CHAPTER 4: LAYING DOWN THE LAW

BRIAN

Okay, so here’s the thing. My husband is a nuisance to peace of mind everywhere, but no more than when someone chooses to dull his shine through thoughtless actions and careless words. Vance, Ryder, and Peterson are probably still smarting from the verbal assault Justin inflicted before we made our escape from the Ryder-Vanguard Agency. Rumor has it that Nancy Peterson made it possible for Ronald to settle his part of the bill immediately. I have to wonder just how much she is involved in this, but I don’t have too much time to think about it. Right now, I have to work on calming down the walking storm pacing in front of my desk.

“Sunshine, you know you have to walk a fine line regarding this, right?”

“Why, Brian? I know you don’t agree with the bullshit that no-talent hack is spouting. So why shouldn’t I let him have it?” Justin asked, just shy of growling at me. 

“The long and short of it is that he’s not our staff.” At his protesting look, I held up my hand. “I know that right now he’s working for us, but ultimately, he’s on loan. Now the only way we can rectify that is to fill your department as soon as possible.”

Justin sighed, before flouncing himself into the chair in front of my desk. It’s then I know what’s really bothering him about not being able to go off on the jackass spouting nonsense. “Brian, he’s basically slandering you.”

“I know, Sunshine, but since when do we really give a fuck what other insignificant people think about us?”

“We usually don’t, but…”

“No buts, Justin. The bottom line is that we’re married, and whomever has a problem with that, it’s their problem, not ours.” I got out of my seat and went to stand in front of him. Kneeling down, I asked, “Are you having second thoughts about any of this?”

“No.”

“Any doubts about us?”

“Brian, you know that’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“I just feel like I have something to prove here, whereas your reputation in this business is well known.”

I nodded in understanding of what Justin’s real issue was. “You don’t. Your work speaks for and has spoken for itself for more years than we have even known each other. So why the nerves now?”

A gentle throat clearing from the open doorway interrupted what would have been Justin’s answer. At first, I wanted to be annoyed, until I saw who it was. Dee came into my office and made herself at home in the seat next to Justin, before speaking. “So, I just heard the most salacious rumor…”

“What was it?”

She grinned, lowering her voice. “I heard that our little Sunshine is about to let loose a hurricane.”

“No, he isn’t, Dee. In fact…” I began to fill her in on what we were discussing, but she held up her hand to stay the explanation I was about to give.

“Yes, he is, Brian. The only way Justin is going to squash this type of situation from happening in the future is to address it head on.”

“But he’s your employee,” Justin said.

“That’s true. But he’s on loan to your department… for the moment.”

I looked at her for a moment before asking, “What exactly are you saying, Dee?”

The small smirk on her lips should have told me something was up with this particular employee, but her words confirmed my immediate thoughts. “Mack Anderson is Lindsay Peterson in male form. And as such, he’s been smarting since he’s been here. He thinks that the fact he’s the son of one of the higher-ups in a premiere studio here means he should be given preferential treatment when it comes to handing out assignments. But as stated many times, and noticed by Marc and myself, his work is mediocre at best. We’ve even held cross-training workshops to help him improve, but he has refused to participate. I suppose he thinks that since he’s sleeping with one of the art professors over at Gnormon, that whatever art skills the man has, rubbed off on him through osmosis.”

Justin snickered, as I laughed outright. “If that was the case, then I should be fucking Picasso in my own right, since Justin rubs off on me all the time.”

“Brian!” Sunshine exclaimed, followed by one of the most adorable blushes I’ve ever seen.

“It’s the truth, Sunshine,” I said, and kissed him quickly. “But seriously, I think what Dee just gave you was permission to go off on her employee.”

She nodded, before saying, “And don’t you dare feel bad about it, either. This isn’t a situation like with your sperm donor, yet you had no qualms about giving that man your ass to kiss. I think Mack should have a taste of the flavor, too.”

Cynthia stuck her head into the office then. “Everyone’s gathered. Do you guys need another few minutes?”

Both Dee and I looked over at Justin, whose eyes hardened right before our eyes. I kissed him quickly, before getting to my feet and answering her for all of us. “No. I think Sunshine here is more than battle-ready. But do me a favor and have security standing by just in case.”

“You think Mack is going to take it that far?” Dee asked me, still looking at my silent partner.

“No. But it’s always better to air on the side of caution when there’s a stormy Sunshine involved. When his stinger gets an itch, there’s no telling how those razor sharp words are going to affect its target.”

“I’ll be right there, Brian. I just need to make a call first.” I looked at him questioningly, but Justin shook his head. “Don’t worry, Stud. I’m okay and I’ll just be a few more minutes.”

“Okay,” I said, not knowing why I had the sudden feeling of anxiousness settle into the pit of my stomach. If there is one thing I know about Justin Taylor-Kinney, it's that whenever he takes a few moments to plan anything in advance, you may need to start worrying.

Dee looked over to the young blond before addressing me. “Security, huh?”

I looked back at Justin, talking tersely into the receiver of my desk phone. “Yeah. The little wasp is about to sting, and sting hard.” 

Minutes later, we all, including Justin, entered the conference room to a confrontation about to happen between Murph, Stephanie, and none other than Mack Anderson. The remainder of the occupants were also yelling, but surprisingly, it wasn’t at the three supposed newcomers. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones tired of the little fuckwad, trying his best to become someone within the halls of DPAA. Justin walked over, stepping in front of Stephanie, who was about three seconds from laying Anderson out. I suspect she was about to take all her continued frustration with Ryder and Vance out on the unsuspecting idiot. 

Cynthia said that both men had been harassing the two of them, into either coming back at a higher salary, or in an effort to make their lives a living hell for continuing to refuse them. I almost laughed when she said she would rather date Michael than be subjected to the tender mercies of either asshole again. It didn’t help that RVA just lost another five high-profile clients, who were more than willing to take a chance that Justin and I had room on our list for them. When Cynthia advised both that we were still in the middle of staffing to accommodate their accounts, the companies were more than willing to wait until we could handle their accounts personally. In any event, I made Cyn promise to pass either of us the phone when she and Steph felt close to hopping on a plane to commit a felony against the ignorant assholes. The last thing Justin and I needed was to have our number twos donning orange jumpsuits.

Quietly, but no less potent in his tone, Justin asked, “What happened this time?”

As Murph was about to explain, Anderson interrupted, “Look, Kid, this is between the adults in the room. Why don’t you go play tycoon somewhere else?” 

Whatever reaction he was expecting after issuing the insult in reference to Justin’s age, it was obvious that laughter without humor wasn’t it. Instead, poised as ever, Justin said, “Everyone, with the exception of Mr. Anderson, please take your seats so we can get this meeting underway. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

Anderson decided he was going to take a seat anyway, but was stopped by security upon their arrival. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“I should think that would be obvious.”

“Well, it isn’t, Kid.”

Justin smiled, but it didn’t sparkle his eyes the way it usually would have. “First, I will take a few moments to do what should probably have been done a long time ago.”

“And what’s that?” Once again, Anderson just felt the need to open his mouth. 

One would think the fact that Justin is barely even looking his way, and instead watching the door, would have been a clue that it would be a good time to fly under the radar. But as both Justin and I have discovered in the past, some people were just masochists and longed to be taught hard lessons. 

“Look, little boy…” Anderson said, as he thought to rush up to Justin, getting in his face. It was obvious he thought he could intimidate Justin into backing down, but again he wasn’t prepared for the sight my husband made as he just stood his ground, calmly. The look Sunshine threw at him could have frozen large bodies of water should they have even tried to get close to him just then.

Dee sidled up to me, asking, “Aren’t you going to step between them?”

I didn’t take my eyes from Justin’s belligerent stance, and said, “No need. Above all, Justin is a professional. It’s something Anderson apparently hasn’t learned to be, no matter how much he wants to pretend otherwise.”

The asshole had the nerve to address me then. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be hurling insults at me. I mean, someone may report you, after all.”

“For?”

“Oh come on, Kinney. Even being from whatever hick town you’re from, you have to know that what you were doing with Taylor even before he turned eighteen was wrong.”

I laughed, as did Justin. “First, the last name is Taylor-Kinney. You should probably remember that. Secondly, I believe Justin had you pegged from the first moment he saw you, but thought there was no way you could be that ignorant as to bring our personal lives into an office setting…”

“Brian,” Justin said, softly. 

Dee, Cyntha, and Stephanie looked between all of us, while Murph just smiled, catching the innuendo right away. Justin continued to stand still, although his eyes kept watching the asshole’s expression. It wasn’t hard to see the looks of lust, anger, and continued disappointment, as he replayed the scene from the White Party some time ago. The fact was that he didn’t rate then or now, but Justin was trying to give the douchebag a chance. But if Kip Thomas and Michael Novotny ever had a baby, this asshole would be it.

And it was never more evident than right now.

Just as I was about to address the fool again, Justin did. “So, that said, and now that our collective attorney has arrived, we can get this portion of the meeting done.”

Julian came into the room like he owned it, stopping right next to Justin. Looking around, his eyes widened, stopping on me and Dee specifically. Looking at Justin again, he asked, “You sure you want to do this here?”

Justin smiled the first real smile since we entered the large conference room. “More than certain.” Looking again at Mack Anderson, he said, “Since this particular employee decided to keep spreading vicious lies and innuendos publicly, I feel it’s only fair to fire him the same way. Besides, it’s not mine nor Brian’s way to hide from anyone, especially not the insignificant.”

“What? You can’t fire me! You don’t have that kind of clout within the company!” Anderson yelled, even as Justin stood there chuckling. “Besides, I will sue you personally for wrongful termination.”

“By all means, do it,” Justin said, once again too calm in the face of the man’s bluster.

“Do it?”

“Absolutely,” Justin said. “But be prepared to explain the real reason you decided to target me, which has nothing to do with the job, but the fact that my husband refused to fuck your nonexistent ass. Your companion that night was lackluster, which is something I can attest to. But you didn’t even rate.”

“You’re… You’re lying!”

I could see the idiot was waiting for me to correct Justin, but I wouldn’t because he was right. I almost laughed aloud, remembering Justin telling Daphne and Emmett about the braying jackass who needed a ball gag while we fucked him. Apparently, that was Anderson’s partner. I can’t say that if I was this guy, I wouldn’t be as jealous as he is displaying right now, with his nostrils flaring and blotchy complexion. But Justin was once again in professional mode, so my wayward thoughts about the situation would have to wait a bit longer.

“So, all that said, once again, you’re fired. You can have your attorney, or in your case your daddy, contact us for verification of everything within that packet, Mack. Any one of the senior staff, including me, would be happy to give him any play-by-plays needed to make sure there was no mistake on our part for terminating your employment. Hopefully, you can get a job teaching finger painting to preschoolers, since that’s about all you’re qualified to do. I would say it was with sadness that we’re letting you go, but I don’t like to lie, to or with assholes, for any reason.”

Dee chuckled next to me. “Is he always so cold and matter-of-fact?”

“Only when he’s gleefully taking down someone’s high opinion of themselves. The funny thing is that Justin would never have had this conversation publicly if it weren’t for Anderson’s actions. Like I said, he’s a professional. But he’s also one of those rare people who believe that if you’re bold enough to cause problems in public, you should be adult enough to take your consequences the same way. It’s how and why he handled Craig Taylor and this asshole the same way.”

“Same with Lindsay and Michael,” Cynthia whispered.

I nodded my head, adding, “No doubt they won’t forget Justin’s last words to them any time soon, especially Lindsay.”

“What happened?” Dee asked.

“Remind me to tell you later,” Cynthia answered, smiling.

“You’ll be so fucking sorry for this!” Anderson yelled, first at Justin and then looking at the rest of us, his eyes landing on Dee.

“I highly doubt that, since you’ll be gone, and the rest of us can get to work peacefully,” Dee said, already moving to flank the other side of Justin from where Julian still stood silently. 

I have a feeling that his phone was recording the entire scene. It’s something Gabriel would do, and I’m finding more and more that the chips didn’t fall too far from the tree where his son was concerned. As security ushered Anderson from the room, I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought for sure there would be more of a tantrum. I suspect being handed his ass by a kid, as he so wrongly called Justin, still hasn’t quite set in yet. If I know Justin- and I do- the packet he had Julian put together, along with what Dee’s HR department would have already had in place, would be more than adequate to leave no legal recourse for the termination of the jackass. 

Justin turned to see the stunned, silent staff waiting for us to address them. “Now that that bit of business is taken care of, are there any other questions about me and Brian?” Justin asked, and I have to say he’s fucking sexy as hell at this moment. 

Not only is he poised, but the ramrod posture in his spine is announcing to all in attendance just who Justin Taylor-Kinney is within the company, and why. The way he handled Anderson spoke for itself, but more importantly, it sent a warning that the young man wasn’t to be trifled with. I have a feeling that the staff, both old and new, just received a first rate education on what keeps me with him. It’s so much more than sex, as those back home often thought. It’s his intelligence, his innate courage and the fact he won’t take shit from anyone without finding a way to get his own back.

The world would do well to remember that!