CHAPTER 18 #3
“Darth-Cutie,” he says, and I think my face must tell him exactly how adorable I think that name is, because he panics and pulls me closer. “Don’t ever let Alexios know you think the name is cute.”
“But it is…” I whisper.
Damián looks around to see if any of the Harknetts are paying attention to us, then leans closer.
“It’s freaking adorable…” he admits. “But Alexios will fake-stab you with a lightsaber if he finds out you think it’s cute.”
“Then I shall never speak of it,” I vow, placing my palm over my heart.
As if on cue, Alexios walks over from the outdoor kitchen, carrying a plate stacked with pastries and baked goods.
And… What the hell?!
Back when I researched the Harknetts, I was only able to find four blurry pictures of Alexios on the entire internet.
Like the paranoid hacker he is, he has no social media accounts, no tagged photos, nothing…
so I never really knew what he looked like until now.
And this man definitely does not look like a stereotypical hacker.
He looks more like a Greek Abercrombie model who stole a vintage Marvel shirt from Comic-Con.
Alexios walks toward us and sets the plate of pastries on the stone table to the left of our circle.
“Thanks for bringing them out, Alexios.” Finnian passes the dessert plates around until we all have one.
Then, he sits down next to Logan on the couch across from us and gives him a plate with different types of pastries he’d personally picked.
Logan smiles, and I watch Finnian’s freckled face turn a faint shade of pink as he mumbles a thank you.
Yep… Damián was definitely not kidding about that crush.
“Hello, Oliver.” Alexios stretches his hand toward me and smiles. “Alexios Vrakas. Hacker of the team.”
“Nice to meet you.” I take his hand and shake it, but when I am about to let it go, he keeps his grip on me and leans closer.
“Star Wars or Star Trek?”
“Oh my Gods, Alexios! Are you seriously asking that?”
“Yes, Leif, we don’t want to add more shitty taste to the team.”
They both look at me expectantly, and I can tell one is a Trekkie and the other loves Star Wars…
I personally love both.
…well, except the last Star Trek.
That movie was terrible.
Damián did tell me that Alexios loves Star Wars and is an avid D the agency would run out of funds in a single weekend.”
I look up at Damián. “Is it really that bad?”
“They’re exaggerating.” He shakes his head, his finger tracing circles on my hip.
“Oh, are we? How about the time you threw a live viper at an arms dealer back in Phoenix?” Knox asks, refilling his plate with more macarons.
“I was out of bullets,” Damián defends himself, and I’m just so glad I wasn’t there to see him using a venomous snake like some freaking dagger.
“Besides, my weaponized snake worked perfectly.”
“Or like the time Bjorn drove a school bus off a cliff,” Alexios adds. “If he’d jumped out of the bus two seconds later, we would’ve needed a spatula to scrape him off the rocks.”
“Which is exactly why I jumped two seconds before.”
Leif bursts out laughing, and the twins are so synchronized that he throws a hand in the air, and Bjorn high-fives him perfectly without even looking.
“Yeah?” Logan grabs two beers from the cooler and sits down, handing one to Finnian. “And what about the time you injected yourself with epinephrine so you could lift a car off Dami?”
“Epinephrine?” I look up at Damián.
“Synthetic adrenaline.”
I turn to stare at Bjorn. “Wait… You shot yourself with adrenaline to lift a car and save Damián?”
Bjorn nods, drinking his beer.
“It took me two surgeries and five months of physical therapy to put his body back together,” Tae sighs, shaking his head. “He is lucky he didn’t break his spine.”
“And I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant saving my brother.” Bjorn lifts his beer in a toast.
“Very fucking thankful for that.” Damián reaches over and clinks his bottle against Bjorn’s.
Wow…
And here I thought Zara and I lived dangerously.
But our adventures sound like an episode of Dora the Explorer compared to what these guys do.
Because oh, my God…
Just the thought of Damián being crushed under a car makes my skin crawl. I am incredibly glad he has brothers willing to do dumb shit to keep him safe.
“In that case, Bjorn.” I take the beer Damián left next to me and lift it toward him, “Consider your multi-million-dollar drug debt paid.”
“Wohooo!”
“Besides,” I smile. “I’m actually really glad you blew up the meth in this country. It’s an absolute nightmare to make that amount of product disappear once it crosses a border.”
“I want you to know that we fully appreciate the magnitude of the risk you’re taking, Oliver,” Law tells me, and I feel a knot in my throat.
“From becoming our informant to stepping up to take your father’s place…
You have our utmost respect and our profound gratitude.
I can’t even begin to grasp the number of lives you’ve saved. ”
“Three hundred and fifty-six thousand people a year… Approximately,” Alexios adds, and the entire team and I turn to stare at him. “I did the math, and it’s super impressive.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, completely stunned.
I never thought I’d hear anyone acknowledge, much less appreciate, everything I’ve been doing. It feels incredibly surreal.
“That means a lot,” I tell him, and honestly, I knew that everything Zara, Kaleo, and I have been doing was saving lives, but I had no idea it had the power to save that many, and every single year.
“Is it okay if I ask what made you become an informant?”
“Finni—”
“I don’t mind answering, Dami.” I place a hand on his arm to stop him, then look back at Finnian. “I couldn’t choose what family I come from, or if they’ll hurt others. But I can choose how I react to it, and what to do to stop it.”
“You would’ve made a great Harknett,” Knox says.
“What are you talking about? He is one. A Harknett-adjacent, just like our Finni here.” Leif smiles and pats Finnian’s shoulder.
“I appreciate the inclusion, Leif, but I’m still nae forgiving you for eating ma cookie dough.”
“I told you I was sorry!” Leif pleads, moving his hands as if he were praying. “It was Fika food! The urge is out of my control!”
“Well, it’s out of ma control to go easy on you.”
As they talk and laugh, I smile, wishing I belonged here with them. And I can’t help but hope that one day, just as they chose each other, I could also choose my own family and be loved by them.
And that hope feels better than anything I ever imagined.