Page 1 of Silas's Sweetheart

Prologue

Silas

The scent of sex as Silas’s dad entered the boardroom was very off-putting. He really didn’t want to think about his parents getting down and dirty at the office. Hell no. And after the shock of the bombshell his parents had dropped about retiring four hours earlier, Silas was already struggling to get his thoughts in order. Booker had come up with a speech and as he was the oldest, his six brothers had all volunteered him to deliver it. Shitheads! They always did this to him, pushed him forward.

He didn’t sigh, it was pointless.

Dad’s gaze swept the room and Silas saw the flash of resignation before he took his usual seat at the boardroom table. How would it be without him there?

Silas just couldn’t envision Dad not being there. Didn’t want to, when it meant that he was going to have to return to Hazardville permanently. The clutch in his belly came again at what that meant.

Dad had barely sat before Silas launched into the rehearsed speech. “Dad, this is an honor you and Popi are bestowing onus. We all see that. We are all grateful for the trust you’ve placed in us to continue the business. We don’t want to mess with the success of the business. You have always been the face of the company… a shifter… not divergents.”

Silas winced internally as he stuttered his way through the first bit, trying not to look at his father’s wolf. A shifter, Dad had bucked society’s expectations of mating with another shifter. When he’d met Popi, it had been love at first sight. His parents' love story was epic and had lasted four decades, despite his Popi being divergent. They had forged a fashion empire on acceptance of all. Silas was proud of his parents. Of their achievements, he just wanted them to continue with what they’d always done.

“I’m proud of every one of you. You are the face of this company and have been out there doing business for years and slaying it in a competitive market. If folks don’t like it, just to be clear, they can go fuck themselves. We don’t need those types of people associated with our business. Now is that all?”Dad asked.

A hot ball of tears gathered in the back of Silas’s throat and his eyes ached as his brothers grinned at Dad’s not so eloquent turn of phrase. The silence was deafening, and Silas didn’t have a response to how Dad wiped away any concern he had about Silas being the figurehead of the business. They all had to work together and if they couldn’t agree then Hollis Adice, head of the PAs, would step in and cast the deciding vote.

Silas didn’t voice aloud what he really thought about that decision and went on to the next point. “Okay… then, can we discuss the living arrangements? Although we understand you feel it might be best to run the business from Hazardville, it’s not our home any longer. We have homes and have settled down in cities elsewhere—”

Dad held up his hand, one silver brow arching as he tilted his head. “Settled down how?” His sharp gaze traveled across the room. “None of you have a partner to consider, do you?”

Jupiter, the most averse of them all to having a relationship of any kind beyond fucking, spluttered and reddened. “Partner…god no.”

He sounded as horrified as some of his brothers looked, as one by one they shook their heads in reply to Dad’s question. Silas shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but Dad kept his gaze on Taylin. They all knew Taylin had the hots for Hollis. “So you own properties you’ve invested in, yes? I’ve visited those places. None of you have more than a bed and possibly a table with chairs in them. Is that your interpretation of settling down?”

Silas easily caught on, sat forward, his hands bunched on the table in front of him, a wild fluttering in his chest making it hard to get his words out. “Is this about us not having boyfriends?”

Silas had not had a long-term boyfriend in several years and he had no intention of getting one to please his parents. Fuck that! Coming home was one thing…

Life was too crazy. He didn’t have the energy for it.

“No. I’m just assessing how coming back here to live affects y’all that you’d object to our wishes about that? It’s not a backward small town where nothing happens.” His expression softened. “Your Popi needs me here with him. His body is changing, aging, and those changes are hard for him to deal with when I’m not there for him. They are hard for me too,” Dad confessed, and there it was, the guilt. Guilt made it impossible for Silas to fight against what his parents needed. It was selfish when they’d given them all so much.

“Dad, why didn’t you say something?” Booker asked, his voice thicker than normal.

“I’m telling you now. I need you all to pull together for me and Popi. And having you all close will help with that too. He misses you all so much.”

Kodi gave a heartfelt sigh. “You brought out the big guns.”

Dad’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “It’s the truth. I need y’all to be in the same place to make this work and for the company to continue to expand and grow the way it is. The expansion has happened because of your commitment. The shared goal of inclusion. Our company policies have changed government policy and to continue that good work, there needs to be cohesive measures in place. Ones that don’t need to include me. And you were wrong earlier, you guys are the face of this company. So, can you do this for me? For your Popi?”

When Dad looked at him, there was the love that so many divergents had never experienced from their parents. “Yes, we can.”

A grin revealed the dimple he had on his left cheek when Silas glanced in Jupiter’s direction. To lighten the mood he said, tongue in cheek, “Although I’m not gonna be responsible for the complaints from the staff that don’t know Jupiter can’t keep his snake in his trousers.”

“Screw you! You’re just jealous ‘cause”—Jupiter glanced at Laken—“what was the name of the little beta who followed me around town when I was seventeen?”

“The pimply kid or the one who had the long bangs that covered his eyes and made him trip all the time?” Laken gave him a gleeful smirk, the asshole.

“The bangs!” Jupiter exclaimed.

“Ray… no scrap that, it was Reggie.”

“Stop encouraging him,” Silas snapped, a scowl forming over his flushed features. He hated to think about just how much of a sap he’d been over Reggie, a snake shifter. Silas had along time fascination with snakes, which had started when he’d seenReggie shift. Not that he’d tell his brothers that, except for Booker, who he shared everything with.

“You pined over Reggie for months and all he could see was my gorgeous self,” Jupiter preened, his eyes glowing with mischief.

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