Page 60 of Glitterati Omega

And when he admitted such things, she told him that he was still depressed and needed to spend more time on himself. More time on himself meant delaying having a baby, which meant it was more likely that the cancer would come back and he couldn’t do it. And so he wrapped around to his first point. Sally insisted there was a way out, that it wasn’t as circular and hopeless as it seemed, but he couldn’t see it.

Winston got up from the table. Rupert sagged further, what little energy he had draining out of him. With everything that he’d admitted, he fully suspected the breakup. He was too much hassle, too much work.

Winston returned with another mug. “The kettle was still hot,” he explained as he slid the mug into Rupert’s hands. “Rooibos. No caffeine. It is relaxing.”

“Thank you,” Rupert murmured. He stared down into the mug. He didn’t much feel like drinking tea. Then again, he didn’t much feel like doing anything.

He swallowed. “So, I’ll go back to Durban in the morning.”

“Yes,” Winston agreed.

Rupert’s heart sank more. He knew breaking up was the only sensible thing to do, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. “And from there, I’ll—”

“Check into the hospital,” Winston said, then sipped his tea.

Rupert stared at him. “Why?”

The alpha set his mug down. “To make sure you don’t get an infection. Mama Thandiwe said that can happen sometimes in these situations, although she’s done what she can, so you shouldn’t. Still. Best to be cautious.”

“Oh.” Rupert felt a little silly. He’d had four prior miscarriages and no one had ever mentionedthatas a possibility. Maybe because he’d had doctors, not midwives.

The silence lay thickly over them. Winston took a deep breath. Rupert didn’t dare look at him.

“Rupert.”

He couldn’t have spoken even if he’d wanted to, even if he’d had the words. He tightened his grip on his mug, felt heat bleeding into his hands and tried to use that to ground himself.

“I want to ask you something.”

He forced himself to turn his head, to meet Winston’s questing brown gaze. He had no idea what the lawyer was searching for. Maybe assessing how much of a mess Rupert was, solidifying the need to break up. The alpha tilted his head; he made a couple of false starts, mouth moving, but no sound. Rupert felt dizzy, like he was losing his grip on reality again.

“Before, you said you’d give anything.”

Rupert blinked slowly. Winston licked his lips, then pressed them together, looking away. “Did you mean that?” he asked finally.

“Yes.” It was a simple answer, but it was true. Or it felt true, at least. Winston squeezed his hand.

“Anything? Anything at all?”

Rupert furrowed his brow. What the hell was the alpha driving at here? What was he going to ask him to do?

It didn’t matter, he decided, because it was the truth. There was nothing in the world he wanted more than a child, one he’d carried in his own body, given life to and cradled inside him, from conception to birth, nourished through his own blood for months before he could hold the baby in his arms. “Anything,” he said.

Winston nodded. “Then … I have a proposal.”

Rupert drew his hand back, turning himself to more fully face the alpha. Winston’s gaze flicked up. “If … we were to come to an agreement about getting you what you want—”

Rupert frowned at him, unimpressed. He didn’t think they ought to skirt around the subject. “You mean getting me pregnant?”

Winston looked away. “Something like that,” he muttered. He seemed embarrassed by the notion.

Rupert didn’t want to get his hopes up, but adrenalin flooded him. What was the alpha thinking? “Go on. I’m listening.”

“I want you to give away what you have.”

Rupert stared at him for a second, bewildered. “Come again?” he asked finally.

“Your fortune—your … money. Give it away.”