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“I know I don’t deserve for anyone to—” Dom took a deep breath. Garin winced. The younger man couldn’t even say the damn word. Love. “But I can at least start trying to deserve it.” Dom pushed out of Garin’s arms, his jaw set, and he pointed in the direction of the relay station, though the asteroid hid their view. “And that’s why I’m here.”
Garin let Dom pull away, but he made a mental note to hug the younger man once a day until he got used to it. He sat back in his chair and swiveled it to look out the viewport. “The last copy of the data is in that station, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Dom twisted the tightly folded sheet of paper in his hands. “When I detected the spy in the database, I put a virus in a folder they hadn’t grabbed yet, figuring they’d pick it up with all the rest. They did.” He smirked. “It’s been pinging me the folder’s location ever since they took it. All the data’s being stored here.” He jerked his chin at the view port. “But I don’t know for how long.”
Garin planted his feet on the floor and his elbows on his knees, spinning up the part of his brain honed by the Human military academy and years of missions. “I take it that station isn’t a simple relay server?”
“I don’t think so.” Dom shook his head. “I think it’s a depot for stolen secrets. It explains the Wate Group’s success. They always did have subpar scientists.”
Garin huffed a laugh. The Turner boys were still Turners, even if they had grown consciences. “So, we’re here to infiltrate and sabotage.” Simple enough mission goal. Garin had carried out plenty like it.
“No.” Dom pointed a finger at Garin. “I’m here to infiltrate and sabotage. You’re not supposed to be here at all.”
Sazahk flashed before Garin’s eyes, all stubbornness and pride, and a pang of longing hit his heart.
Garin had focused entirely on finding Dom and making sure he was safe since the moment Sazahk had disappeared around the corner back at the research compound. But every time his focus slipped, Sazahk appeared in his mind’s eyes, accompanied by the infuriating knowledge that Garin hadn’t said everything he’d wished he’d said before they parted.
Garin pushed the image of Sazahk away as he pushed away Dom’s finger. “Last I checked, you didn’t have any military training.”
“And last I checked, you’re not contractually obligated to be here or to help me.”
“Fuck contractual obligations, Dom, I’m not?—”
“Leaving Beaty or the boys behind.” Dom lifted his chin. “Or your mother. We both know getting onto the station is a one-way trip and it kind of defeats the purpose of doing this to mend my selfish ways if I selfishly drag you along to your death with me.”
“Neither of us is going to die,” Garin scowled, but his tone was a lie. Dom wasn’t wrong. Human stand-your-ground laws were ironclad, and the Wate Group would be more than happy to take out the remaining scion of the Turner Family without repercussions.
Which was why Garin had to go with him. To give him a damn shot at getting out alive.
And his family… Garin didn’t want to leave them behind. But that had become a possibility the moment he’d accepted a place in the military academy. His life insurance policy would cover them financially for a decade at least.
“Garin, you can’t?—”
“Let you do this alone.” Garin grabbed Dom’s knee again and squeezed. He pinned him with a serious glare. “I care about you, Dominic. And I will not let someone I care about do this alone. Not when I can help.”
Dom frowned hard and Garin could see him wrestling with the concepts. “I don’t want you to sacrifice for me.”
Garin huffed a laugh. “Unfortunately, caring about people means you also have to let them care about you. I don’t want to be the person that abandons you or prevents you from taking your shot at redemption. Don’t make me that person.”
Dom stared at him, then squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “That’s fucking complicated.”
Garin laughed louder. “Yeah, well, welcome to relationships. Now, shall we discuss the plan for getting onto that station?”
Dom flinched. “I don’t have one.”
“Lucky for you, I do.”
Chapter Fourteen
“I hate this plan.”
Garin chuckled as he flew Dom’s ship directly into the maw of the Wate Group station’s docking bay. “You’d be surprised how many times this has worked.”
“If the answer is anything greater than zero, then yes, I would be extremely shocked.” Dom white-knuckled the armrests of his chair as they approached the entrance scanners.
“I can think of three times off the top of my head.” Garin glanced at the screen displaying their transponder code, ensuring it was scrambling through options like he expected.
“You’re lying.”
