Chapter 628 - What is going on? (1)

10 June, Matthew's Villa, City K

Matthew walked into the villa, with his adjunct following him.  At his nod, he placed the briefcase into Matthew's office before heading off for the night.  Before heading to locate Lexi and Dominic, he paused and thought about the conversation he had with Warrant Officer Wang on the trip from the base to here.  It was a normal conversation about nothing, but it reminded him that special forces needed to have absolute trust in each other.

That made him recognise that he had to be grateful to Bronwyn for her suggestion to talk to John.  After explaining to him the situation with those idiots who where his three closest subordinates and best friends over the last few years when he had been far from his childhood friends, John could see that the conflict that his disclosure had created could end in disaster if the wrong sort of attack occurred.  He quickly indicated that he knew which of his subordinates, with the relevant security clearance would be the best person to interact with them on base.

However, the issue would be explaining why such a move was being made with only weeks before if Officer N's intelligence on the date of the attack remained correct, to Head Honcho.  That would be an even more challenging discussion, as he had advised Head Honcho that he had completed his recommendation to approve Bronwyn and John's marriage his attitude changed.  He would be as protective of his soon to be son-in-law as he already was of his daughter.

Having to tell him, of the change to a junior police officer to be the physical on-base contact would start to challenge his bottom line, his family, particularly given that he was supportive of John's willingness to come forward and have publicly revealed the abuse that he suffered.  That at least would be a discussion that he could have face to face at the meeting in the capital with Head Honcho and Legend, later in the week.  He just had his hopes up that the remaining approvals for Bronwyn and John's marriage were done by then, because it would provide an excuse that had a level of believability to it.

Looking up he saw Dominic running towards the stairs, and instinctively Matthew called out "No running in the house Dominic."

"You are mean Daddy Matthew," came Dominic's response, but at least stopped running and walked down the stairs.

Matthew, as he reached the bottom of the stairs said "I may seem mean Dominic, but I did not learn the lesson of running inside when I was growing up with your Uncle Phillip.  You know the staircase in his villa?"

"That winding slippery one?"

"That is the one.  I was running just like you because I thought I had to get down the stairs quick and I slipped. I was just lucky that when I did, I was about six steps from the bottom and only fell down those few stairs."

"And even more lucky if I remember rightly, the only injuries that you suffered were a whole lot of bruises, a sprained wrist and a broken thumb," came Lexi from behind Matthew having only just come in the door herself.

"So, running is alright then?" came a cheeky response from Dominic.

"Absolutely not Dominic.  You could fall down all the stairs breaking bones and suffering other injuries, unlike your lucky Daddy Matthew" responded Lexi.  "Now what is it I hear about you being upset at the end of school?"

"Unfair mummy, you are taking away my fun," came the sad sounding response from Dominic.

"Did I ban running in its entirety?  No.  Just not inside the house unless it is an emergency and you must get help or get out, but that does not include running down the stairs.  And you have everywhere outside to run around unless it is around the outdoor pool area."

"Fine," came the somewhat stroppy response from Dominic.

"Now Dominic, if we go into the casual lounge at the back of the house, and get Uncle Yang to bring in drinks and tea, will you talk to your Daddy Matthew and I about what is wrong?"

"Can I have Nachos?"

Lexi turned and looked at Matthew who was looking directly at her, and slightly nodded his head.  "OK, can you go find him and ask him to have the staff prepare that and something else Mexican inspired for tea and to bring us in something to drink before coming and joining your Daddy Matthew and I."

As Dominic moved away toward the kitchen Lexi quietly said, "You think the children were talking about things at school?"

"Absolutely.  It is a scandal everywhere.  The parents of his classmates will be like my staff were today gossiping and speculating on what happened and discrediting victims simply because they are male.  I can guess why that happened."

"Little information in the press other than her name and confirmation that her victims were not women."  Matthew shook his head and said, "I just cannot get why the police had the type of press conference they did.  I could even see that it was creating more trouble than it was solving."

"I know.  Ever since I started to create a name for myself in the fashion industry, I have learnt that when it comes to scandals the media can be utterly vicious.  This is just another example that has confirmed my view and explains why I limit my dealings with the press, to press releases with the occasional select interview where I can control what happens and leave press conferences at various fashion shows and weeks to other staff members."

Matthew looked at her, and said "What do you mean?"

Shaking her head, Lexi said, "Take me to the casual lounge, and let us deal with Dominic, before I will explain things in more details."

"Do not think about ignoring it."

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