Semua Bab Sins of the Family: Falling for my Step-Uncle: Bab 161 - Bab 167

As I entered the office, I found Sylas at his desk, brooding over some papers in front of him. He looked tired. Run-down even. Enough that I paused for a second. I’d never seen him like this. Not even this morning when I knew he wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the aftermath, despite his assurances. My heart ached as I realized I hadn’t really done much to take care of him through this.In fact, I’d been a little distant, considering.When he was first released, we let ourselves get distracted by the heat and passion that was always there between us. Somewhere under the surface whenever we were close. But when we came back to the real world, something seemed off. I felt like he wasn’t being honest with me about the seriousness of the situation.Then he left to work last night, which had taken me completely by surprise. It felt like he was avoiding me. That, of course, stirred my insecurities. When the hour stretched into several, I’d started to think he was rethinking our engagem

I started to panic as we got closer to the conference room. I was terrified they would know what we’d just done in his office. Sylas and I knew what happened only showed how strong our relationship was, but I knew the people in that conference room would take the wrong way entirely. How could they not?I shook off the thoughts. How could they know? It would be fine. Everything would be fine.I took the seat at the end of the table. Feeling every eye in the room on me. Sylas moved to stand against the wall. Giving the board members enough space to feel they could converse but still making sure they knew he was there and he would have a say.Holding my head high, I looked around at each of the familiar faces. For the most part, I had only met them the one time at dinner when Sylas announced he would accept the EPA contract. Rick was there, of course. He gave me a supportive smile and nod. But he was the only one that didn’t have me worried. Especially once I saw the smug look on Bella’s

Christina and I laughed as we sat on the back porch and drank cocktails. It was a hot evening but I didn’t care. I wanted to admire the work that I had put in over the past two days already. I had genuinely been disappointed when the board fired me. Especially since I knew how much it meant to Sylas to have me working with him. But after a day or so, my disappointment faded. There just seemed to be so much else I could be doing.“So, where is Darla?” I asked. “What is this job you said she was working on that she couldn’t step away to come over tonight?”“Oh, yeah, well, it’s not a design job, actually,” Christina said. “She’s dancing tonight.”“Dancing? What? I thought she didn’t need to go back to stripping?” I asked.“She doesn’t,” Chris said with a shrug. “She said she missed the workout. Apparently, I do too good a job taking care of her. She’s gained five pounds and she thinks she’s letting herself go. It’s ridiculous.”“She could just join a gym,” I replied with a laugh.“But wh