Page 10 of Glitterati Omega

Rupert giggled nervously. Jake laughed too. “Wow,” he said, “that’s great. So, like, how did you two meet?”

“Through Morgan,” Rupert said quickly, glancing hastily at Perce’s disapproving expression, which was getting more acidic by the moment.

“Really,” the youngest Warwick sibling drawled, his glower bouncing between Winston and Rupert.

“Really,” Winston said, smiling and reaching over to pat Rupert’s hand. Rupert thought he might burn up and pulled away. He smiled nervously at Winston when he looked at him.

“I should introduce you to my mom,” Jake blurted, then turned bright pink when all three of them stared at him. “Oh, cripes, that sounded weird, huh? She’s a designer—I’m sure she’d …”

Rupert tuned out, already too aware of where that was going. Sometimes, being a trillionaire was exhausting. Of course Jake’s mother wanted to meet him and probably try to put him in some of her fashions so she could then hop on social media and tell all and sundry to look at who was wearing her creations. Ugh.

“Stop groveling,” Perce snarled at the redhead after a moment. “He’s nothing but a parasite.”

Rupert straightened up. “And what might that make you? It’s not like you were born poor, Percival. Your family is plenty wealthy, you—”

“I’m not the sole heir of a fifteen-trillion-dollar fortune,” Perce fired back. “You went into nursing because you werebored.”

“I did not!”

“A nurse?” Jake asked, like he couldn’t believe it. Maybe he couldn’t. Rupert got weird looks all the time. No one in his upper-crust circles could imagine why he’d done it.

“Yes,” Rupert said, nodding. “Or, well, I was one at least. Before …” He waffled a bit, then shrugged. “Well, that’s how I met Morgan anyway—we were on mission in Uganda and became fast friends.”

“Friend is a strong word,” Perce practically sniffed, and Rupert glowered at him. The other blond lifted his head, almost baring his teeth as he said, “More like you seduced Morgan.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Rupert spat. “For the last time, Percy, nothing of the sort happened!”

“Don’t call me Percy, you little—”

“Hey,” Jake said, his mouth twisting in a frown.

Percival tossed his head. “You know exactly what you did.”

“Which wasnothing,” Rupert replied hotly. “Honestly. Does Morgan tell you something different?” He glanced around to see if Morgan was within earshot. Perhaps they could come settle this argument once and for all.

Perce huffed. “They don’t like to talk about it.”

“Because there’s nothing to talk about!” Rupert cried. “Would it kill you to becivilto me for five minutes?”

“It honestly might.”

Rupert closed his eyes, then looked at Jake. “I don’t know where he got the idea IseducedMorgan. Nothing happened between us at all. Some nasty rumor someone started, I suspect—”

“Most rumors have some truth in them,” Winston said, and Perce smirked, snorted. He held Rupert’s gaze almost triumphantly as one of the servers brought over covered dishes. Rupert got the distinct impression Perce had brought up that particular rumor for areason.

“We’re friends,” Rupert said, feeling a bit cut by Winston’s remark. “Anyway, that all happened ages ago—I was twenty-two.” He waved a hand. “Morgan’s too old for me anyway.”

Perce quirked a brow. “Then what are you doing withhim?” He gestured at Winston, who sighed. “He’s forty-one.”

Rupert did his damnedest not to, but he almost choked on the air he was breathing. He looked at Winston, who merely lifted his brows, as though daring Rupert to ask him for confirmation.

Forty-one. Heavens. Rupert was only two years off from thirty, and that was difficult enough to imagine.

“Perce, seriously. Knock it off.” Jake looked like he was starting to lose his patience; it seemed like he might have caught on to Perce’s game of sabotage. “Iknowyou’re uncomfortable, but that’s no reason to—”

“Uncomfortable?” Rupert interjected. “Why would he be uncomfortable? I know you don’t like me, but I’m not ...”

Now the other omega shifted, almost nervously. He sat back, arms folded. “You really do think highly of yourself, don’t you? It has nothing to do with you.”