Daniel is an incredibly wealthy young man and it’s just another obstacle between them. Liam’s never even flown business class and now he’s on a private plane.

As soon as they finish saying hello, Logan has questions. “Did you bond with my brother?”

“I did. We were only together for five days. It was when your father had his first stroke. Daniel’s doctor, Dr. Chang, took the opportunity to get Daniel what he needed—not drugs or surgeries but a Dominant. Your brother was not doing well when we met. The things your father did to him were cruel and futile. He was near death.”

A flush crawls up Logan’s neck. His gaze drops. “I know a little about that. I didn’t have it as bad as my brother, but it was still awful. Pretending to be nothing, trying to convince myself I was…. Anyway, my father is dead now, and that’s the past. The funeral, which we will not be attending, is tomorrow. And now we get to save my brother. We have a room for him. He’ll need time to settle in before making any decisions,” Logan says, and Liam understands it as a warning.

“What are your intentions?” Robert asks.

I want him. I’ll run away with him and keep him safe in a fucking shack if that’s what it takes, he thinks. He manages not to say it. But if he’s given another chance with Daniel then he won’t fuck it up.

“Daniel is very high needs. He is prey. There are not a lot of prey submissives, but I’ve learned from the ones I’ve spoken to, and met, that they always bond to the first Dominant that they’re intimate with. Bonding markers show up quite quickly in their blood. If the military attempts to pair them with other Dominants after they’re bonded, they often resort to self-harm and suicide. Prey are meant to belong to one very demanding Dominant and that is all.”

“And that’s you? Are you a high-level Dominant?” Logan asks.

The question is jarring. Everyone with a designation knows he is. They can feel it. That’s just how it is.

But Logan is serious in his question. The reality is that Liam doesn’t interact with submissives anymore. And his medications, that keep him from being so depressed that he can’t even function, do a lot to mask his designation.

Liam knows he isn’t the same, but he hadn’t realized a submissive might meet him and not know his designation.