Page 185 of Finch

first time Nate introduced it to me, I thought I would self-immolate and die. Fortunately, that

was not the case. Do you need some water?”

“No,” Hugh said, and took another hit. He remembered the smell now that it was on his

tongue—he’d tasted it when sampling that nugget for Finch before the party. In comparison to

the nugget, the cigarette was very small. There was no way Gabriel had squeezed the entire

thing inside. “Will this be enough?” Hugh asked after his next exhale. “To ‘take the edge off,’ I

mean. Finch was very clear that’s what this was intended to do.”

“Oh, dude, you’re gonna be just fine.” Ignatius bumped their shoulders together.

“Congratulations on the baby, by the way. This sure as hell beats that outdated cigar tradition.

Did you two ever find out if you’re having a boy or a girl?”

Hugh shook his head. Just thinking about details like that sent him into a mild panic. He sucked

more smoke into his lungs, then thrust the cigarette at Ignatius, who shrugged and took it into

his custody.

“I can see you’re worried, brother,” Alistair said. “But never fear. All will be well. I was worried

at one time, too, with three unsanctioned eggs and a non-Pedigree omega to care for, but

despite my blunders, I now have a beautiful family. Everything will fall into place for you. I know

it.”

Hugh nodded stiffly and did start to feel a little better, but then he spotted new headlights on

their way down the driveway and was plagued with indomitable anxiety. The Drakes were

assembling to greet the new baby, and they’d all see how inept and unprepared he was.

“I need to go back to Finch,” he announced, rocketing to his feet. “Alistair, will you take care of

whoever that is? Gather wherever you’d like—the sitting room, the ballroom, the dining room…

it makes no difference to me. All I ask is that you respect my Finch’s privacy during the birth.

I’ll have a member of the staff inform you when we’re ready to accept visitors.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll keep an eye out, too,” Ignatius promised. “I know all too well how little you Drakes care

about privacy. It’s been years and I still haven’t been able to teach a certain lizard how to

knock.”

Hugh nodded. “I’ll lock the door, then.”

The look Ignatius gave him was battle-weary and wizened. “It won’t help.”

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