Alpha Dom and His Human Surrogate by Caroline Above Story

Chapter 352 – Duke

Ella

“D-duke?” I stutter out, completely overwhelmed by the information, my eyes going wide. “There are dukes? And I had I have an uncle!?”

“I’m sorry,” Henry says, and I can see the guilt written all over his face. “I overlooked this – honestly, no one has heard from him in years – and, considering what we think he was actually getting up to, it makes a great deal of sense that he wanted everyone to believe that.”

“Who,” I say, frantic now, looking between Henry, and Sinclair, and Roger – Cora, I see, looking at me with worried eyes, but I know she doesn’t have any answers – “who is he?”

“Relax, Ella,” Sinclair murmurs to me, leaning close. “It’s all right -”

“It is absolutely not all right -“I snap, not wanting to be mean but completely panicked right now. “My father is dead but I have an uncle? Seriously? And no one told me?”

Henry continues to hang his head, shaking a little, and I instantly feel guilty. It’s not his fault – it’s so complicated, the politics, and why would he tell me about an uncle if he hadn’t spoken to the man in 30 years had genuinely a*sumed he was dead –

“I’m sorry, Henry,” I say quickly, leaning forward to put a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry – I’m behaving so poorly – ”

attention back up to me. “Your reaction is absolutely correct.

shaking his head. “Honestly, the blame game does no one any good. No one blames you, dad and Ella, you don’t have anything to apologize for.

little squeeze to let him know I don’t blame him for any of it, and that I love him dearly and am grateful for him every day. At least,

to do

was much older,” Henry says, ” and there were always…rumors about whether or not his father was his biological father. Either way, Xander was

Roger quips, and I’m shocked to find a smile on my mouth as he delicately raises his brows, looking up at the ceiling. “I mean, some of us think that the better-looking brother should

grin at my brother-in-law, grateful for the laugh which has drained some of my tension away. He

very much the King’s sullen brother rather than a real player. When Xavier died, Xander…he wasn’t even considered for the throne.

the mistake. That started

I ask,

put this in motion. That he knew he was never a contender for the throne when his brother died but he coveted it anyway 1 that Xander wanted it, perhaps his whole life, and certainly after his brother died, but

my chair. “To – to reclaim the throne.

my eyes drift back to Rafe now, cooing gently in his father’s arms. My baby, the

now. Who benefits from Rafe being born? The man who intends to kidnap him and put him on the throne as a

don’t think we’re fools to have overlooked Xander,” Sinclair rumbles beside me. “I haven’t heard Xander’s name since I was a child – I, too, thought he died in quiet obscurity. He’s taken great pains, I think, to ensure that everyone a*sumed that he did. He is playing the long game – we’re not total idiots for falling into the traps he’s taken twenty years to lay. We’re

I mean -” I exhale quickly, closing my eyes and gathering my thoughts, “is the a*sumption

Xavier about you on his deathbed he must have found a way, somehow, to communicate

come for me?” I ask,