Arik decided, with absolute clarity, that he had made a mistake.
Not in choosing Liam.
That remained the most correct decision he had made in years, even if Liam was currently looking at him like a man calculating how much of a private residence could be converted into a laboratory before the Crown Prince noticed.
No, the mistake had been activating the call while Gabriel was in this mood, and Damian had chosen observation over paternal rescue.
"You are all against me," Arik said.
Gabriel's eyes softened with false sympathy. "Darling, we are merely supporting Liam's adjustment.
"You just told him part of my palace has acceptable blast distance."
"Small blast distance."
"That correction does not help."
"It does to an engineer," Liam said.
Arik turned to him.
Liam looked back with perfect seriousness, which made the betrayal worse.
