Page 58 of Silas's Sweetheart

“Yeah? Was it bad?” Bowie questioned.

“To be honest, it was my first proper heat,” Frey confessed. “I was taking blockers.”

“You mean you ain’t had a heat before this one?” Bowie’s shock and confusion were plainly evident.

“It’s a long story. Maybe we could do the park this weekend and I can explain it properly?”

“I want to, but I kinda got plans this weekend.” Bowie chewed on his lower lip.

Frey patted Bowie’s arm. “It’s fine. We can do it another weekend.”

“We can?”

The smile was back at Frey’s nod. “Of course, just let me know when you’ve got a free day at the weekend, and we can plan something.” Frey glanced back at Ziggy, the look on his face making it clear their conversation was far from finished.

A moment later, he was gone, and Ziggy was alone with Bowie. Ziggy watched him closely. Had he heard what they’d been talking about?

“Ziggy…”

He met Bowie’s gaze. “Yes?”

“You said we were family.”

“We are?” Ziggy answered with trepidation.

“Then believe me when I say friends don’t judge each other, not real ones. If you wanna share… I’m a good listener too.” Bowie came to him and kissed his cheek and then walked out, leaving Ziggy staring out the window, tears rolling down his cheeks at just how lucky he’d gotten—in some areas of his life.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Silas

In the boardroom, Booker had taken the seat next to him, their dark heads together, discussing the new pieces for the Milan fashion show. Two seats down, Wilder sat tapping away at his laptop as they waited for Frey to start the meeting. Silas wasn’t sure who had baby duties right then. Did Ziggy have Emmy with him?

He’d caught sight of him carrying the cutie down the hallway, singing to her. The sight was enough to give him an aching jaw from grinding his teeth. A fierce longing that came from nowhere to have what Booker had with Frey.

When Frey rushed into the room and sat down next to Wilder, who glanced up, asking, “Have you got the information printed out I asked for?”

Silas glared at the pair.

Frey nodded, taking the file he held and offering it over to Wilder. “I did. I added my comments about the logistics of getting all the merchandise to the shopping malls. The companywe use for transport has upped their costs by 5% so I took the liberty of looking at other options.”

“When did they change the costs?” Silas questioned angrily. After all the debacle with Dore’s, they needed no more issues with the local haulers. Rue was still pissy over the whole thing.

Booker scowled at him, and Silas ignored it.

“I sent you an updated email about it last week,” Frey replied, keeping his tone light and non-accusatory.

Did it make a difference? Silas reached for his iPad and tapped at the screen, his anger directed at himself when he’d missed what he could see in his inbox.

“So you did,” he gritted out.

“Apologize to Frey,” Booker growled, eyes flashing with temper.

“He doesn’t need to apologize,” Frey quickly interjected.

Booker shook his head, glaring at Silas. “He does, he was being pissy with you for no reason.”

A surge of embarrassment heated Silas’s neck and cheeks as he aimed a killer look at Booker. “Why? When you two are the reason I missed it. You stunk up the house, making it impossible to concentrate on anything,” Silas accused, gathering a head of steam when Booker got to have that time with Frey but he had missed out with Ziggy. “And let's not even talk about the noises,” he added snippily.

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