Page 107 of Broken Obsession

He’d drawn the bath for Eden’s sake, but making the Starling wash his hair was solely for himself.

“My mom used to do this for me,” Eden said suddenly.

“I hope not exactly like this.”

He scowled and pulled on a strand. “Don’t be vulgar.” Finished, he sat back and motioned for Ares to sit up, reaching for the showerhead attachment they’d left at the side. The water came on, and he tested the spray first, adjusting the temperature and pressure, seemingly unaware of how adorable he was being.

Tender.

When had Ares last known tenderness?

“I bet you miss her,” Ares guessed.

“All the time. She was great. The best mom a kid could ask for. She didn’t deserve what she got.” He met Ares' gaze. “I’m glad Zonnie and Sedos suffered.”

“Two down, one to go.” Not counting Daven Dephik, but they still weren’t. Ares would follow Eden’s lead with that one. If he decided not to bother, they wouldn’t. “Rumor is Daven was a good father to Zonnie as well.”

“You’re thinking I might spare him because he was simply doing what any good parent would do by covering for his son?”

“Will you?”

“Not sure yet. What about you?” Eden asked once he was satisfied and motioned Ares upright. He shifted onto his knees to bring himself higher, and then brought the spray over Ares, fingers working the suds free. “Who bathed you as a kid?”

“I had a nanny.” Only for the first ten years of his life. Then she’d been…let go.

“Of course you did. Let me guess, your parents were too busy for you?”

“No, Father rarely took his eyes off me.”

That clearly hadn’t been what Eden expected. “What about your brother?”

“What about him?”

“If you were your dad’s favorite, does that mean Mother preferred Zar?”

“Father loved me,” Ares clarified, sensing a blatant misunderstanding. “Mother never cared about Balthazar. In many ways, that meant he had it worse than I did.”

“Is that why he’s like that?”

“Unfeeling?” Ares lifted a single shoulder. “Probably. I can’t remember if he was different in the reality before.”

Eden was quiet as he finished, then turned off the spray and said solemnly, “Tell me about the experiments.”

“No.” Ares wrapped his arms around the Starling's waist and hugged him, pressing his ear over the other man’s heart so he could listen to it thump. “This trip isn’t about that. It’s about our future and what we can make of it.”

“You can’t build on uneven ground, Lucifer.”

“You promised we’d do what I want.”

Eden sighed and gave in, fingers combing through the tangled strands of Ares’ hair. “Fine. But you’re going to have to tell me eventually.”

“Understood.” He held on a little tighter.

He understood that he never wanted to speak about that time ever again with anyone. Some things were best left unvisited. Now that he was finally starting to seal the cracks, what would he risk fracturing them again?

There had to be another way. A way he could give Eden the answers he wanted without having to verbally talk about what he’d endured.

“What now?” Eden asked. “What does the all-mighty god want us to do next?”