Close the Distance (6 page)

There wasn’t any way he’d say no to that offer. He took Adrien’s hand, letting him draw him close.

“Does Mr Richardson know about us?” he asked as he watched Adrien turn the water on.

Adrien pursed his lips. “I’m not sure. I haven’t said anything to him yet. Maybe I should mention it this morning during our meeting. That way if he finds out from someone else, he doesn’t get mad because I didn’t tell him personally.”

“Who would he find out from? Patrick won’t say a word to anyone.” Ion stepped under the cascade of warm liquid.

“My family. Any one of them might say something to him. He didn’t make it to my mother’s party, so he’ll call her to apologise and wish her a happy birthday. She might say how much she loved meeting you.” Adrien joined him.

Ion nodded. “Is he going to be unhappy about you dating someone who works for you?”

“Sidney? Hell no.” Adrien laughed. “I’ve dated an employee before. It’s never changed how I treated him while at work. I haven’t changed since we started dating, have I?”

“I don’t think so, but of course, I worked in the mail room. It’s not like I dealt with you on a daily basis or anything.” He washed his hair then rinsed before switching places with Adrien.

“True. If he gives you any trouble, just let me know and I’ll talk to him. He’s usually pretty good about staying out of my business, but he is my best friend, so sometimes he just can’t help himself.” Adrien shot him a glance. “Kind of like Patrick and you.”

Ion chuckled. “Something tells me when you and Mr Richardson go out, you hit some higher end clubs than Patrick and I.”

“Oh hey, you want to go out dancing this weekend? Patrick can go with us and I’ll see if Sidney is doing anything.”

“Your straight friend will go to a gay club with us?” Ion stepped out of the tub to grab a towel.

Adrien burst out laughing. “Sidney isn’t straight. He’s bi, though he tends to go out in public with women. He saves his male lovers for private weekend getaways. I don’t think he’s completely ready to admit publicly that he likes guys.”

“Oh.”

Well…if Ion chose to tell Patrick about Sidney, his friend might decide to give it a chance, but Ion didn’t think a man who hid his male partners was the man for Patrick.

“Do you think he’ll ever come out totally?”

“Maybe for the right guy. I have the feeling he’s not going to find the right woman.” Adrien shrugged. “Considering how many he’s dated and how many he’s actually slept with, I think he’s more gay than bi.”

Grunting, Ion got dressed then grabbed some of his clothes to drop off at the cleaners. Adrien called Daniel to pick them up and they left Ion’s apartment with time to spare.

Chapter Five

When they arrived at the office, Adrien kissed Ion before they climbed out of the car. He managed to keep his hands off Ion’s ass while they rode the elevator. He didn’t say a word when Ion got off on the twentieth floor where the troubleshooters department was.

Walking into his office, he spotted Patrick at his desk. “Glad to see you looking bright and cheerful this morning,” he commented as he strolled past.

Patrick snorted. “It’s a sunny day in the city and I happen to enjoy my job, sir.”

Adrien snorted before asking, “Is Mr Richardson in yet?”

He set his briefcase on his desk before taking off his suit coat. He hung it up then accepted the cup of coffee Patrick held out for him.

“Yes, sir. I’ll let him know that you’re in.”

“Thanks.”

After sitting, he booted up his computer then pulled out the files he’d worked on yesterday at home while waiting for Alain to show up. Besides telling Sidney about dating Ion, he needed to talk to him about the financial issues the head of their London office had found.

His phone buzzed and when he hit the intercom, Patrick said, “Mr Richardson is here, sir.”

“Send him in.”

Sidney strolled in, carrying his own mug. “Good morning.”

“It certainly is.” He grinned, thinking about how he’d woken Ion that morning.

“I stopped by your place last night and you weren’t there, but Alain was. He said you went to spend the night with your boyfriend.” After sitting, Sidney eyed him. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone seriously.”

“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.” Adrien frowned. “How did Alain look?”

Sidney shrugged. “Tired. Like he’d stayed up late too many nights in a row. Has he been hitting the gaming tables a little too hard lately?”

Adrien nodded. “Yeah. I told him I was cutting his allowance in half, and while he wasn’t happy about it, he didn’t complain either. I guess he figured there were worse things I could do, like take it all away from him.”

Sipping his coffee, Sidney studied him. “So who is this mysterious boyfriend? Alain said you took him to meet your parents this weekend. He must be different—you’ve never taken one of your lovers home before.”

“He is. I told him I’d talk to you about that this morning. I’m seeing Ion Vasile, the new guy in Bart’s department.” He relaxed back in his chair seeing the surprise appear on Sidney’s face.

“Wait a minute. How long have you been seeing him?” Sidney looked suspicious.

“Our first date was after I offered him the promotion. Let him know that the position wasn’t contingent on saying yes to me.” Adrien rubbed his chin. “I took him to meet my parents because I love him, Sidney, and I want him in my life for a very long time.”

Sidney blinked. “Wow. Isn’t it rather quick to know you love Ion? You haven’t been dating him that long. How many dates have you been on?”

Adrien took a sip before he said, “One.”

“One? Just one? Shouldn’t you go on a few more before you decide you love him?”

“Now you’re the expert on dating? You date a bunch of women, but never sleep with any of them. You tell me you’re bi, but you only have sex with men. I’m sorry to tell you, Sidney, but that makes you gay not bi.”

Sidney stayed silent for a few minutes, and Adrien had a twinge of guilt. Yet he knew what he’d said was the truth. It was time for his friend to admit it and not try bullshit himself or anyone else.

Sighing, Sidney set his mug down then folded his hands over his stomach. “You’re right about me, but I still think you need to date the man a few months before you tell him you love him.”

“Too late. We’ve both said the ‘L’ word, and I want Ion to move in with me, but even I’ll admit it’s too soon for that.” He pushed to his feet before pacing the length of his office. “The other thing is, my family loved him. Mother couldn’t stop talking to him and Father thinks he has a lot of potential. Amelia and Jonathon both were impressed with Ion as well.”

“You’re joking, right?” Sidney grunted when Adrien shook his head. “I never thought your parents would accept any man you brought home. Not even if he was as rich as you, or one of the blue bloods here in the city.”

“I thought the same thing, and I was worried that they would say something because Ion’s from a blue collar family—no money and barely scraping by. That’s one of the reasons why he came up with the proposal to save the Huntsman Toy Company. They all work there.”

“Makes sense that he’d do whatever he could to help them out. Who else knows about you?”

Adrien gestured towards his outer office. “Patrick does because he’s Ion’s best friend, but other than that, only you here at work.”

Sidney nodded. “Probably a good thing for a little while longer. Let him get settled in his new job and do some work for Bart before you let everyone else know.”

“Thanks for the support. Now let’s get down to business. Did you get the files from Winston?” They needed to discuss work, not Adrien’s love life. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought or said. He loved Ion and he was going to do everything he had to do to keep the man in his life.

Sitting up straight, Sidney lifted the tablet he’d carried with him before pulling up the files on his screen. Adrien went back behind his desk to sit, so they could do what they got paid for.

* * * *

Later that day, Adrien listened to the president of one of the companies he was selling. The man was trying to convince him not to sell the business, but Adrien saw no reason why he should keep it under the umbrella of Bellamy International. The company was doing well and could survive without any more help, so it was time to get rid of it.

While the man talked, Adrien slowly began to go back over what Sidney had said that morning. It was true. He needed to take Ion out on more dates, if only to prove he wasn’t ashamed of being seen with the man.

He’d forgotten to ask Sidney if he wanted to go dancing with them that weekend. He’d text him when he was done with his lunch meeting.

“Are you listening to me, Bellamy?” the man enquired.

Adrien looked at him and shook his head. “No, I’m not.”

He blinked at Adrien’s honesty. “Why not? Is what I’m saying not important enough?”

“No.” He held up his hand to keep him from saying anything. “I’ve told you several times that Bellamy has no reason to keep your company anymore. Selling it is a smart move for us and that’s why I’m putting it on the block. If I didn’t do it, then we’d eventually dismantle it and sell off the divisions. You wouldn’t have a company to rule over any more.”

Waving the waiter over, Adrien handed him his card. “I’ll pay for this, but any more protests you might have won’t be heard. Any emails you send me about this will be deleted. I’m done discussing this with you or anyone else. The next time I hear your company’s name, it’ll be on the sales papers.”

“What about my job?”

He shrugged. “It’ll be up to the new owners whether you keep it or not. I know you don’t have the money to buy it yourself.”

“Damn it. You’re a cold-hearted son of a bitch, Bellamy.” The man glared at him.

“It’s just business.” He signed the bill then took his card.

While he shrugged on his coat, he watched the man stalk out of the restaurant. Once he was by himself, he text Ion.

Do you have class tonight?

And he sent a text to Sidney about dancing that weekend. He stopped by the maître d’ and got a reservation for that night. It was time he started courting Ion, even though he already knew how the man felt about him. His phone vibrated and he checked it.

No. Why?

I’m taking you out to dinner. I’ll pick you up at seven. Dress nice.

All right. Love you.

Love you too.

Adrien headed out to where Daniel had the car waiting by the kerb. “Back to the office, Daniel,” he said as he climbed in.

“Yes, sir.”

Sidney, who was flying out to Washington for business, text to let him know he’d meet them at Club Wander at eleven on Saturday night. Adrien sent an okay back then tucked his phone in his pocket.

Leaning against the seat, he watched the skyscrapers of Manhattan slide past his window as Daniel made their way through traffic. Alain would be gone when he got back to his place that night. His brother had told him he would stop by their parents’ to visit for the night then he was off to Hong Kong for some parties.

Adrien didn’t like the thought of his brother mingling with the type of people that would be at those parties, but Alain was an adult and he swore to Adrien he wasn’t in any danger. Well, Adrien didn’t know about that and he knew he’d worry until Alain surfaced somewhere else.

He was glad that his brother was taking the time to see their parents though. Alyssa loved her youngest son, and it had hurt her when he hadn’t shown up for her party. Adrien might not always see eye to eye with his family, but he loved his mother and didn’t like it when she was unhappy.

His phone rang and he yanked it out to check the screen.
Speak of the devil.
“Hello, Mother.”

“Adrien, thank you.” The happiness in her voice flowed over the phone.

“I didn’t do anything.” Though he knew what she was talking about. “Is Alain still there?”

“He’s out in the garage talking cars with your father.”

“He seems to have picked up some knowledge from all those Formula One races he goes to around the world.”

The car stopped and he waited for Daniel to get out and open the door for him. Adrien had learned that Daniel expected him to let him do his job, which meant opening a car door. When that happened, he climbed out before heading back into the building.

“At least he’s learned one thing that will make his father happy. Did you talk to him about taking a job at the company?”

“Yes, Mother, but we decided it wasn’t a good idea for him. I did cut his allowance in half and he knows that if he continues to overspend, I will cut him off.” He hit the call button for the elevator. “I’m about to get on the elevator so I might cut out.”

“I’ll let you go. I know you’re busy, but I just wanted to say thank you for reminding Alain to come visit.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll call you on Sunday. Tell Father I love him.”

She laughed. “I will, and please tell Ion we asked about him. I hope you two visit again soon.”

“I’m sure we will. There’s still a few more weeks of summer left and I’d like to take the boat out a couple more times.”

“Wonderful. I’ll talk to you on Sunday, Adrien. Love you.” She hung up just as the elevator doors opened.

He walked on, nodding to some of the people in the car. After hitting the button for his floor, he leaned against the wall and thought about taking Ion to dinner that night.
Should I buy him flowers or something? I know most guys would think that was girly, but I want to get him something.

Adrien got out on his floor and wandered towards his office. He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the people gathered around Patrick’s desk until he almost ran into one of them. Stopping, he folded his arms over his chest and waited to see how long it took to be noticed.

“Oh, my God, Patrick, I want one of those. It’s gorgeous.” One of the ladies lifted a necklace up in the air.

“I’ll see what kind of deal I can get Patrice to make for you,” Patrick said.

“Don’t touch those.”

Adrien’s cock perked up at the sound of Ion’s voice and he shifted on his feet, wishing he could adjust himself, but not wanting to draw attention to his crotch or himself. He did ease closer to see what Ion didn’t want the women to touch.