Chapter 108: Priorities

Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Priorities

"Remind me... Why does a Crown Prince who technically doesn’t have permission to drive his own car... have a car at all?" Sebastian asked, looking at the beast in front of him.

And this time it wasn’t Nero.

The new vehicle occupied the center of Nero’s private garage beneath a line of recessed lights, black paint reflecting the polished stone floor so perfectly that the car looked carved from something considerably darker than metal. It sat low and broad despite the alterations required to accommodate Nero’s ridiculous proportions, the cabin subtly lengthened, the seats and controls custom-built, and enough additional space worked into the design that Nero could actually fit without sacrificing the aggressive lines of a sports car.

Jax had been absorbed by it from the moment they entered.

He currently had the driver’s door open and was halfway inside, examining the controls with the concentration he probably should have been applying to whatever classes he had escaped for the day.

Nero stood beside Sebastian, one hand resting casually at his waist.

"I own a car because ownership and permission to drive are separate concepts."

"You own two cars."

"Technically I own considerably more than two cars."

"And you cannot legally drive either one while acting as Crown Prince."

"Correct."

Sebastian looked up at him.

Nero appeared completely untroubled by the absurdity.

The restriction had nothing to do with Nero’s driving ability. Once Nero had formally assumed the position of Crown Prince at twenty-one, the security rules surrounding him had changed with it. A head of state did not sit behind the wheel where an accident, roadside attack, or targeted collision would leave him exposed and simultaneously remove the person responsible for controlling the vehicle.

Nero traveled in the secured section.

A professional driver handled everything else.

Before twenty-one, however, Nero had apparently driven enough to compensate for the following years.

His first car had been Dax’s eighteenth-birthday gift, similarly modified for Nero’s height, and had accumulated an impressive number of kilometers in the three years before royal security permanently removed him from the driver’s seat.

Sebastian looked toward the new car again.

"So your father bought you another extremely expensive machine specifically to remind you that you’re no longer allowed to use it properly."

Nero’s mouth curved.

"Father has a sense of humor."

"I’m beginning to understand where yours came from."

Jax leaned farther into the cabin. ℯℯ𝑙.

Sebastian lowered his voice.

"And how exactly was the handling yesterday?"

Nero glanced toward his younger brother.

Jax was occupied adjusting the driver’s seat as far backward as it would travel.

Only then did Nero look back at Sebastian.

"Exceptional."

Sebastian stared at him.

"You never touched this car yesterday."

"I touched it."

"You were with me almost the entire day."

"I did have several minutes without supervision."

"You were getting dressed."

"I remain remarkably efficient."

Sebastian’s lips twitched.

At breakfast, Nero had lied with such effortless confidence that even Jax had accepted his claim that he had tested the car.

Sebastian knew exactly why.

The alternative explanation for Nero’s strange degree of satisfaction with his birthday gift was currently standing beside him.

And Sebastian had absolutely no intention of explaining that particular misunderstanding to a fifteen-year-old.

"You could simply have told him you haven’t driven it."

Nero leaned down slightly, keeping his voice low enough that it disappeared beneath Jax’s enthusiastic inspection of the dashboard.

"And then he would ask why."

"You have a very convenient security restriction."

"He knows I occasionally get permission on closed royal property."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"So instead you lied."

"I protected your privacy."

"You enjoyed protecting my privacy."

"Immensely."

Sebastian elbowed him lightly in the ribs.

Nero only pulled him closer.

Across the garage, Jax finally emerged.

"So you’re definitely keeping the new one?"

Nero looked at him.

"Yes."

Jax nodded slowly, already moving toward the adjoining bay where Nero’s older car sat.

"And the old one?"

"Yes."

Jax stopped.

"That wasn’t the question."

"It was the answer."

Sebastian laughed.

Jax folded his arms.

"You haven’t driven it in five years."

"I owned it for eight."

"You drove it for three."

"Extensively."

"And now it sits here."

"It is maintained."

"That makes it worse."

Nero seemed fascinated by that conclusion.

Jax gestured toward the older car.

"Nayra prefers motorcycles."

Nero blinked.

Sebastian immediately looked away to hide his smile.

"What does Nayra have to do with this?"

"She has no interest in cars, which means there is no reason for me to wait until she wants another vehicle before I get one."

"That sentence began badly and became progressively less relevant."

"She already has transport."

"So do you."

"I have security vehicles."

"You are fifteen."

"Almost sixteen."

Nero looked utterly unmoved.

Jax sighed.

"If I get Dad to approve it?"

"You can discuss vehicles with Dad and Chris when they decide you are old enough. I’m not going around them by handing you mine."

That answer seemed to annoy Jax more than a direct refusal.

"You’re suddenly responsible?"

"I have always been responsible."

Sebastian made a quiet sound.

Nero turned his head.

Sebastian smiled innocently.

"I said nothing."

"I heard judgment."

"You imagined it."

Nero’s eyes narrowed with amusement before Jax reclaimed his attention.

"You don’t need the old car."

"I want the old car."

"For sentimental reasons?"

"Yes."

Jax appeared personally offended by the existence of sentiment.

Nero ran one hand over the roof of the older vehicle.

"Besides, Sebastian could use it."

Sebastian straightened.

"Excuse me?"

Nero looked toward him as though this were entirely obvious.

"You could."

"I have vehicles."

"Not here."

"That does not automatically make yours mine."

"No, but the modifications would work for you. You’re tall enough to benefit from the additional cabin space without needing everything reset every time you use it."

At almost two meters himself, Sebastian could not entirely dispute that.

Jax could.

"You would give it to Sebastian?"

"I said he could use it."

"You are never getting that back."

Sebastian laughed.

Nero’s hand returned to his waist.

"That would be acceptable."

There was enough quiet permanence in the comment that Sebastian glanced at him.

Nero simply smiled.

Before Sebastian could decide whether to address that, voices reached them from the garage entrance.

Dean appeared first with Theo holding his hand, and even at roughly one meter ninety, he looked tall until Arion came through beside him, his dark head another ten centimeters higher. Theo lasted approximately three seconds between them before noticing Nero.

"Godfather!"

He released Dean and ran.

Nero caught him one-handed and lifted him against his chest with practiced ease.

Dean looked over the two black cars.

"So this is the famous birthday present."

"The real one," Sebastian said.

Nero glanced at him.

Sebastian smiled.

Jax, thankfully, was already explaining his campaign for ownership of the older car to Arion.

Arion listened with the solemnity of a man being presented with a legitimate legal dispute.

"You are fifteen."

"Almost sixteen."

"That distinction appears important to you."

"It is."

Dean laughed and walked toward Sebastian.

"We have about an hour before Arion’s conference."

Theo, meanwhile, had discovered the new car.

His golden eyes widened.

"Can Godfather drive?"

Sebastian looked at Nero.

Nero looked at Sebastian.

Then Sebastian smiled.

"Oh, apparently the handling is excellent."

Nero’s violet eyes narrowed.

Theo understood none of it.

Jax was still lobbying Arion.

Dean glanced between Sebastian and Nero and wisely decided not to ask.

Nero leaned close enough that only Sebastian could hear him.

"You are enjoying this."

"A lot."

"I can correct that later."

Sebastian’s smile disappeared.

Nero’s returned.

Across the garage, Jax was still trying to convince Arion that being almost sixteen constituted a meaningful legal category.

Sebastian stepped away from Nero before his expression betrayed anything to the teenager.

"Go defend your car."

Nero caught his hand before he could move far and kissed his knuckles.

"I am considering defending both."

Sebastian looked toward Jax, then the old car.

"You really are keeping it?"

Nero glanced at the vehicle Dax had given him when he was eighteen, long before titles and security protocols had placed another person permanently behind the wheel.

"Yes."

Then his attention returned to Sebastian.

"But you can drive it."

Somehow, Sebastian suspected that was less an offer concerning a car and more another tiny piece of Nero quietly making room for him everywhere.