"That's different! We're both women. Women call each other beautiful all the time! I've never once heard you call anyone beautiful other than me. Even Avery,

" Vanessa said, unwilling to let this go.

Angelo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because that would be gross. Do guys normally go around calling their sisters beautiful?

"

"But you do think she's pretty, don't you?

"

"It's not like I think she's ugly but she's definitely not my type. What's with this weird line of questioning? You can't possibly think I'd be interested in someone I was raised with.

"

"No, but I'm starting to think you're interested in me even if you won't admit it,

" Vanessa said as she eyed him shrewdly.

Angelo began to panic. Had she seriously seen through him because of one little slipup? He couldn't go there. Even if he wasn't currently trying to overthrow the secret dictator of this country. If he screwed things up there would be no going back to how it was.

He liked the way things were. They were comfortable. Normal. What he was used to. Messing with it was a terrible idea even without factoring in the much larger problem at hand.

If he said the wrong thing here he would never be able to undo it. He gave her a pleading glance.

"Don't go there, Vanessa. Please.

"

Vanessa put her hands on her hips.

"Why not?

"

"Because it doesn't matter one way or the other. If you'll excuse me, I'm going home. Thanks for coming out with me tonight. I'll see you the next time Avery wants to get together,

" Angelo said firmly.

"Hey, wait! Angelo!

" She struggled to keep up with him in her high heels.

"Slow down! Why wouldn't it matter?

"

"I'm done talking. Go home.

"

"I'm not. You can't just drop a bomb on me and walk away. How long have you liked me? Why didn't you ever say anything? Can you at least tell me that much?

"

Angelo turned to look at her when she managed to catch his wrist. He wanted to shake her off and run for it but that would make things even more awkward later. He couldn't bear for things to be awkward later, which was why he tried to shut her down before they reached this point.

"I told you it doesn't matter. You're beautiful, funny, and easy to talk to. You can have anyone you want so why do you care whether I like you or not? You certainly don't like me,

" he said, frustration tinting his tone because he wanted to go home and get back to what mattered.

He shouldn't have done this in the first place. He wasn't like Avery or Jorge. His heart was full of nothing but revenge.

"I never said that.

"

Vanessa's words stopped him cold.

"What?!

"

"I had a lot of fun at the wedding. I always have fun when you're around. I can see myself liking you.

"

That was the last thing Angelo wanted to hear. He finally mustered the courage to pull his hand away.

"My advice? Don't. Goodnight, Vanessa.

"

He did his best to disappear into the crowd properly this time and wished he had the suit's super jumping abilities. It would be nice to jump away from his problems. But since he couldn't do that he had to make the long, cold walk back to his apartment.

He sighed in relief and leaned his head against the door once he arrived. Safe. He was safe here. Home was where his computer was. If that couldn't make him feel better nothing could.

Angelo got back to work on their plans as soon as he had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. This was where he belonged.

He couldn't allow himself to end up like Avery. Absolutely not!

She was more than stressed enough for both of them about all of this stuff. He didn't need to go there. Things might be awkward for a while but it was better than making it worse later. This was fine. He hadn't completely burned that bridge.

Tonight had been a mistake. They never saw each other alone so she probably wouldn't dare bring it up in front of Avery and Christian the next time they met. He should be safe.

Angelo had too much to do to deal with any drama like that. Too much planning…and too many other emotions he was trying his best to ignore. The anniversary of his father's and Levi's deaths was coming up and he wasn't ready to deal with that. Four years. How had it almost been four years?

He had been the brains behind Avery's brawn all that time and they were so close—SO CLOSE—to accomplishing their goal was it wasn't enough. No matter how feverishly he worked it didn't feel like enough.

Messaging. Researching. Planning. Encrypting. Decrypting. Meeting with Leah. Meeting with the others. Typing, typing, typing.

Angelo's typing speed was an impressive 167 words per minute. That came in handy for both programming and hacking. It had been a lifesaver in college and it even more vital now when he had so much to do in order to take Hunsacher down.

He didn't want to pass another anniversary without pulling it off. He HAD to get it done within five years of their deaths. He absolutely had to. Failing his father more than he already had wasn't an option.

He couldn't keep letting him down. Horatio and Levi had both deserved better.

Angelo had been genuinely angry that he had to fill Levi's shoes at Avery's wedding. He shouldn't have had to do that. Levi should have been there to do it himself but he couldn't because Hunsacher killed him. He didn't get to walk her down the aisle or do a father

/daughter dance or see how happy she had been but he should have!

His anger hadn't subsided one bit in the years since their deaths. He would never forget that phone call he got from the hospital or how when he arrived Avery was sobbing so hard she could hardly speak when she gripped his shoulders and told him they were dead.

He had already lost his mother. Why did the universe have to take and take and take?

He never got the answer to that question but he was determined that Nolan Hunsacher would never take anyone else's family away again. He was capable of doing that much.

Finding the best targets to hit in order to cripple him were child's play. He had managed to locate a few of his bank accounts too and drained them, breaking up the money and donating them to thousands of legitimate charities, Kickstarters, and GoFundMes for people he thought needed it. That brought him genuine pleasure.

Angelo could only imagine how furious he was. Banks only insured certain amounts of cash. If more than that was stolen you were out of luck.

Hunsacher had so much money that most of his accounts seemed to go over this limit by a wide margin. That made it too easy to take advantage of. It was impossible to resist that sort of temptation.

Was it genuinely hurting Hunsacher? Probably not. But at the very least it had to be driving him up the wall.

People got sloppy when they were upset. That was why he kept his emotions securely locked away. He couldn't afford to be sloppy. He couldn't afford to make a single mistake.

That would put a lot of people in danger. Himself and Avery, Leah and her kids, their network, the kidnapped scientists. He wouldn't allow Hunsacher to touch a single one of them so he always had to be at the top of his game.

Distractions weren't allowed. Angelo had to devote everything he had to this.

He told himself he could relax when it was done…but what would be left of him at that point? He had devoted himself to this cause for nearly four years.

Before he had to spend all of his free time hacking into things he had enjoyed video games. He couldn't remember the last time he had a chance to play one. He was so busy trying to save the world from Nolan Hunsacher that he barely had time to eat, sleep, and go to work.

He needed to finish this for all of them. For everyone that monster hurt. Video games and dating would have to wait.

Angelo felt bad about running out on Vanessa but not bad enough to dwell on it. He had things to do. So many that he was lost in them less than thirty minutes after arriving home.

This was fine. He was fine. As long as he kept working he would destroy Nolan Hunsacher. He wanted to be the one to kill him personally and didn't care what he had to do in order to make that happen.

Avery didn't like thinking of them as villains because she never hurt anybody. She might be branded one by the world but she had a good heart. Not Angelo. His heart had been filled with murder from the moment he lost his father. She wanted him dead too but didn't want to be the one to do it. That was fine by him.. He wouldn't be satisfied until he saw the life leave those smug eyes.