Page 88 of Crown of Steel

Louis lets out a bark. “Yeah, I figured, butwhereat home? You aren’t in your bedroom. It’s eight in the morning, and Nathalie and Dad just got up. I suggest you do the same thing.”

“Shit.” Tossing my phone back on the floor, I lean in and slowly brush my lips over Régis’s head, then press a kiss on his ear. “See you later,chaton.”

I meet up with my brother in the work-out room, but other than attacking me with a few of his typical smart ass looks, he doesn’t comment. In fact, we don’t talk at all, simply focus on our training program in silence. It has been a short night for both of us, and judging by the way I catch his dark eyes staring into the void a few times, I reckon he’s got a few thoughts of his own. We’ll talk about it when the time is right, like always.

When I finish my last set of crunches, I get up, and grab my towel and bottle of water. “Catch you at breakfast.”

The hot shower does the magic trick to my tense body, though my entire morning ritual is disturbed by my thoughts. I…I want to know more. About Régis’s past, his therapy, this abuse he’s been through.

When I come downstairs, Nathalie is already inside the kitchen, setting the table. When she sees me striding her way, her green eyes flare with something, but she blinks it away.

“Oh, Arthur, would you mind helping me set the table?”

Dad’s sitting at the kitchen island, reading his newspaper. I can feel him look up at me in surprise when I reply, “Yeah. I fucking mind. You and I need to talk about something.Now.”

“Arthur,” Dad barks. “Watch your mouth.”

“It’s okay, Jean-Luc.” Nathalie dismisses him with a wave of her hand, and smiles at me. Knowingly. “Sure. Follow me.”

We head toward Dad’s office.

“So, you two talked?” She asks immediately once the doorfalls closed. I watch her take a seat onto the couch, gesturing to me to do the same thing.

“How can you be so calm about this?” I seethe, dodging her question since I’m not allowed to talk aboutReinvention. “Youknew?”

Nathalie watches me come closer, but it isn't until I take a reluctant seat across from her, that she nods. “Some parts.”

“He made him get into a cage.”

Her eyes glisten. “So he told me.”

“He told you? And you didn’t—”

“His Dad did.”

Oh. We stare at each other in shock. Words form an utter mess inside my head, creating a big, dirty mess.

Nathalie lets out a long sigh. “He likes you. I can see it in the way he looks at you, hear it in the way he snarls at you.”

“Now’s not the time to discuss who he likes.”

Nathalie cuts me off with a single hand. “You like him too. You took that picture, so I trust you’re serious about my son.” Her green gaze collides with mine, keeping me in place. “I know this is not the most conventional love, but I won’t judge you for it. I hope that he will trust you and you’ll do the same in return. Only then can you forge a stronger future out of the shatters of your past.”

“I—” Glancing down at the fisted hands that lie in my lap, I overthink her words. Love. It’s such a big word. I never thought I wanted to love someone, to claim that special person. I have no time for love. It sounds lame. Like one, big, fucking lie.

“It won’t be easy to win him over,” Nathalie continues. “But apart from bringing in the best help he can get, and talking to him, again and again, trying to make him talk, I don’t know what else we can do. His Dad will never be able to see him again, and I know he needs time, but I really, really hope that he will trust you more than he trusts me.”

“I hope so too,” I admit. “Does Dad know?”

She smiles at that, then shakes her head. “Not yet. It’s not my truth to tell. Besides, something tells me that he’ll want you two to break the news to him.”

The thought of telling Dad makes my shoulders clench. I inhale deeply through my nose. “I hope he won’t take my future away.” Fuck. My eyes jump back into hers. “Would he?”

“Never.” Nathalie straightens her spine a little more, and something fierce blazes in her eyes. “You know, Arthur, I may not have been there for my son when he was young, but I’ll be damned if I’m not there now he’s older. If he accepts your love, I will support the both of you to the grave. Conventional or not.”

“Oh, okay.” I chuckle at that, a sheepish sound that definitely reflects my relief.

“Arthur.” Nathalie stands, and I promptly copy her movements. “My sons, together.” She giggles, then wraps her slender arms around me. “I wonder what surprises Louis will have for us. It can’t get any more forbidden than two stepbrothers.”

---