Chapter 60: Observation

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Observation

By midday, Sebastian had received an apology from Lucas.

That alone should probably have qualified as evidence that Trevor had intervened successfully.

Sebastian sat against the raised head of the observation bed with his phone in one hand, sunlight finally reaching through the narrow windows after nearly two days of rain. The forest beyond the villa still glittered with water, every branch dark and saturated beneath a pale autumn sky, while the medical suite smelled faintly of coffee, disinfectant, and whatever soup someone had begun preparing somewhere farther down the private wing.

Lucas’s message was longer than necessary.

He apologized for attempting to extend parental authority into Saha, admitted that fear had made him overstep, clarified that he did trust Sebastian’s judgment even when Sebastian made choices Lucas considered spectacularly questionable, and then ruined some of the effect by adding three separate reminders that Nero remained Nero.

Sebastian was rereading the final paragraph when the door opened.

Nero entered with Hale behind him and immediately looked at Sebastian.

His eyes moved over him quickly enough that anyone unfamiliar with Nero might have missed the assessment: posture, breathing, skin tone, whether Sebastian was holding his chest, and whether there was blood anywhere there absolutely should not be.

Only after apparently confirming that Sebastian remained alive did Nero acknowledge the rest of the room.

Sebastian lowered his phone by an inch.

This was becoming predictable.

Nero wore charcoal trousers and a black high-collared shirt with the sleeves buttoned properly for once, although his long white-blond hair remained loose down his back, suggesting nobody had managed to make him sit still long enough for anything more complicated.

He stopped beside Roberta.

"Can we have lunch together?"

Sebastian’s eyebrows rose.

Roberta looked up from the tablet in her hands.

"With whom?"

Nero turned his head slowly toward Sebastian.

Sebastian nearly laughed.

Roberta’s mouth twitched.

"I meant where, Your Highness."

"Somewhere without six people watching him chew."

"You were one of the people watching him chew yesterday."

"That was a medical concern."

"That was unsettling," Sebastian corrected.

Nero looked toward him.

"You ate everything."

"Because I wanted you to stop staring at the plate."

"Effective technique, then."

Sebastian shook his head and returned his attention to the phone before Nero could see the smile trying to form.

Roberta considered the morning readings displayed behind her.

"You can eat together."

Nero brightened.

"In the adjoining sitting room."

The brightness dimmed.

Sebastian’s shoulders moved with a silent laugh.

Nero glanced at him suspiciously.

Roberta continued before he could negotiate.

"No terrace. No walking through the villa. No alcohol. He sits somewhere with proper back support, and if he becomes dizzy, short of breath, starts bleeding, or develops gland pain above his current baseline, lunch ends.

Nero nodded immediately.

That easy agreement was probably more alarming than an argument.

Claude, standing near the counter, apparently thought the same.

"And you are not turning lunch into an engagement meeting."

Nero looked offended.

"I know how to behave socially."

Hale made a quiet sound near the door.

Nero turned.

"Would you like to contribute?"

"No, Your Highness."

"That sounded like a contribution."

Hale’s expression remained perfectly neutral.

Sebastian finally looked down at his phone again before he laughed openly.

Lucas’s message waited on the screen.

I am sorry. I panicked. Trevor has already explained exactly how much of an ass I made of myself.

Sebastian typed a short response.

Apology accepted. Do it again and I will let Nero handle the legal response.

He considered it. Then sent it. That should provide sufficient deterrence.

"Lucas?"

Sebastian looked up.

Nero was standing beside the bed now.

He had apparently crossed the room while Sebastian was typing, because personal space remained more theoretical around Nero every hour Sebastian permitted him closer.

"He apologized."

Nero’s expression became pleased.

"Father said Trevor would probably make him."

"My father did not make him."

"No?"

"He explained why Lucas was being unreasonable until Lucas became tired of being wrong."

"That sounds remarkably similar to being made."

Sebastian locked the phone and placed it beside him.

Nero’s gaze followed the device for a second before returning to Sebastian.

"Lunch?"

The question was almost absurdly normal.

Sebastian studied him.

Nero was trying very hard not to look eager.

He was failing.

"Apparently."

Nero immediately reached toward him.

Sebastian looked at the offered hand.

Then at Nero’s face.

There it was.

That barely concealed expectation, sharpened by instincts Nero had spent years pretending were less possessive than they actually were.

Sebastian understood it better than Nero probably realized.

He was still a dominant alpha, regardless of what his receptors were becoming, and possession was not an abstract concept to him. Dominants protected what they considered theirs with a biological intensity that could become ugly very quickly if left unchecked.

Sebastian had simply spent most of his life being the one whose instincts pushed outward rather than the person receiving that attention.

Now Nero wanted him within reach constantly.

He could feel it.

Nero never entered the medical suite without locating him first.

Never sat farther away than necessary.

Every time Sebastian moved unexpectedly, Nero’s eyes followed before conscious thought caught up.

If Sebastian allowed it, Nero would probably keep him within arm’s reach until both of them died of old age.

Sebastian let out a quiet laugh.

Nero’s eyebrows drew together.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That was not nothing."

Sebastian placed his hand into Nero’s.

The effect was immediate.

Nero’s fingers closed around his, careful but firm, and some invisible tension left his shoulders.

Sebastian almost laughed again.

God.

He understood exactly what Nero was doing.

More dangerously, he did not entirely dislike it.

The physicians had already disconnected the unnecessary sensors for the day, leaving only a slim monitor at Sebastian’s wrist, and he swung his legs carefully over the side of the bed.

Nero moved closer.

"I can stand."

"I know."

"You’re positioning yourself to catch me."

"I am standing."

"You are standing six centimeters from me."

"That sounds like an ideal distance."

Sebastian pushed himself upright.

A brief pull tightened beneath his ribs, unpleasant but manageable, and he waited for it to settle before taking his first step.

Nero noticed. His free hand hovered near Sebastian’s waist without actually touching.

Sebastian looked down at it.

Nero withdrew the hand approximately three centimeters.

"That is not withdrawing."

"I compromised."

Sebastian laughed under his breath.

The sound made Nero look at him.

Sebastian caught the tiny pause that followed, the way Nero’s expression softened every time Sebastian did something remotely affectionate in his presence.

An idea occurred to him.

A terrible one.