One I was uncertain I would ever get again.
Because as she stroked my head and eased my stress, a stunning moment of clarity hit me. The solution to solve the problem.
But with it came the pain of leaving her, leaving everything behind me that I loved, to protect them from the shame of my past. At this point, it was all I could think to do. Jill would effectively destroy everything I held dear and hurt everyone I cared about. I couldn’t allow that to happen.
Dee moaned, and I hitched her leg higher, sinking deep within her warmth. We moved slow and deliberate. I rocked into her body, refusing to break our connection. She moved with me, as if we had done this for a thousand lifetimes, our bodies so in tune with each other, it was effortless.
My orgasm was a gradual build, growing and encompassing my entire being. It was intense, making me finally give up Dee’s mouth and bury my face into her neck as I came. My body shook with the strength of my release, and she sobbed my name as I moaned hers.
“Dee . . . my Dee,” I groaned.
We stilled, our bodies sated. I tugged her blanket up, tucking it around us, as we lay quiet in the aftermath of our passion.
“You called me Dee. You’ve never called me Dee when we’re together this way.”
I pressed a kiss to her head, hearing her unspoken question.
“Why?”
“Why did that feel like goodbye, Maddox?”
“No,” I lied, my voice steady. “I was showing you more of me. More of us.”
She burrowed close, her arms holding me tight. I held her equally hard, not wanting to give her up, to let our moment pass.
To become only a memory.
Except, I feared it would.
When she was asleep, I slipped out of bed and looked down at her. She made me feel love, to know it could exist for me, and I knew, even if I left, I would always love her. I would miss her for the rest of my life.
Because she was right.
Goodbye seemed inevitable.
Maddox
I WANDERED AROUND my condo, restless and uptight. The silence in the room was too loud, yet the stress inside me screamed.
Everything had been going too well. I should have known it. From the moment I saw Jill, heard her grating voice, I had felt the impending doom, and there seemed to be no way out.
Except, I had found one.
I could tell Jill what she wanted to hear to lull her into a false sense of security. At the same time, I would dissolve my partnership with BAM, leave the city, and let Bentley and Aiden carry on without me. The pictures would do her no good if she had nothing to take away from me. She would have already taken everything I held dear. I had enough money; I never had to worry about it, but I would lose the family I had created. The only real family I had ever known.
I would be forced to walk away from the only woman I’d ever loved. Would ever love. My chest ached at the thought of leaving her. Or never seeing her smile or hearing her voice. Being with her in those rare, unguarded moments we’d been having. The intimate, close seconds when her guard was down and I could see more growing in her eyes. More for me.
The thought of leaving them, and Dee, made me ill. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. All I could do was to think, my logical mind looking for a different solution and coming up empty.
The depth of the scandal could cause Bentley, and his company, irreparable damage. He had worked tirelessly to make BAM what it was today, and I couldn’t let my past destroy it. I would have to tell them the truth. Give them permission to distance themselves and the company from me in case Jill tried something stupid.
As for her, she could have her house. But that was all she would get—it would buy me some time. I would be long gone, and make sure she couldn’t find me.
I had already spoken privately with a lawyer on the steps I would need to take to sever my business relationship with Bentley and Aiden. To his credit, the lawyer didn’t even blink when I told him my reasons and gave me a lot of advice.
Now, I simply had to take the next steps. Those included severing my personal relationships, and that was going to kill me.
I yanked on my hair in frustration, staring out the window, lost in the swirling thoughts in my brain. My phone chimed again. It had been going off all weekend, but again I chose to ignore it. Ignore the texts and emails. The quiet knocks on the door.
I knew Aiden and Bent were checking on me. That Dee was confused and wanted to help. None of them believed my half-assed attempts to deflect them.
I wasn’t ready to see them. Face them. Say the words out loud.
Suddenly, the condo was too closed-in. I needed space to walk off those feelings. The bitterness was seeping in, taking hold, and I needed to clear my head. I grabbed a jacket from the closet and headed for the elevator. I walked aimlessly, my mind too occupied to take in my surroundings.
Eventually, I stopped, realizing I had walked past our office building and farther into the downtown core. Glancing at my watch, I was surprised to see I had been walking for over an hour. To my left was the Fairmont Hotel, and I decided to go inside and sit at the bar. Maybe a drink would help.
After tossing back a shot, I accepted another whiskey from the barman, made my way over to a corner table, and sat down facing the window. I nursed my drink, staring blindly at the people walking along the sidewalk, not paying attention to much else. I startled when a voice broke through my thoughts.
“You look like you need a friend.”
My head snapped up, and I met the steady gaze of Richard VanRyan.
“Richard,” I said, confused. “What are you doing here?”
He indicated the chair opposite me. “May I?”
“Of course.”
He sat down, setting his glass on the table. “I know I’m not due in the office until Tuesday, but another client wanted a meeting tomorrow so I flew in early. I came down for a scotch and saw you sitting in the corner.” He studied me as he sipped his drink. “Would you rather be alone?”
“No.” I waved my hand. “It’s fine.”
His hazel eyes were shrewd as he pursed his lips. “I’m not sure fine is the right word, Maddox. Pardon my bluntness, but you look like shit.”
I had to laugh. “No offense taken. I feel like shit.”
“Want to talk about it?”
I shut my eyes. “I wish I could, Richard, but with our relationship being what it is, it would be highly inappropriate.”
He chuckled. “My wife, Katy, would tell you I am the king of being inappropriate.” He reclined in his chair, relaxed. “I realize we’re about to work together, but it’s the weekend. I’m not on the clock, and as far as I’m concerned, we’re two guys having a drink on a Sunday afternoon. Blowing off steam.”
The offer was tempting. I wanted to talk, and given the decision I had come to, I technically wouldn’t be talking to a business associate. Lifting my glass, I downed the amber liquid.
“I’m leaving BAM.”
His eyes widened, and he lifted his glass, swallowing the contents. He stood, taking our glasses, returning a few minutes later with doubles for us both. He set my whiskey down in front of me, took a sip of his fresh scotch, then pulled his chair closer to the table.
“Talk to me.”
I scrubbed my face with my hand as I thought about what I could say. “Something has come up from my past. Something I never expected to surface, but it has.” I met his gaze. “The scandal would damage everything Bentley has worked for. The fallout would be enormous. Given the campaign we’re about to embark on, let’s just say, when this comes out, the entire ‘family first, home, you’ve found it,’ thing will blow up in our face.”
He pondered my words. “Does this past include some criminal activity?”
“No.”
“Did you hurt someone or something?”
“Not in the way you think, no.”
“So, it’s more . . . personal?” His voice drifted off as he posed the question.
; “Yes. Personal, and frankly, mortifying.”
“So, what, you’re going to give up your career, walk away from your friends, and leave your life, because of something you did in your past? Something you’re ashamed of?”
“It would embarrass the company. Stain the entire project. I’m going to advise Bentley to let me leave, then wait a few months before he begins the campaign to make sure I’ve been out of the picture long enough.”
“You haven’t spoken to Bentley or Aiden yet?”
“No. I’ve been giving the entire fucked-up situation a lot of thought.”
“What about your pretty lady? Dee? What does she think you should do?”
I lifted my glass, taking a long swallow. “I haven’t told her, either.”
Richard’s brow furrowed, and he sipped his scotch.
“You know, often decisions made on your own are the worst ones of all. We can never look at the problem objectively and tend to see only one side.”
I snorted into my glass. “There is only one side to this mess.”
“I doubt that.”
“No one else can make this decision.”
“Agreed. I know I don’t know you that well, Maddox, and Bentley and Aiden even less. But I see the strength of your friendship. The respect you have for each other. I think they’d want the chance to have their thoughts on your decision heard. In fact, I’m certain they would insist.”
“I can’t allow Bentley to risk the reputation of his company.”
“Don’t you think he should have a say in the matter?”
I sighed, unsure how to respond. “I can’t put him in the position to choose between our friendship and his company.”
Richard nodded, looking thoughtful. “You’re not in a rush to leave and go home, right?”
Thinking of how claustrophobic my condo had felt, I was in no hurry to return. “Nope.”
He stood. “Let’s go to my suite. I have a bottle of scotch, and we’ll have some privacy. I have a story to tell you.”
Confused, but intrigued, I followed.
Richard handed me a glass, settling into the chair opposite me in his suite. He pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolling through photos until he stopped at one screen. He smiled at the image, then handed me his phone. I studied the picture of the pretty woman with dark hair and blue eyes. Beside her was a toddler who looked a great deal like her, and she held a baby with eyes I recognized.
“Your family?” I asked.
“Yes. My wife Katy, our eldest daughter, Gracie, and our newest, Heather.” His grin was so wide his eyes crinkled. “Or as Gracie calls her—Hedda. Gracie’s lisp slays me every time.”
I handed him back the phone, noticing the way his finger traced over the picture and his smile appeared again before he slid his phone into his pocket.
“Before I met my wife, I was an asshole. A total, complete prick—or as many preferred to call me, ‘Dick.’” He raised his eyebrows. “I was egotistical, narcissistic, and frankly, a nasty bastard. Anything I wanted, I took. The place I worked was cutthroat, and I fit in well. I didn’t care what I had to do or who I had to step on to get what I wanted. I didn’t care about anyone or anything. My coworkers, the women I dated, anyone in my life, to be honest. Including my wife, who was my assistant at the time. I was especially cruel to her.” He exhaled hard. “In fact, I was so cruel I manipulated her to get what I wanted. I forced her to marry me to make myself look good.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Katy is astonishing. She draws people in with her warmth. I needed that warmth to make me look like a better person to get what I wanted.”
“Which was?”
He smirked, lifting one eyebrow. “My job with Graham.”
“Holy shit,” I muttered. “You two seem so close.”
“We are.” He sat back, sipping his scotch. “I’m not going to bore you with all the sordid details, but I changed after I married Katy. No one could be immune to her warmth—not even me. She changed me, and I fell in love with her for real. Luckily, she returned my feelings. But I couldn’t live with the lies I had built. I came clean with Graham and told him the truth. I expected to be fired—thrown out of the company that had helped to change me. But Graham and his wife forgave me and gave me a second chance. After everything I had done. The horrible excuse for a human being I had been, they still believed in me.”
He shrugged as if to say, “Can you believe that?”
He crossed his legs, swinging his foot. “So I think I understand what you’re going through. And I think you need to talk to your partners before you make such a drastic, life-altering decision.” He paused. “My scariest moment of truth turned out to be the best decision of my life. I would be lost without my girls. My family is everything to me. Graham and his family are part of that circle. It happened because I was honest and trusted someone I cared about enough to be truthful and allow them to help me. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.”
After a moment of silence, he chuckled dryly. “Tighter than a clam, aren’t you?”
“Pardon me?”
“I told you my story, Maddox. A handful of people know the truth about Katy and me and what happened. You could blab that to anyone or use it against me not to hire the firm. But I trust you enough to know you won’t. I think you can trust me in return.”
I huffed and drained my glass, setting it on the table. “I’m really not comfortable.”
“Don’t go into details if it’s easier. Give me the gist.”
“A woman—” I blew out a long breath "—from my past has some photos of me, of us, in a compromising position. They especially portray me in a very bad light. She is threatening to release them unless I pay her. Except, given what I know of her, it’s never going to end. She’ll want more. I can’t risk it.”
“Hmm. I assume these pictures are of a sexual nature?”
“Yes.”
He tugged on his hair, tapped his chin, and sipped his scotch.
“Was the sex consensual?”
“Yes,” I retorted. “Completely. In fact, it was her idea. I went along with it.” I shook my head. “I never should have agreed, but I was young, naïve, and stupid. I was high, drunk, and I lost control. I trusted her and I shouldn’t have.”
“What were you doing, Maddox?”
I heaved a sigh. “I was dominating her. Or trying to. I discovered quickly causing someone pain wasn’t my thing. I had no idea what I was doing and it went . . . badly.”
“Were you aware of the camera?”
“Fuck no.”
“Have you seen the pictures?”
“Yes. She gave me a set. She says she has more, plus backups.”
“What does she want?”
“A house and five hundred grand, for starters. Those are her words.”
He tapped his chin, deep in thought. “You think if she releases them, it will make a mockery of the image you’re trying to create for Ridge Towers?”
“I know it will. How can we push the family aspect when one of the partners is shown brandishing a whip with a tied-up woman? Not exactly the image Bentley was going for. And from the values Graham keeps, he won’t want to be associated with us either. Everyone loses unless I walk away.”
“But you lose.”
I lifted one shoulder. “My mistake, so I need to take the responsibility.”
“I disagree.”
I had no response.
A smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “We could appeal to a whole other crowd. Change up the campaign.”
I tried not to laugh. “It’s not funny.”
“Not right now. But it will be one day. At least I hope so, for your sake.” He leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs, earnest. “I think there’s another solution. Meet with Aiden and Bentley. Trust them and be honest. Give them the options. I think not only will they be on your side, they’ll help you fight.” He grinned. “You have your resident genius, plus the giant on your side. Don’
t discount the power of a very influential boss. I can only imagine what ammunition they will come up with to help. This woman is betting you’ll hand her the money quietly. If you fight back, she might back down. I’m not a lawyer, but she took the pictures without your consent and is now trying to use them to blackmail you. And she was a willing participant. That doesn’t look so good on her either.”
That gave me pause.
He grinned. “Let her do her worst. Call her bluff.” He shook my shoulder. “Talk to your friends, Maddox. Let them help. Don’t try to handle it on your own.”
“What about Graham?”
“I’ll talk to him if we have to. We’ll keep going forward until . . . well, until we have to stop. Which I don’t think we will.” He drew in a long breath. “And tell your lady. She deserves the truth. I think she’ll surprise you too.”
“You’re full of advice, aren’t you?” I chuckled, feeling lighter.
He sipped his scotch. “Well, Katy would tell you I’m still an asshole and express my opinion far too freely, but that’s beside the point. I like you, Maddox. I think our two companies will work well together for many years, and I hate to think of you not being part of that adventure.”
I stuck out my hand. “Thanks, Richard.”
He winked and shook my hand. “Part of the service.” He stood. “Now go and talk to them. I’m going to call my wife.”
I made my way to the elevator and pulled out my phone, texting Aiden and Bentley.
Can you come to the office? I need to talk to you. It’s important.
Their replies were swift.
On my way.
Be there soon.
I pushed the button going down, focusing on Richard’s advice.
Trust them.
I hoped my trust wasn’t misplaced.
Maddox
AIDEN AND BENTLEY arrived together, both looking confused. When they saw my face, their expressions turned to concerned. Immediately, they sat with me at our boardroom table, all in our usual spots. Bentley at the head of the table, Aiden to his right, and me to his left.
I wondered as I looked across the table if today would be the last time we sat that way.
Maddox ~ Melanie Moreland Page 13