Liam didn’t know yet how wrong he was.
Chapter 21
Liam was woken up by a loud pounding on his door.
“What is it?” he said, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes.
“Master Liam, Master Anthony wants you to come to his office.”
“Now?” Liam said, glancing at the pink sky outside the window. It was ridiculously early, especially considering that they had returned from the ball at one in the morning.
“Yes, Master Liam. He said it was very urgent.”
There was something in the maid’s voice that made Liam wary. He got dressed as quickly as possible and headed to his brother’s office.
When he arrived, all his brothers were already in the room. Ant stood by the window, his back tense and his hand gripping the windowsill hard. Eric was curled up in the armchair by the fireplace, his eyes red and wet. Jules was pacing the room, his face flushed. Even though Liam’s nose wasn’t very sensitive, the room stank of anger, frustration, and something like embarrassment.
“What’s going on?” Liam said.
His lips pursed, Jules silently handed him his tablet.
Liam looked at it—and stared.
For a moment, he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.
Eric. A picture of a half-naked Eric.
On the screen, Eric was wearing only an unbuttoned shirt. He was seated on his bed, his expression a little unsure, which was an obscene contradiction to his bare, spread legs and the very obvious bulge barely covered by his shirt.
Liam’s heart dropped when he realized that the picture was published on some gossip website. The headline proclaimed in huge letters: The Crown Prince’s Brother-in-Law Mired in Scandal.
Fuck.
Liam shifted his gaze to his youngest brother.
Eric wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“What—how?” Liam said.
Running a hand over his face, Jules sighed. “Long story short, apparently Eric has been talking online with some man for a while. They met through a video game and became friends.” Jules scoffed, making clear what he thought of it. “One thing led to another, and the asshole eventually talked Eric into sending him this picture.” Jules scowled. “He sold it to the paparazzi.”
Shaking his head, Liam stared at Eric. “How—how could you fall for it? You should have told us. Why didn’t you tell any of us about that man?”
“I told you!” Eric said, his face red. “I asked for your advice! And you told me to go ahead.”
“What? I didn’t—” Liam cut himself off, his stomach churning as he vaguely remembered the conversation that happened right after… after the library incident. He’d been too wrapped up in what had happened—in him—and too distracted to pay attention to what Eric had been telling him.
And now Eric was paying for his lack of attention.
“What are we going to do?” Jules said. “This shit is everywhere.”
Ant heaved a sigh, his shoulders stiff with tension. “There’s nothing we can do. We can only hope people won’t care about it and will move on.”
Liam nearly laughed. “They won’t,” he said bitterly.
Unfortunately, over the following week, he was proven correct. The scandal followed them everywhere they went—not just Eric but their entire family. Even Westcliff’s political standing had taken a beating for having a fiancé who came from such a scandalous family. People didn’t give them the cut direct—they didn’t dare because of Westcliff—but it was close sometimes.
By the end of the week, Eric refused to leave their home.
“It can’t go on like this,” Jules said as they reconvened for another family meeting; this time Westcliff was there too. “Can’t you just order them all to shut up?”
Westcliff chuckled humorlessly. “I wish,” he said. “I can’t order people to respect him, Julian. Even the king doesn’t have such power. Respect is earned, not given. Even if I actually spoke out, people would treat him well only in my presence, but they would treat him with disdain as soon as I leave.”
Liam bit the inside of his cheek hard.
It was all his fault. He should have listened to Eric when he’d asked for his advice. But he had been too absorbed in him, and had failed to be a better brother. As usual.
“What can we do?” he said, hating himself for even now yearning for a certain someone’s arms around him. He would have fixed this. He would have made it better.
He was a fraud. A professional liar. Stop thinking about him, damn you.
“It’s so bloody unfair,” Jules said. “If Eric were an alpha, it wouldn’t matter! It’d only cause a few salacious jokes—an alpha would never be ostracized for a suggestive picture like that!”
Sighing, Westcliff pulled Jules into his arms. “I know, sweetheart. I know.”
Liam looked away.
“I’m sorry,” Eric muttered, without lifting his eyes from the floor.
“It’s not your fault,” Ant said roughly, his jaw working.
Liam could tell he wasn’t dealing with the situation well, his protective alpha instincts making it hard for him to accept that he couldn’t do anything, but Liam couldn’t bring himself to offer him sympathy and comfort. What had come so easily to him with the impostor felt unnatural and forced with his real brother.