Blooming Under His Shadow

d early that monsters r

hey wore si

y smiled and

cruelty. He had learned better with age. The worst ones spoke softly. They praised you in publ

nce here was weaponized-thick, waiting, predatory. It pressed ag

rned the hard way. Stillness invited scrutiny; perfection discouraged it. His gaze moved slowly around

ires sat before him, all of the

m, Vivienne Bl

aken it for kindness. As a man, he recognized it for what it was: a blade polished

tir an old, unwanted instinct-the reflex to listen, to obey. "You've been under

her's hand on his shoulder. Heavy. Proprietary

d the me

ow and thoughtful. "You're

the sound carefully pitc

uences had never truly found them. Elliot's suit was expensive, his posture relaxed, his confi

cognition. Elliot had always wanted what Lucien had earned. Their fath

said, meeting Lucien's eyes at last. "But

impatience in his fingers, the faint hitch in his breath. Elliot

Lucien's place in the world-the fear he inspired, the authority he commanded, the my

rother's affection. The memo

inheritance," Lucien said

mbers glanced down at their note

ond-just long enough to reveal what lived beneat

ur father," sh

ant to wound. The

en s

ed. "I'm what

less nights, locked doors, lessons taught through humiliation and silence. He remembe

ged. Even El

slow and deliberate. Control return

und was thinner now. "You

could hear him-and no one else needed to. Hi

t need

t's eyes then. Real fear.

eneath it lingered something heavier than rage-grief, perhaps, or the dull ache o

t him his first

rn his final o