Page 42 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

“Where’s Avina?” Chelsea asks.

“Home.”

Chelsea goes to open her mouth, and Axel rubs his hand down her back. “I think that’s all the questions he needs aboutthat for now.” I look at him gratefully, and he nods back. “I’ll admit I knew all this, but it wasn’t my secret.”

Nolan looks around the room and then back to me. “Do you think this CIA agent is targeting you?”

“I have no damn clue. He looked right over me, and I was sitting right at the bar. He asked specifically about the Saviors, and it wouldn’t be the first time we had federal agents breathing down our necks. We knew they would find out when we started getting loud again.”

“I’m still trying to unlock his files,” Nolan adds. “I’ve never seen that much encryption.”

“That means he’s deep cover,” Kai says.

“He’s also a goddamn ghost,” I spit. “He slipped us better than I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s what they’re trained for,” Sean replies. “They’re also like chameleons. So watch your back. Also, I’m really pissed that Axel always gets to know all the cool shit.”

“It’s not cool,” I laugh. “And my real name needs to stay hidden. It will send up red flags everywhere with just a simple search.”

“I think this is bullshit,” Chelsea says angrily. “You saved people that day and got kicked in the teeth because of it.”

“All they saw was me ignoring a direct command and putting my team at risk at the same time.” I stand from the chair, feeling like a thousand pounds is sitting on my chest. “I need to go. Kira starts classes today.”

I say my goodbyes and head to the door. “Ari?” Chelsea’s soft voice stops me, and I turn around. “Jason will come around. I’m so happy you found someone.”

“I did finally find someone and fucked that up too.” I kiss her forehead and leave the house before I fall the fuck apart. Between the last mission, Jason, and talking about my past, I feel like I need to curl up in a bottle of liquor and sleep for days.

Or forever.

14

JASON

Iwatch with my heart in my throat as Chelsea walks into High Flyer with Kai and Sean. They look the same, but after everything that I found out, they somehow look different. Kai and Sean go toward the pool tables, and Chelsea comes to the bar.

“Scotch on the rocks,” she orders.

I still remember the first time she came in here with that piece of shit, Amber, when she was pretending to be her friend. Chelsea wouldn’t look anyone in the eye, and she tried to hide. The night she met Sean, all of that changed. I watched him like a fucking hawk to make sure she was comfortable, and it was sort of a relief when she left with him. The girl staring back at me is stillthatChelsea, but she smiles all the time now. I fill a couple more orders and feel her eyes on me.

I go over and lean against the bar. “Go ahead. Get it out of the way.”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“You aren’t here for Ari?”

She snorts. “Ari’s a grown man and can handle himself. I was worried about you.”

“I’m fine.” She spots that lie a mile away and raises a brow. “Fine. I’m not fine. This fucking sucks. I feel like I don’t know any of you.”

“I’m still Chelsea, Jason. We can’t just tell everyone who we are.”

“You’re one of them?”

“A Savior? Yes. I just work in different ways than them. They do bad shit for the right reasons. It’s all in the name.” She grabs my hand, surprising me. “You can’t give up on Ari. None of us want to lie, but it’s not like we can go around broadcasting what we do. They will hate this, but they’re fucking heroes. They are the ones who take down the bad guys everyone else is afraid of and don’t want recognition for it. They do it because they want to help in any way they can.”

“I’m just so confused.”

“The one thing you don’t have to be confused about is how Ari feels about you. I’ve never seen him like this. I’ve never even seen him approach anyone until you.”