In the morning, Justin experienced the worst hangover he had ever had in his life.

At the breakfast table, he nursed his black coffee, keeping his eyes closed so he wouldn’t see the food around him. The mere smell of eggs and bacon made him nauseous.

“You should try eating something,” Brian said gently.

“I’m good.” Justin took another gulp of his coffee.

Brian wanted to bring up the subject of their conversation from the previous night, but Suzie and Garrett joined them. They looked rested and fresh, unlike Justin, who looked like he had rolled out of bed and had fallen in a pit of misery.

“Look who lied about being able to hold his alcohol,” Garrett joked.

Brian shot him a dirty look, making sure his employee knew it wasn’t wise to make jokes about Justin’s state.

“Okay, no food. How about some OJ?” Brian returned his attention to Justin.

“Christ, Brian! Leave me alone.” Justin got up, walking away.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?”

“To throw up, wanna hold my hair, dear?” Justin snarked, earning disapproving looks from the other people eating.

“What was that?” Suzie asked, once Justin disappeared through the breakfast area’s doors.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m going to make sure he’s well enough to come with us. Wait for us in the lobby like yesterday. You can ask for the car to be up front.”

Garrett nodded, as Brian finished his coffee and left the room.

Brian found Justin sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at his phone. He sat down next to him, and noticed Justin was looking at a text message.

“Everything okay?”

Justin locked his phone, curling his fingers around it. “I never finished my story. The reason I came back was because Eric played me. He gave me twenty or thirty percent of what he made out of my paintings. He thought I was a fool, but I figured it out. I had my regulars for commissions, and when we discussed prices, it started clicking together. Then I overheard Eric talking to a potential client. He asked for an outrageous amount and the woman didn’t even blink. Later that night, he told me about a new painting for this woman. The price he told me she was paying was about thirty percent of what they had discussed.”

“That asshole,” Brian muttered.

“Eric was always around when I was with my clients, except when I was doing portraits. Soon, I figured out what he was doing.”

“But why? Did you ask?”

“He said he had other artists. I wasn’t the only one. Imagine how much money he has…His reasoning was that this is the way he does business. I get that he needed his own commission, but not that much. And trust me, he took a lot from me, so imagine what he took from everyone, total. ”

“Can you give me a ballpark figure?”

“Some paintings were worth up to a million dollars, as in I got that amount. If I got what I deserved, it would have been close to two million. Some were cheaper, like a few hundred dollars or a few thousands.” Justin shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong. I got more than I could ever imagine out of my time spent with Eric, but if he’d been honest…”

“You’d have been beyond rich.”

“And now he’s telling me that we can change the terms. To hell if I’m going back there!”

“You could try again, on your own. Without an agent,” Brian said softly.

“I can’t.” Justin turned to face Brian. “I missed you so much. I foolishly thought I’d come back and we’d get back together.”

“We can still have what you want.”

“No, we can’t. You’re married. Like you said, someone is spying on you to see if you keep the deal.”

“Maybe not now, but eventually, they’ll stop. Give them a year, and they’ll forget about me.”

“Brian, I love you too much to risk your freedom. Let’s go. We don’t want to be late to our meeting with Brown.” Justin pulled Brian to his feet.

They walked out of the room side by side. In the elevator, Brian touched Justin's back, meeting his eyes.

“You mentioned not getting a car or your own place yet… Why is that? I bet you have a nice amount in your bank account.”

Justin shifted his laptop bag from the right to the left shoulder. “I plan on giving Molly some of the money. She turned eighteen last year. She’ll need the money if she wants to pursue her dream.”

“That’s very nice of you.”

Justin shrugged again. “It’s the least I can do. Mom and Tucker don’t have the money. Dad may or may not help her. I want to know she succeeds in what she wants to do.”

They reached the lobby and found their colleagues waiting for them.

Brian sensed that there was a tension between him and Justin, but he couldn’t do much to remedy it until the end of the day.

#

After a second cup of coffee in the meeting room, Justin started feeling human again. The clearer he could think, the more he cringed at the ideas Brown and his team had for the new campaign. When Brown’s assistant shared his own opinion about a slogan, Justin had had it.

Justin didn’t even spare Brian a look, or think of checking if it was alright to interject.

“Seriously? Brown is warm, Brown is good? In all honesty, it makes me think of poop.”

Silence fell over the room. Brown himself stared at Justin as if he had just noticed him, which was probably true since he had barely spared Justin, Garrett, or Susan a look. It had been all about Brian. Brown’s team was looking at him, disgusted, whispering to each other.

And Brian? He stopped typing on his laptop, giving him a sharp look, Justin noticed a hint of pride behind the shock and outrage.

Justin decided to dig himself in further since no one was saying anything.

“I’m thinking more along the lines, Choose Brown for an effortless workout session. It’s not the best thing I can come up with, but it’s better than what…” Justin tried remembering the guy’s name. He didn’t have to, because Brown got up from his chair, rounding the table.

In that moment, Justin was sure he would be kicked out, and he hated letting Brian down.

Brian stood up when Brown reached them, since Justin was sitting right next to Brian. He held a hand up, slight worry in his eyes when Brown reached out for Justin.

“Leo, I want to apologize for—”

“Apologize?” Brown exclaimed, clapping Justin's shoulder. “I like your new man, Kinney. He’s outspoken and knows to stand up for what he believes in, especially when it’s the right time. If he hadn’t said anything, I might have objected to that last idea Joey had.”

Justin breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Sir.”

Brown sat down on Justin's left, and Brian took his seat on Justin's right. Justin met Brian's eyes briefly and his astonishment was mirrored there.

“Justin might have good ideas for the slogan, but you should see the art he can create. He’s our Image Manipulator,” Brian explained, proudly.

“I’d love to see a mock-up for this new ad. Did you have anything in mind?”

Justin didn’t want to leave out his colleagues, and he looked at Garrett, who seemed upset to be excluded from the conversation. “I will work with Garrett and Susan, and show you something tomorrow,” Justin answered. “I’ve got a few ideas, but we have to see what works out the best.”

#

Justin returned to the room he shared with Brian late in the evening. He had brainstormed with Garrett and Susan, creating several mock-up sketches for the new campaign.

Brian was sitting on the bed with the laptop on his lap. What surprised Justin was that Brian was wearing glasses.

Brian closed the lid of the laptop, taking off the black-rimmed glasses. “What took you so long?”

Justin threw himself next to Brian, opening his own laptop. He pulled up the application that contained the new designs, showing them to Brian. “Genius!”

“It’s not half bad. I knew you’d win him over.”

Justin blushed, ducking his head. “Garrett helped, too. But yeah, mostly, it’s my work.” Justin pushed his laptop away, meeting Brian's eyes. “You look hot with glasses.”

Brian scoffed. “They’re a necessary evil. When I’m tired or I look for too long at the computer screen, I need them.”

“No need for excuses, it’s not you. Besides, I just complimented the way you look in them.”

Brian rolled on top of Justin, combing a hand through his hair. “What are we doing, Justin? I’ll go crazy if I can’t touch you when we go back.”

“Believe me, I know what you mean. I don’t want to get you in trouble…”

“I’ll think of something. In the meantime, let’s grab some dinner.”

“Another fancy dinner with Brown?”

“Just the two of us. I already made reservations. I don’t want to hear any complaints.”

#

At the restaurant, Justin did his best not to think of what dining together meant. It felt like a date, but he didn’t dare voice his thoughts. Instead, he decided to make small talk while they waited for the food.

“How is it to be married?”

Brian took a sip from his water, rolling his eyes. “How does it feel to be alive?”

“What?” Justin frowned.

“That’s a stupid question. I had to do it so I wouldn’t end up in jail. Believe me, I’d rather—”

“Don’t say it!” Justin interjected, looking away.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“I can only guess. You’d rather entertain the inmates, or worse…you’d rather wish you stopped me from leaving so you’d be married to me.”

“Since when are you a mind-reader?” Brian asked, amused.

“I know you far too well, Brian.” He smiled politely as the waiter placed the food on their table. “But things are the way they are.” Justin shrugged.

“I have an idea.” Brian reached across the table, taking Justin's right hand. “Hear me out.” He squeezed Justin’s fingers.

“Let’s hear your master plan.”

Brian swallowed nervously, which was unusual for him. “I kept the manor. No one knows about it.”

Justin stared at their linked fingers, feeling warm inside, then his eyes met Brian's. Desire pooled in his stomach as he thought of their dream house being their hidden spot.

“What do you think?”

“I’m weighing the options: to become your dirty little secret or become a bomb of sexual tension from spending so much time around you at work and not being able to touch you.”

The jovial smile faded from Brian's lips. “Don’t call yourself that. I’m hoping everything will get back to normal in less than a year and we won’t have to hide. Don’t think that I’m doing this just to have you in my bed again. I want all of you, Justin.”

Justin grinned. “You have me. You always had me.”

“I want one promise from you: no one can know. Not Daphne, not Debbie, not Emmett, not Evan. No one.”

“I can keep my promise. What about you? How are you going to explain to Evan? You’ll probably be gone for hours.”

“Let me deal with that. I already have some ideas.” Brian shifted his chair closer to Justin’s.

“Not here.” Justin pulled away when Brian leaned close, most likely ready to kiss him. “Call me paranoid, but let’s keep this behind closed doors.”

“Suit yourself.”