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My fork pauses halfway to my mouth and I slowly turn toward Nate, then toward the elevator at the far end of the penthouse, and back to Nate. Realization hits me.
“Oh my God.” I point at Nate accusingly. “I should’ve known there was a reason you’re at work before everyone else, even when you’re the last to leave.”
One corner of Nate’s mouth lifts slightly. “Efficiency matters.”
“Psychotic behavior,” I correct instantly.
Jace nearly chokes on his coffee, and Elias hides his smile behind his mug. Nate, unfortunately, looks completely unbothered. “You say psychotic. I say optimized.”
“You literally live on top of your company.”
“And?”
I stare at him.
“You know what? No. I’m not unpacking whatever corporate villain origin story created this situation before noon.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“You have a biometric elevator to your apartment.”
“A necessary security measure.”
“You own a penthouse above a sex empire.”
Jace points at me excitedly. “Sex empire is good. We should trademark that.”
“We are absolutely not calling SOLAÉ a sex empire in investor meetings,” Nate says.
Elias cuts into his breakfast with maddening calm. “That’s better than when he walked into the office with a mood board titled Billionaire BDSM Illuminati.”
“And it was visually stunning,” Jace says, slapping his hand on the counter.
I laugh despite myself, and for a few seconds, breakfast feels surprisingly normal. But of course all good things must come to an end.
“So… where do we go from here?”
“Where do you want it to go, Little Doe?” Elias leans back slightly in his chair, those near-black eyes settling on me with that same unnerving steadiness that always makes me feel too seen.
I place my fork on my plate and Jace glances between us, clearly nervous about my lack of a response, before his expression softens into something unusually sincere. “We don’t need an answer right now, Sugar.”
“Yes, we do,” Nate says evenly.
Jace groans. “Jesus Christ, you make everything sound like a contract negotiation.”
“Because ambiguity creates problems.”
“Because you’re allergic to whimsy.”
Nate ignores him completely, his attention staying on me. “You don’t owe us a relationship. Or a dynamic. But after everything that’s happened, we need clarity before anything physical happens again.”
The seriousness in his voice makes me press my thumbnail hard against the pad of my finger. Because he’s right, if this is going to work, someone has to say the scary thing out loud.
Elias, noticing my dilemma, reaches over and frees my lip from my teeth before kissing me.
"Baby, relax." He glances at Nate, some silent communication passing between them. "Let's start simple. We know that you're okay with being with the three of us, but how do you feel about giving up control?"
“I don’t… know.” The breath leaves my lungs in a long sigh. “I don’t think I want to discuss every little thing in the moment.”
