Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Familial

Rafael was exactly where he had planned to be two weeks later: buried in work, insulated by routine, and unavailable for anything requiring emotional availability.

The administrative wing was quiet in the way only well-run institutions ever were. No shouting, no hurried steps, just the muted rhythm of clerks moving between offices and the faint hum of the building’s systems threading through the walls. Rafael sat at his desk with his sleeves rolled to the forearms, stylus moving in short strokes as he annotated a budget revision that should not have needed revising in the first place.

His comm vibrated once. He ignored it.

It vibrated again, sharper this time, insistent in a way that suggested something either urgent or stupid. Rafael paused, jaw tightening slightly, then set the stylus down. He checked the caller ID.

Kendall.

That alone was enough to put him on edge.

Rafael leaned back in his chair and accepted the call, his expression already composed by the time the projection resolved.

“Kendall,” he said, tone neutral. “Is something wrong?”

His cousin’s face appeared, relaxed to the point of smugness, dark hair tied back in a way that suggested he had dressed with intention but wanted credit for spontaneity. He was outdoors, sunlight catching on the edge of a terrace behind him.

“Wrong?” Kendall echoed. “No. I’d call if something were wrong. This is… social.”

Rafael’s eyes flicked briefly to the time in the corner of his display. “You don’t usually call me during work hours to be social.”

“Correction,” Kendall said mildly. “You don’t usually answer. I took that as a sign of progress.”

Rafael exhaled through his nose. “What do you want?”

Kendall smiled, undeterred. “Lunch. Tomorrow.”

There it was. Simple on the surface. Never simple in practice when there were nobles and relatives in the same setting.

“With you?” Rafael asked.

“And Anatoli,” Kendall added easily, as if it were an afterthought. “Family thing.”

Rafael’s shoulders tightened a fraction. “That’s not a thing you arrange with less than twenty-four hours’ notice.”

“It is if you’re us,” Kendall replied. “And if the location is cooperative.”

Rafael’s gaze sharpened. “What location?”

Kendall tilted his head, clearly enjoying this more than he should have. “Moon Lotus.”

Of course.

Rafael closed his eyes briefly, then reopened them. “Peak hour?” he asked flatly.

Kendall’s smile widened. “Naturally.”

“No,” Rafael said without hesitation. “I’m busy.”

“You’re always busy,” Kendall countered. “That’s never stopped you from eating.”

“It has, actually,” Rafael said. “Frequently.”

Kendall leaned closer to the camera, voice dropping into something conspiratorial. “Come on. You, me, Anatoli, good food, terrible tea.”

Rafael studied him, searching for the angle. Kendall was many things: ambitious, observant, and irritatingly perceptive, but he wasn’t subtle by accident. If this were happening, it was because someone wanted it to.

“Whose idea was this?” Rafael asked.

Kendall blinked, offended on principle. “Mine.”

Rafael raised a brow and waited.

“…Fine,” Kendall sighed. “Technically, Anna suggested we all catch up. Casually.”

“And you agreed,” Rafael said.

“I did,” Kendall replied unapologetically. “Because I haven’t seen you in weeks, and because every time I do see you, you look like you’re one report away from biting someone.”

“That’s efficient,” Rafael said dryly.

“It’s concerning,” Kendall shot back. “Besides, Anatoli is in town. You like Anatoli.”

Rafael did like Anatoli. Which made this worse, not better. He was aware that Kendall was most likely forced by his mother to make this lunch happen.

He glanced at his schedule, already knowing where the opening was. He had left it there intentionally, a buffer against exactly this sort of thing.

“Tomorrow,” he said slowly. “Lunch. One hour.”

“An hour and a half,” Kendall corrected.

“An hour, Ken. Take it or leave it. I would lose half an hour on the road and there are people that work, not just imitate it for fashion like you.”

Kendall opened his mouth, clearly ready with a retort, then stopped himself. The hesitation was brief, but Rafael caught it. That alone told him more than Kendall probably intended.

“You wound me,” Kendall said instead, hand going theatrically to his chest. “Some of us imitate work very convincingly.”

“You imitate meetings,” Rafael replied. “That’s different.”

Kendall laughed, a little too quickly. “Fine. One hour. I’ll even start a timer if it makes you feel powerful.”

“It doesn’t,” Rafael said. “It makes you punctual.”

“Harsh.” Kendall paused, then added, more carefully, “You’re really going to come, right?”

Rafael’s gaze sharpened at Ken’s desperate attempt to make sure he won’t back down. “I said yes.”

“I know, I know,” Kendall rushed, already lifting a hand as if to ward off the possibility of a reversal. “I just… look, Moon Lotus books fast. If you cancel last minute, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“From whom?” Rafael asked, though he already knew the answer.

Kendall’s smile turned fixed and brittle at the edges. “Everyone.”

Rafael hummed softly. “You’re afraid I’ll cancel.”

“I’m being realistic,” Kendall corrected. “You have a habit of disappearing when things get… familial.”

“That’s because ’familial’ is rarely benign,” Rafael said.

Kendall snorted. “You’re not wrong.”

He shifted, glancing briefly off-screen, as if checking something or someone nearby. “I’ll send you the reservation details. Tomorrow. Moon Lotus. Please don’t make me beg.”

“I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction,” Rafael said.

“Good,” Kendall replied quickly. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The call cut off immediately after, abruptly enough to be suspicious.

Rafael stared at the empty air where his cousin’s face had been, the silence settling back into the room like a held breath finally released.

Of course.

He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled loosely in front of him, eyes unfocused now. Kendall hadn’t called out of concern. Not really. Kendall had called because someone else had decided it was time to pull a string.

His mother.

The same woman who had not contacted him in weeks. No messages, no summons, and no clipped, polite inquiries disguised as affection.

Delphine Rosenroth did not go quiet unless she was planning something.

And when she did act, she preferred an audience.

Public discomfort. Implied disappointment. The careful exposure of whatever failing she had decided needed correction. Shame, delivered elegantly and with witnesses. It had always been her favorite punishment.

Rafael could ignore it. Decline the lunch. Let Kendall and Anatoli sit at a visible table and absorb the fallout when Delphine inevitably escalates. That would cost his cousins, not him.

But Delphine would not accept that.

If he refused, she would simply do something worse. Something more inventive. Something that would reach him regardless.

Rafael exhaled slowly, eyes dropping back to the neat lines of text waiting on his desk. He picked up the stylus again, annotating a figure with more force than necessary.

He was curious.

Whatever his mother was planning, she had chosen the timing deliberately. Two weeks of silence. A public venue. Family intermediaries. Moon Lotus, at peak hour.

’Fine.’

He would go and when Delphine Rosenroth made her move, he would see exactly how far she intended to push him this time.

And how much he could take before he would categorize his own mother as an enemy.

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