Rafe’s Warning 

Damien POV Lucian stood in the center of my office, shoulders tight, jaw locked, breath flattening under the weight of the words he had just spoken. “Name it.” He said it as if he were spitting out something bitter.  I didn’t answer. I let the quiet sit between us, heavy enough to make him feel the imbalance. He wasn’t used to this. Needing me. Coming to me, standing on the ground where he was not the strongest man in the room. His fingers twitched once at his side before he forced them still. I watched all of it. The silence was already doing what I wanted. Good. I walked past him and stopped near the window. He looked like a man holding anger in his throat. I finally spoke. “Tell me what I’m looking for.” Lucian released a short breath. A smirk pulled at his mouth that didn’t reach his eyes. “Sempre così teatrale, D.” (Always so dramatic, D.) He tried to sound amused, but something strained under his voice. He didn’t sit. He didn’t lean. He paced once, stopped, and finally said