CHAPTER 14 - THIRTY LOVE…PLUS ONE FALLS AND THE OTHER’S CRAZY
MICHAEL
Time to apply my best forms of defence: attack…as loudly as possible!
“Dad? You get him to call you that?” I curl my lip. “That’s disgusting! And you call yourself a businessman.”
“Novotny, what are you talking about?!” The returning reporter exclaims.
“You will treat me with the respect my reputation has earned me! But it's obvious what I’m talking about; clearly Brian Kinney has a borderline minor for a boyfriend!”
“That’s his son you moron! He keeps his private life very private. And the reason I know that’s his son is because I’ve interviewed Mr Kinney before. His son was there with his girlfriend!”
“What?” I gasp, feeling nauseous.
“Now that we’ve cleared that up.” Brian approaches. “What picture did you ask him about?”
“Brian!” A woman yells. “You two go home. Let me handle this!” He turns smartly on his heel; after kissing her cheek, they leave. The silence stretches while she opens her case and takes out a folder. “Hello again, Peter isn’t it? How are you?”
“You remembered?”
“A good memory is a must for an attorney.”
“Attorney?” I cough. “Do you practice around here, maybe I’ve heard of you?”
“No, I have my own firm in New York. I’m Melanie Marcus.”
“Gus’s mother.” Peter smirks.
“Psychotically protective mother.” She growls. “Is this the photo you’re talking about?” She pushes it into my chest. I nod quickly. “Interesting, you didn't look at it; why not?”
I swallow hard trying to figure out an escape plan. “I didn’t need to, there was only one photo and I was only commenting on what was out there.”
“You said he gave something to Boyd.” Curtis, the corpse fucker adds. “Which was before they came in.”
“Again, quoting what was out there.” I state, whilst checking the room; there are ten people including us. “Now that I know he…”
“Michael.” Uncle Vic interrupts. “I’ve not read or seen anything about Brian that didn’t come from Boyd. Now considering he made that announcement. If anything untoward had happened, like you’ve been inferring, he would say something.”
“That’s a very good point.” Peter smirks. “So, Mr Rage PR, where did you find that out?”
“What the fuck are you up to, Novotny?!” Boyd rages as he storms in. “I just got a call from Justin to say you've been telling him that Brian gave me something unsavoury. I told you I had a recurrence of oral thrush, in passing, which is painful but not sexual. Plus I’ve had it for years! Why the hell would you say something like that in a public place?!”
“Drew! Let’s all calm down shall we?” I demand, somewhat relieved, because knowing about him gives me an edge. “I apologise for getting that wrong, but I was told by Jerome that that was the case.”
“Who's Jerome?” Peter demands.
“A guy I had a fuck arrangement with before Brian.” Boyd declares much to my astonishment. “He signed an NDA, so it couldn't have come from him. Besides, he works for Brian now.”
I sit down heavily. “What?”
“Mr Rage PR extraordinaire...” Peter sneers, I blink at him. “...you need to call that attorney of yours.” He turns to the waitress. “You need to lock up. Doesn’t she?” I nod and reach for my phone. “While she does that and puts on some fresh coffee. Can you tell me Mr…”
“Grassi, Vic Grassi.”
“Nice to meet you. What can you tell us more about the rumours and mucky bi-paws?”
THE LOFT - FOUR HOURS LATER
MEL
Daphne opens the second bottle of champagne with a flourish. “That couldn't have gone better, could it?!”
“Nope!” Brian grins, whilst bouncing Pheebs on his hip.
“Next time you get to look after Pheebs and I get to have all the fun!” She kisses Gus. “My hero! No, our heroes!” She beams at Vic and Curtis. “So why the press and how?”
“His first mistake was being a showboating smallcock.” Vic chuckles whilst Curtis cuffs him fondly. They are so in love it makes my heart hope that Brian can achieve the same thing, if only he would lower his guard! “He’s not the only one with contacts. I knew he would say something about Brian the moment he saw him. Never thought he would be so stupid, though.”
“Here’s to arrogance!” Gus chuckles. “If he kept his focus on Blake instead of channelling his jealousy of Dad, then it wouldn't have cost him…”
“Two million.” I grin.
“How much?!” Justin gasps.
“Two million.” I beam. “There were ten people he needed to shut down. Plus the release of Drew from all contracts. So what are we going to spend it on?”
“You got paid too? Way to go, Mom!” Daph gives me a hug. “I think we should put it into Babylon, use his money to make it even more fabulous!”
“You’re just full of great ideas!” Gus leers. “I will reward you for that later.”
“Wrap it up, Pheebs is too young to be a big sister.” Brian teases, Gus nods and smiles, whilst Blake looks scandalised. “We’re a very open family here.”
“I noticed.” He blushes as he puts down the appetisers.
“So what are you going to use yours on?” Ben asks, sweetly plating up for Ted. “It must have stuck in his craw that he had to pay you to be quiet.”
Blake chuckles. “Not quite…”
MICHAEL’S STUDY - SAME TIME
LINDSAY
He’s just staring at the ceiling, having cracked both the screen of his phone and laptop.
“There is no way of contacting Leon. Emails bounce back, the website’s closed down, and the numbers are no longer in service.”
“Numbers?” I frown. “I thought we only had one for him.”
“You did. I didn’t.” He spits.
“I told you that your jealousy and arrogance would get you into trouble!” I just about mask my delight.
“Could’ve gotten us in trouble, we're in this together remember? But as usual, money keeps traps shut! I’m not jealous of Brian Kinney!”
“Michael, he has and is everything you don’t and aren’t! To the outside world you wrote it, so it’s you that has a Blake Wyzecki problem. How didn’t you get him to sign the NDA at the same time as Ted?” He balls his fists as he stands. “Michael, you have as much chance of beating me up as you do of fucking Justin.” I suppress my flinch as his laptop bounces against the wall. “Adding another expense on top of those earlier is not helpful.”
“I’ll sort him out. I’ll get Kip to find him.”
“Kip is the reason we have this frigging problem! If he had done a better job of ghostwriting, we would still have Drew as a client. Now he’s free and clear with $200K, Ted as his ghostwriter and all the time in the world. Plus he…”
“Lindsay! Stop telling me what I already know! For once Mrs Genius, suggest something useful instead of being a fucking carping cockhole!”
Although furious, I keep calm. “You need to display your nice side and call Drew.”
“That’s your great fucking idea?! Why the hell…” He gurgles to a halt as he realises. “...there must be another way?”
“Which is what? You said that Ted and Blake were in The Dome together looking cosy. You need to find Blake; the quickest way is through Drew and Ted!”
“What if he’s spoken to him already?!” Him whining means he’s calming down.
“Then he would’ve hung around.” I declare. “Let’s face it, Michael, you’re now the fatted calf. He’ll be back and it’s best if you reach out first.”
“How the hell do I find him?!”
“I just said, reach out to Ted and Drew, and one more thing, fire Kip!”
AN HOUR LATER
MICHAEL
I can sum up my day with two words: humiliatingly extortionate! Extortionate because of the hush money that I had to shell out, and humiliating because of all the people that I had to pay. Uncle Vic, Curtis and those two reporters particularly stuck in my guts; especially now that they’ve conveniently left Pittsburgh Out!
I breathe a bit easier now that Lindsey's out for the rest of the evening. She’s gone to celebrate securing a spot in Justin’s show with Sienna, who’s simpering explanation of her disappearance following the great love affair announcement between Boyd and Kinney that she thought it best to lay low and wait for us to contact her didn’t ring true. It cost me another $250,000 in ‘severance’ even though it was Lindsay’s idea to hook them two up together in the first place!
I dump the remains of my laptop in the bin and pull out my spare. As I wait to boot it up, I think back to my attorney’s reaction when he came into the diner. He went green when he saw Ms Marcus - as he insisted I refer to her; then was so sycophantic in negotiations I might as well have done it myself.
“Might as well see how much is left.” I grumble logging into our joint account. “What the fuck?!” I gasp at the massive withdrawal, which happened twenty minutes ago. I wait for her to pick up. “Lindsay, you’ve withdrawn three million dollars! What the…” I sink back into my seat as she explains that not only did she charge me that for not firing Kip and my cockhole blast but as the person with the ear of the bank president, the account now needs authority from both of us for any withdrawal over five thousand dollars. And I should be grateful for that!
It takes me a good ten minutes to recover from the shock. Logging into my email I groan when I see one from Leon. My fear turns to relief as he’s not abandoned me. He had to change servers and numbers because he found a snake in the grass; after punching the air and ordering the newest iPhone, I compose a response.
BRITIN - TWO HOURS LATER
BRIAN’S BEDROOM
JUSTIN
We are fused at the mouth, hands down pants, kneading asses. “Back, walk back.” He nudges to get me moving. “God I can’t believe we're finally here. You?” I yank out his shirt in answer whilst nipping along his jawline. “Great.”
“You’re very good.” I groan. Tweaking his nipples makes him hiss and moan.
“Yeah, getting Leon and Blake to email Michael with that bullshit about the server was inspired. He sounded so relieved, and then the piece de resistance…”
“.... him asking them to find Blake and offering a finder’s fee without telling Lindsay.” I grin whilst helping him turn down the silk sheets. “Where are you going?” I frown, following as he strides out. I feel silly when I see that he went for condoms and lube.
He smacks my butt as he hustles us back to bed. He strips quickly, shaking his head when I go to do the same. I knew he felt great, yes his body is incredible, however, that cock, I need to feel that cock right now.
After swiftly getting me naked, his chuckle at my grinding disappears down my throat as we kiss. I cuff the back of his head.
“How is that nice?” He murmurs, kissing towards my ear. “Such a pretty little shell, I think I will stay here and whisper sweet nothings into it…”
“Brian.” I groan, wrapping my legs around him.
“Sweet nothings, like; I’m going to suck on your nipples until they’re hard like diamonds.” I feel like I’m floating as he laves my left nipple, whilst twisting the right. I cry out when he swaps sides as the combination of his fingers, stubble and tongue, is the most exquisite sensation.
“Oh God, what are you doing to me?” I moan, then keen as he slides two fingers into my heat. I’m grabbing the sheets before he pins my hands above my head then spreads my legs wider. I’m delirious with pleasure as he plunders my depths, never hitting the same spot and barely grazing my knot. “Fuck me, please fuck me!”
He smiles, releases my hands, and reaches for the condom. I’m mesmerised as he sheaths, then positions himself whilst fingering me. His deliberate snail’s pace replacing his fingers with his cock has me pinching his side. “As you wish.” He murmurs, hooking one knee over his elbow. I’ve never felt both so stretched and filled at the same time.
BRIAN
He’s beautiful and all heat. He’s slick with sweat and our juices, as I snap my hips, him clenching on the downstroke takes my breath away, I almost cum when he pinches my nipple. I lift his other leg, but we don’t lose momentum, this is best sex I’ve ever had. As my orgasm builds, I have to kiss him because I know that I will say something he’s maybe not ready to hear right now.
“Brian, I-I-I…oh god yes, I’m falling for you!” He screams just as we both explode.
DRIVEWAY - HALF AN HOUR LATER
JUSTIN
I’m just in my jacket, jeans and trainers. I’ve never been so mortified in my life! After my great declaration, and we came, he grunted then went straight to sleep! I check the cab app again, it’s two minutes away, sighing, I sit on the wall to wait.
“Didn’t have you down as a runner.” Has me slowly turning around. “Not nice.”
“Ironically….” I sigh. “...us fucking has got Michael what he wanted: me no longer working with you.”
“Thanks very much!” He snaps, tightening his robe. “I was making love to you!”
“I said that…” I yell, face aflame. “...and you just…”
“Blacked out! Jesus Christ give me a chance to recover!” He snaps. His storming off coincides with the arrival of the cab.
FIVE MINUTES LATER
LOUNGE
BRIAN
I watch the cab pull away and rub the back of my neck, rueing that my supposed prowess picked then to desert me! I try to clear my mind of how he looked as he came. “If only…” I sigh as I pour a glass of red.
“What?” I’m stunned; he didn’t leave! “You're almost overflowing.” He states, nibbling his lip. I put the bottle down and get up close; he doesn’t move. “If only what?”
“You had heard me.” I murmur, taking his chin. His eyes go wide and he holds his breath. “I said, crazy about you.”