AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ben stopped him as he made to leave. “Quick drink?”
“Sure.”
Ben led him out onto the terrace, grabbing a bottle of port and two glasses as they passed the drinks cabinet, and one of the bags of sweets from Dorian’s gifted hoard, and once they were seated, Ben poured them both decent measures. “Only the one for me, though. I daren’t risk a hangover with Davy. My head might explode and I’ll get no sympathy from Ashley.”
There’d been countless evenings when they finished off a bottle of port between them. In his younger years, Ben was always on the lookout for a warm body for the night, and the parties they’d attended had been wild—from what his cloudy memory allowed him to recall.
“Do you remember the night in Santa Monica? We drank a bottle of port and gate-crashed a pool party. The one with the Greek lad?”
Ben’s grin was sly. “Oh yeah… I still can’t drink ouzo without getting an erection. He was a very talented gentleman, I learnt a thing or two that night.”
“We were young and stupid. But it was fun.”
“I don’t miss it. The memories are good. Most of them. But I’d hate to still be that man.”
He understood Ben’s perspective, had shared it for years when he was with Robin. “It’s kind of hollow though, in the long run. I got tired of it pretty quickly.”
“Ashley saved me, I thought he was saving Crofton Hall, but her owner was in a far bigger need.” Ben smiled and took a drink of his port. “You’ll find someone, Dorian. Alex will help get you accustomed to being with a man in public and then you’ll take your training wheels off and Mr Right will be waiting.”
Dorian wasn’t an incurable romantic, but he liked the idea of someone being his and him being their important person. “I hope so. And I don’t intend to hurt Alex along the way.”
“I know. That wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about. But it is to do with Alex. Ashley heard back from his father about the question we had.”
He hadn’t expected the Essex connection to work so fast. “Go on then. Am I suddenly going to find myself sleeping with the fishes?”
Ben laughed. “No, there’s nothing untoward whatsoever.”
“Meaning?”
“I don’t know how he found out, I don’t ask my father-in-law those sorts of questions, but he investigated a few potential reasons and narrowed down the root cause with relative ease.” Ben swirled the port in its glass. “Alex’s parents’ house needs extensive work to make it habitable. They’d moved out and were living in tents but have since moved into a hotel while work has commenced.”
Dorian had expected something a little more juicy. An older brother with a gambling debt or a dubious decision that had led to blackmail, not this wholesome example of being a good son. “Are you sure that’s all it is? He could have gone to a bank for a loan.”
Ben shrugged. “I don’t know his credit history, but I imagine it would be a considerable part of his salary and instead, he knew of an easy offer that would sort it all out and be done in a few months and not years.”
Alex was such a nice bloke it made perfect sense. “I can’t imagine him doing anything illegal. He’s been a dream date. But you’re right I do have a type—blond and bossy.”
“Just be careful, Dorian. He doesn’t deserve to be caught up in a shitshow. Make sure when it ends that no blame is attached to him, and if things go wrong it cannot be the case that he finds Crofton Hall an uncomfortable place to be.”
Dorian knew that. “I’ll move out if there’s a problem. I know the A in A-lister used to stand for arsehole, but I’m a better man than that these days.”
“You weren’t a bad bloke.”
“I’m sure Robin would disagree.”
“He’s biased.”
But Ben had a point about Alex. Wherever this landed, he wouldn’t see Alex run out of Crofton Hall, he deserved the best and Dorian would ensure he got it.
CHAPTER25
Davy took over an hour to settle, Ashley’s usual tricks failed to work and evenLondon Bridge is Falling Downhad not secured the endgame and he’d had to wait it out, his son cradled against him until he fell asleep deep enough that putting him in his cot wouldn’t restart the process.
Finally, he was able to creep out of his room, baby monitor in hand. He waited outside the door, breathing shallowly, listening for any sign Davy had woken and, hearing nothing, he left as fast as he could.
Ben was going to talk to Dorian about Alex. Not that long ago, Ashley wouldn’t have passed on a request to his dad, but he’d found his views on a lot of things had changed since becoming a father, and the irrational fear Alex might be mixed up in something that could impact Davy had meant he’d agreed. That Alex needed the money for his parents had made Ashley feel a bit shit for agreeing to help but in the end he’d known his son was safe.
He decided to drop in on Simon. Robin had been bugging Ben for updates, but he hadn’t been stupid enough to ask Ashley a second time. He supposed Ben might have acted in a similar way but he couldn’t see his husband having such a level of fuckwittery.
