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“Like when I wouldn’t let you put his name down for Harrow?”
“That discussion is not over.” Ben smirked. “But let’s not forget when I refused to let you name him Raphael. Or Ezio.”
“Your anti-Italian sentiment is showing,” he teased.
“You know I am very sentimental about certain Italian-descended Essex men, but the next Earl of Crofton was not going to be named after a ninja turtle or a character from one of the computer games you play.”
“Philistine.”
“I’ve been called worse. And you’re the one who vetoed Edmund.”
“For good reasons: Blackadder and the git from the Narnia books. I also scuppered Arthur, Theobald and Terence.”
Ben chuckled. “Perhaps it was for the best.”
He’d not been serious with some of his baby name suggestions but it had been fun to rile Ben, who he knew would insist on a traditional name. “At least we could both agree on David.”
Ben nuzzled into his neck and Ashley felt so happy. Tonight was about reconnecting, being more than Davy’s daddy, and finding time for themselves. At some point, he’d demand a glass of champagne and some room service but for now, he was content to cling tighter to Ben and lie listening to the steady beating of his heart.
CHAPTER14
Alex scrolled in horror through the emails in the inbox Dorian had sent him the access and login details to. He’d thought Ben’s was bad but it was nothing compared to the shitstorm of Dorian’s unread emails. To be fair to Dorian before he’d come out, he’d been well-organised and had replied to all relevant messages in an acceptable timeframe. All that had stopped three weeks ago, and now there were people screaming at him from every possible source.
At least the first task of getting him added as primary contact to Dorian’s various platforms had been completed, and after a lovely chat with Jarret the IT guy, he was now confident he had a handle on what Dorian’s communication team used to do. That he’d stood them down by email had caused over a hundred emails on its own, with all sorts of meaningless threats as Dorian didn’t appear to have stopped paying them and would see out the contract though they weren’t required to work on his behalf any longer. They’d need a new team, there was no way he would have the capacity to pick up what they did, but at least he knew what he was up against.
He thought he’d done well by arranging Dorian an appointment with his solicitor, who had been difficult about coming to Crofton Hall until Alex had made it clear that there were plenty of other legal professionals around and Dorian was free to choose a new one if dissatisfied with their service. Now someone senior was coming and Alex had prepared a long list for Dorian to discuss with them—Dorian needed to get his head out of the sand before something happened Alex couldn’t fix.
Just like he had done for Ben, Alex reorganised the emails into new folders and colour-coded them by topic. Two hours later, he had a list of immediate actions, and a plan for Dorian to work through, along with a brewing headache.
He fished out a couple of paracetamols from his stash of emergency medicine he kept in his desk drawer and used the remains of his cold coffee to wash them down. Today was meant to be easy. He’d blasted through Ben’s needs by lunch, checked in with the Archive Dragons, who were bickering about the outcome of a civil war battle, which he’d decided not to intervene in, so thought he could apply a light touch to a few things for Dorian. Boy, had he been wrong. Worse was, in theory, it wasn’t his problem, but he couldn’t sit back and do nothing now he knew what needed to be done.
First things first, he would reclaim a little bit of mental calm and so he ran through a ten-minute guided meditation practise using an app on his phone. Much restored and with the headache kept at bay, he sent Dorian a text saying he needed to speak to him.
He got on with a few other tasks, not expecting an immediate response, and was halfway through redesigning an expense form for the weddings coordinator when Dorian arrived, backing into his office, again without knocking.
The chastisement died on his lips as Dorian turned and Alex saw he was carrying a tray with coffee and cake for two. “I thought you might like a little pick-me-up. Mrs Weather said you were particularly fond of her lemon drizzle.”
“Thank you. That’s very thoughtful of you.”
Dorian grinned and Alex felt a spark in his breastbone that had little to do with his love of cake.
“I am capable of it, on the rare occasion.” Dorian set the tray down and handed Alex a coffee. “I’m sort of hoping it’s not apology cake since you texted about wanting to see me.”
Alex slid the list he’d prepared across the desk. “You don’t need to apologise to me for anything. I’ve spent the last couple of hours delving through your unopened emails and there’s a few things you need to sort out as soon as possible.”
Dorian picked up the list. He looked resigned as he read. “Nothing I wasn’t expecting.”
“The ones marked with an asterisk are legal, I suggest forwarding all relevant communications to your lawyers before you meet as they are in the main about contractual obligations.”
“Yeah, I’ve stood down a number of teams but not stopped paying anyone. Most are in the US and I’d want people in the UK since I’m here now.”
“I daresay you’ll have to pay out the contracts either in advance or continue until the term ends.” He sipped his coffee, it was good and he wondered if Dorian had made it or had asked Karl to. If it was Dorian he might put him on regular coffee duty.
“You’ve already got my list of folks I want to put in place, but some of them I need to put out some feelers and probably interview.”
“Which ones in particular?”
“The obvious is a new agent and manager but I have no idea where to start, I first want to sever ties properly with Zak and Marisa.”
