Page 37 of The Question of Us
Mads nodded. “That was only last year. Aaron was seventeen and the parents wanted to send him to conversion therapy. Aaron took off instead. A friend of Lee slash Graham told Aaron that he’d heard Lee was living with some fancy horse breeder guy in Victoria and that Aaron should look him up. That was just before Christmas. Davis had died and Marty was turning the heat up on his search for Lee.”
“Talk about timing.” I gathered the used paper serviettes and deposited them in the trash.
Mads huffed. “I know, right? I’m guessing that when Aaron knocked on Marty’s door, Marty saw an opportunity for leverage. He spun Aaron some line about him and Graham being very much in love but that Graham had struggled with depression and decided to go for a trip overseas beforesettling down. Marty told Aaron that he hoped they would end up together when Lee came back, and in the meantime, he commiserated with Aaron’s situation and offered the kid a job in his stables. Shit work but good pay.”
“And Aaron, being unqualified and destitute, jumped at the offer, I imagine.”
Mads nodded. “Of course he did. Money and accommodation and his brother likely coming back? It was too hard to pass up.”
I shook my head. “So, Aaron doesn’t know what really happened?”
“No.” Mads picked at a splinter on the picnic table. “Aaron thinks Lee came back to settle down exactly as Marty predicted. He has no idea he’s only safe as long as Lee behaves.”
I frowned. “Safe from what?” I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know.
“Marty said if Lee causes any problems, Marty will find Aaronalternativeaccommodation with one of hisfriendsand that Aaron already had some enthusiastic admirers.”
My blood ran cold. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Mads shrugged. “Lee wouldn’t explain further, but I think we can guess.”
“Fucking hell.” My fists clenched on the table. “Who the fuck is this guy?”
Mads caught my eye and held it. “Someone a lot more dangerous than we thought.”
My mind spun in circles, trying to put everything together. “But how did Lee explain the name change to Aaron?”
“He told Aaron that he hated having a name associated with his parents.”
I frowned. “And Aaron believed him?”
Mads shrugged. “Why wouldn’t he? The kid is just thankful to have somewhere to live, a steady job, and his brother back.And according to Lee, Aaron is totally infatuated with Marty. He looks on the guy as some kind of hero and won’t hear anything bad said against him. It will take some persuading to change his mind that Marty isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, and that’s assuming Lee could get him alone long enough to tell him.”
“Marty keeps them apart?” It made sense.
Mads nodded. “Aaron doesn’t live in the main house with Lee and Marty. That’s off limits to all employees except Marty’s PA, Freddie. Instead, Aaron lives in accommodation above the stables along with lots of other workers. It’s a big complex and a long way from the main house. Any time Lee and Aaron are together, someone else, mostly Freddie, is always hovering in the background, keeping an eye on them. Lee thinks some of the guys probably have suspicions about what goes on at the house, but on the whole, Marty keeps things pretty locked down. Plus, he’s a good boss and a generally well-liked guy. In the end, people see what they want to, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “So, Lee’s just gonna stay there? He must know it’ll all turn to shit eventually. And I doubt his brother’s as safe as Lee thinks.”
Mads nodded. “He’s aware. I think he’s playing for time until he can come up with a plan to get both of them out safely.” Mads stood and reached out a hand for me to take. “Come on, let’s collect the food we need and head back to the motel. We’ve been gone ages. Gazza is not going to be happy.”
Unhappy was an understatement.Gazza was monumentally pissed off and understandably so. “Two hours.” He glared at us. “You’ve been gone two fucking hours.Hello?Diabetic here. You’re lucky I always have my snacks. Give methose.” He grabbed the supermarket bags and started unloading them in the tiny kitchenette.
Mads threw his wig on the couch and approached Gazza like you would a rabid dog. He ran a hand gently up Gazza’s back. “I’m sorry. We ran into Lee and figured we couldn’t let the chance go to talk to him.”
Gazza spun around, his eyes darting between us. “You saw Lee? Really? What happened?”
“Food first,” Mads countered. “You need to eat. Nick and I had something in the bar.”
Gazza’s eyes narrowed and he grumbled, “Of course you bloody did.” He then proceeded to make a lot of unnecessary noise getting a sandwich together for himself while we watched on in silence. He deserved to be angry, so we let him be.
When he was done, Gazza brought his sandwich to the table and took a seat. He looked sheepishly between us. “Okay. So, I might be a teeny tiny bit hangry. You know how I get when my blood sugar rollercoasters. I hate flying. It always screws up my metabolism.”
“Don’t apologise,” I told him. “You were right. We should’ve been more thoughtful. We could’ve called you at the very least.”
“Yes, you damn well could’ve.” Gazza’s jaw tightened for a moment, then he sighed. “But I survived, and at least you brought me some decent options I can work with. Now, talk.”
Mads patted Gazza’s shoulder. “As soon as you’ve got some food in you.”
