Chapter 139: Stronger

Chapter 139: Chapter 139: Stronger

Nero had spent enough of the afternoon working that by the time he reached his parents’ private wing, he considered tormenting Jax a legitimate form of recovery.

His younger brother was stretched across one end of the sitting-room sofa with a tablet balanced against his knees, school uniform abandoned in favor of dark gray trousers and an oversized cream sweatshirt that probably belonged to Chris. His dark hair was still damp from a shower, and the expensive watch Nero had unwillingly surrendered from his birthday-gift reserve sat far too loosely around his wrist.

Nero stopped behind the sofa.

Jax looked up.

"No."

"I haven’t done anything."

"You came over here specifically to annoy me."

"I came to see our parents."

"They aren’t here."

Nero glanced around the otherwise empty room. "Tragic."

Jax returned to his tablet.

Nero reached down and rotated the watch until its face sat on the underside of Jax’s wrist.

Jax immediately corrected it.

Nero did it again.

Jax slowly turned his head, the same purple eyes narrowing at his older brother’s audacity.

"You’re twenty-seven."

"I know."

"You’re getting married."

"I’m aware."

"You run half the country."

"That description is constitutionally inaccurate."

"And this is what you do with free time."

Nero moved the watch for a third time.

Jax slapped his hand away.

Nero laughed and dropped into the armchair opposite him, extending his legs until one polished shoe nearly touched the coffee table. He had come directly from an afternoon economic review and was still dressed for it, though his pale blue jacket had been removed and folded over the chair beside him. The waistcoat beneath was a darker shade of blue with narrow silver fastenings, paired with an ivory shirt that had acquired an open collar sometime during the last meeting.

Jax eyed him suspiciously.

"Where’s Sebastian?"

"With Father and Chris."

That much Nero knew.

Lucas had appeared at the palace earlier with Ethan, Duncan had naturally followed Sebastian wherever he went, and Nero had been told only that Sebastian would be occupied in the older wing until late afternoon.

There had been enough Fitzgeralt discussions over the previous two months that Nero had stopped questioning every one of them.

The approaching wedding had turned Sebastian’s inheritance into a recurring administrative disease that seemed to produce another document every time they believed they had cured it.

Nero assumed today was more of the same.

Jax looked at him over the top of the tablet.

"You don’t know what they’re doing?"

"I know enough."

"That means no."

"It means I have functional trust."

Jax stared at him.

Nero stared back. Then Jax started laughing. Nero picked up one of the decorative cushions and threw it.

Jax caught it against his chest.

"You almost sounded convincing."

"You are becoming annoying."

"I learned from you."

"That is defamatory."

The doors opened before Jax could answer.

Chris entered first, followed by Ethan and Lucas, while Dax came behind them looking far too entertained about something Nero could not identify. Duncan appeared several steps later, already speaking quietly into his security earpiece.

Sebastian came last.

Nero’s attention moved to him immediately.

He was dressed exactly as he had been when they separated earlier: fitted black trousers, pale shirt, shoulder-length black hair left loose around his face, and the deep-green collar still secured around his throat.

Nothing obviously unusual.

Nero still felt something shift inside him.

Sebastian noticed his stare.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That is never convincing from you."

Nero stood.

Sebastian had barely reached the sitting area before Nero slid an arm around his waist and drew him into his side.

Lucas watched.

Nero ignored him.

He bent and kissed Sebastian’s temple, letting his mouth linger just long enough to breathe him in.

The scent hit him immediately.

It was not as strong as a dominant omega would be, but enough that Nero’s entire attention sharpened around it. The warm sweetness that had begun faintly weeks earlier had deepened beneath Sebastian’s familiar soap and the soft trace of palace linen, carrying something richer now that Nero could not yet name.

Sebastian felt him inhale. His mouth twitched.

Nero lowered his voice until the words belonged only to them.

"Your scent is stronger."

Sebastian’s expression changed slightly.

"Again?"

Nero nodded against his temple.

"Much easier to notice."

Sebastian’s hand settled briefly over Nero’s at his waist.

The reaction was calm enough that Nero suspected Sebastian had finally stopped finding every new change in his body alarming.

He had not, however, stopped finding Nero’s fascination amusing.

"You look pleased."

"I am."

"You always are when my biology does something."

"Your biology has excellent judgment."

Sebastian laughed quietly.

Across the room, Dax was watching them with the expression of someone who had noticed enough to become interested.

Nero looked at him.

Dax smiled.

Nero immediately turned Sebastian toward the dining room before his father developed questions.

Dinner was informal by royal standards, which still meant a long polished table, several courses, and staff moving nearly invisibly along the walls.

Jax sat beside Ethan and attempted to convince him that being nearly sixteen qualified him for information everyone else considered adult business. Ethan proved immune.

Lucas and Chris spent part of the first course discussing wedding security.

Dax kept looking toward Sebastian with an occasional smile that Nero found suspicious.

Sebastian, apparently, found nothing strange about any of it.

That should have concerned Nero more than it did.

His private phone vibrated beside his plate during the second course.

Nero glanced down.

The secured identifier on the screen stripped the amusement from him immediately.

He locked the display before anyone else could see it.

Sebastian noticed.

"Work?"

"Something I need to take."

Nero touched Sebastian lightly between the shoulders as he stood, then looked toward Dax.

"I’ll be back."

Dax barely glanced up from his wine.

"Try not to start a war before dessert."

"No promises."

Jax grinned.

Nero ignored him and left the dining room.

He continued through the corridor until he reached an unused private reception room at the far end of the wing, closed the door, and activated the security seal.

Only then did he answer.

The seer’s voice came through quietly.

"Nero."

He leaned against the edge of an antique writing desk, gaze fixed on the dark windows across the room.

"What makes you contact me first?" Nero asked, his eyes still on the windows.