The taxi dropped Justin in front of the Quoin.  He had finally decided what he was going to do about his shares in that operation.  He had taken a week to think about it and hadn't heard from Brian in all that time. He seriously hoped he wouldn't regret his decision.

He pushed open the front door and saw Jake sitting at the reception desk.

"Hi Jake," he said with a smile.

"Hello yourself," Jake responded with a genuine smile in return.  "You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you."

Justin made a face remembering his encounter with Brian and the near catatonic state he had been in when he came out of Brian's office.  Jake had helped him get a cab and get out of there.

"I want to thank you for helping me that day," Justin said sincerely.

"No problem," Jake said.  "I'm glad to see that you're okay.  I never thought you'd come back here after the way you looked."

"I never thought I'd be back either, but some things have happened since then."

"Oh?  Like what?"

"I need to … um … see Mr. Kinney," Justin said thinking he better keep his visit here formal and professional.  He wasn't quite ready to answer Jake's question either.

"He's busy at the moment.  You know you have the weirdest timing," Jake said with a little laugh.

"What do you mean?" Justin asked.

"When you were here last time he was firing Rico.  This time he's in there with Rico's replacement, giving him the lay of the land, and probably reading him the riot act.  The guy starts tonight."

"Oh, do you think Brian will be in a bad mood again?"

"Hard to tell.  It depends how well this guy takes instruction."

"I see."

"Want to have a seat until he's done?  I'd rather not interrupt him."

"Okay.  I'm Justin Taylor by the way."

"Jake Martin."

"How long do you think he'll be?"

"Probably another half hour.  That's about how long it usually takes."

"Is there a big turnover in personnel here?" Justin asked.

"Not really.  The pay's great and most of the boys really like what they're doing."

"They do?"

"Yep.  The Quoin's not for everybody, but if you love sex and a pretty good lifestyle, it's not half bad."

"What about you?  You're a great looking guy."

"Thanks, but if you're talking about me working as one of the boys – been there, done that.  It's not for me."

"You tried it?"

"Yeah, I lasted a couple of weeks, but I didn't like the unknown.  Some of the men were kinky or old. I just didn't like never knowing what was coming next.  So I asked if there were any other jobs and I ended up as part bouncer and part receptionist.  Suits me fine."

"That's interesting."

"You think so?"

"Um hmm.  How has Brian been since I was here?" Justin asked.

"He was a mess after you left.  What happened in there?"

Justin ignored his question and asked another one of his own.  "What do you mean – a mess?" He wanted to know how Brian had reacted to their … encounter.

"I mean he didn't come out of the office for a long time, but when he did he looked like shit."

"Like shit?  How?"

"You looked pretty awful, but he looked worse.  His face was pale as a ghost and he seemed … I don't know … shaky."

"Shaky?"

"Yeah, he kind of looked like somebody had kicked him in the balls, you know, shaken him to the core, but not just physically."

Justin almost laughed out loud.  Jake was nothing, if not perceptive.  He imagined that both of them had been shaken to the core.  He hoped what he had to tell Brian wouldn't result in another incident like that.  He wasn't sure he could stand it. "Did … did he say anything?"

"He just looked … tortured, yeah, that's the word … tortured.  Then he asked me for a phonebook."

"A phonebook?"

"Yeah.  I asked him if he wanted me to look something up for him, but he said he wanted the fucking phone book and if he needed me to do some fucking thing for him, he'd fucking tell me.  I think those were his exact words."

Justin chuckled.  "He does manage to make his intent crystal clear."

"You can say that again."

Justin realized that Brian must have been looking up his address right after he recovered from the knee in the balls he had given him.

"You know," Jake said thoughtfully.  "You looked pretty tortured yourself when you came out of the office.  What happened? You never told me."

Justin didn't know what to say.  He knew that Brian would never want Jake, or anybody else for that matter, to know what had gone on in his office.  "Um … let's just say that we knew each other a long time ago, and when we met the other day, it brought back some unpleasant memories."

Jake looked skeptically at Justin.  He knew there had to be more to the story, but apparently he wasn't going to hear it from Justin, and certainly not from Brian Kinney.  "He should be finished soon," Jake said.

Just as Jake said that, they both heard a door open and close around the corner from the desk.  A few seconds later a very nice looking young man with dirty blond hair appeared. He glanced at Jake and shrugged his shoulders.

"Did he give you a hard time?" Jake asked.

"It wasn't the most fun I've ever done.  He has more rules than almost any place I've ever worked.  Who would have thought … in a place like this?"

"Just remember that those rules are for your own good.  The last guy who didn't follow them got shoved around and then fired."

"Point taken," the dirty blond said.  "Will you be here tonight? I have to go home and pick up a few things."

"I'm finished at six," Jake said.

"I should be back before then."

"See ya," Jake said as the man went out the front door.

"He seemed a little nervous," Justin observed.

"Brian, um, Mr. Kinney lays it on pretty thick with the new guys.  It's scary … the first time you work here."

"I bet."

"Want me to see if he's available to see you now?"

Justin nodded.  Jake punched the numbers on the phone and then spoke to Brian.  There was no yelling this time at least as far as Justin could hear.  That was a good sign.

"He says to send you in.  Do you remember where to go?" Jake asked.

Justin wanted to say, "How could I forget?", but he merely nodded his head.

He walked down the hall and turned the corner.  The door was there in front of him. He took a deep breath wondering which Brian would be behind the wood paneling.  It felt a little bit like "The Lady or The Tiger". He knocked gently.

Brian opened the door and Justin's heart skipped a beat.  The man looked good enough to eat, and there was nothing Justin would rather do.  He was dressed all in black and looked sexy as hell, and a little bit dangerous which gave Justin pause.

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you coming in?" Brian asked.

Justin realized he had been staring at Brian for too long.  He blinked a couple of times and stepped across the threshold.  "I've come to a decision about the shares," he said quickly trying to cover up his intense interest in what Brian had been wearing and how he looked and how he made him feel.

"Good," Brian said brusquely.  "Have a seat."

Justin sat down and adjusted his jeans which had suddenly got a little tighter.

"What have you decided?"

Justin took a deep breath.  "I think I'd like to keep them if you think we could work together as partners."

Justin saw a look pass across Brian's face.  He couldn't tell what it meant. It looked like relief and then fear and then anger.  Suddenly Brian's face registered no emotion. He merely stared back at Justin. "Are you sure that's what you want to do?" he asked coldly.

"I'm sure," Justin said slowly, not at all sure that he had made the right decision based on Brian's reaction.

"Then I guess we need to come to some understanding about your role at the Quoin," Brian said, all business.

"Role?  Can I actually do something here?" Justin asked.  He had thought maybe he could help Brian with the books or paint a mural on the wall, but Brian sounded like he could really be a part of the whole enterprise.

"You are an equal partner, so technically you have as much say as I do, even though you have no experience with the Quoin."

"But I could learn," Justin said hopefully.

"I thought you found the whole idea of the Quoin distasteful," Brian said coldly.

"I still do … kind of."

"Then why do you want to keep the shares?"

"I thought it might be interesting to work together with you, and I don't have much business experience.  It would be good for me to get some. I thought maybe I could help with the books or something like that."

"What?  You want to get a look at the finances to see if I'm ripping you off?"

"No … no, that's not what I meant at all.  I just thought it was an area I could help you with."

"I don't really need any help you know," Brian said in that supercilious tone that really ticked Justin off.

"Well, I guess you're going to get it whether you want it or not," Justin retorted, not liking Brian's attitude one little bit.

Brian glared at him.  "Is this the way things are going to be?"

"Looks that way."

"Then we are in for one fucking rough ride!"

"We don't have to be, if you'd treat me like the partner that I'm supposed to be."

Brian looked like he was thinking about that.  A flash of hope went through Justin. Maybe they could make it work.

"Why don't you just sell me the fucking shares and put an end to this once and for all?"

"In case you haven't noticed," Justin said icily, "I don't take orders from you anymore."

"When the fuck did you ever listen to anything I told you?"

"I always listened," Justin said defensively.

"And did whatever the fuck you wanted."

"That's not true."

"Oh?  What about the Sap and dancing at Babylon and stopping those fucking posters of Stockwell?"  Brian was getting more and more angry.

"That's it, isn't it?  It all comes back to Stockwell and my part in that."

"If the Prada fits…"

"Fuck you, Brian.  I am not responsible for what happened."

"But you will be responsible for what happens to the Quoin if you insist on exercising your partnership rights."

"We'll see about that," Justin said through his clenched teeth.  "I want an office here just like yours. I want to see the books.  I want to have a list of possible areas that I might supervise and I'll select which ones I want to do.  I want this ready for a week Monday because that's when our partnership officially begins." Justin got up to leave.  He could see the fury in Brian's eyes. "Oh, and don't try to foist some nonsense off on me. I'm retaining a lawyer. You're not going to shove me around anymore, so don't even try."

Justin grabbed the doorknob half expecting Brian to stop him.  He pulled the door open and walked out. A part of him wanted to look back at Brian to see his reaction, but he held his head high and slammed the door behind him.

                                                               -----

Brian seethed with anger as he watched Justin walk out and slam the door behind him.  His cock jumped in spite of him as he thought about the fire in Justin's eyes. That look on Justin's face had always been such a challenge.  It made him instantly hard. Suddenly Brian laughed out loud. Fuck! It was going to be exciting having Justin around. He was angry that the blond wouldn't sell him the shares, but he was also glad on some level that he was going to stay around.  Life was always interesting when Justin was part of it.

Justin always thought that Brian didn't treat him as an equal, but Brian knew that Justin was more his equal than any other person he had ever met.  And on top of that, he was about the best looking thing that Brian had seen in two years. There were beautiful men at the Quoin and he had tried them out from time to time, but none of them had ever aroused and excited him and met him as a sexual equal the way Justin had.  And none of them had ever satisfied him the way Justin did. Somewhere deep inside him he was glad Justin would be around. Maybe they did have unfinished business whether he wanted to admit or not.

                                                              -----

Justin fumed as he walked down the hall to Jake's desk.

"What happened this time?" Jake asked.  "You don't look as upset as last time, but it obviously didn't go well."

"That man is the absolute most fucking irritating man I have ever met!" Justin told him.

"You won't get an argument from me," Jake said holding up his hands in surrender.

Justin slumped down into the chair by Jake's desk.  "I should shoot him and get it over with."

"Want some help?" Jake asked with a grin.

Justin laughed in spite of himself.  "He sure knows how to push my buttons."

"So why did you come back."

"I'm stuck here."

"Huh?" Jake looked baffled.

"Meet the newest partner in the Quoin," Justin said deciding he would introduce the new arrangement and not wait for Brian to put his spin on it.

"Where?" Jake asked looking around.

"Me."

"You?"

"Yes, me."

"Fucking shit!  No wonder he was so upset.  He must have shit a brick when he found out he had a partner," Jake said.

"Oh, he knew he had a partner.  He shit the brick when he found out it was me."

Jake laughed.  "Wait till the guys hear about this."

"Maybe you shouldn't tell anyone until Brian makes an announcement."

Jake gave him a mischievous grin.  "I don't think so. This is too good to keep to myself."

Justin thought for a moment.  He was about to tell Jake to be careful, but he didn't want to be careful any longer, and he didn't want to have to worry about Brian's reaction.  He was going to do what he wanted to do. Fuck Brian! An evil grin played on his lips. "Go for it," he said finally. "I can hardly wait for the tempest that will follow."

Jake and Justin shared a little laugh before Justin got up to leave.  He knew his status as Brian's partner would be all over the Quoin by tonight and he knew Brian would be furious, but he didn't care.  In fact he could hardly wait for next Monday and his new office and his new career at the Quoin.

                                                               -----

Justin walked across the street.  It was Sunday afternoon and he knew Rick would be working at Le Bistro.  He hoped the lunch rush would be over. Then maybe Rick could take a break and they could talk.  He needed to have someone support his decision and tell him he was doing the right thing.

Rick was surprised to see Justin and took his break almost immediately.  They got a beer and sat at a table in one corner where they could have some privacy.  Justin quickly explained his new position at the Quoin and how he was going to work there.  He didn't say much about Brian.

"Wow, Justin, you have really come up in the world.  That place makes a mint. You'll have to take me out to dinner to celebrate and I expect you to pay."

Justin chuckled.  "That's a deal."

"So what's the manager like?  Is he as gorgeous as we heard?"

"Yeah," Justin admitted, "but he's also a big asshole."

"Aren't they always?  How are you going to work with him or maybe you just want to fuck him?"

Justin made a face.  "Rick, I … needed to talk to somebody because there's a little more to this story than I've told you."

"I thought maybe there was," Rick said with a smile of encouragement.

"Remember the drawing in my sketchbook of the gorgeous guy that you said looked cold and angry?"  Rick nodded and Justin could see the light dawn. "He's the manager of the Quoin. We used to live together in Pittsburgh."

"Holy fuck!  And you're going to be working with him all the time.  Do you think that's a good idea?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"Only you can answer that, but it sounds like a volatile situation."

"It is," Justin admitted remembering the scene in Brian's office.

"Then maybe you should get out of it … as fast as you can."

"He offered to buy me out, but I refused."

"Why?"

Justin didn't know how to answer that.  There were so many conflicting feelings and hopes in his head that it was already spinning.

"When I have the answer to that I'll know what the fuck to do," Justin said shaking his tortured head.