CHAPTER 22
OLIVER
“Oh, my God…” I breathe, unable to look away. “Are you sure I can touch
this?”
“Yes,” Damián says, just as Alexios blurts, “No.”
Damián glares at the Greek teddy bear, who sighs and relents.
“I mean, yes, Oliver… I’m super sure you can touch it.” Alexios points to one of the keyboards in the room. “Use that one. And don’t touch anything outside of your USB.”
I nod, pull out my flash drive, and sit where he pointed.
Holy crap! I am actually inside the Harknetts’ HQ, about to touch one of their rigs.
This is my absolute Mission: Impossible wet dream.
Well, my absolute, absolute would be if Damián were also naked with a bowtie, bringing me a coffee martini… but that would probably be too much to ask for.
Or would it?
I nudge the mouse, and a huge 65-inch monitor comes back to life.
Dear mother of— My inner tech geek squeals at the absolute masterpiece glowing in front of me.
Between the incredible keyboard layout, the absurd number of ports, and the cooling system, this machine is a dream.
The RAM is insane, and I can even fit three code files and a terminal side by side without a single bit of lag.
“I’m in love with your computer,” I tell Alexios, and he laughs.
“That’s just the baby bird, Oliver. My true love is waiting for me at home.”
“Same CPU?”
“Please… She’s got the Threadripper 9995WX.”
I gasp so hard my mouth falls open.
I’m about to beg Alexios to take me to his house just so I can see that setup, when Damián places his hands on my shoulders and leans in close.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your computer love story, mi cielo, but your insane, sociopathic brother is on his way to burn down everything you’ve built.”
“Right…”
“Are you sure he’s going to the Hamptons?” Logan asks as he, the twins, Tae, and Law walk into the room carrying duffel bags of guns.
“Yes. That’s where Elijah kept his emergency getaway fund, plus the place has infinite escape routes, including a helipad and a boat.”
I pull the files from my USB, search for the blueprint of my family’s Hamptons estate, and enhance the image on the main display.
“These are the main exits.” I circle each of the areas on the screen, then draw a red X across a door and two windows. “Do not go through these three. They’ll most likely be left open, but they are wired with explosives.”
The Harknetts nod, then just stare at me as if they’d already memorized the entire layout and are just waiting for me to catch up.
“What else?” Tae asks, looking up from the selection of medical vials and kits he is packing into his trauma bag.
Oh, shit… okay, so they really did just memorize the layout and are just waiting on me.
I draw a dark red line across the lawn. “Don’t go beyond this area.
There is a remote machine gun on the second floor that will hit you.
” I circle an open patch of grass near the driveway.
“And don’t use this area for parking. It’s rigged so that in the event of an attack, everything within 700 square yards collapses underground. ”
“Jeez…” Alexios breathes, his deep blue eyes wide with shock. “Who the fuck designed your house? Kevin McCallister?”
Bjorn bursts out laughing, but Law shoots him a look, shaking his head to signal it isn’t the time or place.
The Viking man coughs and stops laughing.
“…It was really funny, though,” he whispers to Tae, and he nods.
“Anything else we need to know?” Logan asks while passing everyone their comms, and—is that a revolver that shoots grenades and a machete holstered on his back?
Where the hell do they find these things?
“Yes. The perimeter has a layered thermal matrix,” I explain, staring in shock at the insane types of weapons these men have access to.
“If the feed isn’t looped at exactly twenty-second intervals, the auxiliary sensors will trip.
Rafael changed the master codes six hours ago, but since he is an idiot, he left the backup routing nodes untouched. ”
“Got it,” Alexios responds, his eyes darting between three different monitors. “I’m bypassing the main gate and injecting a diagnostic worm into their local grid. It will blind their security cameras for exactly eleven minutes when we get there.”
Knox walks in carrying a box of ammunition and drops it onto one of the empty tables. “That’s more than enough time to cause some serious damage.”
“I still think you should wait for the cops, or SWAT, or whoever else can join,” I tell Damián, hoping he can’t see how badly my hands are shaking.
“We can’t wait, Ollie,” Leif says, adjusting the straps on his Kevlar vest. “We’ve already informed as many agencies as we could, but unfortunately, they’re tied up in too much bureaucracy.”
“So they won’t go after someone as dangerous as Rafael until some higher-up gives them the green light?” I ask.
They all nod in unison.
“That’s so freaking stupid.”
“Why do you think we have so much work, mini boss?” Bjorn slams a fully loaded magazine into his rifle with a grin.
“Because you don’t need a green light?” I guess.
“Yes! Because we are so fucking awesome, we don’t need a green light.”
“We work under assignments,” Law corrects Bjorn, while adjusting the optics on his sniper rifle. “How we achieve them, where and when, that’s entirely within our judgment.”
Nice, that’s a cool way to work.
But if I am being truthful with myself, I’m still not okay with them going without any backup. Yeah, they are incredible, but they are also only eight.
Even if they have bazookas and a grenade revolver-thingy, they are still eight against dozens.
Damián slides his rifle onto its sling, stands behind my chair, and leans in close. He places a hand on the desk, crowding into my space.
“Ollie,” Damián whispers, kissing my shoulder. “How are you doing with Elijah’s death?”
And it’s not like I want to be petty, but I refuse to look at him.
I can’t.
Instead, I keep my eyes glued to the security blueprint on the screen and shrug. “I’m fine, Damián. We need to focus on this layout.”
“Ollie,” he repeats, firmer this time. His hand moves to grip my chin, forcing me to look up. “Look at me, mi cielo… It is okay if you feel bad. It’s okay to grieve.”
“He was a monster.”
“Yeah, he was a monster.” His thumb brushes gently against my jawline. “But he was also your father.”
The truth of it stings way harder than I ever thought it would. But I don’t have time to process it right now.
“Thanks for checking on me,” I say, pulling away from his touch as I stand up. I walk toward the weapons bag behind us and grab a 9mm pistol. “And I promise I’ll psychoanalyze my feelings once Rafael is locked up, but for now, I just need to focus.”
“No. Put it back,” Damián says.
I pause, my fingers tightening around the grip. “What? Why?”
“You’re not coming.”
“Why the hell not?”
“You heard me, Oliver. Put the gun back.”
“I am going.”
“I said you’re staying, so you stay.”
“I’m not a pet.”
“No, you’re more stubborn than that.”
“Damián, that’s my house. No one knows the interior layout better than I do. I know where the panic rooms are, I know where Rafael hides his private guards, and I know every stupid blind spot in that entire freaking place. I am going.”
“I don’t give a fuck if you built it with your own hands.
” Damián steps right into my face, and the rest of the team goes completely still; nobody dares to intervene.
“I know you’re brilliant, Ollie. I know you’re incredible at what you do, and you even got us this far.
But I cannot fight out there if I’m constantly looking over my shoulder to see if you’re alive or not. ”
“No! This is my fight, my family, Damián! You don’t get to bench me!”
“Watch me,” he says.
Before I can even process what he means, Damián steps forward, curls his powerful arms around my waist, and throws me over his shoulder as if I am a damn sack of potatoes.
“What the fuck—Damián! Put me down!” I scream as the sudden impact knocks the air straight out of my lungs.
“Shut up, mi cielo.”
I slam my fists against his spine, kicking my legs wildly, but it’s like trying to fight a brick wall.
Fuck! Why does he have to be so freaking strong?
“Damián, I swear to God, let me down right now, or I will bite you!” I yell, my face flushing red with a mix of fury and embarrassment as he carries me right past the rest of the team.
Ugh… I can tell Bjorn is trying, and failing, to hide a laugh behind his hand, and even Tae looks like he’s watching his favorite comedy show.
“Sorry, Ollie,” Damián says as he walks out of the command center and down the long hallway toward the elevators. “Not happening.”
“You freaking caveman! You arrogant, overprotective bastard!” I shout, tossing my hands into the air as he walks.
We reach the elevator lobby, but instead of pressing the main call button, Damián reaches out and presses a tiny, concealed button hidden underneath a painting.
CLACK!
The concrete wall slides backward and to the left, revealing a hidden security room beside the elevator shaft.
Damián steps inside, swings me off his shoulder, and sets my feet on the ground.
Uf, he looks so hot it’s annoying.
I swear, if I weren’t this freaking angry, I would pull him into the room and climb him like a tree.
I take a step back, but his hands wrap around the back of my neck, pulling me forward. And just like that, the infuriatingly gorgeous bastard crashes his lips against mine in a deep, desperate kiss that steals the breath away.
My body betrays me, and I melt into his touch for a split second, my hands gripping his vest, before he abruptly pulls back, panting.
“There are snacks and water in the fridge.”
And before I can take a single step forward, he takes a giant step back into the hallway, winks, and hits a master switch on the outside panel.
“Damián, don’t you dare—!”
The door slams shut right in my face, and I stay there in shock.
Did he just fucking wink at me?!
“Damián!” I scream, throwing my weight against the door, pounding my fists against the steel. “Open this door! Open it right now!”
But there’s silence.
Absolute silence.