"Helios! You were gone longer than expected!" his father exclaimed joyfully as Helios entered the dining room.
He jumped up from his seat, rushed over to him in a few long strides, and pulled him into a tight embrace. Helios stiffened, as usual, and gave his father only a fleeting pat on the shoulder—a silent attempt to free himself from the hug.
Thomas smiled as he set the table. As always, he had planned to wake Helios and help him get dressed. But Helios had made an effort to get up earlier, dress himself, and let Dante take care of the bandage.
Besides that, he had taken such a strong painkiller that he couldn't feel the pain in his ankle even while walking. It wasn't meant for someone of his size or weight. But somehow, it worked—even the slight nausea he managed to ignore.
The things you do not to get caught.
Or rather, the things he did for Dante, that damn stubborn wall of muscle.
To keep his persistent cough in check, he had brewed himself a mild numbing remedy, heavily sweetened with honey. It tasted horribly sweet, but it helped. All in all, he felt prepared for breakfast with his father.
The only thing people might look at him oddly for right now was the fact that he had suddenly become an early riser. Thomas had been more than a little surprised to find Helios wide awake and ready for the day.
And well before his usual time.
If Thomas had noticed anything else unusual about Helios, he didn't let it show. Neither Helios's pallor nor the slight limp. That gave Helios a fair bit of confidence that everything was going to go smoothly.
At last, his father released him. He led him to the table, pulled his chair out, and couldn't seem to keep his hands off him. He kept touching him, looking at him with concern, and talking nonstop.
Helios wasn't really listening.
"It was hard to just leave again. That city holds so many memories of Penny that I visited a lot of the places we used to go together," Helios finally said calmly, as he let Thomas pour him some coffee. "It felt good to reminisce a little."
His father studied him with concern. "You're pale, my boy."
"I'm grieving," Helios replied firmly. "How should I look, after my best friend died and I wasn't even allowed to attend her funeral?"
A shadow fell over his father's face. "I should have held Sinclair accountable for that right away," he said through clenched teeth, almost more to himself than to Helios.
Helios exhaled slowly.
"That wouldn't have been wise. There are already enough voices speaking out against our family's success—we shouldn't draw any more attention to ourselves."
Besides, Penelope's father had been right about everything. Helios was to blame for Penelope's death. If he were in that position, he probably would have committed murder to avenge his daughter.
His father leaned back thoughtfully. "Unfortunately, you're right," he said. He gave Helios an assessing look. "When will you return to work?"
"Today. I was planning to go to the company right after breakfast," Helios replied. He spread some butter on a roll and took a sip of coffee while glancing at the newspaper—without really reading it. "Is Theo still alive?"
His father chuckled. "He's holding up fairly well."
Helios sighed. "So basically he's got one foot in the grave. I'll put him on mandatory leave before he collapses in the lab."
"Do that. You're back now to take care of things."
"Have you heard anything new about the Violet case?"
"From what I've heard, she's doing well," his father said, visibly pleased. "She can take longer walks again. Thanks to your medicine, she seems to be improving day by day. There have even been a few requests for the treatment—people are thrilled you found a solution so quickly."
"What did you expect?" Helios replied with a satisfied smile.
"She asked about you. Seems she's quite taken with you," his father added with a grin. "Must run in the family, turning ladies' heads."
Helios snorted. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If only his father knew. In any case, he couldn't help but feel satisfied—if Violet was doing better, then he could count another successful project completed. Time to check that one off the list.
"The government contract?" Helios asked.
"Satisfactory."
Good. That was all he needed to hear about that. In a few days, he'd be back at the clinic for his weekly duties. If his father didn't have a mountain of work waiting for him, he could calmly deal with the documents from Soley.
"Any new assignments?"
"A few. But most of them you should be able to finish quickly," his father said casually, as if flooding his son with work was no big deal.
Helios bit into his roll and swallowed slowly, then looked at his father questioningly.
"How about a quick summary?"
His father nodded to Thomas, who placed a folded sheet of paper next to Helios. Helios unfolded it and glanced over the list of requests.
He snorted disdainfully and waved the paper in the air.
"Most of this isn't even remotely worth my time. Who in the world orders an aphrodisiac from you?"
His father grinned broadly, clearly amused. "You should take a look at the payment."
Helios did as instructed—and couldn't help but laugh. The whole thing was beyond ridiculous. But fine, nothing calmed his father quite like money. So he would fulfill his tasks diligently to avoid drawing attention to himself.
He let the paper drop back onto the table.
"You'll have it tomorrow. The aphrodisiac isn't a problem—I've mixed plenty of things along those lines before," Helios said, raising a mocking eyebrow. "Though it looks like this one calls for something stronger. As for the rest, I should be done by the end of next week. I'm going to exploit Theo's assistant for my own purposes."
"Take whatever you need," his father said casually. He sighed contentedly and leaned back in his chair. "I missed sitting here with you, having breakfast together."
You mean talking business.
Instead, Helios just nodded and replied calmly, "It really has been a while."
He took another sip of coffee and closed his eyes in satisfaction. Nothing beat Thomas's coffee. Maybe he should test the immortality serum on the old man. That way, he could ensure he'd be able to enjoy this coffee for a very long time. The thought was selfish, in a way, but he wasn't even close to ready to let Thomas go. The old butler was, after all, still in excellent health.
"What places did you visit?" his father asked with interest, pulling Helios out of his daydream.
So Helios spoke of the places he and Penelope had visited before they had first set off for Soley. It was the only thing he could think of that wouldn't raise suspicion. Luckily, the memory of that morning was so painful that at some point, he looked away and focused on his coffee.
"You really cared about her, didn't you? I miss little Penny, too," his father said quietly. "I would have loved to have her as a daughter-in-law."
"She was like a sister to me," Helios said bitterly. "I never would have married her—not even if she were still alive."
He could count himself lucky that his father didn't press the issue further. He was acting like nothing had changed—even though he surely had to know by now that the underground facility in Soley was history.
Did that mean they hadn't been exposed?
Or did his father know what had happened there and simply said nothing because Helios was still useful to him?
"By the way, there's another charity ball coming up in a few weeks," his father said casually.
Helios looked at him, slightly annoyed.
"You don't actually expect me to attend, do you?"
His father gave him a smile that left no room for argument.
"I've arranged a date for you. You will attend and take good care of the lady. It's time you got married. If you prefer, I can ask Violet—she'd surely be delighted to accompany you to the party, and the two of you already know each other."
Helios silently counted to ten.
"When?" he finally forced out between clenched teeth. "And forget Violet. I don't date patients."
"In four weeks," his father replied calmly, his gaze critically sweeping across Helios's face.
"By then, you should be done mourning and looking a little more alive."
Helios clenched his fist beneath the table. Of course his father was still pushing the marriage agenda.
"Let me guess—the candidates are all excellent matches and would be good for the company?" he asked sarcastically.
His father smiled in satisfaction. "It's such a relief that you're intelligent. You really do catch on quickly."
Helios sighed. One more problem he'd have to deal with.
His father's smile faded. "By the way, I have to go on a short-notice business trip for a few days," he said suddenly, almost offhandedly.
"Really? Where to?" Helios asked, glad to be left in peace for a few days.
"Oh, just visiting a few sites. There were some issues in the south."
The south, huh. Interesting. Not by any chance... Soley?
"I hope everything goes smoothly. How long will you be gone?" Helios asked as he stood up.
"Until next Wednesday."
Helios smiled at his father. A whole week of peace from prying eyes. He would probably take Thomas and most of the guards with him—which meant the estate would be nearly deserted.
That meant Helios could fully focus on the documents from Soley.
Helios glanced pointedly at his watch and stood up. "I'll see you next week, then. As you know, I still have quite a bit to take care of," he said.
But before he could leave the room, his father's hand closed firmly around his wrist. The grip was strong—not violent, but unmistakable.
"Be careful while I'm gone," his father said in a calm yet penetrating voice. "Only a skeleton crew will remain here. The rest of the guards are coming with me."
Helios gave a faint smirk and looked at him with amused eyes. "You're taking almost the entire security team just to inspect a few sites? Sounds like something serious happened."
His father's expression tightened—an unmistakable flicker of irritation. "Some things… have happened."
"Of course," Helios replied with feigned innocence. "Then I wish you the best of luck, Father."
With a smooth motion, he slipped free from the grip and made his way to the company to start working through that annoying list of assignments.
His gut told him that his father knew something. Not everything—certainly not in detail—but enough to be uneasy.
Though Helios wasn't entirely sure what his father suspected, he was fairly confident that he hadn't yet figured out Helios was behind what happened in Soley.
He couldn't stop the wide grin that spread across his face.
It was an immensely satisfying feeling to have thrown such a wrench into his father's plans.
Had he known earlier that his father was still trying to marry him off, he might've preferred to set the whole place on fire himself.
___
"Am... am I no longer useful to you?" Theo asked, his voice trembling.
They were in his lab, and while Helios was sifting through the mail that had piled up during his absence, Theo stood before him—a complete bundle of nerves.
Theo looked terrible.
He was pale, his cheeks sunken, and his hair stuck out wildly from his head. He hadn't managed to tie it back into a proper ponytail. He also looked thinner than before, and maybe Helios had been right in assuming that his assistant was on the verge of collapse.
Helios let out a quiet sigh, lowered the papers, and finally looked directly at his assistant.
"Theo," he said calmly.
Theo flinched as if he'd been electrocuted and began nervously fidgeting with his hands. The skin on his knuckles was raw.
"You've been working for me for quite a long time now, and as far as I know, you don't take vacations, nor do you enjoy your days off. Instead, you work overtime and even come in on weekends to get your work done."
"B-but you work tirelessly too!" Theo burst out.
"I've been working since I was eight years old. This workload is a joke to me," Helios said, not without a hint of arrogance in his voice. "Seriously, Theo, I could do this stuff in my sleep, and there's very little that actually challenges me. Unlike you."
Theo looked away in embarrassment.
"That doesn't mean you're doing a bad job," Helios tried in a somewhat reassuring tone. Theo's weakness got to him in a way he could hardly explain. "It just means you can't keep up with me. Tell me, Theo—how am I supposed to explain it if my assistant drops dead from overwork and I did nothing to stop him from pushing himself again and again?"
"B-but I decided myself...!"
Helios raised a hand to interrupt him.
"As your superior, it's my responsibility to look after your health. And to be completely honest, you look worse than I did after I got shot. You should take your vacation—and then, if you want, you can return to your work feeling all bright and refreshed. I'm requiring you to stick to your rest periods and stop working overtime. If you'd like, I can even get you another assistant to help you manage the workload."
Theo stared at him, speechless for a moment.
"Will you get a new assistant for yourself too?" he finally asked in a quiet voice.
"Splitting up your work wouldn't be a bad idea," Helios considered. Even if it would be a damn hassle to find someone trustworthy—and just as stupid as Theo.
It wasn't easy to find human Golden Retrievers who did everything they could just to be acknowledged by their master. Like Theo. He'd need a second Theo—maybe one who was less anxious and talked less. And ideally, one who was more resilient.
Theo looked hurt. His entire posture betrayed how he was feeling and how much the conversation was affecting him.
Helios exhaled slowly. His patience was wearing thin with every word wasted here. He had enough things to take care of, and he wanted to finish several of them by the end of the day.
"Theo," Helios said in a serious tone. Theo looked up at him with wide eyes. "I'm only doing this because I'm worried about you. If you collapse, our entire setup falls apart, and I'll have even more to deal with. Not that I couldn't handle the extra work—but you're important to me. Without you, I couldn't focus on my tasks with peace of mind."
Theo looked as though he were about to burst into tears. "So I do matter to you?" he whispered.
Helios gave a curt nod. "Very much so."
A relieved sigh escaped Theo. He rubbed his tired, dark-circled eyes, his fingers trembling.
"I'll see you again in two weeks. Do you think that's enough time?" Helios asked as he turned back to his mail.
"That's more than enough," Theo assured him quickly.
"Good. Then I wish you a pleasant vacation, Theo. Get plenty of rest. There's a lot of work waiting for you when you return," Helios said, dismissing his assistant unceremoniously.
Theo thanked him about a hundred times before finally leaving the lab.
As the door clicked shut behind Theo, Helios rubbed the spot between his brows in exhaustion. That had probably been the most annoying item on his agenda. But at least now he could cross that off the list, too.
From the shadows of the room, Dante watched him silently. Helios could feel his gaze without needing to look up.
It irritated Helios that Dante only spoke to him when he wanted something. It was hard to bear having him so quiet and ever-present when there was no reason to talk.
"Can you please make sure Theo's assistant comes here? I need to go over a few things with him," Helios said, hoping it might at least get rid of Dante for half an hour.
Dante nodded silently, spoke briefly with the guards outside the lab—then closed the door again… and stayed.
Of course he stayed.
Helios stifled an irritated sigh and turned his attention back to the mail. He quickly worked through the most important documents and placed the processed papers neatly into a stack he intended to give to Theo's assistant later. All the while, he racked his brain trying to remember the guy's name—but, as usual, his memory went blank when it came to that sort of detail. The guy just wasn't important enough to bother remembering.
Focusing on work at least helped him tune out Dante.
Still, he also thought Dante could at least make himself useful if he insisted on just standing around doing nothing. He wasn't even sitting in his usual chair.
Stubborn bastard.
"Dante," Helios said finally, looking up.
Reddish-brown eyes met his emerald-green gaze.
"What is it?" Dante asked calmly.
Helios held out a stack of papers to him.
"Help me with this. The sooner I'm done with it, the sooner I can focus on my little side project," he said with a cool, narrow smile.
Dante raised an eyebrow slightly. "You want me to help you with your work?"
"Do you have anything better to do? No one's going to attack me in this lab, so you might as well make yourself useful."
Dante exhaled quietly, walked over with a few heavy steps, and took the papers from him.
"What do you want me to do with them?"
"Summarize all the requests for me, so I know what's being asked."
Dante gave a short nod and sat down in the armchair. He silently read through everything before beginning to take notes. Meanwhile, Helios continued working through the rest of the documents.
The atmosphere in the room became a little more bearable.
At least he wasn't being stared at constantly by Dante anymore, and he could actually get things done. Half an hour later, Theo's assistant arrived—Helios still couldn't remember his name, but it didn't matter. He handed him the processed mail and gave him instructions for the upcoming projects. He also informed him that Theo would be out for two weeks and what needed to be done in his absence.
After that, one of his father's assistants showed up to get a few signatures from him as the company's acting representative. There was more to do than he'd expected, but by the end of the day, at least he had finished creating that damn aphrodisiac and approved it for distribution.
He really should have remembered that Soley didn't just mean dealing with the immortality serum. No—his father also had to manage the aftermath of what they had left behind.
Even though the staff on-site had apparently followed their emergency protocol and destroyed everything.
He'd also received a message from Spider, saying he had an appointment the following morning with a doctor Helios didn't know. The name had never come up before either. But if Spider trusted the guy, Helios would trust him too.
He had Dante with him after all—what could go wrong?
Besides, he'd prepared himself a bit in case he needed to defend himself. He'd also left a message for Spider, asking him to collect local news reports from Soley.
Just out of curiosity about the consequences.
Helios was also burning with curiosity to see whether his father would appear in the news, or if he would continue to hide in the shadows. With that small army of guards, it would be quite the feat not to draw attention.
Around 2 a.m., he collapsed into bed, exhausted—after Dante had once again had to help him up the stairs. At least he had managed to read through several documents on the test subjects, and he already had an idea of how to categorize them. He saved Dante's file for last.
He wanted to get a general overview first before turning to the subject for whom the therapy had been successful. That way, he could draw comparisons and maybe start to understand why Dante was different.
Helios was eager to unravel the mystery. Was it Dante's DNA? Or was it really the medications they had given him? Did the answer lie in the formulas they had used back then? Or was it simply the combination of all the circumstances that had produced the effect?
The cot creaked softly again as Dante tried to position his body properly.
Helios pulled the blanket back up to his chin—the basement always made him far too cold. He shivered slightly and hoped the thick bedding would warm him quickly.
He closed his eyes. There was still so much to do.
But nothing he couldn't handle.
After all, he was good at what he did—and so far, he hadn't failed a single project.
Immortality and the antidote were within reach.
Helios just had to uncover the secret.