Page 19 of Judging Duke

I still hadn’t moved, and the scent of him hit my nose. A mixture of rosemary and lavender.

I flared my nostrils and inhaled deeply, drinking him in.

“What do you want from me?” he asked.

Some emotion? Compassion? To ask how he was?

“He’s endured years of his suffering. Going from appointment to appointment. Do you even care how he’s doing?”

At least he had the temerity to look ashamed.

“I know it’s not been easy.” He stepped back, out of my space. What the hell did he know about easy?

“What the fuck do you know?” I could spend hours detailing every bit of treatment Robbie had endured. The tears, the tantrums, the times he’d asked me to take his life, to end his suffering.

Duke Anders had ruined everything, and I could never forgive him.

“I know he’ll never walk again,” he said quietly.

“Like you care.” I clenched my fists by my side, trying my best not to lash out again. Not that I had a reputation to keep, but this was a public setting. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my temper.

Duke had probably planned it this way, and in a way, I couldn’t blame him.

“Of course I fucking care. He was my best friend.” Tears filled his eyes. Fucking crocodile tears. He didn’t care. He probably never had.

“He’s not dead,” I yelled, feeling my heart race. “He’s living and breathing and trying so fucking hard to keep it together. He never blamed you, you know? Always said it was an accident. But I knew better.”

“Robbie knew his own mind. I never forced him to do anything he didn’t want to. You know who he was trying to impress? Who he tried to be all the fucking time?”

The colour in his cheeks rose along with his voice.

“You! It was always you,” I shouted, my voice full of emotion.

“You’re wrong, Simon. He worshipped the ground you walked on. Always talking about how he wanted to be like you. Like his big brother. Every single thing he did was to please you and you alone.”

“What the fuck was he doing on the roof?” Why had he done it?

“I dared him. Are you satisfied? That was my fault, and I’ve carried around the guilt of that night every single fucking day since.” Finally, some emotion.

I dropped to my knees, exhausted by the exchange.

Gone was Simon Stroker, confident porn star, a man who took what he wanted when he wanted.

In his place was me, Simon Fletcher, failed son and brother.

“What in God’s name is going on?”

A clipped voice shouted from the doorway, and a well-dressed man walked towards us. Duke blanched and stood off to the side, increasing the distance between us.

I stood, managing to tear my eyes away from the object of my fury and focused on the man who had joined us.

“Mr Anders. Would you mind telling me what on earth is happening here? All I could hear was shouting, and this is not the place to do that.”

From his words and demeanour, I assumed it was Duke’s boss, maybe even the owner.

“It was a misunderstanding, Mr. Carr. It won’t happen again.”

“I should hope not. Please apologise to our guest and meet me in my office at three.”

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