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 – ”

“Your reaction is absolutely correct. I have failed

have to stop this,” Sinclair says, 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. We all know this is a lot. So, can we please?” he says, pausing now to look around the

give Henry’s arm a 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, I hope he gets all that from a squeeze,

older brother, Ella,” Sinclair informs me briskly, I think a little irritated at the disruption and wanting all of the information on the table now so that we can decide to do something, instead

Henry says, ” and there were always…rumors about whether or not his father was his biological father. Either way, Xander was recognized, but he was never the favored son. That is why

quite clever,” Roger quips, and I’m shocked to find a smile on my mouth as he delicately raises

to get him to stop, I grin at my brother-in-law, grateful for the laugh which has drained some of my tension away. He gives me a little wink in

– he was always fringe, always very much the King’s sullen brother rather

Henry adds, “was perhaps… the mistake. That started

what?” I

he was never a contender for the throne when his brother died but he coveted it anyway 1 that Xander

my chair. “To – to reclaim the

the grandson of a King. The nephew of a Duke that, perhaps, always wanted to

so much sense that we were fools not to consider it before now. Who benefits from Rafe being born? The man who intends to kidnap him and put him on the throne as a puppet, acting as regent for eighteen years before Rafe is old enough to

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

gathering my thoughts, “is the a*sumption that we’re making here that Xander

Xavier about you on his deathbed he must have found a way, somehow, to communicate your existence to his brother before, or directly

me?”