Chapter 75: House Vesper

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: House Vesper

By seven in the evening, Nero had decided that Southern Command deserved to lose its aircraft simply for making him spend six hours listening to explanations that could have been condensed into three paragraphs.

Unfortunately, incompetence was not a legitimate reason to confiscate an entire military fleet.

He had settled for ordering an independent review.

Now, standing before the mirror in his private office, Nero adjusted the silver clasp at his collar while Idris reviewed the final arrangements for the meeting.

"Melrose Mynatt has requested another medical examination."

Nero’s fingers stopped.

"Of course he has."

"The independent physician has already cleared him to attend."

"Excellent. I would hate for him to miss the opportunity to explain himself."

Idris glanced at the tablet.

"Luke Vesper arrived twenty minutes ago. His father will join us remotely, but Luke has full authority to represent the house."

Nero smiled.

Finally, someone competent.

Luke Vesper was the alpha heir to House Vesper, one of Nero’s closest friends, and a man whose reputation for organizing private parties had occasionally caused considerably more discussion than his actual political activities.

His dark brown hair was usually arranged with meticulous care, although Nero had seen him abandon that particular standard after particularly troublesome events, and his hazel eyes possessed an unfortunate ability to make even the most innocent questions sound like accusations.

Luke organized private gatherings when requested by consenting adults, particularly when several heats and ruts overlapped and the people involved preferred the security and discretion of an established house.

He had one absolute rule.

No rape.

Saha treated sexual assault severely, and Luke had no intention of allowing his house to become the location of something that could destroy its reputation, particularly when he already had enough trouble managing people who believed wealth entitled them to ignore ordinary boundaries.

Which was precisely why Nero had known what would happen when he sent Melrose there.

Luke’s personnel had recognized that the omega had been sent as punishment and that allowing someone under the influence of rut enhancers into a gathering of alphas experiencing heightened pheromonal responses would create a serious risk.

So they had placed Melrose in a secured private room, provided medical observation, and kept everyone else away. ℴ

Nero had learned the details afterward.

He had been disappointed by how little of Melrose’s punishment had involved other people, but Luke had made it very clear that Vesper’s rules were not negotiable.

Now, apparently, Melrose had decided that those same people were responsible for an assault that had never occurred.

Nero finished adjusting his collar.

"Shall we?"

Idris opened the office door.

—

Luke Vesper stood near the conference room windows, dressed in a fitted charcoal suit with a silver house emblem fastened to his lapel.

His dark brown hair had been combed back neatly, and his hazel eyes moved immediately toward Nero when the crown prince entered.

"Your Highness."

"Luke."

Nero accepted the offered handshake before glancing toward the opposite side of the long conference table.

Melrose sat between his father and the family’s legal representative, wearing a pale formal jacket that made him look younger than Nero remembered.

His face was carefully composed.

Nero noticed the slight trembling of his fingers immediately.

"Please sit," Nero said, taking the chair at the head of the table.

Idris settled beside him and activated the recording system.

The representatives followed, although Melrose remained rigid enough that his father briefly touched his arm.

Nero opened the investigation file.

"I understand House Mynatt believes Vesper was responsible for supplying the enhancers administered to my whiskey."

Lord Mynatt straightened.

"We believe our son may have been exploited by individuals connected to the house."

"Interesting. Evidence?"

The legal representative opened his tablet.

"Your Highness, our concern is that Melrose was subsequently transferred into an environment where he was subjected to sexual assault."

Nero looked toward Luke.

"Would you like to explain?"

Luke leaned back in his chair.

"Gladly."

He opened the security report.

"When Melrose arrived, our medical personnel confirmed that he had ingested a substantial quantity of rut enhancers. My staff were informed of the circumstances surrounding his transfer, and they recognized that placing him among guests experiencing active heats or ruts would create a serious risk."

Melrose shifted.

Luke continued.

"He was taken to a private room and monitored until the effects subsided. No guests were permitted inside."

"That is not what my son reported," Lord Mynatt interrupted.

Luke looked at him.

"I am aware, which is why I brought the security recordings."

Melrose went pale.

Nero noticed.

His mouth curved faintly.

Luke turned the tablet toward Idris.

"The Vesper estate maintains surveillance in its secured medical rooms. We have the complete recording of Melrose’s confinement, including the access logs and medical observations."

Melrose’s breathing changed.

"I don’t want anyone watching that."

His voice had become thin.

Luke looked at him.

"Neither do I. The recording has been preserved as evidence, and its contents will not be distributed publicly."

Melrose shook his head.

"No. You don’t understand. I have PTSD. Watching that would trigger me."

Nero stared at him.

Luke stopped moving.

Lord Mynatt immediately leaned toward his son, his expression filling with concern.

"Melrose?"

The omega’s breathing changed.

At first, he simply inhaled a little too sharply, his fingers tightening around the edge of the table while his eyes moved between Luke’s tablet and the conference room doors.

Then his shoulders began trembling.

Nero watched him with growing disbelief.

Melrose pressed one hand against his chest, his breathing becoming increasingly shallow as he looked toward his father with enormous, frightened eyes.

"I can’t," he whispered. "Father, please. I can’t go through that again."

Lord Mynatt immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Nobody is going to make you watch anything."

"But he has the recording."

Melrose’s voice cracked.

Tears gathered along his lower lashes, although Nero found it remarkable that the omega still managed to glance toward him between increasingly elaborate attempts to look distressed.

Luke slowly lowered his tablet.

His hazel eyes shifted toward Nero.

Nero looked back.

For perhaps the first time in their friendship, neither man knew what expression would be appropriate.

Melrose had apparently decided that the existence of security footage was sufficient reason to produce an entire theatrical performance, complete with trembling hands, carefully interrupted breathing, and a face arranged into such exaggerated devastation that Nero was beginning to feel embarrassed on his behalf.

"I remember everything," Melrose whispered, clutching his father’s sleeve. "Every horrible moment."

Luke’s eyebrows rose slightly.

Nero looked down at the conference table.

God.

He had watched people attempt to manipulate criminal proceedings before.

He had rarely seen someone do it with so little subtlety.

The legal representative leaned forward.

"Your Highness, considering my client’s psychological condition, I must insist that the recording not be shown in his presence."

"Luke did not propose showing it to him," Nero answered.

Melrose immediately made a small, wounded sound.

Nero closed his mouth.

Apparently, even speaking had become dangerous.

"I just want it to stop," Melrose whispered.

His lower lip trembled.

Then another tear appeared.

Lord Mynatt tightened his embrace, looking toward Nero with an expression that suggested the Crown Prince should personally apologize for allowing his son to experience such distress.

Nero stared at him.

The entire situation had become so profoundly uncomfortable that he was beginning to regret not delegating the meeting to Idris.

Melrose pressed his fingers against his temples.

"I feel dizzy."

His breathing quickened.

"Father, I think—"

He stopped speaking, tipped his head backward, and collapsed sideways.

Lord Mynatt caught him with a startled exclamation.

The legal representative rose so abruptly that his chair scraped against the polished floor.

Idris immediately contacted the physician waiting outside.