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“A babe?You got him pregnant?!”his papa asked.
“I did,” Wilder said, smirking with pride. “I’m surprised you hadn’t heard the news already. They brought it out in court yesterday.”
Wynter frowned. “Do you have any idea what people are going to say about this? We’ll be a laughingstock. All because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants. I’d expect this from Vaughn. Not from you.”
“Thanks,”Vaughn drawled, rolling his eyes.
“I don’t care what people think!” Wilder roared. “He’s my omega!Mine!I don’t care about agreements and protecting assets… and if he had a hundred omega relatives for me to take care of, I would, because that’s what we do with family.”
“You barely know this male!”
Wilder lifted his chin. “What Idoknow makes me proud he’s mine.”
“You’re as bad as Jamie,” his papa moaned. “No thought for anyone but yourself.”
“Well, if we’re alike, it’s because he was more a papa to me than you ever were,” Wilder snarled.
His papa’s eyes widened, a sheen of tears within.Alligator tears, more than likely.
“Enough!” his father roared. “That’s it. You’re out!” He spun to look at Vaughn. “Now’s your chance, my boy. You’ve coveted the CEO spot for a long time. It’s yours.”
Wilder was ready to walk… but the time and attention he’d poured into the family business gave him pause. He’d fought his way to that chair and wasn’t willing to give it up simply. Mind racing, he awaited his brother’s reaction.
Vaughn was uncustomarily quiet. He looked between all three of them before finally turning to their father. “First of all, you’ll need to convene the board if you want to fire him. You don’t have the power to do so yourself.”
“Easy enough,” their father replied. “I’ve got enough board members ready to oust him right now.”
Vaughn sat silently for a few seconds. “If you fire Wilder, I’ll quit.”
Wilder eyed his brother, stunned. He opened his mouth to argue, but Vaughn gave him a look that shut him up.
“You’d quit… and leave the very place you’ve begged me to let you lead?” Warden bellowed.
Wilder was equally stunned by that comment.
Vaughn rose from his seat and glared at their father. “You speak of family, yet you’re so ready to turn your back on yours the first moment it becomes inconvenient. When we need you the most. Look at what Jamie went through because of the two of you. Now, once more, one of your children needs your support and all you can do is complain about how difficult it is.For you. Have you once asked Wilder what toll this is taking on him?”
“How dare you,” Wynter seethed.
“You’ve lost one son. Want to lose two more?” Vaughn asked, lifting a brow. “Go ahead and fire him. Trust me, together we’ll build another business to rival this one and ruin J&A along the way.”
“With which clients? I’ve been getting phone calls from them, too. They’re pissed about what your brother is doing. You won’t have anything to build from.”
“We’ve also gotten messages of support,” Vaughn said, eyeing his brother. “There are alphas and betas sympathetic to this cause.”
“I’m sure they’re outnumbered by those against,” their father remarked.
Vaughn shook his head. “A dying breed of old men who can’t see that progress needs to happen. They’re afraid they’ll lose power, so they’re clutching at what they possess, terrified to let go. So, be afraid, father. In time, it’s all coming down around you.”
Vaughn walked out, leaving Wilder alone with his parents.
Wilder watched their shock settling in, his own causing his silence.
“I won’t make this easy on you. If you want me out, convene the board.” He smiled, malice in the expression. “But who’s going to run things?”
“I have no problem stepping back behind that chair,” Warden growled.
“Of course… if that’s what you want.” He rose from the executive chair, realizing there was nothing there that was his personally. Nothing. He had no life outside that office… and none within it, either. He laughed to himself, shaking his head. “You’ve spent years gallivanting across the Palatinate and abroad. Do you know what we’ve been doing in your absence?”
