Chapter 123: ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THREE

Nicholas’s POV

After the whole pleasantries were exchanged, we were escorted back to our rooms for the night.

I had barely finished washing up when one of the servants came to tell us that everything was ready, and somehow, within a few minutes, all of us were seated around the large dining table again for dinner.

It was strange sitting there again. I sat beside Adrian, with Cassian and Roman across from us while Elijah took his usual seat. My mother sat at one end of the table, and Blackthorne sat opposite her.

He looked completely at ease, almost too comfortable for someone who had spent the last few days searching for us.

He was good at pretending.

That was something I had learned about him recently.

He could sit across from people he had lied to for years and speak to them like there was nothing wrong. He could smile, ask questions, act concerned, and make everything sound ordinary. If I hadn’t known what I knew now, I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything strange about him either.

"So," he began, looking around the table, "how was the vacation?"

Elijah immediately started explaining, and I had to resist smiling when he began exaggerating almost everything we had done.

He talked about how boring the beginning had been, how much time we spent inside, and how the others had apparently ruined several of his attempts to have fun.

Blackthorne listened with an amused expression, occasionally asking questions about where we had gone and what they had done.

"I suppose the break did you all some good," Blackthorne said after Elijah finished complaining. He looked toward Adrian and then at the others. "But I think you’ve all had enough time away now. You should start coming into the company more often. There’s plenty of work waiting for you, and it isn’t healthy to spend all your time sitting around the house."

Roman gave a small laugh. "You make it sound like we’ve been doing absolutely nothing."

"Have you been doing something useful?"

Roman opened his mouth, then stopped.

Cassian laughed quietly beside him, and even Adrian’s expression shifted slightly.

My mother shook her head with an amused smile. "They’re young. Let them enjoy themselves for a while. They don’t have to spend every waking hour inside that company."

"I’m not asking them to spend every waking hour there," Blackthorne replied. "I’m telling them that they’re old enough to start taking things seriously. One day the company will belong to them too, and they need to understand what they’re going to inherit."

His words made something uncomfortable twist inside me.

The company. The future and the fucking family name. Everything sounded so respectable when he said it.

It was probably how he had managed to fool so many people.

Adrian leaned back in his chair, remaining calm as he answered. "We’ll come back when we’re ready. There’s no reason to rush it."

Blackthorne looked at him for a moment before giving a small smile. "I know. I’m only saying you should think about it more seriously."

"We will," Adrian replied.

The conversation continued, moving from the company to the vacation and then to smaller things.

My mother talked enough for everyone, jumping from one subject to another, asking Roman about something he had said earlier, teasing Elijah about his complaints, asking Cassian whether he had actually enjoyed himself, and eventually turning toward me with a smile.

"And you?" she asked. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

I forced myself to smile. "I did."

She looked relieved. "Good. You needed a break."

I lowered my gaze briefly. If only she knew.

Dinner arrived soon after, and the servants began placing the food on the table. Plates were passed around, glasses filled, and before long everyone was eating while the conversation continued almost exactly as it had before.

I found myself watching Blackthorne more than I wanted to.

He seemed relaxed. Nothing about his expression suggested that he knew we had returned with a plan.

Then my mother brought up the subject that changed the atmosphere slightly. "You know," she said, looking between me and the brothers, "I still can’t believe the five of you are bonded."

I nearly stopped eating. I had known this conversation would eventually happen, but hearing her say it at the table still made me uncomfortable.

Blackthorne looked at me. Then he looked at Adrian. "So do I," he said calmly.

I raised my eyebrows, pretending to be surprised. "You knew?"

He smiled faintly. "Your mother told me."

I looked at her, and she gave me an apologetic expression.

"I didn’t think it was something I should keep from him," she explained. "He’s your stepfather."

I forced myself to nod. "Right."

Inside, I was already thinking about what he knew and how much my mother had told him.

Blackthorne rested his hand against the table as he looked at all four brothers. "It’s unusual. Four mates connected to one person isn’t something you hear about every day."

Adrian’s expression remained controlled.

My mother looked curious rather than suspicious. "What do you think will happen? Will the bond eventually change, or is it something that will stay permanently?"

"I don’t think anyone can answer that," Cassian said.

Adrian picked up his glass and took a slow drink before setting it down. "It’s not something we decide."

My mother looked at him. "Then who does?"

"The Moon Goddess." His answer was so precise that she didn’t seem to argue.

"Oh."

"If that’s what was chosen," Adrian continued, "then that’s what we’ll live with. There’s no point trying to interfere with something that isn’t ours to control."

Blackthorne watched him carefully and I noticed it.

"I suppose you’re right," he said eventually. "Some things aren’t meant to be questioned."

I lowered my eyes to my plate. If only he knew how much I was questioning.

The rest of dinner passed without anything else happening. And Blackthorne sat there among us like an ordinary father.. Like a man who had never ordered someone to hurt me. Like a man who hadn’t been hiding an entire life from his family. Like a man who hadn’t murdered my father.

By the time dinner ended, I was exhausted from pretending.

Everyone eventually began heading upstairs and my mother stopped me briefly before I went toward the staircase and hugged me again. "I’m really happy you’re home," she whispered.

I hugged her back. "Me too."

I waited until everyone had disappeared upstairs before making my own way toward my room. I knew there were cameras around the mansion and throughout the compound, and I also knew that Blackthorne had enough security to notice anything unusual.

That meant I couldn’t simply walk outside whenever I wanted.

I would have to be careful. So I waited.

Once I was certain the house had settled down, I slipped out quietly, using the darker parts of the compound and avoiding the obvious camera angles. I wasn’t trying to disappear for long. I only needed enough time to reach the place where I had once gone for my suppressants.

After walking through the streets, I got to the familiar shop.

For a moment, standing outside, I remembered how often I had come here before.

With a sigh, I decided to go inside and do what I wanted. The place sold several things besides the medication I had previously relied on, including small security-related items. I remembered seeing tracking equipment there before, and after asking for a small tracker, I bought one.

I just needed something that would let the brothers know where I was if Blackthorne decided to move me somewhere without them knowing.

I returned to the mansion before anyone could notice I had gone.

Once inside my room, I connected the device to my phone and checked that it was functioning. I didn’t linger over it. The important thing was that it was ready.

Then after a while of making sure it worked, I swallowed the tracker, and sat quietly on the edge of my bed afterward.

I stared at the floor quietly for a long time, my thoughts racing.

I had walked back into this mansion willingly.

And tomorrow, if my plan went according to what I thought, I wouldn’t be here again.