They planned to meet up at their favorite steakhouse and grab their usual seats at the bar. Alex got there first. Nick, the owner and bartender, cleared seats for them when they called ahead. Though Alex had cut back, there were perks he didn’t mind spending on, and this was one of them.
He was sitting on a barstool waiting for Jon and watching baseball when he heard his name. He turned to see Ian walk up to him.
“Hey. What are you doing here?” Alex asked, surprised to see his half brother downtown. His new house was outside the city.
“Riley was craving steak, so I said I’d stop on my way home. How about you? Having a drink?”
“And dinner. Waiting for a friend.”
“Madison?” Ian smirked.
Asshole. “No. I dropped her off at home earlier.”
Ian grabbed the barstool beside him and made himself at home. “Enjoy your day off?” he asked.
“Actually, we did.”
“I heard you two are going to New York City on a business trip.”
Alex nodded. Business was a safe enough subject with Ian. “There are some lecturers she wants to interview, and I’ll start making inroads with the Giants coach. Gauge interest.”
Ian nodded.
“I also figured I’d meet up with Gabe.” Their grandfather, their father’s father, had a brother, who was Gabe’s father. Both older men were in the hotel business, and Gabe’s dad had left Miami to take his business to Manhattan.
The family situation had been awkward for years after the revelation of Robert Dare’s other family. But the relatives had reached out to Alex’s mom and the kids, welcoming them, and Alex had a close relationship with Gabe.
“I heard he’s thinking of opening another club,” Ian said.
Alex nodded. “Gabe loves a challenge.”
Ian rested an elbow on the counter behind him. “Speaking of Madison—”
“We weren’t.” Alex scowled.
“Are you making any progress on that front?” Ian asked, ignoring him.
Since the smirk didn’t leave the other man’s face, Alex wasn’t sure how to take the comment. “Are we really doing this? Discussing my love life like you give a shit?”
Ian shrugged. “Maybe I do.”
That gave Alex pause, and he lifted his beer for a sip, assessing the other man and deciding to take him at his word. “Progress comes in many forms.”
Ian nodded and gestured for the bartender. “Macallan on the rocks,” he said to the man.
“Put it on my tab,” Alex called out.
Ian cocked an eyebrow, then nodded. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“Riley’s worried about Madison,” Ian said.
Aah. Now the inquisition made more sense. “I’m not going to hurt her again.”
“Good because apparently she had a rough childhood. I think that’s why she and Riley bonded so quickly.”
Alex muttered a noncommittal response, not wanting to admit to Ian that he knew less about the woman he cared about than he’d like. He’d been such a self-centered ass**le before. Alex shook his head in disgust.
“What?” Ian asked.
Alex didn’t plan on elaborating on that. “You’re probably right. Both their childhoods sucked. Riley’s father was an abusive ass**le, and Madison grew up in foster care.”
The bartender set Ian’s drink on the counter and discreetly walked away.
Ian raised his glass. “Sucks to be left by a parent in any manner, but who the f**k takes a kid to the mall and leaves her there for good?” Ian shook his head and took a healthy swig of his drink.
Alex choked on his beer.
Ian’s eyes opened wide. “Oh shit. You didn’t know?”
Alex pulled in a deep breath. “No. Can’t say I left many openings for her to confide in me the last time we were together.” Admitting his failings out loud sucked, but somehow, at the moment, it felt right.
Alex loved his younger siblings, but they were closer with each other than with him. Mostly because football had occupied all his time. He knew that explained why he’d sought a bond with Ian when he’d discovered he had a sibling with whom he had something in common. He needed to change the situation with his brother and sister. Just like things were changing with Ian.
Ian slapped him on the back. “Give it time. It isn’t easy to change. Ask Riley. Hell, ask me. We were both closed off before we found each other.”
Alex rolled his stiff shoulders. “Madison doesn’t want get-to-know-you time. She just wants sex,” he muttered, staring at his beer bottle.
Ian burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“If you could only hear yourself, complaining that Madison only wanting sex is a bad thing,” Ian said, still chuckling.
Alex scowled. “This time around, I want more.”
“And she’s making you work for it?”
He shook his head. “She doesn’t play those games.” And that was the problem. Madison meant what she’d said. He’d hurt her, and she’d withdrawn into herself, unwilling to give him a chance to do it again.
At least now he knew more about what made her tick. “Her old man really abandoned her in a shopping mall?” he asked, his stomach churning at the notion.
A little blonde girl, crying, searching for her father in a monstrous, huge place filled with strangers. He shuddered.
“Ian Dare?” A waiter strode up to Ian with his packaged order.
“Thanks,” Ian said, accepting the bag.
“You can pay up front.”
Ian nodded and turned back to Alex. “I’ve said enough already. I guess I should just leave you with what Riley told me. If you’re really invested in Madison, you’re going to have to be patient and dig in for the long haul.”
Alex tipped his head in acknowledgment. “Hey, man. Thanks.”
Ian gave him a grim smile.
An awkward silence ensued. “Guess I better get my wife her food.”
“Congratulations. Sorry I didn’t mention it earlier. Guess I’m still working on the self-absorbed thing.”
Ian grinned. “I hear it’s part of your charm.”
“Asshole,” Alex muttered.
With a laugh, Ian walked away, leaving Alex alone with his newfound unsettling knowledge about Madison.
* * *
Madison arrived at her foster mother’s house early Sunday morning, intending to help her move to the nursing home a few short miles away. In her possession, she had the documents permitting her to take Franny with her in case Eric arrived to cause an argument. She hoped he wouldn’t, as upheaval and loud noises only upset his mother. But it would be good for Franny to have her son by her side when she entered someplace brand new.