Page 69 of Not All Himbos Wear Capes
Tucking my phone away, I shot into the air to fly back to my condo and change into civilian clothes. Less than a handful of normies in this city had the clearance to recognize me out of uniform, and as far as my boss knew, I was staking out Awakener’s Bay all day. All I needed to do was maintain a low profile and everything would go smoothly.
If I can survive dinner at the Suarez compound, I can survive anything.
An hour later, I spied Xander casually leaning against a lamppost outside the USN visitor’s entrance, with his attention on his phone. At least he wastryingto look casual. I could feel the anxiety radiating off of him as if it were my own, and a fresh wave of shame washed over me.
Stop being an idiot, Butch.
I picked up my pace, but stopped short of reaching him, suddenly unsure of what was appropriate after last night. He glanced up and gave me such alookthat I immediately closed the distance between us so he could pull me in.
“I’m sorry,” I stupidly repeated as he hooked a finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him.
“It’s okay.” He examined me like he was trying to see into my soul. “We both know your parents won’t like me, either.”
For a moment, I wondered if he’d figured it out—if this was the moment we could come clean with each other—but then he smirked. “Since I’m physically unable to pop out mini-Butches wearing khakis and polo shirts.”
I gaped at him, suddenly overwhelmed with a vision of mini-Xanderswearing custom suits and three thousand dollar watches while sipping scotch out of baby bottles.
Oh my god, I want that.
He grew serious again. “I missed you, baby. Please don’t shut me out like that again. I’ll listen to anything you have to say. Always.”
I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood, but managed to nod. “I won’t, and I missed you too… But I need a little more time to get my thoughts in order before we talk about last night.” When his eyes narrowed, I gave him my most charming smile and quickly added.“Withyou. Iamable to think and hang out at the same time.”
That beautiful smirk curled his lip again. “So efficient. Do you think you could demonstrate your multitasking abilities later, by swallowing my cock while you sit on the new toy I ordered?”
My cheeks went up in flames, and, of course,thatwas the moment I heard a familiar voice calling my name.
“Butch!” The balding man beaming at me as he strode down the brick path toward us was one of the few normies I trusted with my life—and one of the few USN employeesnotin Solomon Biggs’ pocket. “What a lovely surprise.”
“Sylvano Ricci,” I smiled in return, using his full name so he knew I was in civilian mode.
He was the USN’s Deputy Secretary-General, and his father had been one of the organization’s original founders. It was this proud heritage that inspired Sylvano to staunchly insist on maintaining an unbiased approach to the Big City-enforced laws governing supe behavior.
Despite my boss’ best efforts.
For a moment, I worried the USN had records on villains that Biggs Enterprises didn’t know about, but when Sylvano’s warm brown eyes took in Xander without a shred of recognition, I continued with introductions. “This is Xander Marin, my…”
Oh, sugar.
For how fast we’d been moving, Xander and I had yet to put any sort of label on our relationship. It hadn’t mattered to me before—which proved how secure I felt with him—but right now, I was floundering with what to call him in the presence of others.
“I’m his handler,” Xander smoothly answered. He then discreetly placed his hand on my shoulder, which simultaneously calmed me and reinforced who I belonged to. “But I’m also a privately funded marine biologist who was hoping to access your current records on international water law. Butch offered to escort me to your archives, so I wouldn’t burn the place down.”
I don’t know if he’s kidding or not.
Sylvano’s smile broadened. “Of course! Any friend of Butch Hawthorne’s is a friend of mine. Come this way. There’s no need to bother with security when I can simply sneak you both in through the employee entrance.”
My stomach sank. While I trusted Xander’s intentions, Sylvano’s trust inmewas completely undeserved at the moment. My only consolation was knowing this deception was only temporary—that as soon as I straightened everything out, Xander and I could be completely open about everything, with everyone in our lives.
Hopefully…
I was quickly distracted from my guilt by Sylvano chattering away, filling me in on the latest USN legal cases while also asking Xander polite questions about his work. My ‘handler’ answered in a similarly professional tone, but a few glimpses of pure excitement slipped out when he talked about his one-man war against microplastics.
He’s just the best.
Sylvano was sharing a recent case study on the quality of drinking water on Rose Island when we arrived at the thick steel doors leading to the USN’s records room.
For a moment, I second-guessed the wisdom of giving aSuarezunfiltered access to such classified materials, but quickly tamped down my suspicions. There was obviously no love lost between Xander and his family, so it was doubtful he’d be infiltrating on their behalf. Besides the secrets all supes were required to keep from normies, he had no reason to lie to me.
