Chapter 21: Three Years

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Three Years

"Three years," Trevor repeated.

Sebastian nodded once. "The first abnormal markers appeared after Alamina. They settled with suppressants, and nobody could predict how quickly the deterioration would progress."

Trevor remained seated across from him, but the controlled anger had changed. He was a dominant alpha himself. He knew exactly what early berserk markers meant and how easily three years of apparent stability could become three years of counting backward toward something nobody could stop.

"And you decided that meant we didn’t need to know."

"I had it under control."

"You have confirmed final-stage markers."

"I said I had it under control."

"That distinction is doing very little for me."

Sebastian leaned back and rubbed a hand over his face. The monitor Claude had fastened around his wrist pressed against his skin when he lowered his arm again.

"What would telling you have accomplished?"

Trevor stared at him.

"There is no compatible dominant omega," Sebastian continued. "We searched Palatine, Saha, Alamina, and Rohan, then expanded internationally. Nothing. Not one match capable of stabilizing me safely."

"You think I don’t know that?"

"I think you and Dad would have spent three years watching numbers deteriorate while being completely incapable of changing them."

Trevor’s expression shifted.

Sebastian hated seeing the point land, but he continued.

"What was I supposed to do? Give you monthly updates? Tell Dad every time the suppressant dosage changed? Let Dean know his brother was getting closer to berserk while everyone pretended another compatibility search might suddenly produce an omega who does not exist?"

Trevor pushed himself upright.

"You thought you were protecting us."

"I was."

"No. You made the decision for us."

"Yes."

The immediate agreement stopped him.

Sebastian looked toward the rain running down the windows.

"I do not think I’m a burden to you. I don’t think I’m a burden to Dad or Dean either."

"Then why hide it?"

"Because there is a difference between helping someone through something and being forced to watch something you cannot fix."

The humor had left Sebastian’s face entirely.

"If there had been a treatment, I would have told you. If there had been a compatible omega somewhere and I needed help finding them, I would have told you. There wasn’t. I had medication and time. All telling you would have done was sentence this family to years of knowing what was coming."

Trevor turned toward the windows.

His reflection rested faintly over the mist-covered gardens, black hair shorter than Sebastian’s but otherwise similar enough that nobody had ever questioned where his eldest son inherited most of his appearance.

"You decided that worrying about you for three years would hurt us more than learning afterward that you spent those three years dealing with it alone."

Sebastian said nothing.

Trevor exhaled slowly.

"I resent you for that."

"I expected you would."

"I may resent you for several years."

"I’ll add it to the schedule."

Trevor glanced over his shoulder, and despite himself, his mouth moved.

Then the expression faded.

"The worst part is that I understand why you did it."

Sebastian looked at him.

Trevor returned to the chair.

"I would probably have done the same thing."

"You have done similar things."

"That doesn’t make either of us less stupid."

"Fair."

For several moments, only the rain filled the office.

Then Trevor’s attention dropped to Melanie’s tablet.

The article remained open between them, the photograph still showing Nero behind Sebastian in the palace bathroom with several feet of reality compressed into something almost intimate.

Trevor picked it up.

"I read this before I came here."

"I’m sorry for the damage."

Trevor closed it and looked at his son, his head tilted slightly.

"There’s something else."

Sebastian’s expression changed almost imperceptibly.

Trevor noticed anyway.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I know you."

"That has never stopped you from being wrong."

"Not often enough to matter."

Sebastian leaned back in his chair and crossed one ankle over the opposite knee, settling into the posture he usually adopted when he wanted to make a conversation look less personal than it was.

Trevor did not take the bait.

"Seven years ago, I understood why you refused him."

Sebastian gave him a flat look. "You spent most of that evening telling me I handled it badly."

"You did handle it badly."

"Thank you for keeping the memory alive."

"I’m not talking about how you rejected him." Trevor rested his forearms against his thighs. "I mean the reasons you did."

Sebastian’s gaze shifted toward the rain-darkened windows.

Trevor continued, quieter now.

"You were twenty-five. Nero was eighteen. You had known him since he was a child because he was always attached to Dean. He grew up in our houses, on our estates, at family holidays. Everyone around us knew that."

Sebastian’s jaw tightened.

"You don’t need to explain my own life to me."

"I’m not. I’m reminding you that I understood the problem."

That made Sebastian look back at him.

Trevor held his gaze.

"If you had accepted him then, there would have been people who said you groomed him."

The word settled unpleasantly between them.

Sebastian looked away first.

Trevor sighed.

"I know it would have been ugly. I know it wouldn’t have reflected what actually happened, because I was there. Lucas was there. Dax and Christopher were there. Half the damn family watched Nero chase after you long before you took him seriously enough to realize what was happening."

"That doesn’t mean the rest of the world would have cared."

"No."

Sebastian’s mouth twisted. "You’re making my argument for me."

"Seven years ago, maybe."

That brought his attention back.

Trevor gestured between them.

"But that concern doesn’t exist anymore, Sebastian. Nero is twenty-five. You’re thirty-one. Nobody who matters thinks you manipulated him into wanting you."

Sebastian’s laugh was dry. "That is a very optimistic opinion of people."

"I said nobody who matters."

That earned Trevor the faintest movement at the corner of Sebastian’s mouth.

He continued before it disappeared.

"And everyone close enough to know what actually happened knows Nero never got over you. Dax knows. Christopher knows. We know. Dean definitely knows whether anyone wanted him to or not."

Sebastian groaned softly. "Dean knows everything eventually."

"Usually because someone makes the mistake of trusting him."

"That sounds correct."

For a moment, the conversation almost softened.

Then Trevor asked, "So what is it now?"

Sebastian’s amusement disappeared.

Trevor watched him carefully.

"You can’t tell me it’s still the age difference. You can’t tell me you’re worried people will think you groomed him. That ship sailed years ago."

Sebastian said nothing.

"And I don’t think it’s because you believe Nero is still eighteen."

That made Sebastian’s eyes narrow.

Trevor raised one hand.

"I didn’t say you treat him like a child. I said I know there’s more."

Sebastian’s fingers tightened slightly around the arm of the chair.

Trevor leaned back.

"You refused him then because you had reasons. Fine. Some I agreed with, some I didn’t. But now you know he meant it. You know he still means it. So why are you still saying no?"

The question sat between them without any of the usual sarcasm to soften it.

Sebastian looked toward the closed office door.

Then back at Trevor.

"I’ll tell you."

Trevor’s brows rose.

"But you swear first."

"Swear what?"

"That this stays between us."

Trevor’s expression changed.

Sebastian continued before he could answer.

"You don’t tell Dad. You don’t tell Dax because he’s your friend and you think he deserves to know. You definitely do not tell Nero."

"Sebastian—"

"I mean it."

Trevor studied him.

Whatever he saw made him stop arguing.

Sebastian leaned forward, forearms resting on his knees now, his face completely serious.

"I will answer your question."

His green eyes held Trevor’s.

"But you swear to me that it goes no further than this room."