Not until now.
“Syl, I didn’t mean it like that…” He looks away, and my alpha immediately settles.
When his gaze meets mine again, both our postures relax.
“You know we don’t have staff to cover the salon. And I need you on systems, not split across two problems. If all three of you decide to spend your time there, like today, I’m left running Nexus alone. We have clients. Contracts. Our business can’t just stop.” He pauses as he looks over to the twins, then back to me. “I’m not saying don’t pursue her, just don’t do it at the expense of everything else.”
“I wouldn’t put our business at risk,” I say, frowning that he’d ever suggest such a thing.
He’s never doubted me before. Why would he now?
He sighs long and hard, then shakes his head. “I know, Sylvan. I’m just concerned. This is very… sudden. New. You’ve only just met.”
Luciano scoffs, then mutters under his breath, “Just wait till you meet her.”
My brows unpinch. “Yes. As pack alpha, you should meet her. You could come with me tomorrow—”
“Fix her systems first,” Kaiden directs, cutting my words short.
I nod again. “Fine.”
I’ve always been good at multitasking and solving problems others give up on. I’m persistent. More so when it matters.
“Tomorrow, the three of you can go to Nexus,” I say, turning back to study my screens. “I’ll go to the salon, fix this, and find a solution to the staffing issue.”
“Wow, kinda making us feel like spare parts, Syl…” Luc murmurs.
I think he’s trying to make a joke, but it’s not funny. They’re not spare parts; they’re all important to this pack. It wouldn’t work without each of them.
I wouldn’t work.
“You’re not spare parts. But I made the problem; I need to fix it.” Before I sit back down, I feel the need to add, “And I won’t mess this up.”
They don’t respond. It seems the conversation is over, and I take that as my cue to continue.
The tightness in my chest still lingers, but I work through it.
I need to fix this.
Revea
What does a strong, independent businesswoman do when her software infrastructure has been completely slated?
She cries in her car.
After Sylvan’sinadequatefeedback yesterday, I told Margret I wasn’t feeling well, which was so unlike me that she didn’t even question it. She told me not to worry and that she’d close up shop.
Then I cried in my car, and there was no way I could go back in after practically bolting.
Which meant I had the rest of the day and evening to do what I do best.
Obsess, fixate, and research.
My systems areinadequate?
Fine. I’ll become an expert in all things IT.
And I never stopped.
