Sleeping with My Boss (and his son?)

Chapter 30

We finish breakfast and are cleaning up when Maryanne says, "Dimitri, Donovan, Madelyn, I need to speak with you all. In private."

Everyone freezes. Dominic looks away, Rafe, in true Rafe fashion, speaks up, "Mom."

But Maryanne shuts him down. "This doesn't concern you, Rafe."

This time, surprisingly, Dominic speaks up. "We all know, mom."

She gives a very curt nod. "Fine. Everyone in the family room." She leaves us all and walks out of the kitchen. Dimitri, head down, follows, with Dominic and then Rafe behind him. My heart is racing, my eyes are stinging with tears. I'm terrified.

Donovan's arms come around me, "shhh, sweetheart, what have I been saying? We will get through this together." His fingers grab my chin, "Maddie, look at me." I lift my eyes to his, "I am not going anywhere. I love you." He kisses me, "but I don't think stalling and making her wait is a good idea." I nod and he grabs my hand as we make our way to the family room.

Once there, he and I take a seat on the edge of the chaise lounge. His arm around me, "alright, mom, we are listening."

She glances around the room, and her eyes stop on Dimitri. "It took me a few days to decide to come out here. I didn't actually make the decision until quite late last night. I thought this conversation would wait until we were at home." She pauses and her eyes move to me and Donovan, "However, my hurt and my anger took a new turn, to pure outrage, as photos were posted on C4s social media of Donovan and Madelyn together sharing multiple intimate moments at the banquet last night." She waves her arm around the room, "and I arrive here and learn that all of you are in on some secret that I think we can all agree, pretty greatly affects my life. Would someone explain to me why there was a picture on my husbands iPad of this woman on her knees in the woods servicing him? And why that same woman is now, per the words of my oldest son, his future wife?" She looks at me, "and isn't the said woman a married mother that works for our company?" Maryanne, standing around 5'5" with a short brunette bob highlighted perfectly with grays, and a normally sweet as sugar smile, is standing before us all, hands on her hips, and she is livid.

Silence fills the room for a moment, and when no one else speaks, I stand up. "Mrs. Carrington, I owe you an apology. But there are not words to convey how truly sorry I am for my actions. All I can do is tell you that it was not my intent. It was not a desire I had prior to the moment it began, and it was not some thing I ended up being proud of. But, regardless of guilt and shame, I can't deny that I did have a very brief, consensual, affair with your husband beginning last weekend. I can also give you my word, that I'm sure means very little to you right now, that I care more for your son than I can express. And I will acknowledge that you are correct, I am married, and I am a mother. Of four, like you." I pause and swallow back a son, "My marriage is ending, and I'm grateful to your son for standing by me as I move forward in dissolving it. But I also need it known, I did not pursue Donovan either. I am so grateful for whatever he has seen in me, but I did not initially pursue him."

Maryanne looks at me, "I will give you credit for standing up as you just did, when four of the five men in my life are sitting here and can't seem to find their tongues, but frankly, Mrs. Davidson, I don't trust you. I don't know that I believe you. And I'm certainly not going to accept you being with my son."

At this, Donnavan stands up and joins me. "That's not your choice mom. I have been in love with this woman for a long time now, and I have honored her marriage. But watching her be verbally berated and demeaned by the man that is supposed to make her feel the most safe, it broke me. If you want someone to be angry at, direct that anger to the man you're married to. He seduced her, he used his position of authority over her, and yes, she made a choice to comply, but the acts she carried out were under his command. And if you must know, the picture that was on his phone that you found on his iPad, if you had looked at it, she was in tears. Just last night I found him holding her against her will. At the banquet, he was pinning her to a wall and forcing himself on her. So if there's anyone you shouldn't trust, if there is anyone that you want to blame, it should be that man over there," he says, pointing to his father "and I don't need your permission to be with her. I don't need your permission to marry her. I don't need your permission for anything I do. With all due respect, mom, I'm a grown man. And I love and respect you, and I hate what my father did to you, and I'll agree that Maddie had a part in that, but she is just the last in a long line of affairs he's been having since at least the time I was in the sixth grade. The problem is him, mom." He runs his hand over his face. "She's also much more than an employee in the company, she owns 5% as of last night and is the new Marketing Executive. And all of that is earned by her dedication to her work and her success with this event this week. So please, don't disrespect her position."

At that, Maryanne crumbles. She's sobbing and in moments, Donovan is holding his mother, consoling her, as Dominic and Rafe gather in with them. I sit back on the couch quietly.

Dimitri, after a moment of hesitation approaches his wife, "Maryanne, dear."

She turns away from him, "I can't right now." Dimitri, for the first time in all of this, looks like he doesn't know what to do. He walks from the room and leans against the wall in the hallway. I consider following him, to offer support, but decide that might not be best right now. And honestly, he doesn't deserve it.