Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“Are you?” Lucien said with a crooked smile. He hated that there was a small part of him that felt raw, vulnerable, and disgustingly hopeful. He hated that he hadn’t managed to completely eradicate the fourteen-year-old boy who had once worshiped this man and missed him so much.
His father’s lips thinned as he regarded him for a moment. “You should smile more sincerely if we’re to do this or no one will buy our ‘reconciliation.’”
Lucien stared at him. “What?”
His father huffed. “Don’t pretend you don’t understand,” he said, his voice pitched very low, only for Lucien’s ears. “I don’t know how you convinced the Cleghorn whelp to part with such a huge sum for you, but I’m a man of my word and I intend to keep my end of the deal.”
It took Lucien a moment to understand what he was saying. Aksel had paid his father to make nice with him in public. Lucien wanted to laugh. Or maybe cry. Or both.
He did none of those things, of course.
He knew better than to waste Aksel’s money.
He smiled. “You know me, Father,” he said. “I’m very convincing. You always said I could catch a king with my smiles if I wanted to.”
His father looked at him sourly. “You could. I had high hopes for you. That’s why you disappointed me so much.”
Lucien smiled brighter. “Sorry for having the gall to get gang-raped during my heat. That was naughty of me. I understand your disappointment. Poor you, being saddled with a soiled, pregnant omega of a son. Of course you had to throw me out.”
“Don’t take that tone with me, child.” His father’s jaw worked. “I admit that I might have... overreacted at the time. But I did have high hopes for you, which was why I might have overreacted.”
Oh, wow. By Lohlan Deveraux’s standards, that was practically an admission of being wrong. It was almost an apology. Almost.
Too bad Lucien didn’t feel charitable enough to accept a half-assed apology two decades later.
“You’re a bit too late, Father,” Lucien said with a wry smile. “I neither need nor want your excuses. I’ve grown up. I’ve moved on with my life.”
His father’s eyes bored into him. “You’ve always been a good liar,” he said, taking his hand and putting it on his elbow. “Come.”
“What are you doing?” Lucien hissed, barely moving his lips.
“Young Cleghorn has paid my debts in exchange for me making nice with you in public. A stroll around the room should do it. Smile.”
“I don’t want to smile at you.”
“The Cleghorns must have been incredibly soft if you think it’s fine for an omega to be so rude toward his father.”
“Only fathers that kick out their teenage children,” Lucien said through his teeth, but he did put on a smile and didn’t resist as his father led him toward a group of socialites. His father joined their conversation, with Lucien’s hand still tucked in his elbow.
People stared. But none of them said anything about Lucien’s presence. And none of them excluded Lucien from their group. After a few minutes, Lucien found the courage to make a comment—and for once, it wasn’t completely ignored.
The next hour passed like that, with his father guiding him around the room and letting everyone see that they had reconciled.
It was vaguely embarrassing—and infuriating, because it was working. Lucien had been spoken to in the past hour more than he had been spoken to at society events in the past twenty years. Most of the conversations were largely meaningless, stuff he didn’t care about, but one of the subjects made Lucien freeze.
“So are we getting the announcement of the engagement tonight, Deveraux?” one of the guests asked. “We all heard the rumor.”
“No,” Lohlan said with a sneer. “There was something of a misunderstanding. Cleghorn should have asked me first. I accepted another offer for my son. It’s just as advantageous, but without the baggage that comes with being mated to a Xeus.”
Lucien couldn’t even hear the rest of the conversation, his heart beating in his ears.
They had broken the engagement? Lucien had been wondering if something was amiss, since the engagement hadn’t been announced officially and Aksel was still nowhere to be seen, but he hadn’t thought…
At long last, his father seemed to be done socializing. He led him away from the crowd, toward the refreshments table.
“Are you sleeping with Cleghorn?”
Lucien choked on his drink. “What?” he stuttered.
His father’s gaze was pensive. “There must be a reason the boy parted with such a huge sum for this farce. And he doesn’t want to marry Dylan anymore.”
So it was Aksel who had broken things off.
“Your insinuations are insulting,” Lucien finally managed, realizing that he had to say something.
His father scoffed. “My insinuations are logical. No one pays that kind of money to help their stepfather. I’m not judging. Frankly, it was the smartest course of action you could take, given your lack of social standing. If you were smarter, you would have made your marriage to Garrick real years ago. But one of his heirs makes sense too. The eldest son would have been a more expected choice, of course, since he’s your peer, but a younger, more virile alpha might be a better choice given your age.”