Page 49 of My Vigilante Valentine

“Huh,” he mused, stroking his chin. “I guess that explains a lot about his vibe.”

“I’m right here.”

He turned to me. “I know you are. And now that I’m looking closer, it’s very Bruce Wayne meets... actually, no. I think I’m picking up on some Winter Soldier energy.”

I couldn’t help it. A short laugh escaped. “You two are definitely related.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” they asked in unison, which only proved my point.

I crossed my arms, leaning against the counter. “Just that you both have an unhealthy obsession with comparing me to fictional characters.”

Chris’s eyes narrowed, studying me more carefully. “I’m actually not convinced you aren’t fictional.”

“Do I look fictional?”

“Very,” Luna replied without hesitation.

Chris wrinkled his nose at her, then turned back to me. “So, it’s true? You’re actually him?”

“I am.”

“Prove it.”

Luna stepped between us, hands on her hips. “He doesn’t have to prove anything. I’ve seen it myself. Multiple times.”

But when they both turned to look at me again, I was no longer standing in the same place they’d last seen me.

“Hey,” I said from behind them, my hand arcing in a short, sarcastic wave.

Chris sucked in a sharp breath, but Luna just rolled her eyes. “Okay, and there’s your proof.”

“But how did he do that?” Chris asked as I ambled back to my original position like there was nothing to see here.

“The same way he did it that day at the bank,” Luna replied.

Chris nodded to himself, my minor flex apparently working its magic on his skepticism. “So, that was you who saved us?”

I nodded once.

And though I did a good job at keeping my expression neutral, I internally recoiled as the memories of that day came flooding back.

The fear in Luna’s eyes when those men had burst in.

The way she’d tried to joke her way through it.

The moment she’d first seen me in action.

“That was you,” Chris repeated softly, like he was piecing together a puzzle. Then his eyes snapped to mine, sharp and assessing. “How? I mean, the way you move... it’s not normal. What’s your origin story?”

I fought off a snort as I glanced at Luna, surprised to find her watching me as if not intending to touch that question with a ten-foot pole.

Not in a bad way, like there was anything wrong with my story.

It was more that I could tell she was deferring to me. Letting me decide who got to know my story, and letting me be the one to tell it.

Whoever said knowledge was power obviously hadn’t met Luna. She didn’t seem at all interested in holding what she knew about me for ransom, and that was just another reason she was becoming so very…

Tolerable.

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