oliver?”
Deke cringed internally at Ollie’s full name. It just didn’t suit him at all. “He had a meeting with an old friend. He said to apologize. There was no way to get out of it,” Deke lied smoothly.
Win’s wide mouth formed a pretty pout. “Oh, that’s too bad. I wanted to hear all about the baby,” she gushed. “I love babies. Well, obviously. Neonatologist, duh. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
Deke did his best not to stiffen, a little thrown by her rapid-fire speech. “We haven’t gotten that far yet,” he managed. “Ollie is very…careful about finding the right doctor.”
“Oh, wow. Did you only just find out? Like I said, I know some of the top doctors out there. I’d be happy to recommend some names. They’ll definitely take him on if I ask them to,” she assured him.
Fuck. What was he supposed to say to that? “He’s…high risk,” Deke said hesitantly. “Family history stuff. He has a list of qualified specialists and he’s thoroughly researching each one.”
Win looked disappointed but seemed to recover quickly. “A man after my own heart.”
It took a moment for Deke to realize she meant the research. It was the perfect opening. He didn’t let it pass him by. “That’s right. Your dad owns a research facility, doesn’t he? Veritas?”
“You know it?” she asked, seemingly surprised.
“Not really,” Deke admitted sheepishly. “I kind of cyber-stalked you after we met the other night and I realized I didn’t know much about you.”
“Aw,” Win said. “That’s so sweet. Looking out for your big brother?”
Something like that.
“Don’t believe everything you read about my father. Research is his true love. He’s obsessed. People don’t like him because he’s a bit…fanatical,” she said.
Fanatical. What a weird word choice.
Deke did his best to keep his expression and tone neutral. “What kind of research does Veritas do? It was a bit vague online,” Deke admitted. Bas and Win exchanged looks, like they were contemplating whether they should answer or not. “What? Is it like…controversial or something?”
Bas gave Win a stilted nod and she shrugged. “Kind of, yeah. A lot of people don’t…believe in the type of studies we do. A lot of fundamentalists consider it…immoral.”
“Immoral how?” Deke prodded.
She waved a dismissive hand. “They think my father’s research goes against…nature.”
“That sounds intense. What are they so pressed about?” Deke asked, occupying his shaky hands by opening tiny hazelnut creamer cups and dumping them into his coffee until it was almost white.
When he couldn’t bring himself to put anymore cream in, he attacked the sugar packets.
“Have you ever heard the term ‘secondary gender reassignment’?” Win asked.
Deke froze, tiny crystal packets pinched between his fingers. “What?”
“Secondary gender reassignment,” she said, dropping her voice as if she worried someone might overhear even with their section empty and dishes and pans clattering in the kitchen just beyond the swinging door. “It would allow people to go from alpha to omega or omega to alpha or even alpha to beta or…” She let her words trail off, giving one last hesitant look at Bas. “Beta to omega.”
Deke’s heart rate shot into the stratosphere. There was no way his brother couldn’t hear it. They knew. They had to know. They had to know what he was…what Ollie was.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He forced himself to breathe steady, calling on every bit of acting skill he had as he did his best to only look mildly interested. “And your father can…offer that? There’s a way to do that?”
Win’s gaze floated away to stare at the tiny plastic window of the kitchen. “Well, it’s not really that simple,” she started. “See?—”
Mena was suddenly back at their table with an apologetic smile. “Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to see if you were ready to order?”
The three quickly glanced down at their paper menus.
“Can I just get the chicken caesar salad? Dressing on the side?” Bas asked.
Mena nodded, glancing at Win next. She pointed to the menu. “Can I get the bacon double cheeseburger, as rare as you’re allowed to make it? Oh, and fries, please?”
“Sure thing.” She looked at Deke. “How about you, honey?”
Deke had walked in starving, but now the idea of food made him want to hurl. Still, he couldn’t act like any of this bothered him. “Can I get the breakfast special, over easy with bacon and white toast? Thanks.”
“You got it. Sorry again for the interruption,” she said.
Once she was gone, Deke turned back to Win. “You were saying?”
Win sighed, sipping her coffee. “I’m not really supposed to be talking about this— we’re not supposed to talk about this”—she gestured between her and Bas—“but you’re family, so I’m sure Daddy won’t mind. He’s big on family.”
Deke wondered if all the man’s exes would agree. He could feel his brother studying him, clearly trying to gauge Deke’s reaction. But why? Was he certain Deke was the enigma? Was he worried Deke might be judging his soon-to-be sister-in-law?
“I’m listening,” Deke said, forcing himself to take a sip of his now luke-warm coffee.
“My father has spent years attempting to modify secondary gender testing various methods over the years. Some were successful, some…not so much.”
“How does someone swap secondary genders?”
“He’s explored several different methods over the years, but, currently, we’re— he’s —currently in phase II trials.”
“Testing what?” Deke persisted.
She hesitated, like she was searching for the right term. “Gene therapy.”
“Gene therapy?” he repeated. “As in altering a patient’s genes? That sounds dangerous.”
Win’s gaze skated away from Deke’s once more. “We adhere to very strict guidelines. We never want to hurt anyone.”
Something about the way she phrased that made Deke uneasy. “And this gene therapy works?”
“It did, but, now, we’ve…hit a wall,” she said.
The hairs on the back of Deke’s neck rose. “Hit a wall?”
“Mm,” Win said, picking up her spoon and stirring her black coffee. “See, the original…compound we used came from a special donor. Those initial trials were very successful. However, once the sample was depleted, he was unable to recreate the results.”
“Why?” Deke asked.
“He ran out of the compound and the donor was no longer available for my father to extract more of the cells needed to create the serum,” she said, sounding like she was carefully plucking each word from her brain before serving them up.
“What happened to this donor?” Deke asked.
“We’re not sure. My father never met them. The blood sample given was donated by the alpha’s family. A genetic legacy, so to speak.”
Her words punched through Deke, his eyes darting to Bas. “Genetic legacy?”
“Yes,” Bas said.
“What made this alpha so special?” Deke asked.
“I think you know,” Bas countered softly.
“Tell me, anyway,” Deke said tightly.
Win’s eyes locked with his. “He was an enigma.”
Deke’s breath quickened. He tried to calm himself but it was impossible. They knew. They knew . This had been a trap the whole time. Thank God, Ollie wasn’t there.
Ollie. Fuck. What if they’d followed Ollie? What if they were dragging him away to some lab while Deke just sat there. San was right.
Deke had thought he was okay. He thought knowing his family was garbage protected him somehow, but there was a huge difference between thinking your father and brother were shit and knowing it. And now, he knew.
He knew.
“Hey,” Bas said, waving a hand in front of Deke’s face, dragging him from his thoughts. “Calm down. It’s all good. You’re good. Nobody is coming for you or anything. There are only a few people who know what you are. Nobody else will ever know.”
“What I am?” Deke parroted, unable to stop repeating them as he tried to wrap his mind around this. “You know what I am?”
“Yes,” Bas said.
“Did you always know?”
Bas shook his head. “No.”
Deke’s stomach churned. “Did Dad?”
“It seems so,” Bas said softly.
He jumped when a hand settled on his shoulder, half expecting to find some men in suits or scrubs waiting to drag him away. Instead, he found Loch standing there. He nodded for him to scoot over. Deke slid over until his shoulder met the paneling. Once Loch sat, Deke collapsed against him.
Some super alpha he was.
“What do you want with him?” Loch asked, his voice cold.
“We don’t want anything,” Bas swore, holding his hands palm out.
“That’s not entirely true,” Win countered, her tone implying she didn’t want Bas to lie to them.
“We don’t want anything bad,” Bas amended. “Really.”
Deke’s mind was reeling. He picked up his phone, rapid-fire typing out a text telling Ollie not to come home until he said and making sure he kept Saint close. He didn’t say more than that.
Loch stared Bas down. “It can’t possibly be a coincidence that you started working for Veritas. You have to know that. Did you sell your brother out for the opportunity or did they track you down?”
“It’s not like that. I swear,” Win said. “Just…hear us out. We can explain everything. You’re perfectly safe. So is Ollie.”
Loch looked to Deke, who managed a barely-there nod.
To Win, Loch said, “Start talking. Now.”