_Nathan’s POV_
By morning, Rowan’s request was no longer just a message on my phone. It had become a line the whole day kept tripping over.
Miles read it again at the table in his apartment while the coffee went cold between us. Theo stood near the counter with his arms crossed. Kane had come in ten minutes earlier, took one look at the atmosphere, and stayed quiet long enough to understand it was already bad.
“Preferred timing,” Miles said. “He writes like that after locking a door on you.”
“He writes like that because the official version still holds,” I said. “If I ignore it completely, Elias gets involved.”
Theo nodded once. “Which is why ignoring it is not the same as obeying it.”
Kane gestured at the phone. “So change the terms before your father turns this into another lecture
