Chapter 56
2353words
Lucian Sinclair's Estate | East Hall Study
The house was still.
Not just quiet—but weighted. Like the walls were listening.
Sebastian stood alone in the east hall study, the door half-closed behind him. Sunlight filtered through the tall windows, painting pale slashes of gold across the dark wood floor. Dust floated in the beams—soft, suspended, unbothered. Time passed differently here.
He hadn’t planned to stop—just passing through—but something about the silence pulled him in.
He sat on the edge of the leather armchair near the bookcase, elbows on knees, hands loosely clasped.
Kristina’s voice lingered in the back of his mind.
“What if I can’t choose, Seb?”“Should I just run away instead?”
She’d said it so quietly—like she was ashamed of the thought.
But it wasn’t shame he’d seen in her eyes. It was ache. Not indecision, not confusion… clarity. A realization she hadn’t fully spoken out loud.
He exhaled, rubbing his thumb across a small scar on his palm. It helped him think.
Lucian wasn’t worried. Not outwardly. Calm as ever, confident in his quiet way. He trusted her. He believed she would reach the answer—that she just needed time.
And maybe he was right.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to get hurt,”
“And I think Eli knows that, too.”
Sebastian wasn’t so sure.
Kristina was terrified of hurting anyone. That much was obvious. But she wasn’t afraid of love. Not exactly. She was afraid of the weight of it—of what it asked of her. And of what might happen if she couldn’t carry it the way she thought she should.
Lucian had already made peace with that weight.
Eli had been silent.
He hadn’t said anything. Not to Kristina. Not to Lucian. Not even to Sebastian.
And it was that silence that unsettled him most.
Lucian believed Eli was okay. But trusting something wasn’t the same as truly knowing. And Sebastian knew Eli well enough to see the signs. The stillness that didn’t feel like peace. The way he stepped back during conversations. The look in his eyes when he thought no one was watching.
What if he was waiting, too—but without hope?
What if this whole thing unraveled—not because it was wrong, but because no one said what needed saying?
What if Kristina ran?
What if Lucian was wrong?
What if Eli was already hurting?
Sebastian leaned back, jaw tightening. The questions were piling up now, pressing against his ribs. And none of them had answers he could find sitting alone in a dusty study.
He stood up slowly.
He needed to talk to Eli.
And not later.
Lucian Sinclair’s Estate | Eli’s Bedroom
Late Afternoon
The halls of the estate stretched quiet and warm with filtered light. Sebastian moved through them with a kind of purpose that wasn’t rushed—just steady. Focused.
He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say.
All he knew was that Eli had been holding something back. And someone needed to see it.
He saw Kristina’s door—closed—and then Lucian’s. Across it, Eli’s door stood half open.
Sebastian knocked gently anyway. “Eli?”
“Yeah,” came the answer. Muffled, but clear.
He stepped in.
Eli was sitting on the floor near the window, back against the frame, knees bent. A book lay open beside him, forgotten. He didn’t look up right away. Just shifted slightly, like he’d expected someone else.
When his eyes finally met Sebastian’s, they were unreadable. Guarded. But not cold.
Sebastian nodded toward the floor. “You mind?”
Eli shook his head, barely.
Sebastian sat across from him, back against the opposite wall. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. The sunlight cast sharp angles across the room. A breeze stirred the sheer curtain.
Finally, Sebastian said, “Kristina talked to me yesterday.”
Eli didn’t flinch. The air between them shifted.
“She’s scared,” Sebastian continued. “Not confused. Just afraid of what loving you both might mean.”
Eli’s fingers tightened slightly around the hem of his sleeve.
“I asked Lucian about it,” Sebastian went on. “He said he thinks nobody’s going to get hurt.”
A faint scoff escaped Eli, too quiet to carry judgment. Just… tired.
Sebastian leaned forward a little. “Do you believe that?”
Eli finally looked at him fully now. His voice came out low. “I don’t know what I believe.”
There was no bitterness in it. Just truth.
Sebastian nodded slowly. “I think you do. I just think you’re scared to say it out loud.”
Eli let out a breath through his nose, head leaning back against the window frame. His voice was barely audible. “If I say it… and she chooses the other way… what happens to us?”
Sebastian didn’t answer right away.
Because that—that was the real question.
And it didn’t have an easy answer.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I think you deserve to be seen, too. Not just by her. By yourself.”
Eli’s gaze drifted toward the door. “You think she’ll figure it out?”
“I think she’s already starting to,” Sebastian said quietly. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t matter in the middle of it.”
The pause stretched, not heavy, just real.
It was something else.
Something like understanding.
Something like the truth taking shape between them.
Lucian Sinclair’s Estate | Dining Area
The long dining table was cluttered with plates, chopsticks, mismatched mugs, and the faint scent of ginger and sesame oil. Dinner had turned into a casual mix of takeout, leftovers, and whatever Sebastian had decided to throw together last minute. Vex, predictably, had contributed nothing edible—unless you counted the scientific experiment currently taking shape in the middle of the table.
"Okay, hear me out," Vex said, grinning as he held up three tiny objects between his fingers—a coin, a metal nut, and a magnetic strip from a broken badge. “These are all completely different. Different materials. Different purposes. But—” He dropped them onto the table with a clink. “They still respond to the same magnetic field.”
Ash raised an eyebrow. “We’re doing metaphors over noodles now?”
“No, I’m doing science,” Vex replied. “You’re all just too philosophical to keep up.”
Lucian sipped his tea, unimpressed. “You glued the magnet under the table, didn’t you?”
Vex smirked. “That’s not the point.”
Across the table, Kristina let out a soft laugh—less at the objects and more at how seriously Vex was defending them. She reached forward, tapping the edge of the nut with her chopstick, watching it twitch subtly on the surface.
Eli watched her without meaning to. Just a glance. A half-second. But Ash saw it.
And so did Vex.
Ash leaned slightly closer to him, speaking low over his glass. “You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Noticing.”
Vex’s eyes stayed on the table as he shrugged. “They don’t even know they’re already halfway there.”
Ash followed his gaze—first to Kristina, who was now nudging the coin toward the others, absentminded. Then to Lucian, who hadn’t spoken since the joke about the magnet, but whose attention had subtly shifted toward Kristina as well. Just a glance. Just enough.
Vex continued, still quiet: “Three completely different objects. Not meant to go together. But under the right force…” He gave the underside of the table a discreet tap. The three objects snapped together.
Kristina blinked, startled. “That’s cheating.”
“Or,” Vex countered, “it’s just inevitability.”
Eli gave him a look, half-challenging, half-curious. “You always have to make things weird?”
“It’s a gift,” Vex said brightly, already reaching for another spring roll.
The conversation shifted then—back to mundane things. Work. Reports. A terrible movie Ash had made them all watch the night before. But beneath it, something else was beginning to settle.
No declarations. No decisions.
Just glances.
And gravity.
Lucian Sinclair’s Estate | Lucian’s Study
The fire crackled low in the hearth, casting warm light across the deep wood paneling of Lucian’s study. The room smelled faintly of leather, old paper, and the spiced tea cooling on the table.
Lucian stood behind his desk, fingers lightly resting on the edge of an open folder. Eli sat on one of the armchairs, posture relaxed but alert. Sebastian leaned against the bookshelf nearby, arms crossed. Kristina, Ash, and Vex had taken the long couch by the windows—close enough to hear, quiet enough not to interrupt.
“There’s a proposal on the table,” Lucian said. “Old contact. The Kessler Group.”
Eli’s brows lifted slightly. “They’re trying again?”
Lucian nodded. “Different angle. Possibly cleaner terms. They’re offering to reengage on the security logistics contract. More funds this time. Fewer demands.”
“They didn’t exactly leave things on friendly terms,” Sebastian said dryly.
Lucian glanced at him, then looked to Eli. “You handled the last negotiation. Think they’ve changed?”
Eli leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “They don’t change. They adapt. That’s not the same thing.”
Kristina tilted her head. “Who are they?”
“A private investment network,” Sebastian answered. “Technically legal. But only just.”
“They’ve got reach,” Eli added. “And money. Enough to make problems go away. Or create them.”
Lucian’s tone stayed even. “I’m not interested in dragging us into a mess. But if they’ve softened their stance—”
“They won’t have,” Sebastian said, sharper now. “They’re dangerous people, Lucian.”
That pulled Kristina upright. “How dangerous?”
Silence fell.
Eli hesitated. Just for a second—but Kristina caught it.
He forced a small smile. “It’s fine. They just didn’t like my terms last time.”
Sebastian cut in. “They pulled a gun on him.”
Kristina froze.
Ash blinked. “Wait. What?”
Vex straightened. “Hold on. Is that supposed to be a normal business meeting?”
Kristina stared at Eli. “And you still want to accept their deal?”
Eli kept his voice calm. Reassuring. But he didn’t move toward her. “It wasn’t a real threat. Just a bluff. I told them to try it again and see how many limbs they’d walk away with.”
Vex nodded sagely. “Ah yes. Classic Eli diplomacy.”
Ash whispered, “He’s gonna get shot again, and I’m not gonna do the stitches this time.”
Kristina looked back at Lucian, then to Eli again. “You’re meeting with them?”
Lucian didn’t miss a beat. “So are we set, Eli? You okay to fly on Monday?”
“Wait—fly where?” Kristina asked.
“Zurich,” Eli said simply.
She blinked. “I’m coming with you.”
“No, that’s not—” Eli began, but Lucian cut him off.
“I know you will.”
Kristina’s mouth opened, closed. Her posture stiffened for half a second, then relaxed—but not fully. She wasn’t used to being expected. Anticipated.
A flush crept up her neck.
Ash leaned over to Vex, stage-whispering, “And there it is.”
Vex clutched his imaginary pearls. “He knew. He always knows.”
Sebastian didn’t say anything. But he watched the shift in Kristina’s expression. The flicker of self-awareness. Of being seen.
Eli ran a hand down his face. “I’m fine, Kristina. Really. I can bring Ash and Vex.”
“We’re decorative,” Ash interjected. “Not bulletproof.”
“I’m coming,” Kristina repeated. Quiet but unshakable.
And that was the end of it.
Lucian Sinclair’s Estate | Lucian’s Bedroom
Late Evening
Lucian had just set the book down when the door opened—without a knock.
He looked up, surprised. Not because it was unwelcome. Simply something he hadn’t expected.
Kristina stepped inside slowly, barefoot and wrapped in one of her oversized sweaters, sleeves pulled over her hands. Her hair was still damp from a shower. She looked tired—but not from lack of sleep. From thinking.
He sat up straighter. “Kristina?”
She hesitated in the doorway for a moment. Then softly, “Can I sleep here?”
His answer came without pause. “Of course. Come here.”
They moved at the same time—like muscle memory. Her usual place: the left side of the bed. She climbed in, and before the sheets even settled around her, she leaned into him sideways, wrapping her arms around his torso.
Lucian pulled her close without hesitation.
His voice was low. “What is it?”
A pause. Then, muffled into his chest—
“I’m sorry, Lucian.”
He closed his eyes briefly at the words.
“What are you sorry for?” he asked, even though he already knew.
Kristina didn’t answer right away. Her grip around him tightened slightly, like she was still trying to find the shape of what she wanted to say.
Then, quietly:
“I’m not trying to play both sides, Lucian. I just… you’re important to me. I don’t want to lose you.”
She swallowed.
“But Eli… he’s…”
She couldn’t finish.
Lucian exhaled through his nose and gently shifted, coaxing her to look at him. She did. Slowly.
“Kristina,” he said, his voice soft but steady. “I know what you’re feeling.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I told you—it’s okay. And I meant that.”
He waited a beat before continuing.
“I think it’s a good thing for you to spend time with him. Without me. Not because of what’s waiting for you in Zurich—I would never wish danger on either of you—but because… I knew you wouldn’t let him go alone. That’s not who you are.”
Kristina opened her mouth, but he gently stopped her with a look.
“I didn’t plan this to happen. But I did prepare for it.”
Her eyes searched his face—soft, wide, conflicted.
Lucian gave a small, aching smile. “Kristina, trust me. I know what I’m doing. And I know what you need—even if you don’t yet.”
She blinked, and he saw the shimmer of emotion behind it.
“You won’t figure it out until you let yourself feel it. Whatever it is. And if that means spending time with Eli—really spending time with him—then that’s what you need to do.”
He leaned in, resting his forehead gently against hers.
“Sebastian, Ash, and Vex will stay with me. Don’t worry about that. I need you to be with him. I need you to give yourself the space to understand what this means—for you, for him, for all of us.”
Kristina didn’t answer. Not with words.
She just looked at him—and in that look was a storm of gratitude, ache, and something like love.
She leaned into him again. He held her as if he had no intention of letting go.
Some truths don’t need to be spoken to begin taking shape.
—To be continued.
