Page 87 of Mad Rivals
“I’m yours,” I murmur from beneath him.
He leans down, his body warming me as he presses his lips to my cheek. “And I’m yours.”
He moves off me, and I hear the bathtub running a moment later. He returns and gently turns me to pick me up into his arms as if I weigh nothing, and then he carries me over to the tub. He gently scrubs my shoulders, and the entire room smells like him and his gorgeous shower gel.
I’m spent. Totally wasted. I can’t even lift an arm to help him, and he’s taking care of me in a way that tells me I don’t need to worry about it.
And that’s what this is. That’s what tonight showed me. It was more than just giving him a part of me I’ve never given anyone.
It’s building our trust further, falling deeper, connecting on a new level.
And now that I’ve leveled up to here, there’s no turning back.
CHAPTER 36: Madden Bradley
A Little Research
We’re at my place on Monday night after work the first week of June, both of us skirting around what we did at work today. I don’t want to tell her about the project I’ve been spending all my time on, and I’m guessing she feels the same way since we’re still competitors when it comes to business.
I don’t have OTAs this week, but mandatory minicamp is next week. It’s quite a bit more intense than the team activities, so I’ve been spending a lot of time at the gym with the other receivers in a bid to get myself ready for practice next week.
As for Kennedy, she came home late today from the office, and so as we finish up dinner, I ask, “What have you been working on?”
“No work talk at the dinner table,” she chides, and I chuckle.
“Fine,” I say, holding up both hands. “I get it. I’ve been working on a project that’s not very well publicized, but it’s one I’m excited about.”
“Good. I am, too, actually, and I’m glad you’re starting to enjoy what you’re doing.”
“I guess I spent so long pushing back against my father that I didn’t take the time to see that I actually sort of enjoy all this. And with the tens of billions invested in Bradley Group, I guess I can think of a lot worse things to do after I retire from playing, you know?” I ask, and her brows furrow.
She tilts her head as she studies me. “You know, you’ve mentioned that before. Billions. That’s a lot of money, Madden. I haven’t taken a close look at our books, but I’m fairly certain we’re not in the billions, let alone the tens of billions.”
I’ve never really given it much thought. I haven’t studied our books, either. But my father started this business from the ground up, and from what I know, he didn’t come from a ton of money. His dad was a construction worker, so he grew up around buildings, and his mother stayed home to care for him.
The business he built focuses on luxury and large-scale projects. Billions are feasible, aren’t they?
I think through our last few projects that I know of.
They were all million-dollar ventures. The SCS project is one of the biggest we’d ever bid on, and we were only awarded half the work. While my father’s company has beat out VBC and others like them on several occasions, he doesn’townChicago. There’s still a market of competition there.
It’s not something I’ve ever questioned, but suddenly I’m curious.
Curious enough that I want to do a little research. I have no idea what I’m looking for, so I wait.
She’s tired after a long day at work, and she heads to bed early. I take the opportunity to slip into my office.
My father gave me access to all of our client portfolios, and as I open the first few alphabetically, I don’t really know what I’m looking for. It all looks standard.
I sort in a different way instead, and I open one of the most recently updated files. It’s SCS, and everything in there looks fine.
I look through a few more files that were updated today, and I’m still not finding anything out of the ordinary. But even so…none of these companies would contribute to the billions Kennedy was questioning.
Is she right?
I’m not sure, and I don’t know where else to look.
I flip through a few more files, and then I decide to call it a night.
