Chapter 56: Negotiating skills

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Negotiating skills

"But this does come with conditions."

Nero’s expression changed instantly.

The softness remained, but something sharper settled beneath it, not displeasure exactly, more the focused attention Sebastian had seen him turn on hostile ministers immediately before dismantling every argument they had brought into the room.

Sebastian recognized the look.

"Oh, no."

Nero’s eyebrows lifted. "You have not even told me what they are."

"I know that face."

"What face?"

"The one you use when you are about to turn a simple conversation into a treaty negotiation."

Nero considered that while reaching behind Sebastian to pull the dark purple robe from the foot of the bed. He slipped it over his shoulders without bothering to tie it, leaving the front open over his bare chest while wet strands of white-blond hair darkened the fabric around the collar.

"You came here with conditions," he said. "That makes it a negotiation."

"No, it makes them conditions."

"That is an aggressively optimistic interpretation."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes.

Nero smiled.

There it was again, that impossible warmth Sebastian had apparently decided he wanted more of, although seeing it attached to the expression of a man preparing to bargain over his personal boundaries made the decision feel increasingly questionable.

Sebastian stepped back far enough to create a little space between them.

Nero allowed it... barely.

"No collar."

The smile disappeared.

Sebastian had expected resistance.

He had not expected Nero’s entire body to go still.

"And no mark," Sebastian continued. "Not unless I ask for either."

Silence.

Rain tapped against the wide bedroom windows, softer here than in the medical wing, while somewhere in the bathroom water continued dripping from the edge of the tub in slow, evenly spaced sounds.

Nero looked at him.

Sebastian waited.

The muscles along Nero’s jaw shifted once.

"My instincts object to both."

At least that was honest.

Sebastian folded his arms.

"I assumed they would."

"Violently."

"That sounds like a personal problem."

"It is becoming a shared one."

"Nero."

"I am not threatening you."

His voice had dropped, losing its teasing edge.

Nero walked past him toward the low cabinet beside the bed, picked up a towel, and began dragging it through the ends of his hair, mostly because Sebastian suspected he needed something for his hands to do.

"I understand the mark," Nero said eventually. "That changes your body permanently, and you are already going through enough changes that neither of us fully understands."

Sebastian’s posture eased by a fraction.

Nero noticed.

"The collar is different."

"No."

"You did not let me finish."

"I knew where that sentence was going."

"You frequently accuse me of manipulation and then refuse to hear the manipulation. It is very inefficient."

Sebastian stared at him.

Nero set the towel down.

"I want one."

"No."

"One of the two."

"No."

"The mark is off the table until you ask for it."

"That was already the condition."

"Yes. I accepted it."

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed further. "You accepted half the condition and are now presenting that as generosity."

"I am presenting it as progress."

"You are impossible."

"And yet," Nero said softly, "you came here."

That stopped him.

Nero approached again, slower this time, stopping just outside Sebastian’s reach instead of crowding him.

His tone had changed too. It was less playful and considerably more careful.

"I am telling you the truth because you asked me to be honest with you earlier, and I expect the same courtesy in return. My instincts hate both conditions."

Sebastian said nothing.

"They hate the idea of you walking out of this room without something visible that says you chose me."

There was no shame in Nero’s voice.

That might have made it worse.

"Something everyone can see," Sebastian said.

"Yes."

"Possessive."

"Extremely."

"Unhealthy."

"Probably."

"At least you know."

"I have excellent self-awareness."

Sebastian snorted.

Nero took advantage of the crack immediately.

"The mark can wait."

"It will wait."

"It can wait indefinitely if that is what you need."

Sebastian’s expression changed slightly.

Nero held his gaze.

"But the collar—"

"No Sahan collar."

Nero blinked.

Sebastian realized his mistake approximately half a second too late.

The smile that spread across Nero’s face was slow and devastating.

"That was not a refusal."

Sebastian swore under his breath.

Nero stepped closer.

"You just specified a category."

"I specified what I will not wear."

"Which means there is something you might."

"I hate you."

"No, apparently we settled that question earlier."

Sebastian wanted to slap him again.

Instead, he pointed one finger at Nero’s chest.

"Do not get smug."

"I am trying very hard."

"You are failing."

"I have had an emotionally significant evening."

Sebastian dropped his hand.

Nero’s expression softened, but the calculation behind his eyes never disappeared.

Then he used exactly the weapon Sebastian should have known he would keep.

"You lied to me today."

Sebastian’s shoulders stiffened.

Nero did not press closer, nor did he ask about the memory.

He simply let the sentence sit between them.

"That is low."

"Yes."

"Nero."

"I told you I wanted honesty, and you gave me something adjacent to it because you were not ready to tell me the truth." His voice remained even. "I accepted that."

Sebastian studied him suspiciously.

Nero continued.

"So accept something from me."

"That is not how honesty works."

"No, but it is how compromise works."

"You are weaponizing emotional maturity."

"I learned it recently."

Sebastian covered his face briefly with one hand.

Nero waited far too patiently for Sebastian’s tastes.

"What exactly do you want?"

"A collar."

"I gathered that."

"One you will actually wear."

Sebastian lowered his hand.

"No jewels hanging from it."

Nero looked offended.

"Define hanging."

"No."

"That was a reasonable question."

"No gems the size of currency, no royal crest covering half my throat, no chains, no ridiculous ceremonial pieces, and absolutely nothing that makes me look like I have been decorated for a Sahan state banquet."

Nero was silent.

Sebastian knew immediately something had gone wrong.

"What?"

"You have thought about this."

"I have seen Christopher."

"Mother has excellent taste."

"Christopher wears enough diamonds around his neck to refinance a small country."

"He likes them."

"Good for him. I do not."

Nero tilted his head.

"Silver?"

Sebastian hesitated.

Nero saw it.

"Deep green."

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed again.

"You are enjoying this too much."

"Deep green," Nero repeated, already building the object in his head. "Fitzgeralt colors. Minimal metalwork."

"No crown."

"I was not going to put a crown on it."

"You were thinking about it."

"I think about many things."

"Nero."

"A small clasp."

"Plain."

"Elegant."

"Plain."

"Those words are not mutually exclusive."

"In Saha, they appear to be."

Nero ignored that.

"Dark green leather or fabric, silver clasp, no stones."

Sebastian considered it.

"No engraving visible from the outside."

Nero’s mouth twitched.

"Inside?"

Sebastian stared at him.

Nero smiled innocently.

"That was a legitimate question."

"What would you engrave?"

Nero did not answer immediately.

That was alarming.

"Nero."

"My moon."

Sebastian closed his eyes.

"Absolutely not."

"You asked."

"Something discreet."

"So we are negotiating the inscription now."

Sebastian opened his eyes.

Nero looked unbearably pleased.

"You are a bastard."

"Yes."

"Initials."

"Mine?"

"Ours."

That stopped Nero. For the second time that evening, his expression lost every trace of cleverness.

Sebastian noticed.

So did the enigma.

A faint warmth rolled through the room before Nero caught it, fire and smoke touching the air for only a second.

Sebastian’s heartbeat jumped.

Nero’s voice, when it came, was quieter.

"Ours. And I choose when I wear it."

Nero’s instincts visibly revolted.

His jaw tightened.

Sebastian waited.

Nero exhaled slowly through his nose.

"Outside the medical suite?"

"No."

"Public appearances?"

"Sometimes."

"Whenever we are together officially?"

"No."

"Sebastian."

"I said I would wear one, not sign over my throat."

Nero went silent again.

Then the negotiator returned.

"Whenever we attend something as a couple."

Sebastian thought about it.

Nero watched him with almost predatory concentration.

"And privately," Nero added.

Sebastian gave him a flat look.

"Sometimes."

"Frequently."

"Sometimes."

"More often than never."

"That is what sometimes means."

Nero sighed as though suffering terribly.

"Fine."

Sebastian blinked.

"That easy?"

"No. I am choosing not to ruin the first night you voluntarily admitted you wanted me."

"That may be the smartest thing you have said all evening."