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The following hour was the most frightening of Zev\'s life. He and Nick had never really resolved their differences on how to get out of there. But the truth was, only Nick knew exactly where they were, and how to get in and out.

Which meant he had to trust the man he used to call father with the future of his family.

He and Sasha had both been really careful not to tell him where they went in the Gateway, or how they\'d gotten one to open in the random lab.

Zev realized they didn\'t have any choice but to trust him because he\'d seen the Gateway open. Short of killing him, there was no way to keep that secret anymore.

Zev wasn\'t sure how he felt about that.

But there wasn\'t time to consider it, because Nick was rushing to get them out of there. He swore the soundproofing was so good in the lab that they wouldn\'t have heard the gun go off. Zev knew that was possible, so there was no point arguing. But Nick was concerned about timing.

Usually, Nathan would finish his time with the baby and be out within an hour, or ninety minutes at most. They\'d already been there for some time when Sasha and Zev arrived, so Nick was concerned that a staff member would soon come looking to make sure they hadn\'t missed Nathan\'s call for staff relief.

"We need to get you out of here, and now," he muttered, ushering them out of the back of the building.

"Won\'t security see us?" Sasha asked nervously.

"Not out here. These experiments are the ones that even most staff aren\'t allowed to know about. Surveillance is recorded to be accessed by Nathan or the board when they choose. But there are no human eyes on it live. Which is probably saving your life right now," Nick muttered.

But when they got to the Jeep outside, he didn\'t open the passenger seat, he opened the back end of the vehicle and gestured for all three of them to get inside—in the back where there were no windows because the vehicle was designed to transport equipment—or Chimera—out from under human eyes.

It would keep them safe, and also trap them blind if Nick was double-crossing them.

Sasha jumped in immediately, but Zev balked. He handed Zan to Sasha who immediately pulled him to her chest in a picture of maternal concern that made Zev\'s chest zing. But he forced it down to appreciate later and turned to Nick.

Nick muttered a curse. "We don\'t have time for this, Zev. If me waking you up and fucking killing Nathan didn\'t convince you that I\'m board for this, there\'s nothing else I can do."

"But why?"

Nick\'s eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why what?"

"Why did you save me? Why betray Nathan? Why help us now?"

Nick gaped. "I told you! Because I fucking care about you. I don\'t want you in their hands—and I don\'t want your son in their fucking laboratory. He needs you and Sasha, not surrogate mothers who don\'t know what he is."

Zev examined Nick, who was about to launch into him again, but Zev shook his head. "You didn\'t stop them hurting me in the past. You didn\'t stop them from splitting me and Sash. You didn\'t stop them from taking Zan away from us. Why now? Why help this time?"

"I\'ve helped you so many fucking times that you don\'t even know about, Zev—and dozens of times that you do!"

"Yeah, and you always got something out of it!"

"No, Zev. I didn\'t. Most of the time I got a fucking headache. That\'s why I had to pick my battles. If they stopped trusting me, I couldn\'t help you anymore. You get that, right? That if I hadn\'t shot you tonight, Nathan wouldn\'t have left you alone with me so I could help? He wouldn\'t have trusted me with the dart that took him down. They\'ve questioned me every time I\'ve helped you—they almost fired me when I got you and Sasha away. For fuck\'s sake, Zev. What else do I have to do?"

"But you lied! So many times!"

"No, Zev, I hardly ever lied, I just didn\'t tell you the whole story!"

"People died, Nick! Chimera got hurt and sterilized, and lost mates and—"

"And if I hadn\'t let them all get hurt so that they\'d trust me and leave me close to you, you wouldn\'t be here. It\'s the choice I made, and I don\'t regret it."

"But I\'m not worth all of that!" Zev snarled.

Nick\'s head snapped back. "You are to me," he said simply.

Zev gaped as a hole, deep in his heart seemed to suddenly… fill.

Nick\'s throat bobbed. "Look. You might not be my blood, but you\'re the closest thing I have to a son. That\'s what made me realize…" he tipped his head toward Sasha and Zan in the back of the vehicle. "I couldn\'t take care of him. You had to. I was thinking I could protect him for you. But I realized… no… I wouldn\'t want someone else taking care of you for me. So… I needed to let you take care of him."

"But…"

"Look, it\'s pretty simple. I\'m an asshole. But an asshole who loves you." there was an odd vulnerability in his tone as he shrugged, which shocked Zev.

Zev shook his head. "I don\'t understand you," he said quietly.

Nick shrugged. "Honestly, neither do I. But the good news is, you don\'t have to. You just have to get in the fucking vehicle, Zev. Seriously."

Zev took a deep breath, then leaned in and, after a moment\'s hesitation, wrapped his arms around Nick in a hug.

Surprised, Nick hugged him back, tightly.

Then Zev whispered in his ear, "Thank you."

"You\'re welcome."

Both of them sighed, but neither of them let go. Then Zev cleared his throat. "Also, if anything happens to either of them and I find out you had any connection to it, I will hunt you down like the scared rabbit that you are."

Nick chuckled, but Zev wasn\'t smiling when he let him go and climbed into the back of the Jeep.