n

n

nAngelo hadn't been in the best state since Valentine's Day. It was easier to avoid Vanessa completely and since he was so busy setting things up trying to take Hunsacher down he didn't have time to join in on Avery's weekend plans anyway.

nHe hadn't seen her at all and she hadn't tried to reach out. He might have burned that bridge to the ground but what else was he supposed to do?

nAccomplishing his goal was more important than anything else. But he was stressed because he wasn't taking any time for himself and was still running on little sleep. Every time Avery saw him she harped on him about it but he didn't see her often these days either. Only when it had something to do with their mission directly or they had some sort of family event that would be suspicious if it was missed.

nFor months Angelo had been little more than a machine. Getting this done had turned into an obsession. He was simultaneously consumed by rage and worry for his foolish best friend and wanted to get it all done with as soon as possible.

nHe finally managed to come up with a plan to cripple Hunsacher's businesses and force him to break them up after much time and effort.. Avery had never let him down before when it came to a mission that truly counted so he was more than a little concerned when it had been hours and he didn't hear from her.

nHe tried calling her and she was rather breathless.

"This is a really bad time. The mission was compromised. I need you to hack the security footage and delete it at these coordinates, no questions asked. I'm in the middle of something right now.

"

n

"Güera, what—

"

n

"NOT NOW. Do as I said and I'll explain later.

"

nAvery hung up on him immediately after giving the coordinates and Angelo was left both stunned and more worried than before. Normally, she only spoke to him in Spanish if she was around his family or if she was purposely trying to keep what they were talking about a secret.

nWho was she with at this time of night? What had happened? How exactly had the mission been compromised?

nHe sat stewing in his worry until he couldn't take it anymore and tried calling her back. She didn't seem very happy when she answered and he quickly found out why.

n

"Hunsacher was waiting for me, Angelo. I'm lucky I managed to get away. I had to use my favor from Mercury after I got shackled to a chair. He used some sort of knockout gas and I couldn't find the stupid filtration button. There really needs to be clearer instructions for this thing,

" she said with weary frustration.

n

"WHAT?!

"

nWaiting for her? How could he have been waiting for her? Had he finally caught onto them?

nAnd that wasn't even the most shocking thing she said. She got captured and had to call in a favor from a hero that she had a complicated history with. That was a terrible idea! How had everything about this operation gone so wrong when they had been doing so well?

n

"I'm fine!

" Avery reassured him.

"But I didn't manage to plant the virus. He'll be expecting us next time so I'm not sure what we're supposed to do. I'm sorry.

"

nThat was the least of Angelo's worries at the moment. He was more concerned about his best friend and how her cover might be blown. They could figure out what to do next regarding their plan once he made sure she was alright.

n

"Forget that! Get over here RIGHT NOW.

"

n

"I'll be there soon.

"

nAngelo sighed and spun around in his office chair repeatedly while waiting for her to show up. She had an awful lot of explaining things to go.

nHe was not expecting her to arrive in Mercury's arms outside of the suit. It was bad enough she was relying on someone who would turn them over to the police in a heartbeat but she had gone and blown her secret identity?!

n

"What's doing here? Calling him to get you out is one thing but how could you be this stupid?

" Angelo demanded.

nMercury glared at him and his body language was distinctively protective. That made absolutely no sense because this hero might have seen Avery's face but she said she didn't know him.

n

"Lay off her, Angelo. I'm on your side now.

"

nAngelo was not expecting that. She told this guy about him?! What all had she said? How much of their plans had she given away? And why on earth was a hero who had definitely been against Nox willing to team up with them?

n

"How does this hero know my name?!

"

nMercury sighed and changed his voice into one that was very familiar before saying,

"It's me.

"

nAll of the pieces clicked together in an instant. Angelo looked back and forth between a very sheepish Avery and the hero that was her husband before exploding.

nHow long had she known Christian was Mercury? That idiot never changed her romantic interest at all! It had to have been pretty early on. She had to have done this on purpose. She had been sneaky about getting what she wanted ever since they were kids.

n

"You did this on purpose! How long have you known? Are you completely insane? Do you have a brain in there at all? How could you knowingly go after the guy who spent years trying to stop us?

" he shouted.

n

"So what if I did? It doesn't matter now. He's here to help,

" Avery said with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

nShe responded to his Spanish in English, which meant she didn't want to leave Christian out of the conversation. What on earth had they talked about earlier? How had it come to this? He couldn't have known she was Nox before tonight.

nThe most pressing question in all of this insanity was how he had even accepted her after she told him the truth. By all means, he shouldn't have. He must love her a lot more than Angelo thought.

nAn unpleasant thought hit him. He had been so certain Christian wouldn't be able to accept what Avery was up to even without knowing he had been Mercury of all people that he said the guy could have all the apologies he wanted if he proved Angelo wrong. He was going to collect on that, wasn't he?

n

"How did this even happen?

" Angelo demanded, waving his arms around in frustration.

nAvery sighed.

"I told you, I had to call for help. He sort of figured it out on his own from there.

"

n

"Don't tell me you were stupid enough not to block your number beforehand.

"

n

"I wasn't!

"

n

"She wasn't,

" Christian confirmed.

n

"Then how could he have possibly figured it out?!

" Angelo demanded.

"You didn't straight up tell him, did you?

"

nAvery's expression was insulted.

"I wouldn't do that!

"

n

"Angelo, lay off her,

" Christian said tiredly.

nHow could he still defend her when he knew how much of an idiot she had been? Wasn't he angry at all? Or was he too much of a pushover when it came to his wife? Angelo didn't understand him at all.

n

"How are you okay with this?!

"

n

"I'm not! But I have to be. I promised I would support her no matter what so here I am. Tell me what you need me to do. The sooner we can get this over with the better.

"

nAngelo scrutinized him. He was still wearing his mask so it was hard to tell if he had circles under his eyes or not but he certainly seemed exhausted by the whole situation. There was something about his voice and the way he was carrying himself.

nHe was determined to back Avery up and get her out of this life as quickly as possible. Why? Because he didn't want to be married to a villain or because he was worried about the danger after rescuing her?

nWhat was this guy's deal? Though he seemed tired he was being amazingly calm about all of this.

nHad he already lost his temper? It did look like Avery had been crying.

nAngelo didn't want to butt in where he didn't belong—he wasn't a part of their relationship—but he couldn't deny he was worried. The last thing he wanted was to deal with the fallout of this.

nChristian claimed he accepted it but did he really? He said he wanted to help but what could he offer? He had retired from hero work.

nHe might be able to help Avery with some of her missions but how involved would he want to be? They would need to figure all of this out and he wasn't sure now was the right time but since they were all here…

n

"What are you willing to do?

" Angelo asked skeptically.

nChristian clenched his fists.

"Whatever it takes to end this without hurting anybody or pushing Avery too much.

"

n