"Again, you're a confident guy. I wonder if you'd be the same under a real test."
"Dad, enough," Sebastian cuts in with a hard edge to his tone.
"I'm just looking out for you, son. I want the best for you, and I need to see if this guy is that."
I don't argue. I want to prove myself, not to his father, but to Sebastian.
Nathaniel looks back at me. "What about your past? Are you still holding onto feelings for Aziel?"
For a second, I just blink. This man is something else. Murder, darkness, and now my ex – all in one first meeting.
"No," I say without hesitation. "Aziel is in the past where he belongs."
His father hums while Sebastian glares at him. After that, the questions finally shift into safer territory like work, free time, plans we have. Normal fatherly things. Almost.
When he leaves, Sebastian and I steal a heated kiss before duty calls us both back to work.
But all night long, one thought gnaws at me: Nathaniel wasn't just interrogating me. He was testing me. I want his approval, but more than that, I need my boy's approval.
Chapter twenty-one
Sebastian
Ishould be happy. My Daddy and my Dad finally met, and if you ask me, their meeting was successful.
My Dad is a hard man to read, but over the years, I learned his tells. I saw the approval in his eyes, even if he dressed it up as a test. At first, I was pissed off, but later I realized he just wants the best for me.
We may have met eleven years later than we should have, and our father-son relationship may be… different from normal ones, but he's still my Dad. And I'll forever be grateful for his support.
Daddy's answers surprised me. I never expected him to say the things he did. But deep down, I know he treated it like a hypothetical reality. He doesn't realize how real those questions are. Maybe that's why his answers felt lighter than they should have. Still, it was amazing to see the two most important people in my life together.
But right now it feels like the ground drops out beneath me.
Sudden darkness is washing over me. It came out of nowhere. One moment I'm smiling at my Daddy, and in the next, a black cloud is over my head. Dark thoughts swim inside my mind and blur everything else around me.
All it would take is one drunk customer snapping their fingers for me to shatter.
It feels like I'm drunk. I don't know which side is up and down. The room is tilting. And the harder I fight, the deeper I sink.
There's no trigger. No clean place to point blame.
No, the responsibility lies in my hands.
Because the monsters in my head roar whenever they want. Without warning. With no one to blame but me.
"Hey, you okay, man?" Conrad asks.
I lift my head and stare at him. Words feel like too much.
Conrad is spooked. Probably because of my eyes. Empty eyes can do that. People don't know what to do when they look into them. They pretend they can't see it, or maybe their light is too blinding to recognize the dark hiding under someone else's skin.
So many questions.
"Sebastian." Ethan's voice cuts through.
The man is usually a stoic, control freak. I mean, in his part of business and lifestyle, it's a necessity. But right now, he looks unnerved, and dare I say, worried?
"I think it's best if you take the rest of the night off."
