Page 65 of Not All Himbos Wear Capes

A supe’s identity is sacred.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I brusquely replied, assuming the conversation would be over now that she’d failed in her bid for intel.

“Very good,” she replied, surprising me again with howgenuinely pleasedshe sounded.

There was another long pause before she spoke again. “You know, Butch… I came in contact with a wide variety of people during my time as protector of Big City. Some lived their truth, and some chose—or were forced—to bury it, but neither stance changed who someone was at their core. The proof was in how they carried themselves and treated those around them. Money and power may rule our world now—with harsh lines drawn in the sand—but there was a time when the most deadly weapon… waslove.”

What the heck is she talking about?

Her voice became muffled as she began speaking to someone in the background—most likely my father—which gave me a moment to wonder if she’d been body snatched by aliens.

“Butch?” She came back on the line with my civilian name, sounding more like the detached woman I knew. “I must be going, but please let me know if you require anything further. We can’t have Big City’s greatest superhero being no match forvillains!”With that, she hung up, leaving my thoughts more jumbled than ever.

Dropping my towel onto the floor, I climbed into my now unfamiliar bed, attempting to arrange the extra pillows around me to mimic another person.

It was no use. Xander wasn’t here, and my body was alreadyachingfor him. Even though all I wanted to do was hear his voice, I knew it was in my best interest to sleep on everything that had happened tonight before contacting him.

If I can sleep…

In an attempt to settle my mind, I mentally organized what I needed to catch up on at work tomorrow, pretending I had control over my life. All that accomplished was reminding me Ididn’t.Just like my parents and theirs before them, I was an employee of Solomon Biggs and Biggs Enterprises, and every decision I made was actually decided by another, in the interest of the greater good.

Except Xander.

I sat up with a gasp. Regardless of everything I’d discovered tonight,Xanderwas my truth. From the moment I responded to his match request on Bangers, he represented an autonomy I’d never dared pursue—never believed I deserved. But hecaredfor me. He claimed I deserved to be happy, regardless of whether I’d ‘earned’it.

And I believe him.

He did all of this as avillain,because his bloodline didn’t change who he was at the core.

Mine.

Suddenly compelled, I grabbed my phone from the bedside table and shot off a quick text to Xander—so he wouldn’t needlessly worry all night.

The answer will always be yes, Xan.

An overwhelming sense of peace washed over me at this realization, interrupted only briefly by the fact I’d have to come clean about who I was as soon as possible.

What if me being a hero is a deal-breaker for him?

Finding out Xander was a villain—an unknown Suarez—had hit me hard, and I assumed the same would be true for him in reverse.

My guts twisted at the thought of Xander rejecting me, but I banished the thought. I’d told him I loved him, and I meant it, even if my confession was badly timed. Most importantly, he felt the same. All I had to do was figure out howa hero and a villain could be together. Biggs Enterprises would never keep records onthatsubject, but the famously neutral United Super Nations might.

And I promised Xander I’d take him there anyway…

It went against all my training to aid and abet a villain—to give him access to the classified USN archives—even if all he was after was water law treaties. But I believed in Xander’s research, and I believed inus.

And I refused to believe that something that felt thisrightcouldn’t survive anything.

I’m going to see this through.

CHAPTER30

XANDER

“Ugh, it smells like swampy man-ass in here!”

I groaned and rolled over, reminding myself for the millionth time to revoke Kai’s fingerprint access to my apartment and give it to Butch instead.