Chapter Eighteen
Adryan
‘Have you heard about the party the owners of the factory are throwing?’ Abigail asked as she helped Ry check inventory in the ambulance.
‘I have.’
‘And? Are you going?’
Pursing his lips, Adryan shrugged. ‘Not sure yet.’ He knew what they would be announcing, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in the room when that happened. He didn’t want to see all the devastated faces knowing they had failed to keep the factory open.
‘I think you should. You and Mark worked hard to arrange the meeting and Madden as well. Where is he? Has he been allowed back home?’
‘Yeah, Madden went back to the big city.’ And left him behind, but what had he really expected. Here he was, in Troham, a place Madden had sworn he’d never return to when he’d originally left.
‘When is he coming back? Or is that it?’ Abigail stopped working and put her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed as she watched Adryan. ‘Did something happen between you?’
‘Why would you think that? I’ve known Maddy all my life. He came and he stayed because he had to and now he’s gone back home. The place where he belongs.’ Even Adryan winced when he heard the bitterness in his voice.
‘Ry. What happened?’
‘More than I expected, but less than I’d hoped.
Let’s leave it at that.’ Adryan shut the ambulance doors and walked to the front passenger side.
Abigail climbed in the front and pulled out of the bay they’d parked in.
‘We’ve had a fall come through from the retirement home.
Male, eighty. Tripped and fell. Appears fine but they want us to check him over. ’
‘We’ll be there in ten.’ Abigail cleared her throat then asked, ‘You and Maddy.’
‘Don’t go there. It’s done. We only have this party then we’ll have to move on and figure something out.’ He heard the small gasp and realized he’d said too much.
‘We’ve lost the factory.’
Sighing heavily, Adryan nodded. ‘Maddy suspects so, but he didn’t say for certain.’
‘Business is his thing so if he thinks that…’ Abigail hit the steering wheel. ‘Shit.’
‘We’ll figure something out. And Abigail? Don’t say a word. Maddy could be wrong.’
‘But you’re not so sure he is.’
‘I don’t know. I hope he is, but it’s Madden Price. He knows how this works.’ Abigail went to say something, but Adryan beat her to it. ‘I don’t want to talk about it. Just let it go for now.’
Abigail glanced at him then nodded. ‘Fine but we’ll talk later.’
The rest of their shift went quickly and before he knew it Adryan was on his way home and avoiding the delayed conversation with Abigail.
He wasn’t ready to discuss the situation with her.
The factory or Maddy. He hadn’t heard from Maddy since their phone call where he had admitted Michael knew they’d slept together.
He hadn’t seen Michael since, but Shane had told him when he’d last spoken to him, Michael had been in a fight and appeared to have lost.
By the time he arrived home, Adryan was ready to get drunk then crawl into bed.
Grabbing his first of many beers, Adryan took a large mouthful then glared at his phone when it rang.
Seeing Michael’s name made him pause before answering it.
He didn’t want a fight and when it came to Michael there was always a chance one would happen.
‘Michael.’
‘You are coming to the party?’
‘Not planning on going. Why? Are you?’
‘You need to be there.’
‘Why? I’ve done my bit.’
‘Ry. It’s really important that you go and get dressed up too. You should have a suit. I think you wore one at my wedding. Not sure it’ll fit now you’ve gotten fat but try it on.’
Adryan gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Fucking Michael. ‘I haven’t worn a suit since Susan was stupid enough to say yes to you.’ Opening his eyes, he stared at the bottle in his hand and decided he didn’t have enough in his fridge to help him through this conversation. ‘I’m not going.’
‘Yeah, you are. You don’t want to miss out on what’s going to happen. Trust me.’
Adryan arched an eyebrow at the ‘trust me’ part. ‘Trust you? What do you know, Mike?’
‘I know after everything you and Mark have done to keep the factory open you should be there to hear what they have to say. You don’t want to miss out, Ry. You’ll regret it if you do.’
Adryan actually pulled his phone away from his ear and checked the caller ID because there was no way in hell Mike was telling him he had to go and trying to convince him to do it. Something was going on and he needed to know what. ‘What’s happening?’
‘We’re going to find out the future of the factory. You know the big building that employs hundreds of Troham residents? The one that you and Mark have been trying to keep open? You need to be there. People will be disappointed if you don’t show your ugly face.’
And Mike was back. ‘Thanks. I’m sure lots of people are just dying to see my ugly face. Or maybe I should spare them the horror and stay away.’
‘No can do! You need to be there. You want to hear what the owners have to say.’
‘What is it you know, Mike? Or you think you know?’ Adryan heard the chuckle down the phone and was tempted to check again who he was talking to. ‘Have you been drinking?’
‘No, I haven’t. Tell me you’ll be there, Ry.’
Shrugging even though Mike couldn’t see, Adryan muttered, ‘Sure. Whatever. I’ll be there.’
‘Thanks, Ad—’ Adryan hung up and dropped his phone on the sofa then finished his beer and grabbed a second from the fridge.
Something was going on and so he would go and find out what it was.
If Mike wanted him there then that’s where he’d be but he wasn’t going to stick around for the inevitable fallout when they all learned the factory was closing.
???
Turning up at the Troham Town Hall, Adryan stared at the building then walked inside.
Almost immediately Mark spotted him and beckoned him over.
Plastering a smile on his face, Adryan met Mark and Julianne.
‘I’m nervous,’ Mark admitted. ‘I hope we did enough to convince them to keep the factory open.’
‘We did the best we could. If they can’t see how hard we work, then they don’t deserve us.
Don’t worry, Dad. We did great.’ Oh, it sucked to say the words, but he didn’t want his dad to be worrying.
They had done everything they could and now it was out of their hands, but Adryan knew.
He knew because of Maddy, who was nowhere to be seen.
Of course he wouldn’t be there. Why would he?
What did Troham have to offer him? Adryan certainly wasn’t enough, and he wanted to be.
He missed Maddy. Missed seeing the fire in his eyes when they disagreed or when they were having sex.
The way his eyes darkened with anger or arousal.
Adryan had gotten his chance and had blown it.
He made small talk until a hush filled the air and the owners walked out on stage. Sighing softly, Adryan tuned them out but knew their decision by the gasps and ‘oh no’s’ that filled the hall.
‘However, one door closes and another opens. Madden Price has something to say.’
That got Adryan’s attention and he watched as Madden strode onto the stage like he owned it. His dark blue suit looked more expensive than Adryan’s apartment, and his arm was in a cast. A cast? Last time Adryan had seen Madden the cast had been replaced. Why was he wearing a new cast?
‘Morning. I’ll cut to the chase. The factory was never going to remain open in its current condition, so I bought it.
’ Adryan’s mouth fell open in shock. ‘I need a paper mill for my expanding business, so I purchased this one. A new contract will be signed with my company to manufacture my own products for a new line we’re launching.
If successful, you’ll be employed for many years to come, and I know it will be successful. ’
Madden carried on talking about the future of the factory and how he was hoping to expand at some point if sales went the way his team had projected them to.
Adryan barely took any of it in. He was too busy staring at Maddy and realizing that somewhere along the way he’d fallen in love with him. He was in love with Madden.
When the hell had that happened? Adryan ran a hand over his face, his eyes glued to Maddy as he walked around the stage, telling everyone his plans.
A quick glance around the hall showed Adryan that people were enraptured by him.
Then he saw Mike standing with Susan and what appeared to be a bottle of water in his hand.
Adryan made his way over to him, being careful not to disturb people and when Mike saw him, he grinned. ‘Glad you came?’
‘How did you know?’
‘Me and Maddy had a little chat.’ He used the bottle to point to his eye. ‘Forgot he did all that boxing and martial arts shit, but he did punch some sense into me.’
‘Is that water?’
‘Yep.’ Mike took a sip and winced. ‘Still getting used to it.’
Mike wasn’t drinking which meant… ‘There’s alcohol here. Will you be okay?’
‘Honestly? Not right now but I told Maddy I’d be here. Once he’s done, I’m leaving. Too much temptation and I need to make changes in my life.’ Mike looked at Susan who smiled at him.
‘I’m glad you are. I kinda missed the old Mike.’
Looking up at Adryan, Mike nodded. ‘Might take a while yet, but I plan to get there.’
‘If you need me or Shane at any time—’
‘I know and thanks.’ Mike looked back to the stage. ‘He’s finished now. You need to stick around so he can talk to you.’
‘Why me? We don’t have anything to say.’ He wished they did but Adrian knew he’d burnt that bridge.
‘Too late. Here he is now.’ Mike grinned and slapped Madden on the back who winced as he staggered a step forward. ‘Good speech.’
‘I think I prefer drunk you.’ Mike frowned but Madden added, ‘Thank you. I was slightly nervous about how it would go over. Hello Susan. How are you and the kids?’
‘We’re good, Maddy. Will you be coming over before you need to leave? The kids would love to see you.’
‘I can’t make any promises. I have a lot to arrange but I’ll be back more often, so I’ll have plenty of time to spend with them.’
‘Is this what you want?’ Adryan asked.
‘Ad, shut up. He’s here, isn’t he? Don’t go making him change his mind now.’
‘Mike. Give us a minute. I’ll see if I can come over tomorrow, Susan, but I might not be able to stay long.’
‘Even five minutes will make them happy. All they do is talk about their Uncle Madden.’
Mike pulled Susan away and Adryan looked anywhere except Madden because if he thought Madden had looked good on stage it was nothing to how good he looked up close. And he knew how gorgeous Madden looked naked. All muscle and warm soft skin and he coughed as he fidgeted on the spot.
‘How are you?’
Adryan glanced at Madden then shrugged. ‘Okay. You?’
‘I’d like to talk to you. Can we go outside, away from everyone?’
‘Sure.’ Adryan shrugged again and led Madden outside. Once there, he walked over to where he’d parked. He didn’t anticipate the conversation lasting long.
Madden watched him for a few seconds, sighed then murmured, ‘I’ve missed you.’
Adryan nodded, licked his lips and mumbled, ‘Me too.’
‘I want to make this work. Us.’
Adryan stared at him, not quite understanding what Madden had said even though he understood every word. ‘Us? We’re different.’
‘Not that different. I won’t be able to stay here a lot at first. I have too much going on in the city to move here right now so we’ll—’
‘What? You’re moving here?’
‘I’ll need a place here and I want that place with you. I won’t be here all the time. More like seventy-thirty or maybe sixty-forty. I haven’t gone over it all yet. All I know is I want you in my life. I’ve missed not having you with me even if it’s you telling me off for not looking after my arm.’
‘We can be friends if that’s what you want.’ And Adryan hoped it wasn’t because Madden wasn’t looking at him like he wanted a friend. He looked like he wanted Adryan the same way Adryan wanted him.
‘I hadn’t expected anything to happen between us, but I’m glad it did, and I want to see where we go from here.
I messed up with us. I should have known the money wasn’t something you wanted nor all the flashy things it can buy.
You prefer simpler things and being with you made me realize that I do too.
Sure, the helicopter and penthouse are nice, and I do enjoy them but sitting at home with you, watching movies together, is better than that. ’
‘Madden.’ Adryan rubbed a hand over his face. ‘I should tell you—’
‘I want another chance. Ad—’
‘I love you.’
Madden’s mouth fell open then shut then opened again. ‘Huh?’
‘Madden. A man who knows more words than all of his friends says ‘huh’?’
‘I’m…what?’
Adryan chuckled then laughed. Here he was admitting how he felt and Maddy was stuck on what to say.
‘It’s not funny. I was prepared to win you over by showing how much I wanted us to be together. Tell you about moving here and all the things we could do together and then you spring ‘I love you’ and I love you too.’ Madden stopped talking then hummed softly. ‘I love you too,’ he murmured.
‘We should take this elsewhere and why did you have a fight with Mike?’
Maddy shook his head. ‘Let’s go somewhere else, Ry. We can talk about Mike later. Much later.’