CHAPTER 251: CHAPTER 251: TAXES

They returned to the hotel only briefly, to leave the glass sculpture safely inside the suite, and then continued their walk through the city.

By evening, Victor led them toward a rooftop restaurant overlooking the coast. He hadn’t asked if Elias wanted to go there. He simply knew this was where they would end the day. The building was tall enough for the ocean to spread out beneath them like a sheet of shifting silver-blue, and the warm lights of the boardwalk glittered across the water like scattered constellations.

A soft breeze moved through the terrace seating. Tables were spaced far apart, giving each party the illusion of privacy, though for Victor, privacy was not an illusion but a guarantee. He had reserved the entire top floor.

Elias raised an eyebrow when he noticed.

"I did not ask you to do that," he said.

Victor poured water for both of them, unbothered. "You don’t like crowds. And I don’t like being interrupted."

Elias glanced at him from across the table. The napkins were linen. The plates were white porcelain. The first stars of the evening had just begun to appear overhead.

"...Fair," Elias admitted.

Victor’s mouth curved, pleased at the small concession.

They ordered easy, fresh grilled fish, roasted vegetables with lemon and rosemary, and warm bread with olive oil. Nothing extravagant. Just good food in a quiet place.

The conversation flowed lightly at first. Observations about the city. The taste of the olive oil. The sound of a saxophone playing faint jazz somewhere on the lower street. The kind of peaceful conversation that came after surviving storms.

At some point, Elias’s expression shifted. He set his fork down, aligning it carefully with the knife.

"I meant what I said before," Elias began, his tone even. "I didn’t intend to put either of us, or the child, in danger."

Victor’s attention sharpened, but he didn’t interrupt.

Elias continued, eyes steady. "I was reckless. I acted on instinct. I handled the situation as I would have when I was alone, because that’s how I learned to survive. But that’s not where I am anymore. I know that. I just... wanted to get rid of Jonathan."

Victor did not soften. But he listened.

"I am not asking you to forgive it," Elias said quietly. "I am acknowledging it."

The ocean breeze brushed his hair as he spoke, carrying with it the warm mineral scent of the sea.

Victor set his glass down. His voice was calm, not gentle, but controlled and confident.

"I accept your apology."

Elias nodded, letting out a slow breath.

"But," Victor continued, "I will not allow it to happen again."

Elias lifted his eyes, meeting Victor’s directly.

"I know."

"No," Victor said, with a smile that would send men running for their lives. "I won’t give you a second chance at that."

Elias raised his hands in mock surrender. "I have no intention of even thinking about it. Jonathan is dead and I have no other enemy."

"Aside from your own mind," Victor said, unbothered.

Elias let out a short laugh, a real one, if a little tired. "Yes. That."

Victor looked at Elias, his eyes softening. "Let’s leave that in the past." He didn’t want Elias to know that Poseidon had interfered with their relationship.

"Mercy? From you?" Elias asked, narrowing his eyes. "What do I have to do for that?"

Victor didn’t answer immediately.

He lifted his glass again instead, taking a slow sip, as though Elias had asked a question with only one possible answer, one Elias should already know.

"You exist," Victor said simply.

Elias blinked. "That’s it?"

"That’s it," Victor confirmed, unbothered. "You exist, you breathe, and you sit across from me at dinner looking at me like you expect something outrageous. That is enough."

Elias exhaled, but it wasn’t quite a laugh, more like something loosening behind his ribs.

He leaned back in his chair, letting the warm night air settle across his skin. The lights below flickered against the ocean like the city was breathing with the tide.

"Merciful," Elias said, as though testing the word. "I’ll try to remember this moment the next time you are being insufferable."

Victor’s smile sharpened just slightly, the almost-smile he reserved entirely for Elias.

"Next time?" he echoed. "Planning misbehavior already?"

Elias rolled his eyes. "No. I mean... this is the only time. I don’t plan on repeating mistakes."

"Good," Victor said, leaning back in his chair with a wide grin. "But I am insufferable," he added, tone shifting fractionally warmer, "only when the situation calls for it."

Elias narrowed his eyes at the smugness of this man and sighed resignedly. "You are insufferable most of the time."

"I’m in love most of the time... that comes with perks." He continued to smile.

The breeze shifted, carrying the scent of grilled citrus and sea salt across the terrace. Somewhere below, a car horn sounded faintly. The world went on, unaware of the way something trembled in the space between them.

Elias picked up his wine glass, turning it once between his fingers.

"That is not," Elias began slowly, "how that works."

Victor stretched his arm along the back of his chair, the picture of ease. "It is exactly how it works. I also demand kisses for my work."

Elias stared at him over the rim of the glass.

"...You demand kisses," he repeated, flat.

Victor nodded once, absolutely sincere. "Payment for my mercy. Fair exchange."

Elias inhaled. Slowly. As though praying for patience neither science nor the pantheon could provide.

"That’s not how mercy works either."

"Then consider it a tax," Victor said.

"A tax."

"Yes."

"For what, exactly?" Elias asked, setting the glass down very carefully.

Victor didn’t blink. "For being mine."

Elias blinked back. "That is the most unhealthy sentence I’ve ever heard you say, and you have said some deeply concerning things."

Victor looked entirely unbothered. "It was honest."

Elias opened his mouth, then stopped. Because he knew Victor and that was the lowest price, he liked kissing Victor anyways.

So Elias leaned forward and kissed him.

Victor’s lashes lowered, and the smallest breath left him, like someone who had been holding something tight inside and could finally let go.

He didn’t chase the kiss... yet.

"That," Elias said, leaning back, "is what you get."

Victor considered it.

"I require a second one."

Elias let out an incredulous, quiet laugh. "You require nothing. You want."

"Yes," Victor agreed without shame. "I want."