(BL)Alpha Made-Chapter 518: Mr. Dalton stops by for a visit

Maxwell sat in his office, working away on some of the files that were left over from his heat when there was a knock on his door. He knew it was Mr. Newman, or it better not be.

The man was on strict bedrest, ordered by Maxwell, William, Maxwell’s own omega Doctor, and Richard. There was no way that man was going to get away with putting himself and his baby in danger just to be at Maxwell’s side.

They had phones for a damn reason in this day and age, and he had access to everything he would need from his home. He wouldn’t let him go crazy while being on bedrest and pregnant, but he also wasn’t going to let him put himself in danger.

It was also why he had allowed Richard to do a hybrid working situation where he could spend most of his time working from home and coming in only when he was needed. Richard had been rather grateful towards Maxwell’s decision, but Maxwell didn’t see it as anything he should be thanked for.

Outside of the fact that Richard was his brother-in-law, he was his employee. Maxwell would have done that for any of his people. He had done it for his people already. It wasn’t the first time members of his staff had gotten involved, and he had a feeling it would not be the last. One of his secretary team had her eye on a member of his sales team. Maxwell could practically hear the wedding bells already.

"Come in." Maxwell called, glancing up at the door opened. In strolled a man he wasn’t exactly surprised to see, but he hadn’t called for him either. "Mr. Dalton." Maxwell said, a little confused as to why he was here. He put down his pen, glancing at the secretaries who were behind the older gentleman in a suit who looked pale at the sight of him. "I wasn’t expecting you. It’s good to see you." Maxwell said as he came out from behind his desk and met the older man halfway, offering his hand.

Mr. Dalton’s smile was infectious as he took Maxwell’s hand but pulled him on for a hug, clapping him on the back warmly as his amber eyes glinted.

"Maxy. We are far past you calling me by my last name, aren’t we? You’ve even been to my house. Just call me Walter. I won’t get offended." He said as he pulled back with a laugh, winking. Maxwell felt a professional smile touch his lips as he pulled away.

"Alright, Walter. Can I get you anything to drink while you’re here? Water, tea, coffee? Scotch?" Maxwell offered with an eyebrow raise. Walter laughed heartily.

"I would get in trouble with the missus if I was drinking scotch at this hour of the day. I’ll have to take you up on that offer later. No, I know I came suddenly, so I’d rather discuss what I came here to talk about and get out of your hair. You seem to be rather busy." Walter looked behind Maxwell towards his desk and Maxwell followed his gaze.

"Ah. My heat just finished so I’m just catching up on what I missed while I was gone." Maxwell told him and Walter’s eyes flickered with understanding while his smile softened.

"I assume you spent it with Andrew?" He asked, and Maxwell couldn’t help giving the man a look. Walter laughed. "I realise that was a rude question, forgive me. I just know that sometimes couples spend their heats away from each other when the wedding is coming up." Maxwell had heard of that before, but that was a silly and foolish practise as far as he was concerned.

"Andrew and I would never do that." Maxwell told him and Walter chuckled.

"The reason is fairly sound. You aren’t worried about being pregnant for your wedding?" He asked. Maxwell knew that they grew up in different times, which was why he let the question hang between them.

"Walter, there are condoms for true alphas that work." Maxwell told him. "And Andrew is very responsible." And convincing, but Maxwell was not about to tell Walter that. Walter’s smile was wide, almost infectious as he heard Maxwell’s tart words. He laughed, motioning for Maxwell to follow him to the couches he had set up in the room for this very reason.

Maxwell followed the man, half out of respect and half out of curiousity. Walter motioned for Maxwell to sit down first, a rather old fashioned sensibility instilled in him that Maxwell knew it would be rude to fight. So, Maxwell sat and Walter sat shortly after. The smile that had been playing on his lips faltered before he sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.

Suddenly, the man looked his age. He wasn’t the powerhouse that others knew him as, he was just Walter Dalton, a true alpha, who had come to visit Maxwell at his place of work.

"Walter, is something wrong?" Maxwell asked, concerned suddenly and Walter shook his head.

"No, it’s nothing personal in my life, just...I feel like I’m letting down both you and Andrew." Walter admitted before he looked up and met Maxwell’s gaze. His eyes were tired, and hard. They weren’t the soft amber that Maxwell had gotten used to from both Andrew, Walter and Kim. They were hard, sharp.

Sharp enough to cut if the wrong person got too close.

"You aren’t letting Andy and I down." Maxwell told him, knowing that even as he spoke for Andrew that it was true. Walter was important to Andrew for a completely different reason than most people sought him out. Sure, he had helped fund his Mom’s business, but that meant he had helped his Mom get away from his father.

Andrew would never forget that act, and it had taken Walter a while to realise that for himself. Now that he was here, Maxwell had a feeling that he was aware of that fact. Maxwell just needed to find out why he was feeling like he was letting them down.

"I had a feeling you would say something like that." Walter admitted, a bitter smile on his face. There was silence for a moment before Walter raised his head and met Maxwell’s gaze head on. Maxwell had a sudden feeling fill him, making his spine stiffen at the look Walter was giving him.

"Walter, what is it? You’re making me worried." Maxwell admitted and Walter let out a heavy sigh.

"I found out that I’d been unintentionally funding the research that was used to hurt Andrew." Walter said. It sucked the air out of the room as soon as it touched air and Maxwell sat there, stunned.

"What?" Maxwell asked. Not doubting the man. He wouldn’t lie about something so horrible. Not when Maxwell could see the desperation and pain in his gaze. "How did you find out? What were you donating to?" Maxwell asked. It was a fair question to ask. Walter donated a lot of money all over town. There was a reason so many people wanted him to help with their investments.

Walter dropped his head, sighing heavily as he shook his head.

"It was a shell company that was linked back to the Abraham family. I had thought I had done rather thorough research on the company. I’d been investing for years, Maxwell. Years. When my police friend called me in to speak to me about it I just froze. I can’t believe that I-" He cut off, shaking his head again. "I feel like a damn monster." He admitted. "But I would rather you and Andrew hear it from me instead of hearing it from tabloids or someone else. No doubt others are going to tear it apart when it breaks." Walter admitted, the bitterness tainting his words.

Maxwell sat for a moment with the revelation before he let out a slow exhale of his own.

"Walter, are you going to let others know about this?" He asked, raising his eyes to Walter. It was a fair question. He had enough money to bury this for quite a while. Walter smirked.

"Maxwell, I’m not going to hide it. I don’t want to. It wouldn’t make me any better than them." Walter said and Maxwell was glad that he did. He wouldn’t have thought less of Walter if he had attempted to hide it, but it would affect his image with others.

Andrew might have looked at him differently, but that was because he had been raised in a different world from a young age. He didn’t solve his problems with money. At least, not at first.

"Walter, I...know my opinion probably doesn’t matter since you’ve already made up your mind, but I do think this is the right choice." Maxwell said carefully and Walter’s smile grew. "Also...I don’t think Andrew would blame you either. What you were doing before you found out what the money was going towards...were you funding research for anything in particular?" Maxwell asked. "What did they tell you they were doing?"

Walter sighed, his smile disappearing as he looked thoughtful for a long moment.

"They told me they were doing research on true alphas. Just research. Trying to figure out what made us different from other alphas, and the regular population. Why do we get longer teeth, these eyes, stronger pheromones? Just...basic things." Walter told him and Maxwell exhaled slowly. Those were basic things and it was a crime that Walter had put money towards something that was known for omegas but wasn’t known for true alphas and had his trust betrayed.

"People are going to look at that and understand that you were trying to do something good. I mean, technically they did find out something about that, they just...made more instead of finding out the why." Maxwell said and Walter let out a bark of laughter.

"You’re funny, Maxwell." Walter told him, a smile in his gaze that couldn’t quite reach his lips. Maxwell sighed.

"I’m not. I know that this is what Andrew would say too. They did find out more about true alphas. I’m actually just pissed that they squandered research money. It’s now going to be harder to find that information out because people are going to be scared to look into it." Maxwell said, his expression growing dark. Walter nodded grimly.

"I certainly wouldn’t be putting my money into it again." He told him and Maxwell frowned at that. It was disappointing, but not for Maxwell. His alpha team wasn’t strong enough yet. They didn’t have enough people, and with Richard mostly out of the count because he was going to be a father soon, it was...

Maxwell dropped his head, sighing over his own woes.

He needed to hire more people, but he didn’t have the time nor the resources. This would be when he would outsource to Mr. Newman, but he couldn’t do the research for him while in his bed. Maxwell was going to have to train up some of his secretaries and that was an annoying prospect.

"I would take on the burden of looking into the origins, but my team isn’t big enough yet." Maxwell told Walter, and Walter seemed a little surprised to hear that.

"You would look into it, Maxwell?" He asked and Maxwell glanced at Walter.

"Why wouldn’t I? I’m a drug company. I’ll try to make money on anyone and everyone, just within my morals." Maxwell told him and Walter’s expression brightened. He laughed, reaching out and grabbing one of Maxwell’s hands, giving it a squeeze.

"Right. Right. Of course. I’m glad I came to speak to you about this." Walter told him, while Maxwell felt that they had barely spoken about it. However, Walter was already getting up. "I’ll get out of your hair. You have a lot on your plate, including your wedding. I will be in attendance, of course." Walter confirmed with a smile. "Thank you for listening to an old man, Maxwell. Tell Andrew I said hello." Like that, the man was gone, leaving a bunch of questions in his wake.

Maxwell shook himself and turned back to his work.