[ it's hardly the first time laurent has reduced a man to tears, but it's typically an intentional, calculated thing. the sight of aspen's wet cheeks takes him by surprise, an uncomfortable knot pulling tight in the very center of his stomach. ]

If you were truly stupid, you would not have survived your days as a courtesan. We would not be sitting here, eating foul nuts and having this conversation. Many slaves, particularly the young ones, die in strange beds because they can't work out a plan to survive the horrors of their station.

[ too much. it's far too much. laurent has no idea why he would say such things, only that he felt on more than one occasion that he would die in his uncle's bed, and had known even then that he must find a way to endure.

without thinking, his mouth moving before his mind can catch up — ] Come sit beside me.