Chapter 19 - What We May Be.

“Hey Mikey, hope you know where your Passport is,” Brian said when Michael answered the phone. 

“Of course I do, Brian. Why?” he asked. “Are we going somewhere fun? I’m game for just about anywhere. Preferably somewhere not as hot as Pittsburgh right now. Maybe with a beach. Just you and me, hanging out together, like that time we went to Cabo . . .”

“Sorry, not Cabo this time, Mikey. We’re going to Croatia. And you’re going to be the best man at my wedding,” Brian interrupted before the other man could get too far down the rabbithole of his ‘Vacation with Best Friend Brian’ fantasy.

“YOUR WHAT!!!!????” Michael shouted, loudly enough to cause Brian to pull the phone away from his ear. 

“My wedding,” Brian repeated, trying not to laugh at the spluttering and shock he could hear coming through the phone line. 

“You can’t get married,” Michael insisted when he finally figured out how to talk again. 

“I can and I am, Mikey,” Brian announced. “Youstin and I are going to elope. My client in Croatia is offering to host the whole thing. We’re getting married at his hotel in Split on Saturday afternoon. Which is why I’m asking if you want to be my best man. I know it’s kind of a last minute thing, but if you’re not interested, I suppose I can ask Ted,” Brian teased, looking across his desk to where his CFO was listening in on the conversation and shaking his head. 

“What? No. You can’t get married without me. I’m your best friend,” Michael maintained.

“Great! Then start packing. We’re leaving early Thursday morning, and bring Ben, too. Aleksi is even letting us borrow his private jet. I’ll have Cynthia email you the itinerary. See you on Thursday, Mikey,” Brian said and then hit the button to end the call. 

“You’re evil,” Ted declared, chuckling at Brian’s antics. “Michael’s probably having a total mental breakdown right now. You can’t just drop a bomb like Brian Kinney eloping on the poor man and then hang up.”

“Serves him fucking right,” Brian grumbled, leaning back in his chair and stretching to relieve the tension in his shoulders. “He shouldn’t have been blabbing my business to random strangers. We’re lucky as fuck that Beks turned out to be a friend of Mel’s and a decent person. Otherwise, Mikey’s loose lips could have got both me and Justin into a heap of trouble.” 

Brian was still reeling over everything he’d learned after listening to Beks telling her side of the story. They’d all met with Agent Cara Carpenter and her team several times over the past couple of days as the FBI put together a plan for how they were going to bring down Aleksi Kacmar’s empire. When they’d all told their individual stories in full, it had become clear that Aleksi had been working them from the beginning. And when Brian had heard how Michael had practically tripped over himself in his eagerness to sell Brian out to an international criminal like Kacmar, merely because he was jealous of Justin, that was the last straw. Mel was right there with him too; the angry, protective lesbian had threatened to personally castrate Michael with her rusty garden shears when she’d heard that the man had betrayed the fact of Gus’ existence to the person who’d been tasked with finding Brian’s weaknesses. Brian shuddered just thinking of what Kacmar might have done if he’d got hold of that tidbit of information. But if Beks had been able to find out about Gus, then Kacmar’s other henchmen would most likely be able to find him too. Which was just another reason why Brian was going along with this crazy FBI plan. They had to get to Aleksi before he got to Gus.

Whether or not this plan was going to work, though, was another matter. 

The FBI and their Interpol counterparts had been scrambling all week to get everything in place in Split. They’d taped the call that Justin had made to Aleksi, pretending to be scared enough that he’d go along with the mobster’s plans. Aleksi had sounded jubilant. He’d revealed that his plans had been to marry Brian off to one of his girls - Cara had told them that one of Aleksi’s side businesses was a prostitution ring and he regularly made a habit of gifting ‘girls’ to his friends and business acquaintances - who would then have insinuated herself into Kinnetik’s business. Presumably, that would have allowed Aleksi to use the American business for his own purposes. But now that Brian had turned out to be gay, upsetting his previous plans, he was perfectly willing to use Justin in the place of his female plant. Justin had played the terrified waif quite convincingly and let himself be threatened into going along with Aleksi’s plans. Of course Kacmar hadn’t been stupid enough to say any of this in the kind of blatant way that would allow the police to arrest him then and there, but he’d intimated that Justin would be given more information about exactly what was expected of him after he arrived in Split. So, that was where they were going. 

Brian wasn’t exactly sure about all this, though he couldn’t think of any alternative. He knew his family wouldn’t be safe until Kacmar was taken down, especially after Aleksi found out Brian was working with the FBI. However, the plan the authorities had come up with to effectuate Kacmar’s downfall seemed rather vague to him. 

He and Justin were supposed to play along with Kacmar’s offer to host their wedding at his resort in Split. Cara Carpenter and her partner Greg would be coming along on the trip to Croatia, posing as Brian’s cousin and her husband. They weren’t inviting many others, out of fear of putting their friends and family in danger, but the FBI had found a junior agent who looked remarkably like Justin’s best friend Daphne to pose as his Maid of Honor and Brian had just finished inviting Michael to be his Best Man. That should suffice to make it seem like they were really serious about this wedding thing; enough so that it would also keep Michael from trying to do any more damage by opening his mouth to just anyone. The people in charge had assured them that they would take care of security, both while they were traveling and once they arrived at the resort in Split. There were supposed to be agents crawling all over that place by the time Brian and Justin checked in. Brian was pretty confident of the plan up to that point at least.

It was how things were supposed to go down after they arrived that Brian wasn’t so sure about. 

Because nobody knew precisely what Kacmar had planned, they’d have to play things by ear. They’d both be wearing wires - these ridiculously high-tech little bugs that Carpenter assured him Kacmar’s people would never be able to detect - and the hope was that Justin would be able to get Kacmar to be more explicit about exactly what he expected the blond to do once he was officially hitched to Brian Kinney. 

Justin was a bundle of nerves about that expected meeting, of course. Brian couldn’t really help him much because he was the ‘mark’ and therefore would presumably not be included in any such discussions. Brian’s only job would be to help out by planting additional listening devices wherever he could around Kacmar’s offices and living quarters in the hopes that the cops would be able to listen in on the mafia don’s plans no matter where he went. When the FBI thought they had enough evidence to ensure criminal charges would stick, they would then swoop in, arrest all the bad guys, and rescue Brian and Justin. Then they’d all return home as heroes. Or, at least, that was the plan, for whatever it was worth.

What could possibly go wrong?

After he got through setting up Michael as his Best Man, Brian decided to call Justin to see how his co-conspirator was doing. When he’d left for the office that morning the blond had been sitting at the counter in the kitchen drinking coffee. When Brian had leaned down to kiss him goodbye he had barely escaped having a cup of coffee thrown at him. The poor kid was that jumpy. Brian was understandably worried about him.

“Hell . . . Hello?” Justin said as he answered the phone.

“Hey, Sunshine. You doing okay?” Brian asked. 

Justin could see who was calling so he shouldn’t have been that nervous just answering the phone.

“Yeah, I guess so. I’m just . . . I’m kind of tense. I keep jumping at every little sound.”

“No need to worry so much, Sunshine. Aleksi thinks he’s getting everything he wants, so he has no reason to suspect anything. That’s why he’s being so patient at the moment.” He could hear a sigh in the background and took that as tacit agreement. “I’ll be home soon, okay? Just try to relax,” Brian told him as he signaled for Ted to stay for a minute.

“I’ll try, Brian,” Justin answered before hanging up the phone.

“Ted, I’m going home. Justin is really spooked. I need to help him calm down. You’re in charge of things here,” Brian told him as he packed up his briefcase for the day. 

Ted waved goodbye to the Bossman and then hurried off to supervise the financial reshuffling that was going to be necessary now that they knew the Princess Mia account was a bust. Brian squared his shoulders at the thought of all that lost income. It couldn’t be helped though. He’d figure out something. But for now he had more important things to think about. Like how to keep his blond houseguest from freaking out. Luckily, he knew at least one way he could take Justin’s mind off of everything that was going on.

As he drove home, Brian mentally laid out his plans for the rest of the day in his head. A long slow seduction followed by hours and hours of distracting sex seemed like a good start. And who was to say he couldn’t use a good distraction himself?

Once he got to the firehouse Brian headed upstairs, seeking out the one person he couldn’t get out of his mind these days. Instead of the usually horny blond, though, he found a nervous, pacing ball of kinetic energy. Setting down his briefcase the moment he reached the top of the stairs, he also removed his jacket and tie, discarding them on random furniture as he headed in the direction of the pacing young man. 

Apparently, Justin hadn’t even noticed Brian was home because when Brian reached out to touch him the younger man screamed and jumped straight up in the air. When he realized it was only Brian, he couldn’t stop a few tears of relief. Brian wrapped the trembling body in his arms and held him, stroking Justin’s back to calm him down. Once the nervous blond had relaxed, Brian took his hand and led him to the bedroom; the bedroom which they’d been sharing since that first night after Justin had come clean about his secret. 

Brian stripped both of them down and led Justin towards the shower. Adjusting the temp until it was perfect, Brian pulled the youth in with him, then began kissing and caressing his favorite showermate. 

“Let me help you relax, Sunshine,” Brian whispered in his ear as he reached for the soap and started stroking it across the soft skin. 

Brian continued to soap up the blond, kissing every inch of him as he rinsed off the soap. Once Justin was clean, and somewhat relaxed, Brian quickly washed himself as well. Then he reached for a towel, using it to pat both their bodies dry. That task done, Brian playfully picked up the blond, slinging him over a shoulder, and carried him to their bed. Instead of dropping him, though, Brian slowed, laying his burden down gently, and climbed in next to him. Justin seemed happily distracted by that point. At least he was smiling up at Brian now instead of being teary-eyed and jumpy. Brian considered that progress. 

For the next whoever knew how many minutes, he continued to kiss and nibble Justin's skin, paying close attention to the places he knew drove the kid crazy. Kissing his way down the blond’s chest, abs, and then along his dark blond happy trail, Brian noticed that Justin was fully hard already. His engorged cock had started leaking onto his stomach, the pearls of cum forming little glistening puddles. Brian licked his lips and then quickly swiped his tongue across the pink, plumby head of Justin’s cock, interrupting the next drop before it could join the other’s on the pale ivory stomach. 

Justin gasped, which served as encouragement for Brian who proceeded to take just the tip of that lovely cock into his mouth, sucking tenderly to try and coax out more of the taste he craved. Justin suddenly grabbed Brian’s head and held on, his hips canting upwards, clearly indicating he wanted Brian’s mouth to keep going. Brian obliged, caressing the hot cock with his tongue for several more minutes before taking it all the way into his throat and swallowing. Justin responded by moaning and bucking his hips. Brian moaned back, continuing to blow Justin until the younger man screamed and came down Brian’s throat with a rush. Brian waited until he’d finished and then moved up the bed so he could hold Justin while the other man came down from his first orgasm of the afternoon. 

“Well, was that enough for you or would you like more calming down?” Brian asked with a smirk. 

“I think . . .” Justin struggled to slow his breathing. “I think I need more calming down. Please. If you’re up for it,” Justin added with a smirk of his own. 

Brian cheerfully flipped the blond on his back. “I’m ALWAYS up for it, kid,” Brian said, holding Justin down while he kissed him back to full hardness. 

Justin must have thought Brian was going to just go for it, as he usually did, because he stretched his arms above his head and braced himself against the headboard. But Brian surprised them both by suddenly reaching out and taking hold of the younger man’s face, looking into the lust-darkened blue eyes with a penetrating gaze. Brian wasn’t sure what he saw there or why he’d felt the need to reassure himself that the younger man was fully with him in the moment. From day one, even before he’d known who Justin was or understood what was going on, there had always been some spark of recognition there. An affinity between two unlikely but kindred spirits who’d identified each other without saying a word. Brian felt calmed by Justin’s return gaze even while his heart fluttered uncomfortably in his chest. He’d never experienced the same sense of closeness with another guy and it scared the shit out of him. Maybe it was just their shared sense of danger or an accident of fate? He didn’t understand it. But he didn’t want to fight it either. And, judging by the boy’s peaceful exhale and soft smile, he thought that maybe Justin felt the same inescapable closeness. 

Shaking off the moment of introspection, Brian warmed a dab of lube on his fingers and prepared his partner like Justin was made of porcelain. He went slowly, his fingers gentle and sure, making sure to reach all the places that he knew would drive the boy wild. Then he put on a condom and pressed in so very slowly until he was as far inside Justin as he could possibly be. As he carefully moved in and out, Brian kept his gaze on the blond, watching him as if he might disappear if Brian looked away. 

All he could think was that this must be what it felt like to make love. 

They kept this - whatever it was - up for about twenty minutes before both men felt that flare of heat that told them this round would be coming to an end very soon. Brian leaned down to take Justin’s mouth with his right as they both exploded, Brian into the condom that was deep inside of the blond, and Justin all over both of them, without his cock having been touched. Then Brian sank down, letting his head rest atop the heaving chest of his partner, and closed his eyes as both their hearts pattered together into sleep.

The next day, Brian checked his email and saw the itinerary for their trip had arrived. Or, at least the official itinerary from the Princess Mia Resort. There was another, classified itinerary that only he, Justin, and Cara Carpenter had access to, but that wasn’t one that he would share. 

He had sent Aleksi the list of guests who would be accompanying the grooms to Split so that the rooms could be reserved. He noted that everyone had been accounted for, which was a good sign since it meant Aleksi hadn’t yet realized that at least three members of the wedding party were FBI. He also saw that he and Justin had been assigned separate rooms until after the ceremony, when they would be moving to the Honeymoon Suite. He really didn’t like that; he wanted to keep Justin with him as much as possible. He wouldn’t be able to keep Justin safe if they were separated. He’d have to discuss that issue with Cara and see what could be done. He made a mental note to remind Justin to keep his phone on ‘record’ anytime they were apart, just in case. 

He quickly forwarded a copy of the Princess Mia itinerary to Michael so that he and Ben would know what was going on. Or, know as much as Brian was willing to reveal at least. He was still pissed off at the man he used to think of as his best friend. There was little if any trust left there and he definitely wouldn’t be telling Michael anything even remotely confidential going forward. He wouldn’t even have asked him to go, except that he figured the old adage of ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’ might be the best thing to do to keep Justin safe. Plus, Michael’s presence would act as cover for what was going on behind the scenes. Still, Brian was glad that Ben was coming along; hopefully he could keep his husband under control. 

Brian also cc'd Cara and Greg to keep them in the loop. He thought through all the other plans that were in place and hoped that they’d covered all their bases. He felt uneasy and, despite the hours they’d spent going over the plan with Cara and her crew, he couldn’t shake the nagging sense that they’d missed something. Most of that anxiety was on Justin’s behalf of course, because as far as Aleksi knew, Brian was still in the dark about all his schemes. He could just play dumb and no one would bother with him. But Justin had a much more difficult role to play and, based on how easily Brian had seen through the boy’s prior attempt at subterfuge, he didn’t think Justin was much of an actor. That open, honest face didn’t hide much. He dreaded what might happen if Kacmar suspected Justin was playing him. But, other than make sure he was there to watch over Justin as much as possible, there wasn’t much more Brian could do. 

Brian was still trying to figure out how the young man had become so important to him so quickly. Hell, he’d only known the kid a couple of weeks, but somehow that little blond boy had wormed his way under the wire and planted himself in Brian’s life. Not that he was complaining. He just didn’t fully understand it. However, he knew that, next to Gus, Justin was now the most important person in his life. And he would do whatever it took to make sure this crazy operation they’d become embroiled in didn’t rebound on the man he was coming to care about so deeply.

He sent off another quick email to Ted to confirm that all the updates he’d made to his will, his advanced healthcare directive, and the letter of authority related to the ongoing operation of Kinnetik in his absence, were in place. Then he closed up his laptop and went back upstairs. He climbed into bed next to the dozing blond and wrapped his arms around the warm body. There was nothing more he could do for the time being. They would be leaving for Split the following day and it would be up to the FBI to keep them safe from then on. For now, all he could do was hold onto the man in his bed and trust that everything would work out. Somehow.