"I am going back with you two… but on one condition. My affairs are run on my own terms, got that?"
The words came out slower than Alex expected, steady yet heavy with a weight he himself was still trying to understand. Raphael and Antonio looked at him for a moment as if measuring whether he truly meant what he had just said. The silence between them stretched thin, and for a second Alex wondered if they would laugh at him or simply dismiss the demand entirely. Yet to his surprise they did neither.
Antonio nodded first, the motion controlled and thoughtful as always, while Raphael gave a small impatient shrug as if the condition hardly mattered compared to the fact that Alex was agreeing to return.
"Fine," Raphael said with a rough breath. "You'll run things however you want. Just come back with us."
Antonio added quietly, "Your autonomy will be respected."
And just like that the decision was sealed.
