“We never got married,” Michael answered. “He decided that he didn’t want to give up his freedom for the family business.”
“Oh,” Alex said. He didn’t know why that bit of news excited him. It wasn’t like Michael was going to change his mind about him just because of Micha.
“Are you guys still dating?”
“On and off,” Michael answered.
“What’s he going to say when you tell him about Micha?”
Michael shrugged. “What can he say? He can either accept him or move on.”
“And your father? What’s he going to say?” Alex asked. It was no secret that the old man didn’t like him.
“He’ll come around once he sees that Micha is my doppelganger.” He paused. “He has your smile.”
“Yes, and your scent.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Michael lied. “What’s his secondary gender?”
“He’s an alpha.”
“He’s an alpha?” Michael asked.
Alex nodded. “He said he’s going to take care of me and protect me when he gets older.”
“I bet he will,” Michael said. “So how much debt are you in?”
“This month and last month’s rent. I had to use the money to help bury my mother.”
“Is that all? Your landlord sent those goons after you for two month’s rent?” Michael asked.
Alex nodded again. “That and the fact that I won’t sleep with him.”
Michael’s eyes went dark and his scent soured with jealousy and rage. “He wants you to sleep with him for free rent?”
“Something like that,” Alex said. “But knowing him he’ll still want the rent money, too.”
“Have you and he ever…?” Michael didn’t complete the sentence.
“No,” Alex answered.
“We’ll find you a new place to live, or you can stay here until…”
“What? You marry Duncan? No thanks. I like my independence, and Micha is about to start school. Once he does, hopefully I can land a better paying job.”
“I want to do my part,” Michael said. “He can go to the best schools, and I’ll pay his tuition and buy his uniforms.”
“I want him to have a normal childhood,” Alex said.
“He will have a normal childhood, just like I had.”
That was what Alex was afraid of. The average alpha was rude, pampered, and privileged. “I don’t want that for Micha.”
“What’s wrong with the way I was raised?” Michael asked. “My child will not grow up in poverty.”
There it was. Alex knew the old Michael would surface. Alex had seen the disgust in Michael’s eyes as he surveyed the apartment, he and Micha lived in. He was finding fault, not with words, but with arrogance. “You don’t have to insult me. Some of us weren’t born with a silver spoon in our mouths.”
“I didn’t mean that,” Michael said.
