Brian had just arrived at his loft still feeling the high of having scored another multi-million dollar account for his boutique ad agency Kinnetik and felt the need to celebrate his latest achievement. Brian Kinney successfully started his own company after his former employer Marty Ryder sold his business to a Chicago ad man by the name of Gardner Vance. During their initial meeting, Vance informed Brian that he had fired the rest of the staff and that he needed a good reason not to fire him too.

"I can't think of anything," Brian told him smugly

"Look Kinney, you have one week, one week to prove to me that you're worth it." 

Brian had set out to do just that, but after not only discovering but landing Gardner Vance's dream account for himself, he decided that being his own boss was far more profitable. Now two years later, he had once again struck gold in obtaining the Remsen Pharmaceuticals account. Kinnetik was now in pole position to become the most sought after ad firm in the entire northeastern area and Gardner Vance was in the position of having to shut his business down for good. Oh yeah, a night spent sucking, fucking, and getting completely shitfaced was definitely in order.

He grabbed a quick shower and shave then picked out an outfit to wear for the evening. Brian went to his closet and picked out a black sleeveless button down shirt, a pair of low rise blue jeans that left little to the imagination, and a black pair of Gucci boots. After styling his hair with a little product giving it that just-been-fucked look, he gave himself one last appraisal in the mirror.

"Damn....I'd fuck you," satisfied with his appearance he gathered up his phone, wallet, and keys and set out into the night. He'd thought about going to Woody's or Babylon but at the last minute had decided against it when he felt that nagging familiar burn deep inside him that made him crave a taste of the wickedly forbidden.

 Twenty minutes later he found himself sitting outside of Xanadu, a club on the eastside of Pittsburgh with a well-known reputation for catering to the very sexually adventurous.  Brian sat in his vette just watching the throngs of leather clad men filtering in and out of the club in various states of undress. While Brian wasn't particularly into the leather scene apparently his cock didn't get the memo because the longer he watched, the more aroused and curious he became.

"Well what are you waiting for," he chided himself as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the bullet he'd put there before leaving the loft. Taking a hit in each nostril, Brian got out of the vette and strolled up to the door fully intending to find a tight ass or a willing mouth or two to sink his dick into for the night. Brian had no idea of what was waiting for him on the other side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

6:30 A.M. The Next Morning

The sound of the Steve Harvey Morning Show theme song blaring from Justin's radio roused him from his peaceful sleep.  Justin groaned as he stretched his tired muscles hating that he had to go into the gallery today.  Sydney had had a hard-on for the new clients that were due to arrive at the end of the week and kept stressing how important it was that everything was just perfect. He hated that his boss was such a kiss-ass and the way he always slopped sugar and fawned over every new potential buyer that walked into the gallery was disgusting.

 Granted it would result in the gallery receiving a nice profit; as well as giving him a chance to show off some of his latest works with the possibility that someone would start to take notice. With that thought in mind, Justin reluctantly dragged himself out of bed to begin preparing for his day.

After stopping at a nearby Starbucks for a much needed caffeine fix, Justin was just about to turn the corner to head in the direction of the gallery when he was halted by the sound of moaning coming from the alleyway. He cautiously inched his way forward as he called out "Hello...is anybody there?" Justin let out an audible gasp when he noticed a sliver of movement beneath a pile of discarded newspapers.

"Help me please," a weak voice said. Justin stood paralyzed contemplating what he should do. He could very well be setting himself up to be easy prey for some demented predator potentially causing him to be fatally injured by helping this stranger. Another thought occurred to him though, what if he were hurt and in need of help? What would he want somebody to do for him?

"Shit; why me?" Justin sighed and said a silent prayer as he slowly approached the moving rubbish. When he started to peel away the copious amounts of newspaper what he uncovered made his heart stop. There under the mountain of debris lying face down, was a very bruised and battered naked young man. Upon further inspection, Justin could see that the man's hands and feet were bound which would explain his restricted mobility, there was also a dark blue silk blindfold covering his eyes.

"Oh my god what happened to you?" Justin whispered as he cautiously set about releasing the young man from the confines of his restraints. "What's your name?" Justin asked .  There was a long pregnant pause before the stranger answered.

"I don't remember."  At this point, Justin wasn't quite sure which question he was being given the answer to.  The only thing he was sure of was that this guy needed help and he needed it fast.

"Shhh, it's alright I've got you," Justin spoke in a soothing voice noticing how  the stranger's body began to shake violently.  He instinctively knew that the man was crying even though he couldn't hear it or had yet to see his face.

"I'm going to turn you over now slowly," Justin told him continuing to speak softly and calmly, even though his emotions were in turmoil over what he'd just discovered. "Tell me if anything hurts okay." Brian nodded his head as best he could given his current physical state. As Justin gingerly turned the injured body over, he immediately came in contact with the most beautiful pair of hazel eyes he'd ever seen.  Justin wanted to sit and stare into those haunting eyes for as long as possible but knew now was not the time to do so.

"I'm going to call the paramedics so we can get you to the hospital and get you taken care of. Just hold on a little longer okay."

"Thank you, and by the way my name is Brian Kinney," Brian replied hoarsely.

Justin let out a little chuckle then said "My name is Justin Taylor and I would say that it's a pleasure to meet you, but under the circumstances I don't think that would be an appropriate statement to make." Brian's lips curled into a small smile while Justin held him and waited for help to arrive.

After calling the paramedics, Justin called the gallery and tried to explain to Sydney why he had yet to come into work.

"Justin I don't care how you manage it, but you'd better have your ass here in the next twenty minutes do I make myself clear?" Sydney growled.

"Sure thing Sydney. I'll just show complete disregard for another human life and rush right in to the gallery to help you kiss the ass of a client who may or may not buy a damn thing we show them." Justin said "Who gives a fuck if he dies anyway right?" There was a silence over the line and after a few moments Sydney said in a more gentle tone "Take your time Justin."

Justin thanked Sydney and ended the call just as the emergency vehicles showed up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brian couldn't believe what was happening. The last thing he remembered was going home from work and now here he was on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. Fuck he wished he could remember what had happened last night.  His friends and family were continuously warning him that one day his drinking, drugging, and fucking around would land him in trouble, and sure as shit they were right.

"Fuck! Why do I do these things?" he thought to himself. He'd have plenty of time to think about it while he was in the hospital recovering. Brian decided not to call and tell anyone where he was. He didn't want to hear all the told-you-so's that were sure to be thrown his way. Not to mention all the mothering and fussing over him his best friend Michael and his mother Debbie would lavish on him whether he liked it or not. As strange as it may seem, the only person Brian was even remotely interested in having around was a man he barely even knew.

For some odd reason he couldn't get the blond out of his mind. Was it because he had found and ultimately saved him? Did he feel indebted to him? Brian wasn't quite sure what he was feeling or why, but once he was feeling better he was determined to find out.

~~~Three days later~~~

Brian was in his office looking over his notes for the 3:00 presentation he had scheduled with the principles of Telson Tires, and he was ten miles past pissed because the boards the art department had sent him were for shit. Every single component of the boards, right down to the color and size of the font as well as the subject content, was completely the opposite of what he had requested.

"I can't do this fucking copy," Brian muttered to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose; feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on.

 CEO and founder Marvin Telson had lost a large percentage of the market share in recent quarters and had come to Kinnetik with the hopes of re-energizing business by overhauling his company's image.  Telson had initially planned to use Vanguard in his quest to light a fire under his flailing business' proverbial ass, but found Vanguards tactics a little too conservative for what he had in mind.  Brian had convinced him that with the one-of-a-kind campaign that only Kinnetik could design, Telson Tires would more than make up for its loss of national sells, and he'd be damned if he was going to be made to look like some incompetent  asshole who couldn't do his job.

Just as Brian had finished notating the necessary revisions; his assistant Cynthia came barreling into his office with barely a cursory knock.

"What is it Cynthia?" Brian practically growled

Cynthia stood glaring daggers at Brian with her hands on her hips, not the least bit put off by her boss' gruffness. Cynthia had worked as Brian's assistant during their time together at Vanguard, so she was very well accustomed to Brian's seemingly hostile temperament.

"What crawled up your ass this....you know what, nevermind don't even bother answering that question." Cynthia said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Brian raised an eyebrow at Cynthia in indignation before replying.

"Instead of wondering what might have crawled up my ass, which by the way would be none of your fucking business, you should worry about me firing yours. Now tell me what the fuck is so damn important."

Cynthia huffed out a breath in exasperation.

"Well...the gym called, your tailor called, and..."

"Fuck the gym, fuck the tailor, and fuck whatever else you were about to say. Now would you please get me some aspirin or something, I have a bitch of a headache," Brian groused. Cynthia narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, impatiently tapping her stiletto clad foot on the ground, silently demanding an apology for Brian's harsh tone.

"I'm not your little errand girl you know." she told Brian before moving toward the door.  She paused just as her hand touched the knob, turning back to face him "By the way, Michael called and wanted to know if you could meet him for lunch."

Brian knew he was going to have to face his best friend sooner or later, and he also knew Mikey was bound to ask questions that quite frankly, he literally didn't have answers to. Well that wasn't entirely true, it was more accurate to say he simply didn't want anyone knowing about his recent hospital stay. Hell, he was still uncertain about the events that precipitated his trip to Alleghany general in the first place.

Damn....why couldn't he remember what happened that night? How had he wound up naked and bound in a dirty, filth ridden alleyway? While those details may still remain a mystery, the one thing he could clearly recall was the fair skinned, blue eyed, blond haired angel that had come to his rescue.  Justin Taylor.

Brian was never one to stand on sentimental ceremony and for reasons he couldn't explain, he found himself wanting to know more about his little blond hero.

Brian pulled himself from his thoughts long enough to call Mikey and agreed to meet him at the Liberty Diner for lunch, and to call down to the art department to have an intern come and retrieve the newly modified boards to ensure they would be ready for the afternoon meeting with Telson.

Brian walked into the diner and spotted Michael sitting in their usual booth. He took a deep breath before walking over to join him, anticipating the interrogation he would no doubt be subjected to.

"Hey Mikey," Brian drawled taking a seat across from his friend after giving him a quick kiss.

"Hey yourself," Michael said with a smile. His expression quickly changed however as he remembered the reason he had invited his best friend to lunch. He had been calling Brian for the last three days and wasn't getting any response. He started to get worried after trying unsuccessfully to reach him by phone, so he decided to stop by his loft to pay him a visit, but that too proved to be in vain. As a last resort he tried his office and when Cynthia told him that Brian had indeed come into work, he figured this was the perfect opportunity to find out just what the fuck was going on with his friend.

"Brian is everything alright?" Brian cocked his head and eyed Michael curiously at the question.

"Sure Mikey everything's just dandy....why do you ask?"

"Well....it's just that I haven't been able to get in touch with you for the past few days. As a matter of fact, no one has seen or heard from you and we were starting to get worried."

Brian chuckled slightly at Michael's unwarranted concern. Okay so maybe it was warranted but he didn't have to know that. Brian knew that if he told him the truth about his little disappearing act, he'd never hear the end of it and Debbie would be on his ass like white on rice.

"Don't worry about me Mikey, I'm invincible." Brian said smirk clearly in place

"Well ma told me to inform you that if you're not at her house for dinner Sunday night, she's going to cut your balls off....let's see how invincible you are then," Michael laughed.

Kiki the waitress had just stopped at their booth to take their order when Brian looked up and noticed a familiar blond mop of hair. It was also the first time Brian had truly gotten a good look at the blond.  Perfection was the only word he could use to describe him as he gave Justin's body a slow deliberate appraisal.

He had flawless alabaster skin, full raspberry lips, and the tightest ass Brian had ever seen.   His cock began to quicken as he imagined himself buried deep within the tight heat of the hot little blond. Brian unconsciously licked his lips as he silently watched Justin from his place at the booth with a heated gaze.

Justin was oblivious of the eyes burning into him as he stood at the counter waiting for his coffee to arrive. He had been running a few errands around Liberty Avenue, and decided to stop by the diner before heading back to the gallery. With all the tasks that still needed to be completed in preparation for their expected client, Justin had a long afternoon ahead of him and figured he could use the caffeine.

The waiter had just given him his coffee filled Styrofoam cup when as if pulled my some magnetic force, he turned to lock eyes with the last person he ever expected to see.

My god, he's even more beautiful than I remember; if that's even possible He thought to himself.

The last time he'd seen the gorgeous stranger he was covered in cuts and bruises and nothing more. He remembered how he felt compelled to protect him from any and everything that would further cause him harm. Justin had to talk to him, to make sure he was really sitting there alive and well. Justin also wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't stuck in some silly daydream.

Justin's body seemed to move of its own volition as he approached the booth Brian and Michael were occupying. Brian couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips at the blond's presence, while Michael furrowed his brow in irritation at the interruption.

Justin smiled brightly in return before asking "How's it going?"

"Do we know you?" Michael groused

Justin shook his head disapprovingly at the dark haired man's harsh treatment. Focusing his attention solely on Brian and dismissing Michael completely, Justin continued to nervously make small talk.

"You're Brian uuuhhh.....Kinney right?"

"Yep the one and only," Brian replied with a smirk. "And you're Justin ...Justin...."

"Taylor..." Justin supplied

Brian was well aware of who the fine specimen was standing before them. He wouldn't let on as much though, in doing so he would be forced to field questions he didn't want to answer. He also wanted to know more about Mr. Justin Taylor, and decided that a little inane small talk would be a safe place to start.

"So to what do we owe the pleasure of this little impromptu visit?"

"Well I just wanted to make sure that you were feeling alright, you know after...." Brian's eyes flickered nervously between Justin and his best friend at the statement. He hoped the blond would understand the silent entreaty and not say anything further.

"Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you talking about?" Michael growled

The panic must have been clearly displayed on Brian's face, because almost immediately Justin's look of concern turned to one of regret and understanding....he didn't want his friend or whoever he was, to know about what happened.

"Relax Mikey; he was just trying to be friendly." Brian said cursing himself for his momentary weakness. "And to answer your question I'm fucking fabulous," he added tongue planted firmly in cheek

"Yeah....well I-I really should be going," Justin stuttered wanting to make his exit as expeditiously as possible before the situation became too awkward.

Brian however, was determined not to let Justin walk away so easily.

Justin stood there a heartbeat longer unable to tear his gaze away from the beautiful brunet whose haunting hazel eyes currently held his own captive.  What is this man doing to me he thought. Justin imagined himself writhing, sweat drenched and panting breathlessly beneath this enigma of a man as he fucked him on as many surfaces and in as many positions as possible; and when they were completely worn out and sated, they would fall asleep with their limbs deliciously entangled only to wake up and do it all over again. Justin knew he had to quickly shake these erotic images from his head as he felt his face flush and his body temperature rise at the mere thought. Justin did his best to compose himself and reign in his emotions. He shifted his messenger bag just a bit in an effort to hide how his treacherous cock was tenting his pants; the last thing he wanted was for Brian to see how he affected him.

Brian studied the blond with a sly smirk on his lips; he noticed how the color stained his alabaster skin from hairline to collarbone and what an enticing sight it was indeed. Oh yes this boy was clearly interested and when the time and opportunity presented itself, he would have him of this he had no doubt. The predator inside him was aching to drag Justin into the bathroom and fuck him hard and fast against one of the stalls until he forgot his own name, but he knew he had to let Justin come to him on his own.

"I thought you were leaving?" Michael huffed out, having had enough of the intrusive interloper.  Mikey knew his best friend quite well and it was obvious that Brian wanted this kid in a bad way, and he wondered to himself not for the first time why Brian couldn't feel that way about him. To this day Michael regretted not taking advantage of the chance he'd been given when they were fourteen to win Brian's heart. Although he knew that he and Brian could never be anything more than close friends, he wasn't just going to sit back and let this fucking imp of a twink insinuate himself into their lives.

"Uh....right," Justin managed to stammer out  offering an apologetic smile "I guess I'll see you around sometime," he said and with a final  cursory nod Justin turned and headed out the diner. 

"I'm glad he's finally gone," Michael muttered in relief "And what the fuck was he going on about anyway Brian? The last thing you need is some lovesick little fairy following you around all the time."

Brian bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from slapping the hell out of Michael, as well as laughing at the sheer irony of Mikey's statement. He could easily point out to his bons copains, that he had been following him around for sixteen years waiting for him for finish the hand job that his mother had interrupted so many years ago.

Flashback

It was an early autumn afternoon and Brian had gone to the Novotny residence with the intention of studying with Michael for an upcoming exam. Noticing that the house seemed to be vacant when they arrived, they went up to Michael's room but not before absconding a magazine that Debbie had apparently swiped from the beauty parlor on her last visit. Sitting on the bed and foregoing studying altogether, they started to flip through the pages until they came to a photo of Patrick Swayze without his shirt on.

Brian leaned into to Michael and whispered hotly in his ear "Patrick Swayze is so hot," as he took the magazine from Michael's hand. "I've seen Dirty Dancing like five times," Michael replied; his face slightly flushed half from embarrassment, half from arousal. He listened intently as Brian waxed poetic about wanting to fuck the hunky star and how he would love to play with his hot hard cock nice and slow. Michael's eyes were riveted to Brian's lips as he spoke, his own cock growing harder and harder with every word.

Brian looked over at his friend and smiled; amused by Mikey's aroused state. He couldn't pass up the chance to razz his friend just a bit; it also didn't escape his notice how Mikey was looking at him with longing in his eyes. Brian let his eyes quickly travel down Michael's body until they came to rest on the obvious bulge in his pants then back up to his face. "Hey Mikey.....you have a woody," he chuckled. Michael blushed deeper and tried to hide his erection with the magazine in question "I-I do not!" he stuttered. After a few moments of heated debating and finally getting Michael to admit to his little....problem, Brian suggested that they do something about it. 

Michael easily acquiesced as Brian slowly lowered him down on the bed and began to unbutton his jeans and slip his hand inside.  Unable to ignore his own throbbing cock, Brian took them both into his warm hand and started stroking at a steady pace. Soon they were both teetering on the edge of an impending climax when suddenly.... Debbie rushed into Michael's bedroom without warning laundry basket in tow; bringing their little escapade to an end.

"No Mikey, we wouldn't want that," Brian shook his head chuckling sarcastically. "And he wasn't going on about anything, so would you fucking drop it already." Michael rolled his eyes feigning annoyance and continued to eat his lunch while regaling Brian with the details of his latest eBay acquisition.

He half listened to Mikey prattle on for about half a minute before finishing off his coffee and heading back to the office, promising his friend they would get together later in the week.

Sitting in the noon day gridlock Brian couldn't help but feel that the drive back to Kinnetic was taking longer than usual. Granted traffic was always a little heavier during the lunch hour rush, but this was somehow different.  As he waited, his mind kept drifting back to azure eyes, blond hair, and one perfectly shaped ass. Justin. Why couldn't he get the man out of his head? It couldn't be because he still saw him as some kind of hero; no it was much more than that.  Justin was causing him to have feelings he wasn't accustomed to, and it was unsettling him in ways he didn't even want to begin to contemplate.

Brian needed to rid himself of these feelings, and there was only one solution to his problem in his opinion. He needed to fuck Justin, and once he'd had him he could be done with this growing obsession. He knew exactly what he needed to do to make this reality.

Brian smiled to himself and breathed a sigh of relief as the traffic began to finally move somewhat steadily, he couldn't get to the office fast enough to start exacting the plan he had already formed in his head.

"Soon...very soon Mr. Justin Taylor, you will be mine."

Justin went about his routine over the next few days completely on autopilot. His recent encounter with the handsome brunet from the alley had thrown him of kilter. He couldn't believe that the bruised and battered man he'd been introduced to on that fateful day, and the enigmatic one he'd seen in the diner were one and the same. It seemed that every time he thought he had his shit wrapped tight, one fleeting thought of those soulful hazel eyes was all it took to unravel him once again. He was so out of sorts that Sydney started complaining (more than usual that is) that the quality of his work was starting to be affected by whatever personal shit he had going on at the moment.

"Justin I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but you'd better snap out of it pretty damn quick. The gallery can't afford to lose out on profit because you have some kind of bug up your ass."

Justin had to remind himself that his boss' belittlement wasn't personal, that he was just high strung and anxious about the upcoming showing. He wanted to believe that with every fiber of his being; it was the only thing keeping him from beating the shit out of Sydney and walking out. Justin mustered up his resolve and plastered a smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes and addressed him as calmly as he could.

"Sydney I know that my focus has been for shit lately and I'm not going to offer up any excuses for it. I know how important this is to you, so you have my word that I won't fuck this up okay?"

"Alright Justin, so do you want to tell me what's going on? Let me guess, you've fallen madly, deeply, passionately in love with me and you were just trying to find the right time to tell me," Sydney joked as he playfully batted his lashes at Justin and smiled. A quiet laugh escaped Justin's lips as he shook his head at his boss in amusement.

"As much as I dream about you at night, that's not the problem."

Sydney studied his employee while they continued to diligently work on putting the finishing touches on the selected exhibits.

"Damn...and here I thought I actually had a place in your heart. What's his name then?"

Justin's hands stilled and his body went rigid as he mulled over the answer to that question. How could he possibly tell anyone that he'd been lusting after a man that he'd only met twice before and not under the best of circumstances? That he couldn't close his eyes at night without imagining the beautiful man's arms around him. The feel of his soft auburn hair as he lazily sifted his fingers through it while they lay wrapped around each other. Fuck! Brian Kinney had found his way into his life and had driven him to complete distraction; which was the last fucking thing he needed. 
"What even makes you think there is a ‘he' involved Sydney? Did it ever occur to you that it could be a family matter or that I'm simply not feeling well?"

Sydney put his hands up in a show of surrender, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth "Okay, okay...I'll back off. Justin just promise me that if you do ever need my help or just someone to talk to, that you won't hesitate to come to me."

Justin gave Sydney a slight nod of acceptance, and while he appreciated Sydney's concern, he was still a bit offended by his boss' blatant assumption that he was having man troubles. ‘Well, who gives a shit what he thinks,' Justin mused to himself. The idea of him having any kind of romantic discord was ridiculous seeing as he wasn't involved romantically with anyone; hell he wasn't even getting fucked on a regular basis. That brought to mind the semi-cute dark haired man that was with Brian that day in the diner. He still wasn't very clear of what their relationship was, but it was apparent that they were very close. If they were in fact lovers, that would explain Brian's reluctance to tell him about his little adventure.

After leaving the diner and spending an insane amount of time in gridlock, Brian arrived back at Kinnetik and immediately set about giving Cynthia the dutiful task of finding out as much information as possible on one Justin Taylor. He still couldn't understand the pull the young blond had on him, or his deep need to find him and keep him a part of his life. Brian couldn't help thinking that his best friend might have fucked up any chance of that ever happening by acting like a complete asshole towards the young man. Truth be told, Brian was rather embarrassed by his friend's actions. Sure Michael had always been somewhat territorial when it came to Brian, but his verbal assault on the twink had been downright uncalled for. Brian needed to see Justin again if only to offer up a lame apology (something he is not inclined to do) so that was more than clear that Mikey's feelings didn't reflect his own.

When Brian approached Cynthia with her latest assignment, he knew the inquisitive lass would ambush him with a barrage of questions as to why a background check was being requested on someone who wasn't going to be a potential client. He figured he could always tell her that it was none of her fucking business, but because he genuinely needed her help he decided a tiny bit of the truth was in order. 

"Brian what is so important about locating this guy? I didn't think you ever bothered to learn the names of the guys you fuck."

"If you must know nurse Rachet, Justin Taylor is not one of my former tricks. As a matter of fact he's not a trick at all. Let's just say that I owe this man my life, literally." Cynthia raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow silently asking Brian for more of an explanation before she could feel comfortable about digging up dirt on a total stranger.

"Justin Taylor found me one morning in an alley after I'd had a particularly bad night. He stayed with me until I was able to get back home safely, and I've not had the chance to thank him properly for saving my ass."

"I can just imagine how you'd like to thank him for his good deed," Cynthia smirked. "But since I like you, I'll do it anyway."

"Your loyalty will not go unrewarded. Oh and by the way, you're fired" Brian responded with as much sarcasm as he could possibly muster. Cynthia just chuckled lightly as she effectively dismissed Brian and went right to work uncovering any little tidbit of information about Justin Taylor that she could find.

Cynthia quickly googled and wikipiediaed, binged and even searched both Angie and Craig's list and found herself amazed by what she had discovered about the young man. Justin Taylor was a 23 year old local artist and former student at PIFA who was currently employed with the Sydney Bloom Gallery. There were numerous magazine and newspaper articles chronicling his achievements dating back to his formative years at St James Academy. His father Craig Taylor was the owner of Taylor electronics; a chain of successful electronic stores in the greater Pittsburgh area and his mother Jennifer Taylor had also found success as a sought after realtor.

Her heart sank a little as she continued to skim over what was in front of her; Cynthia's eyes came to rest upon the newspaper article detailing his brutal bashing after leaving his senior prom. Because Justin was gay and had shown up and danced affectionately with his then boyfriend, a fellow classmate by the name of Chris Hobbs had seen fit to brain him with a baseball bat and leave him for dead. The judge trying the case shared Hobbs' homophobic sentiment, which resulted in the offender in question receiving no more than a slap on the wrist (500 hours community service) for what many would consider to be attempted murder. Disgusted by the whole scenario, Cynthia decided to move on with her research. As she perused the last virtual document in her ever growing file, she happened on an item she knew her boss would be very interested to see.