Page 16
16
A REVELATION
Hubrie stepped into the office and shut the door, leaning back against it.
It was so different from his usual exaggerated behavior that Duke looked up. “What is it?”
“There was a lie in there. What Nat told you.” Hubrie looked unusually serious.
Uncertainty slid into Duke’s gut. “When?”
“When you asked him what was wrong. He made an excuse about urgent work coming up. That wasn’t why he was upset, though.”
“Damn it.” Duke rubbed his temples. He had thought everything was going so well, too. “Was that the only lie?”
“Yeah.”
“So...” Duke went over his conversation with Nat, trying to pick things apart. “I asked if I’d hurt him. He said no. If that’s the truth, then... I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“You might’ve been too nice to him.” Hubrie rubbed his chin. “Maybe he isn’t used to such niceness.”
Duke stared. “Really?”
Hubrie nodded. “Like you said, he’s had a hard life.”
Duke thought about Nat’s hands, the way his remaining fingers didn’t quite curl up right. Hot anger gnawed at his insides. “I’m not going to treat him terribly, even if he’s used to getting that from an alpha.”
His butler grinned. “Well, good. It sounded like you’ve been treating him spectacularly.”
Duke rolled his eyes. “Get back out there and stop slacking off.”
“It’s not my job to do the scheduling anymore.” Hubrie whistled and cocked his head. “Sounds like he’s back from HR.”
“Hey,” Duke said when Hubrie had one hand on the door handle. “Have you found out anything else about his ex?”
Hubrie’s eyes turned cold. “I’ve been hearing things.”
“Yeah, same here. Forward what you have to me. The sooner I can do something about this, the better.”
Hubrie nodded. Then his icy anger melted into a warm smile, and he waved. “Well, time to see if your omega can sit properly in his chair. Last I looked, he had a wet spot on his pants.”
Duke’s instincts roared triumphantly. “Shut the Hell up, Hubrie.”
From the look on his butler’s face, Duke wasn’t all that successful in hiding his feelings, either. Hubrie saluted and left the office.