Page 35 of Three Meows

While cuddling was amazing, every one of us wanted to have a space to stretch out after being squished like a can of sardines in the car.

“I would appreciate it if you would try to get along with my father and brother while we are there. But don’t let them disrespect you either,” I said firmly, even if my mind was coming up with increasingly convoluted scenarios of how this little family gathering was going to hell in a handbasket.

“Of course, we won’t let— Wait, you have a brother? We are going to meet him?” Chester bounced in his seat, twisting like a pretzel to look at me from his shotgun seat. Elijah, the current driver, swatted at him. Chester leaned even further towards me.

“Yeah. His name is Seth. He is the heir to my father’s company. I think you’re going to like him,” I addressed all three men. My bro wasn’t the one I expected to be a problem. In fact, I had already shared a few photos and anecdotes about the guys in our private Discord and the only thing I had to suffer through was Seth making fun of me for, as he put it, ‘having a goddamn harem’. “Go right, we are nearly there.”

I instructed Elijah where to go and soon he parked the car in the garage attached to a medium-sized villa. This holiday home brought bittersweet memories with it, but I gamely shook the small pang of longing away and stepped towards the house.

Seth was already waiting on the front stairs, his hands in his pockets, trying to look casual, as if I couldn’t see how his chest rose up and down from exertion. I was pretty sure he ran through the whole house at the sound of our approach just to strike this pose.

“He’s youryoungerbrother?!” Chester gaped, making Seth scowl. He didn’t like it when people focused on his gangly looks that betrayed that he was, in fact, still a teenager.

“Didn’t you say he is the heir?” Elijah asked, his brows knitting together. Rowan’s eyes darkened as he followed his friend’s train of thought. Of course, the implied allusion couldn’t remain subtle with Chester in the room.

“Does that mean your father is sexist?” the redhead demanded to know. “If you are the oldest, you should be the heir!”

Seth burst out laughing and immediately had three glares aimed at him. Even the mild-mannered Elijah was sending daggers in his direction.

“Look at them all trying to protect your honor! What do you say, Lisa?” Seth wheezed out between bursts of giggles. “It’s still not too late to become a corporate drone. Come join the dark side! We have, I dunno, pizza Fridays or something.”

“Thank you, but I would sooner drop dead,” I said in a saccharine sweet tone. Turning to my lovers, I explained. “I made a deal with my father; after I finished high school he was going to pay for my university tuition and let me choose any specialization I wanted. All for the price of working at his company for a year.”

“He truly thought you would like it there and change your mind about becoming the new head of the family business,” Seth shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

“Well, the only change in my mind was going from ‘I’m going to become CEO when Hell freezes over’ to ‘even if Hell becomes Jotunheim I’m still not going to let anyone make me the head honcho’,” I said dryly. “You can have this amazing position.” I patted my brother on the arm as I passed him.

“Gee, thanks sis for leaving me to the sharks,” Seth said sarcastically, but I knew he was pretty pleased with his place in the family game.

My lovers followed me inside the house, a thousand questions on their (mostly Chester’s) tongues.

“Did you have a high position in the company?” Elijah asked curiously.

“Were you the CEO?!” Chester gasped.

“Of course not, silly. I started as an intern, then spent a few months as a regular worker before my father started throwing more responsibility at me. By the end, I was managing a team of twenty people and I hated it.”

“Were you bad at it?” Rowan asked.

“I didn’t bankrupt the department and the people under me didn’t seem to hate me, but that’s all I achieved.”

“From what I have heard, the workers and other managers were of one mind when it came to the performance analysis,” Seth butted in.

“‘Great team player, disappointing leader’,” I quoted with a roll of my eyes. “I’m a great support, okay? I could help someone rule an empire, but that doesn’t mean I want to sit on the throne.”

“Gray eminence Lisa?” Rowan lifted a teasing brow.

“Alas, I will let Seth find someone else to be his puppet master.”

“Hey! I contain multitudes. I don’t need anyone to pull the strings behind the scenes because I will concoct my own schemes myself!”

“I’m sure telling everyone about your nefarious plans is a great way to become a master of intrigue,” a dry voice interjected, and I whipped my head around to see my father emerge from behind one of the doors.

We just stared at each other for a moment. The normally boisterous man looked unsure.

“Can I… get a hug?” he asked tentatively, and I was lunging forward before he even finished speaking.

It was my dad, after all.

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