Page 11 of Glitterati Omega

Perce locked eyes with Rupert suddenly, grinning sharply. Rupert had only seen him look like that once or twice before; it was the sort of look he wore when he was relating the tale of a particularly cutthroat boardroom deal. Rupert had always thought he was a bit unhinged.

Now he said, “Not that it’s any of your business, but if I’m uncomfortable, it’s because I’m six months pregnant. Not precisely comfortable.”

Rupert stared at him probably a moment longer than he had to—fuckingassholewas the only thought in his head, and he knew he couldn’t say that, even if the prick deserved it.

He’d look like the asshole, but it was very clear to him Perce knewexactlyhow deep his words cut. He wondered how much Morgan had told their brother.

He dropped his gaze, letting it sweep across the table, searching for something safe, something stabilizing. He found Jake’s gaze—the alpha’s brows were tented, probably because he didn’t understand what was transpiring at all.

Rupert slapped on a smile. “A baby?” he managed to grit out. “Howwonderful.”

“Mm,” Perce replied, looking away, but even that couldn’t hide his self-satisfied smirk. Rupert seethed; the prick knew how deep his claws were in.

He appealed to Jake again. “And I take it you’re the other, ah, expectant parent?”

The redhead smiled, then wrapped an arm around Perce’s shoulders. “Yup,” he said.

“Congratulations,” Rupert said, although it felt hollow on his tongue. “It must be exciting to become parents.”

“Ha, yeah,” Jake laughed. “Little calmer this time around though. Hm?” He nudged Perce again, earning himself a glare.

“This time,” Rupert echoed, and Jake’s comment about beingvpof parenting finally clicked. They already had a child. Children. He fumbled around in his purse, searching frantically for his mobile. Winston gave him a funny look.

“Yeah, this is our second,” Jake said. “Isolde’s three now—oh, you wanna see some—”

“Excuse me,” Rupert said abruptly, stumbling up from the table. “I’ll be right back.”

With that, he turned and walked away as quickly as he could in five-inch heels. He would have run if he didn’t think that was undignified or that he might break his neck.

Although breaking his neck sounded rather appealing at the moment.

He rushed into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind himself. He grabbed his mobile and messaged Alina:

i need out

He stared at the screen for a moment, then dropped the phone back into his purse. He put his hands over his face, pressed his fingers against his eyes.

He wasn’t going to cry. He just wasn’t, even if this was the cruelest, most unjust thing the universe could have thrown at him.

Percival Warwick was engaged, had a three-year-old, and was pregnant with his second child. That wasn’t fair—Perce didn’t evenwantthose things.

Life wasn’t fair, he reminded himself sharply, tried to pull himself together. He tried, very hard, to tamp down on this sort of jealousy—other omegas got pregnant and had children, fell in love and got married all the time. He couldn’t be jealous of all of them all the time.

Still, Percival was an ass for rubbing it in his face like that. Rupert had no doubt at all that the other omega knew—Morgan had no doubt told himsomething; maybe that was how that whole horrible rumor about him and Morgan having been an item got started in the first place. They hadn’t slept together; Rupert didn’t even recall flirting with the dark-haired alpha. He hadn’t realized he’d been pregnant when he’d left for Uganda on that mission, and Morgan, who had just been thinking about specializing in obstetrics at that point, had been the one who delivered his treatment when he’d miscarried about fifteen days into the assignment.

That most certainly hadn’t been the only miscarriage, but it was probably the one Percival knew about. And Rupert had never made any secret of the fact he wanted children.

He felt like some kind of stereotype in atvshow or a movie—the omega that wanted children the most had the hardest time getting them.

But it was reality for him—cold, cruel reality, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Finally, there was a buzz. He scrambled for his phone.

What do you mean, you need out

I need to get out of here, i can’t stay here another minute

Where are you