Chapter 424: Chapter 424: Which side? [Win-Win]

“Oh, no, no, no,” Chris said warningly, shifting Nero higher against his chest like a shield. “You married me; now it’s our family. And Cressida is from you.”

Dax blinked once.

Then his mouth twitched in a way that suggested he was trying very hard not to look amused.

Chris narrowed his eyes. “Don’t pretend you don’t hear how you said it.”

“I said your family,” Dax replied calmly, “because they are from Palatine.”

“Serathine and Cressida are from Palatine,” Chris shot back, then his expression softened as Nero chose that very moment to yawn in the most offensively cute way, mouth opening wide like a tiny lion before he melted back against Chris’s chest.

Chris’s entire face changed.

Dax watched it happen like he was quietly collecting evidence.

“Mia would come with Cassius,” Chris continued, voice warmer now, because Nero’s yawn had apparently disarmed his ability to be purely cruel. “Andrew with Beth and the twins. If Trevor and Lucas synchronize and come with Sebastian and Dean, then we can open a day care with all the children.”

Dax’s brows lifted slightly. “You forgot Ethan and Zion.”

Chris blinked, then gave him a flat look that was ninety percent tired and ten percent offended on principle.

“I didn’t forget them,” he said, shifting Nero carefully as the baby’s eyelids fluttered. “But at this point this is a political summit.”

Dax’s mouth twitched. “Family summit.”

Chris narrowed his eyes. “No. Political.”

“You’re holding a baby,” Dax pointed out. “You can’t call it political while you’re being domestic.”

Chris stared at him as if he’d just insulted the constitution. “Watch me.”

Nero made a small, sleepy sound, fist still curled around Chris’s finger like he intended to keep him hostage.

Chris looked down and immediately softened again, which was a shame.

“He’s going to sleep,” Chris whispered, as if this was sacred intelligence that needed to be treated with reverence.

Dax leaned closer, eyes on Nero. “He should.”

Chris’s gaze flicked up. “You don’t get to sound gentle. You’re a monster.”

Dax accepted that like a compliment. “Yes, and?”

Chris sighed, defeated by the entire concept of marriage.

“If all of them come at once,” Chris continued, lower now, “Mia will cry and pretend she isn’t crying. Andrew will interrogate you without asking a single question. Beth’s twins will attempt to climb the curtains. Cassius will bite someone. Sebastian will start negotiating for snacks like he’s a union leader. Dean will charm the staff into giving him everything. And Lucius…”

Dax’s eyes sharpened. “What about Lucius?”

Chris blinked. “Lucius will be polite.”

Dax stared at him.

Chris stared back.

Chris added quickly, “Politely armed.”

Dax hummed. “Better.”

Chris shifted Nero again, settling the baby deeper into the crook of his arm. The tiny yawn had turned into a full sleepy slump, cheeks warm, lashes heavy. Nero looked like an angel who had never committed a single crime in his life.

Which was suspicious, considering his father.

Chris pressed a kiss to the top of Nero’s head, helpless.

Then, because he had to regain control of the conversation before Dax started scheduling the summit like a military operation, he looked back at him and said, “If they all arrive together, we need color-coded badges.”

Dax’s expression remained calm. “We can do that.”

Chris squinted. “Don’t.”

Dax didn’t blink. “We should.”

Chris exhaled through his nose. “You want to label my family like a conference.”

“I want to keep the palace standing.”

Chris stared at him, then said slowly, “You’re planning security measures for toddlers.”

Dax’s face stayed serene. “Toddlers are unpredictable.”

Chris made a sound of reluctant agreement that he tried to hide as a sigh. “Fine. No badges. But we can assign zones.”

Dax’s mouth twitched. “Zones.”

Chris nodded, entirely serious now. “Yes. The nursery is a neutral territory. The living room is diplomatic. The garden is for controlled chaos. The office is off-limits.”

Dax’s eyes gleamed with approval. “Now this is an interesting plan.”

Chris narrowed his eyes immediately. “Don’t sound excited.”

“I’m impressed,” Dax corrected, like that was somehow safer.

“It’s not,” Chris said. “When you’re impressed, people suffer.”

Dax’s mouth twitched. “Only the ones who deserve it.”

Chris stared at him.

Dax held the stare with serene confidence, then looked down at Nero, who was now fully asleep, his tiny mouth parted and fist still curled around Chris’s finger as if he intended to keep him anchored indefinitely.

Dax’s expression softened for half a second.

Then he looked back at Chris and said, “We should formalize it.”

Chris’s eyes widened. “No.”

Dax leaned in slightly, voice calm and persuasive. “A schedule. Arrival windows. A staff briefing.”

Chris shifted the sleeping baby a fraction, keeping his voice lower. “The moment you say ’containment’ in front of Mia, she’ll riot.”

Dax’s brows lifted. “Then we won’t call it containment.”

Chris squinted. “What will you call it?”

Dax considered, entirely serious. “Child flow management.”

Chris closed his eyes for a second like he was trying to pray. “You can’t be real.”

“I’m real,” Dax said. “And so are the twins.”

Chris stared at him, then let out a slow breath and looked down at Nero again, allowing the sleeping baby to reset his nervous system the way Nero always did.

“Fine,” Chris whispered, resigned. “We will… formalize. Slightly.”

Dax’s eyes brightened with victory.

Chris lifted a finger immediately. “But if you create badges, I will divorce you.”

Dax didn’t even blink.

He just caught Chris’s raised hand gently, leaned in like he was about to kiss the knuckle – perfectly harmless, almost courtly… and then, with absolute shamelessness, licked Chris’s finger.

Chris froze.

Nero, asleep against Chris’s chest, made a tiny sigh and remained blissfully uninvolved, which was the only reason Chris didn’t combust on the spot.

Chris stared at Dax, scandalized.

Dax’s eyes were bright with mischief, and his mouth was curved like he’d just solved a diplomatic crisis using only audacity.

“You—” Chris began, voice dropping to a hiss. “What is wrong with you?”

Dax looked entirely unrepentant. “You pointed.”

“That’s not an explanation.”

“It’s a reason.”

Chris’s glare sharpened. “You’re trying to derail my argument.”

Dax’s gaze flicked briefly to Chris’s mouth, then back to his eyes, smug as sin. “It worked.”

Chris closed his eyes for half a second like he was summoning restraint from whatever gods governed doomed omegas.

When he opened them again, his expression was sweet.

It was the exact face he made right before he did something that would ruin Dax’s peace and improve Chris’s mood.

“Bend down,” Chris said quietly.

Dax didn’t move.

His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Chris kept the tone mild. “Because I want to tell you something.”

Dax stared at him for a beat.

Then his gaze flicked to Nero, asleep and innocent, then back to Chris, who looked like temptation wearing a blanket and Dax’s gym shirt.

Dax exhaled through his nose. “That’s a trap.”

Chris smiled. “Yes.”

Dax’s mouth twitched.

He should have walked away. He knew it. They both knew it.

Instead, he slowly leaned down anyway, like a man stepping into danger because he liked the view from inside it.

Chris waited until Dax was close enough that his breath warmed Chris’ cheek and his scent pressed against him.

Then Chris tilted his head and bit him.

A firm, possessive little bite at the side of Dax’s neck, a message delivered in teeth: You don’t get to be smug without consequences.

Dax went still for half a second.

Chris held it just long enough to make it count.

Then he released.

He sat back with the calm satisfaction of a man who had restored balance to the universe.

Dax straightened slowly.

Chris watched for the reaction – annoyance, reprimand, or at least the performance of outrage.

Dax just… laughed.

Low, warm, completely amused.

It was the laugh of a man who had just been rewarded, not attacked.

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