A guard appeared in the doorway of the dining room and cleared his throat. "Sir, Liam is waiting in the security room."

Milo looked at Salvatore. "Why can’t he come inside?"

"Why would he need to?" Salvatore didn’t look up from his coffee. "He’s here to pick you up. That’s all."

Milo opened his mouth, then closed it again. It wasn’t his house, and arguing about it felt pointless.

He pushed back from the table carefully, the sting in his backside reminding him not to move too fast.

"Where are you going?" Salvatore asked.

"To find Luke. I want to ask him to make something for Liam."

"For what?"

"For Liam. He’s probably hungry by now."

"Why would he come here hungry?"

Milo stopped halfway out of his chair.

"Listen, Milo." Salvatore set his cup down. "It’s not that I can’t feed him. I just don’t like strangers in my house eating my food."

"But he’s not a stranger. He works with me every day."

"He’s a stranger to me." Salvatore’s tone didn’t change, it remained calm. "I have no interest in him unless it concerns you."

Milo felt heat rise to his neck. He sat back down slowly. "So... I can’t even get him something to eat?"

"No. I don’t want him getting comfortable here."

Milo didn’t argue further. He picked up his fork again and finished what was left on his plate in silence, not trusting himself to say anything that wouldn’t come out wrong.

"Are we heading out now?" Roderick asked, already folding his manifests together. "I’ll take the car."

Salvatore nodded once. "Yes."

He glanced over at Milo, who had gone quiet again, eating without comment. When Milo finished, he stood to clear his plate, a habit, something he’d done every morning with other guards or staff without thinking about it.

"Leave it, Milo. Go get ready."

Milo looked down at the plate, half-rising, feeling strange about just walking away from it. But Salvatore’s tone left no real room for discussion, so he set it back down.

"I’ll go get ready, then. Thank you for breakfast, Sir."

"You’ll have breakfast with me every morning," Salvatore said, as if stating a fact rather than giving an order. "Just wait for me here. We’ll eat together."

Milo paused. "I won’t eat with everyone else anymore?"

"No. You eat with me."

Milo ducked his head, biting back a smile before it could fully form, and nodded. It felt like something had shifted, even if he couldn’t quite put his finger on what.

He went to his room, changed quickly, and headed for the security room, which meant crossing the courtyard outside the main house.

As he stepped into the corridor, Salvatore was just coming out of his office, and the two of them ended up walking in the same direction together.

Salvatore glanced sideways at the way Milo was walking, careful, slightly stiff, and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Milo caught the look. "You’re coming with me?"

"No. I have something else. You don’t need to go there every day," Salvatore said. "But it’s worth seeing how things run while you’re still learning. Once you’ve got the hang of this place, I’ll take you to see the other companies too."

Milo’s stomach dropped a little at that. "Liam mentioned something like that. Honestly, this one company is already a lot for me. I don’t even fully understand what’s going on half the time. How am I supposed to keep up with more than one?"

"If you’re a good businessman," Salvatore said, "you don’t run everything yourself. You find the right people, and you let them run it. Your job is to know enough to ask the right questions and check in when it matters."

Milo nodded slowly, not entirely sure he understood, but something about the way Salvatore said it made it sound less impossible and easier.

He could do it.

At least he was getting used to being around people now, even if actually talking to them, explaining things, and answering questions still made his stomach twist.

Liam still had to help him a lot. Sometimes he felt bad about it and thought he was stupid. Thankfully, there were good people who were patient with his lack of experience.

Liam jumped to his feet the moment he saw Milo walk in, then noticed Salvatore right behind him and visibly stiffened.

"Good morning, Milo. Mr. Portello." He gave a quick, polite nod, his eyes darting between the two of them.

Salvatore returned the nod. "Morning. Make sure he doesn’t eat junk food today. I want you to check on it yourself. I don’t want him getting sick."

Liam blinked, caught off guard. In all the time he’d worked with Milo, Salvatore had never once said anything outside of work-related matters.

Even Milo turned to look at him. "No junk food?"

"No junk food," Salvatore repeated. "If you want it, you’ll have it when you’re with me."

Milo stared at him for a long moment. Was the man seriously going to keep tabs on what he ate?

"I... yes, of course," Liam said quickly. "I’ll remind him."

"Just tell me if he tries to order anything," Salvatore said, then turned his full attention to Milo, his expression suddenly more serious. "Understood?"

"That’s mean... I can’t even get McDonald’s? Is that junk food too?"

"Yes. No McDonald’s, no KFC, not unless I’m there."

"But they’re good."

Salvatore stepped closer, close enough that Milo had to tilt his head back slightly to keep looking at him.

He reached up and gently cupped the back of Milo’s neck with his hand, then leaned down and murmured, low enough that only Milo could hear, "Because I said so."

Milo’s breath caught. A shiver ran straight down his spine, and he swallowed hard, acutely aware of his own heartbeat suddenly pounding in his ears.

Liam looked down, sort of giving them some privacy. He didn’t want to get involved in what was going on. But it seemed Salvatore looked at Milo differently today. And he didn’t want to make a mistake.

The thought of being shot in the head by the man just because he let Milo eat fried chicken was the last thing he wanted to happen in his life. He wasn’t ready to die just for a piece of chicken.

Then two figures stepped out from the mansion behind them. New guards, both clearly senior, Milo realized. They were more composed and watchful than the others. Milo tried to avoid them, they looked so serious even when they were exercising together.

"From now on, they’ll be replacing Harry," Salvatore said, his voice back to its usual even tone, as if nothing had just happened. "They’ll be with you from here on."

Milo looked between the two new guards, gulped, then back at Salvatore. Why did it have to be them?

Salvatore reached up and ruffled his hair, briefly and almost casually. "I won’t let anything happen to you."

Milo looked up at him, searching his face for something, he wasn’t sure what, but Salvatore had already turned, guiding him toward the waiting car with a hand on his back.

"Be careful," Salvatore said to Liam, his tone shifting back to something colder, more commanding. "Report to me immediately if anything happens. His safety comes before anything else."

"Yes, sir," Liam said, standing up straight.

Milo stayed quiet in the car for a while. He didn’t really know what to make of the morning. The breakfast, the new rules, the guards, the way Salvatore had suddenly become so... attentive.

Protective, almost. It didn’t feel like the same man he knew.

Liam let out a breath once the car pulled away from the gates. "Mr. Portello makes me nervous. I really hope I didn’t do anything wrong."

He’d gotten comfortable around Milo over the past few days, comfortable enough to speak freely, joke around, and complain a little. It was easy to forget, most days, who Milo actually was now.

"I don’t really know what’s going on either," Milo admitted, staring out the window.

That’s when he heard it, a low growl from Liam’s stomach. Liam’s face turned red immediately.

"I’m sorry," he muttered.

Normally Milo would’ve made sure he ate something before they left. But this morning, it seemed he hadn’t had anything.

"We can stop somewhere," Milo said. "We’ll buy something for you."

"Oh, no. It’s fine, really. I’ll grab something at the office."

"No, don’t. Let’s stop for a baguette and some coffee on the way. You can’t work on an empty stomach."

"But—"

"Please," Milo said, and something in his voice made it clear he wasn’t going to let it go.

Liam just nodded. "Thank you, Milo. But you can’t have it with me. I’ll ask Mr. Portello what you can have for lunch."

Milo shook his head. "Why? He’s very busy. He won’t care what I get for lunch. And I don’t want to bother him just for a meal."

But that lunch, Liam got a call from Salvatore.

Liam answered immediately. "Hello, Sir."

"Didn’t I tell you to report it to me if he gets junk food? Why the hell did you go to the Chicken Palace?"

Liam gulped. He looked at Milo, who was still ordering for himself at the table. He didn’t know how Salvatore found out. He was terrified.

"Ah, as far as I know, Milo didn’t order chicken, Sir. He—"

"Bring him to Bourtigne. Meet me there. We’ll have lunch together." Salvatore cut Liam off.

Liam nodded. "Yes, Sir."

Once the call ended, he ran to Milo. "Milo, Mr. Portello is waiting for you in Bourtigne. We have to be there."

Milo was still holding the menu. "Oh, now?"

Milo was confused. But Liam had already put the menu back and was pulling him toward the car.

Salvatore looked at his watch. "Turn around, we’re heading back to Bourtigne."

Roderick looked at the man in the rearview mirror. "What? We just had lunch there."

"Just come back. I want to see him eat."

Roderick didn’t say anything else and drove back. "You seem to be starting to control him."

"I need to make sure he gets the best he can get."