CHAPTER 366: A MAN WHO CAN PLAN

Andrew was surprised to learn that Mr. Newman-Ellis, had started working for Maxwell only three years ago. From the way the two interacted, he thought it was much longer than that. They had a rather close relationship for only three years of work together.

"Did you two know each other beforehand?" Andrew asked and Ellis looked uncomfortable while Ben snorted. Even Maxwell had a little look about him.

"Know him? His family was wanting Ellis to marry William before Rue." Ben declared, and everyone looked at him with surprise, especially Richard.

"You come from a wealthy family?" He asked, a little surprised and Ellis looked upset. He was staring at his lap, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes as he clenched his jaw.

"I didn’t ask for it, and they rubbed it in my face all the time. They wanted me to marry up, bring honour to the family name. They didn’t care about my feelings or desires, and only wanted to marry me off to the highest bidder once it was clear I was an omega. They didn’t care. As long as I was an omega or an alpha. I’d have no choice either way." Ellis sounded significantly bitter, and Andrew’s heart ached for the man.

It was like looking into a future Andrew could have had if he hadn’t stayed as a beta until now. Maxwell’s soft sigh had Andrew looking at him. His jaw was tight, his blue eyes fierce.

"Yeah. So, when he came to me, unable to even do a spreadsheet, I had to train him from the ground up." Maxwell sighed loudly, putting on a show that made Ellis look up, his face pink as Maxwell dramatically waved a hand around. "It was soo much work. He was practically useless, not at his own fault, but his family had babied him in ways I hadn’t even considered. He didn’t even know how to use a computer, or a microwave." Ellis was clearly embarrassed to have his dirty laundry aired, especially with Richard in the room, next to him.

Richard let out a soft chuckle, the tension around his eyes and mouth fading slightly as he looked at Ellis, humour in his eyes, his voice. "Really?" He asked, and Ellis looked trapped. Caught.

It was clear to Andrew that this was not how he planned this interaction to go, and Andrew wasn’t going to break the man’s spirit before it even began.

"But now he’s a pro at almost everything. You can trust and rely on Ellis for anything now. He’s worked hard, very hard, to meet Maxwell’s high standards. Doesn’t that count for something?" Andrew asked, and Maxwell pouted, clearly upset that Andrew had saved the other man so quickly. Richard, who was the kind of man who noticed that kind of behaviour, smiled. He stared at Ellis, his expression soft in a way that had Ellis’ face going red.

"Yeah. You do work hard. I had no idea how hard you had always been working, but I should have guessed. You’re always running around the company looking so composed I guess I never realised. Good job, Ellis." Richard told him, and Andrew could practically see the other man falling head over heels for his brother. Rose, no longer blinded by her own anger, watched on with mild interest, before she slid a look to Andrew.

Andrew gave a subtle head nod, saying that he was witnessing this too. Rose smirked.

"Ellis, are you single?" She asked, ripping the band aid off and Ellis jerked his gaze to Rose, his eyes wide and his face going such a shade of pink that Andrew almost felt bad for the man.

"P-Pardon?" He asked, his voice squeaking and Richard grumbled at his sister.

"Rose. That’s rude." Richard told her and Rose just shrugged, her hands on her own omega, her gaze taking on that calculating look that Andrew sometimes saw in May’s eyes too.

"Is it? I thought that was a perfectly normal thing to ask while getting to know someone. It’s easy to tell that I’m married." Rose said, flashing off her ring. "And Andy and Max are clearly an item, so are Ben and Amir. I’ve yet to hear anything from Ellis. He’s a new addition." Rose was making sense, which only made Richard glare at her. She stuck her tongue out. "What? Upset? Go complain to Mom." She told him and Richard grumbled.

"You’re such an ass." He told her and Rose gave a sweet smile as she flipped off her younger brother. She turned her attention back to Ellis.

"So? Has anyone caught your eye?" She asked and Ellis looked ill.

"I, um, didn’t really have a chance to date because I was so busy with w-work." It was very unlike Mr. Newman to stutter, and Andrew knew that this was a risky subject for him while Richard was sitting next to him. Rose better be careful, since Andrew liked him and didn’t want him to quit out of nowhere.

"I didn’t think that there were people like me out there." Richard said, offering up that information easily and Ellis jerked his head to Richard, his eyes wide.

"You’re single?!" Ellis nearly shouted, before slapping his hands over his mouth and looking horrified and embarrassed. Richard froze, slightly confused as he stared at the other man.

"Is that a problem?" Richard asked, not sure what Ellis was getting at, while everyone else shared a knowing look. Amir was doing his best to hide the soft inhale as he realised what they were witnessing. Ellis shook his head, his hands still covering his mouth.

"N-No! It’s not! I just-you’re just so-uh, I’m sorry. Can you give me a moment?" Ellis asked weakly, and Andrew couldn’t help but find the man adorable. Richard stared at the smaller man, not quite sure what was happening.

"Of course you can take a moment?" Richard said casually, so out of the loop even though it was happening to him.

Maxwell tucked his head against Andrew’s shoulder and laughed.

"You were just as oblivious as he is. I can see the family resemblance." Maxwell chuckled, humour in his voice and Andrew clicked his tongue.

"Hey now, I was in a relationship at the time. I wasn’t allowed to see your advances. Ricky has no excuse." Andrew whispered to Maxwell and Rose, who had overheard, chuckled. So did Jordan.

"I can confirm that she was completely obvious when I invited her out for coffee." Jordan said, surprising Maxwell, Andrew, Ben and Amir that he was the one who made the first move. It wasn’t a knock against Jordan, but he was so...shy.

Rose went beet red.

"Hey! Why would I think you had a thing for me? You’re too cute." Rose protested, pouting slightly at the man who was in her lap. Jordan shook his head, staring into Rose’s face with such unmasked affection Andrew felt like he shouldn’t be witnessing it.

"And so are you, and I liked your scent, so I went for it." Jordan said calmly, and Ben let out a snort of laughter.

"Good for you, Jordan. You saw what you wanted, and you went for it." Ben said approvingly and Jordan flushed, but didn’t seem embarrassed at all.

"She didn’t realise we were on dates until I had to make it clear by kissing her." Jordan said, slightly smug. "She was going on and on about how she wanted to date with marriage in mind and I agreed but she still wasn’t getting it." Jordan was revealing Rose’s embarrassing past and Richard was living for it.

So was Andrew.

"Oh, so the big, tough alpha who always bragged that she would get whatever omega she wanted was herded and coddled by an omega who chose her? Wooow." Andrew said, and Richard whistled. He got comfortable on the couch, shifting until his arm was casually behind Ellis’ back and the man looked like he was going to have a panic attack at the simple gesture.

He had it bad.

"Shut up." Rose spat, her face almost her namesake’s colour. Jordan was laughing, a smile in his eyes and on his face. Rose was clearly not that upset since it put him in such a good mood, but that didn’t mean she was appeased.

Richard booed.

"Oh come on. This is gold! This is not what I heard at the wedding. Did you two agree to lie?" Richard asked, his eyes bright and Jordan had a telling smirk on his lips. Rose’ thinned.

"Well, she asked for one little favour...and it wasn’t like we didn’t meet at my exhibition. I just...fudged the beginning bits." Jordan said quietly and Richard howled with laughter.

"Oh, this is good!" Richard said with a laugh and Ellis flinched.

"Is it...bad that the omega of the pair made the first move?" He asked Richard and Richard shook his head, laughing still.

"Not at all. I couldn’t give a flying fuck about that part. It’s more that Rose had made herself out to be a big bad alpha this whole time, when it was our sweet Jordan who made the first move. I’ve got more respect for the man because of it." Richard said with a grin and Ellis glanced at Richard, then looked at Jordan.

"I think I’ll need Jordan’s help." Ellis said out loud, and Richard didn’t connect the dots in the slightest about why he would need Jordan’s help. He just smiled at the other man.

"Of course. Us omegas got to stick together, huh?" Richard wasn’t aware of how much Ellis wanted to ’stick together’ with him. Andrew almost felt bad for the guy, but was looking forward to the panicked phone call when Ellis finally got through to him.

Andrew could almost already see it. The middle of the night, Maxwell’s wrapped around him, the phone goes off, it goes to voicemail, and then it rings again. Andrew chuckled.

"Sure. You omegas should stick together, right Ellis?" Andrew said, smirking slightly at the head secretary who had gotten really good at planning under Maxwell’s watchful eye. Andrew was watching as his resolve was solidifying, and Maxwell chuckled.

"Richard isn’t even going to know what’s happening till it’s too late to back out, is he?" He asked quietly, more to himself then to Andrew. Andrew chuckled as well.

"I think it’ll be good for him. We need more sneaky people in our family. Ford needs to be protected." Andrew said and Maxwell smiled.

"Well, I can’t exactly argue that. If I did, I’m sure May would beat me up in a dark alley." Maxwell joked.

"So would I." Rose said casually, and Maxwell chuckled. Ben, not quite sure where this conversation was going, just sighed.

"They sure are taking their time with drinks." He muttered, before he glanced at Amir. "I’ll go do a check and be right back. Who knows? There could be another idiot who showed up without consent." Ben’s tone was light, but his gaze was heavy. Like he wished an idiot would. Andrew hoped for their sake that that didn’t happen.