Luca smiled as Selene handed him the glass of Merlot. The Bellator Dei didn’t allow consumption of alcohol. He’d sip, but not drink it all, as the few glasses of wine he’d snuck over the years had made him feel pleasantly languid and libidinous. It wasn’t the time, place, or company for those sorts of feelings.
“Oh.” Selene reached into the front pocket of her hoodie. “I forgot I had these.”
Luca could have kissed the beautiful scientist when she produced his glasses. While his vision wasn’t terrible, it also wasn’t great. He was nearsighted enough that he would have spent the next few days squinting at the blurry blobs around him. The frames were slightly bent from the backhand that had knocked them off, but mercifully, they weren’t broken.
He bent the frame back into shape, then slipped them on, nodding his head gratefully. “Thank you. I feared they were lost.”
Oscar, who had disappeared while Selene was pouring drinks, returned and set a white pill bottle in front of him. Pain medication.
Luca looked up in surprise. Oscar was frowning, his expression almost angry, but his actions were caring.
He still couldn’t believe that Oscar and Selene had rescued him. It was unexpected…and undeserved.
“Thank you.” Luca read the label, carefully took out two, and then closed the bottle.
Oscar snatched it up, shook out two more, and smacked them down on the table. “You just got your ass beat. You can have four.”
But he deserved the pain.
Luca found it increasingly difficult to face the man in the mirror every morning when he considered what he’d done. What he’d become.
Everyone was silent until he put the pills in his mouth, washing them down with a small sip of the wine. The smell of it reminded him of Italy.
He didn’t think of Italy as home. No place was really home.
The instant he finished swallowing, Selene and Oscar both started to talk at once.
“How were you planning to resolve the distance discrepancy needed for the particle—”
“Who the fuck are you, and what the hell is going on?”
Selene looked at Oscar, cleared her throat, then said, “Fine, start with the less interesting information.”
Oscar was staring at her. “You thought specifics about the bomb was where to start?”
“Well, we know he’s not the bad guy.”
“He designed, and said he was willing to make, a city-killer bomb. He’s at least two-thirds of the way to bad guy.”
“He designed it under duress,” Selene countered.
Oscar pointed at her. “You’re way too close to being a supervillain.”
“You’re a hacker. Between the three of us, we’re basically a modern-day Manhattan Project.” Selene gestured to all of them, and Luca felt ridiculously pleased about being included, even in such an offhanded way.
Oscar snorted. “More like the Masters of Evil.”
“Who?” Selene propped her chin on her fist, seemingly at ease arguing with Oscar, whose frown was intimidating.
“Team of Marvel bad guys.”
“Hydra,” Luca said. Both turned to look at him. “If this were a comic book, I would be a Hydra scientist.”
Oscar leaned forward. “Start talking.”
Luca opened his mouth, closed it. He’d been about to tell them his story. How he’d ended up sitting at this table with them, and he was compelled to start with his childhood. A story he’d never shared with anyone.
But that was not what they cared about.
His head felt foggy, not because of the wine, but due to a lack of sleep, and exhaustion from the pain and fear of the last few hours. He’d been up nearly thirty-six hours straight now, and while it was only midafternoon, he wasn’t going to be able to keep his eyes open much longer.
“You know much of the story already, if you know that I added a flaw to the bomb design.”
“You created the bomb design for them because they’re threatening someone you love.” Selene’s eyes were soft.
“Yes,” Luca confessed. It seemed pointless to deny it, when he’d already admitted as much, thanks to his failure to hide his reaction.
“Who made you design the bomb?” Oscar asked.
Luca looked at them, these strangers who felt familiar, who felt like compatriots. It was an odd feeling after so many years of having to keep his own counsel. One he was about to destroy with just three words. “The Bellator Dei.”
Neither of them reacted.
Luca had expected his words to have the conversational equivalent of detonating a bomb.
He thought the Bellator Dei was well known amongst members of the Masters’ Admiralty. They were ancient enemies, the Bellator Dei having almost been destroyed by the amoral and powerful Masters’ Admiralty until