Chapter 109: Second List

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Second List

Jax surrendered the car about ten minutes later, though his expression suggested he saw the whole thing as a temporary administrative setback rather than a real defeat.

He stood beside Nero’s older sports car, hands tucked into his trouser pockets, staring at the black bodywork as though prolonged eye contact might eventually convince his brother to become generous, while Nero stood beside the newer vehicle, Theo balanced comfortably against one arm.

"So I have to wait."

"At minimum until you are legally eligible to begin learning," Nero said.

Jax sighed. "Four months."

"Four months."

"And then I need the license."

"That is generally how driving works."

Jax looked toward Sebastian, presumably searching for someone less irritating.

Sebastian lifted one shoulder.

"I’m afraid he has a point."

"You’re taking his side because he offered you the car."

"He did not offer it to me."

Nero glanced at him.

"I essentially did."

Sebastian ignored that.

Jax looked personally betrayed by both of them before returning his attention to Nero. "Fine. No car."

The surrender came too easily.

Nero apparently thought the same because his violet eyes narrowed.

Jax waited perhaps two seconds.

"But I still want something from your gifts."

Dean laughed from several steps away.

Arion, standing beside him with his arms folded, merely looked amused, which on a man nearly two meters tall and usually composed enough to make Nero seem expressive was almost more noticeable.

Nero adjusted Theo higher against his side.

"There it is."

"You don’t want most of them."

"That does not make them yours."

"You received enough things to fill an office."

Sebastian had seen the office.

Jax was not exaggerating.

There had been watches, presentation cases, electronics, artwork, ceremonial pieces, bottles, clothing, several items Sebastian had not recognized at all, and enough carefully wrapped packages to make Nero’s complete lack of interest almost impressive.

Jax continued, "You’re never going to use all of that."

Nero considered him for a moment.

"Go find Idris."

Jax’s expression brightened instantly.

"Really?"

"Ask him for the second list."

Sebastian looked at Nero. "There are lists?"

"There are always lists."

That answer should not have surprised him.

Nero continued, "The first contains anything that requires personal acknowledgment, diplomatic handling, archival storage, security review, or formal acceptance. The second is what Idris has already cleared for redistribution, donation, household use, or disposal."

Jax had already taken one step toward the garage exit.

"One item," Nero added.

He stopped.

"One?"

"Two if you disappear before I reconsider."

Jax disappeared.

Dean watched the empty doorway for a moment. "Remarkably effective."

"He is almost sixteen. Luxury goods remain an excellent governing tool."

"Please never reproduce."

Sebastian looked at Dean.

Then at Nero, who was currently letting Theo play with the silver clasp at his collar while the toddler rested against his chest.

That particular comment felt dangerously timed.

Nero only smiled.

Theo tugged at his collar.

"Godfather."

"Yes, little beast?"

"Car fast?"

"Very."

"Faster than Daddy?"

Arion looked over.

Nero gave the matter the serious consideration Theo clearly expected.

"In a straight line, probably."

Theo’s golden eyes widened.

Dean sighed. "You know he remembers everything you say."

"That sounds like a parenting concern."

"You are his godfather."

"Exactly. I provide information. You provide consequences."

Sebastian laughed.

Without Jax negotiating for property, the garage became unexpectedly peaceful. Morning light reached through the broad open doors and spread across the polished floor, catching along the black paint of both cars while Theo eventually demanded to sit inside the new one again.

Nero obliged immediately.

Dean leaned beside Sebastian while Arion followed Nero and Theo toward the driver’s side, leaving the brothers several meters away from the others.

"You look good," Dean said quietly.

Sebastian glanced at him.

Unlike the assessments he had endured for months, there was no clinical caution in Dean’s expression.

"I feel good."

"I can tell."

Sebastian smiled. "Everyone can apparently tell. It has become the family’s favorite observation."

"It beats discussing whether you’re about to collapse."

"Significantly."

Dean’s mouth curved, though the humor faded after a moment.

"I heard you told Trevor."

Sebastian knew immediately what he meant.

His gaze shifted toward Nero.

The Crown Prince was crouched beside the open door, explaining something on the dashboard to Theo while Arion listened from above them. Nero’s long white-blond hair had fallen over one shoulder, and one hand remained braced protectively behind Theo despite the child being perfectly secure in the seat.

"About the visions," Sebastian said.

Dean nodded.

"Arion mentioned that Trevor knows now."

Sebastian leaned back against the workbench.

"I had to tell him when the berserk came out."

"I think that was a good decision."

There was no hesitation in Dean’s answer.

Sebastian looked down at his hands.

Trevor had taken it better than he expected, perhaps because Trevor had always been better at hearing difficult information before deciding what to do with it.

Lucas was different.

Lucas loved with his entire body.

That often meant fear arrived just as intensely.

Dean seemed to understand where Sebastian’s thoughts had gone.

"You should tell Dad too."

Sebastian exhaled.

"I know."

"You don’t have to tell him every detail immediately, but if Trevor knows and Lucas finds out much later, he’s going to wonder why you trusted one of them and not the other."

"That isn’t why."

"I know that. He might not."

Sebastian watched Nero lift Theo out of the car when the child decided he had seen enough, settling him against his chest without interrupting whatever Arion was saying.

Dean was quiet for another moment.

"And maybe Nero."

Sebastian turned his head.

Dean’s expression remained careful.

"I’m not telling you what you have to do. But this isn’t something small anymore, Seb. You’ve had too many of them, and some of what you’ve seen clearly involves him."

Sebastian said nothing.

"Especially if you’re going to marry him."

That landed differently.

Sebastian looked toward Nero again.

Nero felt the attention almost immediately and glanced across the garage, violet eyes finding Sebastian with the ease of a man who had apparently developed an internal mechanism specifically for tracking him.

Then he smiled.

Sebastian returned it automatically.

Dean followed the exchange.

"He’s going to notice eventually that there are pieces of this you’re keeping from him."

"I know."

"And I think you know he would rather hear something terrible from you than realize you were carrying it alone because you were afraid of what he would do with it."

That was precisely the problem.

Sebastian knew what Nero would do with information about futures in which Sebastian died, Nero died, or both of them destroyed themselves trying to save the other.

He would treat fate like an enemy.

And Nero was exceptionally dangerous when given an enemy.

Still, Sebastian no longer knew whether silence was protecting either of them.

Theo called for Sebastian from across the garage.

Dean pushed away from the workbench.

"We fly back to Roslew tomorrow, so I’ll see you again at dinner before we leave."

Sebastian nodded.

Dean touched his shoulder briefly before walking toward his son.

Sebastian remained where he was for several seconds longer.

Across the garage, Nero was already coming toward him with Theo in his arms and Arion beside him.

Sebastian watched him approach.

Lucas.

Nero.

Two conversations he had postponed because silence had once seemed simpler.

It did not anymore.