[It was the wrong word, he recognized. It didn't betray the true depth of the comfort and attachment he had developed with Richard, and even now, he allowed himself to be strategically blind to the foothold the younger man had in his life. Still, he valued Richard's company, their unique conversations, the camaraderie that came with a similar dark soul as his own, and the ambition that was as tantalizing as it was dangerous.

And he had to ask himself the lengths that he might engage in to convince the younger man to entertain the idea. That his daughter was already a wedge in this conversation was unexpected, leading him to believe that there might have been some kind of encounter between the two that he wasn't aware of. Not situational physically as he would know about that, so when? Where? What circumstances if it did occur?

It was his turn to grow tense at the tide of the conversation shifted, confirming to him the existence of some interaction. His fingers paused on the back of Richard's neck and his lounging leg returned to the water to press into the corner of the tub they were sharing. In a moments notice, he could sit up which was a precursor to standing.]

She has found company she wishes to invest time and energy into that I don't approve of. [And short of locking the boy in a cellar and tortured, Silco couldn't prevent this from happening. The usual manner of killing someone wasn't an option.] Is that what you consider yourself to me? Filler?