Hermes struggled against that grip, really not wanting to be there when Russell got the news no matter how he took it. "I'm not the one you should be jealous of," he said through his teeth. "A good slave should love his master, should do everything in their power to see them pleased." And really, Russell had to know Carrick's attitudes on The System. If the vampire still could admit the barest breath of returning any kind of sentiment Hermes had, it wouldn't mean much. Hermes was a slave, too valuable as such to be free when truly he had no idea what he'd do with freedom anyway.
"The holiday wasn't for me," he said, meeting Russell's eyes and keeping his heart calm despite his discomfort so the wolf would know he wasn't lying. "He went through a great deal of trouble and spent far too much money on one night with another man's slave. I was a clever ruse. If he'd wanted to spend some time with me alone or give me the night off, he didn't have to leave the estate to do it. He was fucking another man's slave in a hotel, one he's been hunting for weeks if not longer, behind your back, sir."