Forbidden Grumpy Boss (Damaged Daddies #2)

36. Silas

Chapter thirty-six

Silas

My legs feel like lead, but I keep running, faster, harder, as if I can outpace the mess with Leah. I glance up at the photo of Ezra on the wall, his easy smile watching me from years ago. If he were here, he’d tell me to pull my head out of my ass. Instead, I’m here on this treadmill, trying to trade one addiction for another, as if punishing my body could somehow fix the emptiness in my chest.

It hasn’t worked over the last hour.

The doorbell rings, pulling me out of my haze. I slow the treadmill, panting, and call out, “Caleb!” I wait, listening for the telltale shuffle of teenage footsteps or maybe a sarcastic “I got it!” But nothing. I glance at my phone—no notice from anyone that they’d be showing up.

Who the hell is it?

I sigh, grabbing a towel and wiping my neck as I leave the in-house gym for the door. When I open it, the last person I expect to see is Harvey.

He stands there, looking as out of place as a wolf in a nursery, his eyes flicking over me. He looks a little worn around the edges, like he hasn’t been sleeping well. I’m sure I look the same. He still carries himself with that arrogant tilt, but there’s something about his expression I can’t quite pin down.

“What do you want, Harvey?” I lean against the door frame, holding his gaze, refusing to let him just walk in. “You got what you wanted, yeah? Leah’s out of my life. You won, so what’s the point of this? You here to gloat?”

Harvey’s mouth twitches. He looks past me, scanning the house like he’s taking inventory. “Easy, man,” he mutters. “Looks like you’ve been keeping busy. You’re all sweaty and shit.”

I don’t respond, watching as he strides past me, brushing my shoulder as he heads straight to the bar. He pours himself a drink, then raises an eyebrow, offering. “Want one?”

“What I want is for you to say your piece and get out.”

He shrugs, lifting his glass and draining it in one smooth motion. When he sets it down, he looks at me, his expression softened but laced with something else— is that regret ? “I was wrong.”

A beat of silence. Did I hear him right? “What did you say?”

He clears his throat, slower this time. “I said I was wrong. About a lot of things.”

I cross my arms, feeling the cramps in my elbows. “And what exactly were you wrong about, Harvey?”

He pours another drink, eyes fixed on the amber liquid as it swirls in the glass. “About thinking I knew what was best for Leah.”

My patience snaps. “You didn’t have to do anything. Leah made her choice. That was it.” But my voice lacks the conviction I want it to have. Harvey’s words poke at a part of my brain I’ve been trying to ignore.

What did Harvey do?

He leans against the bar, looking at me with something close to pity. “She didn’t make any choice, Silas. She left because she thought you did.”

The words sink like stones. “What?”

Harvey sets down his glass, his hand flexing and clenching as if grappling with something beyond his control. “She thought you were choosing your business over her.”

“I’d never do that.”

“Yeah.”

“But she believed that because you’re a lying piece of shit who wanted to control her.”

My mind spins, racing back to that night—the accusations, the bitterness in her voice, the way she’d looked at me with so much hurt.

Harvey shifts, guilt flickering across his face. “I convinced her that you’d made your choice. It was easy. I know my daughter, and I know when she’s in doubt. All I had to do was push the right buttons, and I knew it’d all come crumbling down.”

Rage flares inside me, a primal, sharp burn. “You made her think I’d just walk away.”

“She’s my daughter, Silas. I thought I was protecting her.”

“Protecting her?” My fists clench. “I wasn’t hurting her! I loved her! You lied to me that she took the goddamn deal you offered. You manipulated her into leaving. You took something you had no right to.”

He holds up a hand, and it sways a little. He’s always been a lightweight. “I didn’t see it then. I thought I was keeping her from heartache. From following someone who couldn’t give her what she deserved.”

“That’s rich coming from you, the father who wasn’t a dad.”

“Screw you!”

“And you still think that?” I take a step toward him, heart pounding, chest tight.

“Think what?”

“That I can’t give her what he deserves.”

Harvey’s jaw clenches, but his eyes soften. “Yes, I still do.”

“Then why the fuck are you here, Harvey?”

Silence.

My brain feels like it’s struggling to make sense of this revelation, the anger mixed with something like despair. “So, what?” I spit, barely holding back my rage. “Why now? What’s changed?”

For the first time, Harvey’s shoulders droop, the arrogance peeling away to reveal a man weighed down by his own choices. He downs the last of his drink, setting the glass down with a soft thud. He clears his throat, avoiding my gaze. “I don’t want her to go through this alone. If she’s not going to let me be there for her, at least she’ll let you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s pregnant, Silas. Leah’s carrying your child.”

My knees go weak, and I stumble back, bracing myself against the wall. Leah . . . pregnant? She hadn’t told me. Hadn’t said a word.

“W-what did you just say?”

“I just found out, too.”

Harvey nods, watching me, letting the silence stretch between us. I struggle to breathe, my mind whirling. Caleb’s going to have a sibling. Leah’s carrying my child, and she thought I’d left her behind, that I chose a deal over her.

It’s more than I can process.

“I’ll take that drink now,” I mutter, barely above a whisper.

Harvey pours, sliding the glass toward me. I grip it, feeling the cool burn slide down my throat, doing nothing to dull the raw, sharp ache inside me. We stand in silence, two former friends, now anything but , each with our own regrets.

Harvey finishes his drink, setting the glass down with a firm clink, then steps closer, his face a mask of hardened resolve. “I give you my blessing, Silas.”

“I don’t need your blessing.”

“I give it to you regardless.” He holds my gaze. “If you hurt her, Silas.” He leans in, his voice low, deadly. “I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”

I scoff, meeting his gaze, the old fire flaring back. “Is that a threat?”

“It’s a promise.”

He leaves me in the wake of this knowledge, this truth that changes everything. For the first time in years, I don’t have the answer. My world has flipped, and Leah—Leah is all that matters.

***

I head into the office, my head still spinning, the new weight of reality hanging heavy on my shoulders. My new PA, Hailey, greets me, her crisp blouse and efficient smile in place. She’s competent, no doubt, and she reminds me of Leah in that way, only with sharper edges and a no-nonsense attitude that lacks Leah’s warmth.

“Mr. Waverly, how can I assist you today?”

“You know Leah?”

Her eyes dart to the corner like she’s looking for help. “You mean your ex—”

“Yeah.”

“I might’ve googled her, sir.”

“Good,” I say, barely looking up. “Do a deep dive on Insta, Twitter, or whatever you guys use and get me Leah’s friend, Penny, on the phone.”

She hesitates, eyebrows raised. “I—I thought things were over between you and Leah, sir.”

I look up sharply, seeing her startled expression. “Just get her on the phone, Hailey.”

She nods, flustered, and quickly heads out. Less than thirty minutes later, Hailey connected a call to my line.

I pick up a little too quickly.

“Is it true I just won myself a new MacBook? Oh my God! I didn’t even apply! Wait till Leah hears about—”

“I’m sorry, Penny, but that was just a ruse to get you on the line.”

She stops, and I can almost imagine her frowning. “Who’s this?”

“It’s Silas Waverly.”

“What the hell do you want, Silas?” Her tone is sharp and defensive. I’m the last person she expected to hear from, I’m sure.

I clear my throat, forcing myself to keep steady. “Penny, I know you’re probably the last person who wants to hear from me, but I need your help.”

A scoff. “With what?”

There’s a stunned silence on the other end of the line, and I wait. This is it—the moment everything hangs on.

“I need to win her heart back.”