Page 100 of Glitterati Omega

Moose huffed and looked away again. “You were miles away. What were you going to do? Besides.” His gaze flicked toward Rupert’s middle. “We didn’t want to worry you.”

“I’m not made of glass.”

Moose gave him a stern, serious look. “We know.”

“So stop treating me like—”

The tall alpha landed a hand on Rupert’s shoulder. “But you are high risk, and you do not need any additional stress.” He patted Rupert’s shoulder and continued. “We’ll handle him, don’t you worry.”

Rupert shook his head, but Moose moved off down the hall. He had no choice but to follow.

No sooner had Moose dropped Rupert’s bag in a corner of the room and Rupert sat down on the bed than his phone rang.

“Your house is ridiculous,” Winston told him in a huff when he answered.

“What’s the matter?”

“There is some—clod—at the door.”

Rupert frowned; he’d never heard Winston quite so flustered, so aggravated. He pushed himself off the bed, grateful he didn’t need to reach for Moose’s hand. “A clod?” he asked as he wandered out of the room, back down the hall.

“Yes,” Winston agreed. “Some clod here asking to talk to you.”

Rupert inhaled, then swallowed. His stomach flip-flopped, and then he felt the baby kicking. He exhaled, realizing he was short of breath, and he couldn’t tell if it was from trying to get back to the door too quickly or because of how anxious he was. “What does he want?” he managed, then descended the stairs, Moose hot on his heels.

He had to pause at the bottom of the staircase to catch his breath. He glanced at Moose, who was watching him cautiously.

“Something about your estate?”

“Oh no,” Rupert groaned, then half-ran, half-shuffled to the door.

Winston was standing in the doorway. “Rupert,” he admonished.

Rupert just shook his head, brushing past the alpha, onto the front steps. “What the hell do you want?” he spat at the clod, as Winston put it. He stood there heaving for breath, waiting for an answer.

The fellow tipped his hat. “Apologies,” he said. “We just have some papers to sign, and we haven’t been able to get a hold of you—”

Rupert slapped a hand to the doorframe. “I told you and your colleagues to piss off! You can go and tell my sorry excuse of a former husband that I’m not signing anything—he can sue me if he thinks the court will agree he’s entitled to anything!”

“Rupert,” Winston said, grabbing his hand, trying to draw him back.

“And another thing!” Rupert thundered, shaking him off. “You can talk to my lawyers, or you can file a motion to sue me! But you’re not to set foot anywhere near me—not you, not your colleagues, and especially not Thomas!”

The fellow blinked rapidly. Rupert raised his hand, intending to continue, but he couldn’t get his breath and his child was now kicking the ever-loving shit out of him.

When Winston took his wrist this time, he allowed himself to be guided to sit on the edge of the retaining wall.

“Apologies,” the man said again, that startled expression still on his face, “but I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. I’m sorry to hear about legal troubles with your—presumably your ex-husband. But these are the papers for selling this property to the trust. As I said, we’ve been trying to get a hold of you but haven’t had much success.”

“Oh,” Rupert said, his face burning in shame.

Winston sighed dramatically. “It would have been very helpful if you had mentioned that before,” he told the man, who stiffened up.

Rupert glanced between them hastily, then said, “Mr. Ndoni is legal counsel for the sale.”

“Oh!” The man went red with embarrassment. “I am terribly sorry, I didn’t … ah, well, I didn’t know, I thought …”

“What,” Rupert huffed, “did you think he was the butler?”