Chapter 352 – Duke

Ella

“D-duke?” I stutter out, completely overwhelmed by the information, my eyes going wide. “There are dukes? And I had I have an uncle!?”

“I’m sorry,” Henry says, and I can see the guilt written all over his face. “I overlooked this – honestly, no one has heard from him in years – and, considering what we think he was actually getting up to, it makes a great deal of sense that he wanted everyone to believe that.”

“Who,” I say, frantic now, looking between Henry, and Sinclair, and Roger – Cora, I see, looking at me with worried eyes, but I know she doesn’t have any answers – “who is he?”

“Relax, Ella,” Sinclair murmurs to me, leaning close. “It’s all right -”

“It is absolutely not all right -“I snap, not wanting to be mean but completely panicked right now. “My father is dead but I have an uncle? Seriously? And no one told me?”

Henry continues to hang his head, shaking a little, and I instantly feel guilty. It’s not his fault – it’s so complicated, the politics, and why would he tell me about an uncle if he hadn’t spoken to the man in 30 years had genuinely assumed he was dead –

“I’m sorry, Henry,” I say quickly, leaning forward to put a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry – I’m behaving so poorly – ”

absolutely correct. I have failed you in this.” His eyes shift to Sinclair now. And

any good. No one blames you, dad and Ella, you don’t have anything to apologize for.

I love him dearly and am grateful for him every day. At

can decide to do something, instead of just talking about it. I smile at him a little, loving my all-action Alpha mate who is ready to go even though he

was recognized, but he was

quite clever,” Roger quips, and I’m shocked to find a smile on my mouth as he delicately raises his brows, looking up at the ceiling. “I mean, some of us think that the better-looking

elbows Roger not-too-gently in the stomach to get him to stop, I grin at my brother-in-law, grateful for the laugh which has drained some of my tension away.

figure in politics – he was always fringe, always very much the King’s sullen brother rather than a real player.

“was perhaps… the mistake. That started all

I ask, confused

Xander put this in motion. That he knew he was never a contender for the throne when his brother died but he coveted it anyway

whisper, sitting back against my chair. “To – to reclaim the throne. To keep

Rafe now, cooing gently in his father’s arms. My baby, the grandson of a King. The

so much sense that we were fools not to consider it before now. Who benefits from Rafe being born? The man who intends to kidnap him

beside me. “I haven’t heard Xander’s name since I was a child – I, too, thought he died in quiet obscurity. He’s taken great pains, I think, to ensure that everyone assumed that he did. He is playing the long game – we’re not total idiots for falling into the traps he’s taken twenty years to lay.

I mean -” I exhale quickly, closing my eyes and gathering my thoughts, “is the assumption that we’re making here that Xander wanted Rafe to be born so

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255