The comparison to Auguste stopped him cold, his eyes caught on Laurent's. He waited, wondered how much of that statement was due to the wine and how much Laurent felt to be true.

It was a moment that stretched too long, felt too weighted, before Damen could finally manage a quiet, 'That is an honor I have not earned.' There could be no man to match Auguste in Laurent's eyes, a fact Damen could understand deeply. He'd felt similarly to Kastor at one time as misplaced as such devotion might have been. 'Helping you and your men was also in my own self interest,' he pointed out.