Chapter 21 - Whether You Will Or No.

Eventually, after a thorough relaxing by Brian in the plane’s office space, Justin had fallen asleep and snoozed his way across the Atlantic. It took Brian a little longer to relax, but even he managed several hours of adequate rest, not that he ever slept well on an airplane. Since they were in a private jet, they didn’t need to disembark when the plane landed in Madrid to refuel, and Brian was happy to note that his exhausted blond merely snuggled deeper into his embrace without waking up all the way. Which was good because the poor kid really needed the sleep. Brian knew Justin hadn’t been sleeping well and that wasn’t good when they were all going to need to be as sharp as possible while dealing with Aleksi Kacmar. 

The plane landed in Split just after dawn the following morning. As soon as they made it through customs, they were immediately whisked off to the resort in another one of Aleksi’s limos. They were all groggy and not at their best, of course, but Brian still managed to pretend to be happy to see their host when Kacmar and his people met them on the front steps of the hotel. 

“Brian, my good friend. I am so happy you to see again,” Aleksi greeted him, hugging him and kissing Brian on both cheeks. “Dobrodosao, dobrodosao!”

Brian couldn’t help remembering a scene from the Godfather when the don did the same thing to the guy he was marking as his next victim. He really hoped that wasn’t going to be the outcome here. But, really, how did you tell the difference between a regular kiss hello and the mafia kiss of death? That was a question he hadn’t ever thought he’d need to answer.

“Thank you, Aleksi. We’re glad to be here. And so grateful for your offer to help us celebrate our wedding at your amazing resort,” Brian said. “Let me introduce you to my fiance, Justin.” He gestured to the timid blond standing a pace behind him, and Justin shuffled forward. “If it weren't for you, and the mix up at the airport, I wouldn’t have ever met the man I plan to spend the rest of my life with, so I guess, in a way, you really introduced him to me, Aleksi.” 

Aleksi laughed and smiled beneficently down on the couple. Brian forced himself to laugh along with the scumbag Croatian even though he felt like punching the man in the face. Justin, though, still seemed a bit tongue-tied, so Brian wrapped an arm around the younger man’s shoulders and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

“Ah, yes. So THIS is young man you have fallen over? Very nice. Yes, very nice. Happy for you, my friend,” Aleksi gushed, still smiling at them like he truly was their friend, making Brian want to puke. “Now, I not keep you stand here. You are tired after long trip, no? My Lucija have all rooms ready. We will talk later.” Aleksi gave Justin a pointed look when he said this, before turning his gaze back to take in all of Brian’s group. “Dobrodosao, all!”

A petite woman with a curvaceous body and long, straight, dark brown hair stepped forward from behind Aleski. “Hello. Welcome. I am Lucija. I have all rooms ready for your party. You will please to follow me,” she said and turned on her very high heels to lead the way inside. 

With Brian leading the way, the entire Kinney Crew followed Aleksi’s assistant into the hotel. They hadn’t seen much on the drive here from the airport, but it was clear that the brochure photos of the resort hadn’t sold the place short. The hotel was located right on the pier that delineated the west side of the small harbor fronting the downtown area. The water of the aegean was a bright turquoise blue at this time of the morning and it looked so enticing. The building itself was a typical Mediterranean construction, with its white stonework and red-tiled roof. It was, of course, a modern building, but from the patio, you could look up the hillside at the ancient buildings that formed the older part of the city proper. If they had come here for any other purpose than the clandestine operation they were engaged in, perhaps Brian might have found it picturesque.

Lucija shuttled them all into the lobby where she handed everyone in the party their keys. Brian was assigned a room on the fifth floor with Cara and Greg next door and Michael and Ben a few rooms down the hall. Justin had been assigned a room on the third floor which had an adjoining room for his ‘friend’ Daphne. Brian knew better than to object to the room assignments. He’d already had Ted try to switch the rooms around so that they weren’t separated by two floors, but he’d been shot down. Lucija had tried to tell them that the rest of the rooms were already booked and this was the best they could do - not that Brian believed that excuse for a minute - and she’d added that it wasn’t ‘proper’ for the grooms to stay in the same room before they were married. Whatever. Brian didn’t care which rooms they’d been assigned to since he didn’t plan to abide by the room assignments anyway. So, thanking Lucija for all her arrangements, Brian totally ignored her and carted Justin clear up to the fifth floor with him and into his room for a nice long post-flight nap. 

Fuck the room assignments. 

They’d agreed to meet for lunch at around one, local time, in the hotel’s restaurant. Brian and Justin were several minutes late because they’d been having a little too much fun in the luxurious walk in shower they’d discovered in Brian’s room when they got up from their nap. Justin looked much better rested and also quite well fucked when the pair finally showed up at the table on the back patio where the rest of the group was waiting for them.

“Ah! The love birds finally emerge,” Fake Daphne teased them pretty much the same way Real Daphne would have if she’d been there. “So, how was your ‘nap’?”

“Justin here is an excellent ‘napper’, Daphne. Thanks for asking,” Brian answered with a wink. 

The rest of the group proceeded to give them shit for the next twenty minutes while they ate their lunch. There were numerous jokes along the lines of ‘aren’t you supposed to leave that for the wedding night’ and ‘but now you can’t wear white to your wedding tomorrow’. Justin was blushing so hard by the time they were done that he looked like he had a sunburn. Brian looked like he was enjoying it all, though, and kept tantalizing them with more tidbits to encourage the teasing to continue. They were all having enough fun that they almost forgot the seriousness of the situation until their party was joined by the owner of the resort.

The happy couple had just finished eating when Aleksi walked up and put his hand on Justin’s shoulder. “Please, young Youstin, I need speak with you,” Aleksi requested. Brian went to get up, making as if to help slide Justin’s chair back from the table when their host added, “alone. Please. We will not go far, I promise. Just to other table, come.” 

Aleksi gestured to the other side of the courtyard. Justin looked at Brian briefly and received a squeeze to his arm with a mute look of reassurance. Justin gave him back a small, resigned smile, knowing that he didn’t have much choice; this was the big moment they’d all been hoping for. This was when they hoped to get the information the police would need to arrest Aleksi. 

As Justin got up he reached into his pocket and hit ‘record’ on his phone, as he’d discussed with Brian and Cara before leaving Pittsburgh. He was also wearing a new type of wire recently developed by the Pentagon but Cara and Greg still wanted to have the phone recording as back up, just to make sure they caught everything that was said. After a quick kiss with Brian he followed Aleksi to the remote table on the other side of the patio. Justin sat with his back to the wall. Aleksi sat facing Justin, looking away from Brian and the others, seemingly at ease in the familiar surroundings. But Justin didn’t miss the fact that one of the ‘waiters’ who’d come out to the patio when Aleksi had arrived - a hulking huge man with biceps the size of honeydews, was conveniently standing just a couple of meters away and watching them intently. 

“I don’t like people steal from me, fag boy,” Aleksi started without any preliminary small talk. “You owe me, pederu. You take orders from me now. I own your ass, boy. You understand me?” Justin gulped and nodded without a word, not having to pretend to be intimidated because he truly was. “Good. You be good boy and Aleksi will be happy. Make nice for you. All you have to do is marry Kinney and then follow orders. Like a good malo valiniski djecek, no?” Then Kacmar leaned closer, a fake smile plastered to his face and one hand extended to pat familiarly at Justin’s arm - a gesture an uninformed bystander might have even interpreted as affectionate - but the image Aleksi portrayed was belied the words that followed. “Understand this, boy . . . You fuck up and Kinney die. You family die. You will watch this, yes, then you die also.”

Justin felt his balls shrinking with fear and he barely had the breath needed to get out his next words. “Wha . . . What do you . . . What do you want me to do?” he stammered. 

“First, you not look so nervous, fag boy. Kinney watch us, yes? We no want him get wise.” Aleksi gave a hearty laugh out of the blue and then ordered, “laugh now, fag boy. Like I tell you funniest joke ever.” 

Justin laughed, unsure how convincing he was when he felt like he was about to puke.

“Good. We friends, right? Good friends. Now smile. Show all how good friends.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll . . . I’ll try,” Justin answered, trying to smile and mostly succeeding. 

Aleksi laughed at him again, this time probably because Justin’s efforts to smile looked so half-assed. “No need to be nervous,” Aleksi coaxed. “We are just talking about wedding, right? You like Kinney, no? You marry him and make him happy. Very easy.”

“I-I-I can do that,” Justin replied. 

“Yes. Then, you go home and be all lovey-dovey, like in Hollywood movies. All good. You get Kinney to give you job at Kinnetik. I know you draw, he will give you job if I ask him to let you draw for my advertising. Piece of pie.” Justin nodded again, indicating he could do that much and Aleksi beamed approvingly at him. “Good. Then, you get passwords for business computer and bank numbers. I give you one week after the honeymoon do this.”

“Passwords?” Justin ventured to ask, trying to prod him into saying more, hoping that the cops listening in were getting all this. “What am I supposed to do with the passwords to Brian’s computers?”

“I call you and give you more instructions later.” Aleksi waved as if whatever he was going to ask Justin to do after that was no big deal. But then he smiled that slick, dangerous smile at the young blond again and added, “You no ask questions, fag boy. I tell you what to do and you do it. Is easy. And, if you fuck this up, you know what will be consequence. Kinney will die very slow and painful while you watch. Got it, fag boy?” 

Justin sat there, frozen in place, too scared to respond.

“Fucking smile now, pederu, and answer me,” Aleksi finished. 

“I-I-I . . .” He swallowed and tried again. “Of course. I’ll . . . I’ll do whatever you say,” Justin said, smiling but terrified. 

“Very good. Now, go back to your friends and tell them how happy you are with Lucija’s wedding plans,” Aleksi ordered, getting to his feet and gesturing back at the table where Brian and the others were sitting.

Justin walked in the direction Aleksi had indicated, trying to calm his breathing so he wouldn’t look quite as panicked as he felt. “Thank you, Aleksi,” he said as they neared the others. “You’ve really done an amazing job with all the wedding plans. It’s really beautiful here. I . . . Brian and I can’t thank you enough.”

“My good friend, Brian, is happy. Is all thanks I need,” Aleksi boomed jovially. “Now, Youstin, you and your beautiful friend, Daphne, go with Lucija. I will keep your fiance company for afternoon. We will talk business while the girls do wedding shit, yes?”

“I-I-I think everything is ready, isn’t it?” Justin hesitated, really not wanting to be separated from Brian and the others. 

Lucija took that opportunity to step up and take charge of things, looping her arm through Justin’s to guide him away. “Oh, no. We have much to do. Much. First we have fittings for your suit and Ms. Daphne’s dress - you must be very beautiful for tomorrow - then I show you flowers and we do menu. So much to do . . .”

Azaria hastily got up and started to follow behind Justin and Lucija like a good Maid of Honor. Justin could see Brian biting his bottom lip - a tell that showed just how worried he was - but he couldn’t say anything that might give them away so he didn’t bother to object. Justin couldn’t say anything either, even though he was screaming inside and freaking out and rethinking why exactly he’d agreed to go along with this whole stupid scheme. Outwardly, though, he just offered up a half-hearted wave over his shoulder at his soon-to-be-husband and then let himself be carted away to do whatever a good Male Order Bride was supposed to do the day before his fake wedding. 

Brian was kept busy most of the rest of the afternoon by Aleksi. First, the hotel magnate took the wedding party on a full tour of the hotel’s facilities, bragging along the way about everything he showed them. Brian had to admit that the place was impressive. Five restaurants, two of which boasted award-winning chefs, three bars, a small nightclub setup with a stage and great sound system, a full-service spa, a fitness center that put Ript Gym to shame, and even an olympic-sized pool. If this had been a property owned by a real client, Brian would have been over-the-top enthusiastic about seeing all this; he could easily sell this kind of luxury to the wealthy east coast jet setting crowd. But, since he knew it was all just a front for a ruthless international criminal ring, he was finding it harder to manufacture the appropriate level of interest. Luckily, the rest of Brian’s entourage seemed better at play acting their appreciation and they all raved to Aleksi enough that Brian felt covered. 

When the tour took them down through the hotel’s well-groomed grounds, Aleksi escorted them towards the resort’s private pier, stopping in front of a splashy-looking, turquoise blue speed boat that looked like it might be the first cousin of a lamborghini sports car. 

“My baby. I call her ‘Bura’. Means, sea storm, yes?” Aleksi bragged. 

“Wow! This is incredible,” Michael expounded, his eyes almost popping out of his head as he admired the beautiful boat. “How fast does she go?”

Kacmar seemed glad that at least one of his guests was as impressed by the toy as he was. He invited them all aboard and then spent ten minutes explaining all the bells and whistles of the craft. Michael, Ben, and even Greg were suitably impressed and kept asking more questions. Brian held back a little, leery and anxious about what might be happening to Justin while they were separated. 

“Relax, Brian. You’re supposed to look like you’re having fun,” Cara cautioned him, leaning in close enough to whisper the words.

“Yeah, right,” Brian grumbled. Looking around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear before he asked, “do you think your people got enough from whatever Aleksi said to Justin at lunch so that we can get out of here already? I’m beyond ready to tell Mr. Moneybags to go fuck himself, get Justin, and get the fuck out of here.”

“Cool your jets, Kinney,” Cara ordered. “Mercury would have texted if they had the goods. Until we hear otherwise, we stay in place and don’t make any waves. Okay?”

“Fuck . . .” 

He couldn’t say more right then, of course, because Aleksi came back over to where Brian was standing, still boasting about his boat. “No. Is true. Bura do one hundred fifty kilometers per hour. She fast. I show you!” Aleksi waved at someone on the dock, summoning the man over to the boat. “This is Serjay. He my driver. Come, Serjay. We take Bura out to show my good friend Brian how fast.”

“Wait? Now? But, shouldn’t we wait for Justin? I’m sure he’d love to see your boat . . .” 

“No sense! Girls will be busy all day with wedding. Besides, you and bride must not see each other before wedding. Same for gay boys, yes? Is bad luck,” Aleksi declared. “Serjay take us for boat ride. Then we do dinner at Sug. And then we do bachelor party! You see, my friend. Will be much fun.” 

Brian tried to protest, but Aleksi ignored him and just carried on with his agenda. Brian shared a worried glance with Cara but she simply shrugged. Meanwhile, Michael seemed one hundred percent on board and enthusiastic enough for the both of them. Brian had no choice but to go along with the planned festivities, even though he never stopped plotting how he might get away so he could get back to his blond. It made him itchy not to know what was happening to Justin or even where the other man was. At least Azaria was with him, which was some comfort. Beks was still back at the hotel as well, supposedly acting as liaison for the Interpol types while doing her best to plant bugs throughout the hotel, and could presumably act as back up if Justin needed anything. But Brian still didn’t like being separated from Justin like this. Not to mention that he sorta missed having the kid around after having spent so much time together over the past couple of weeks. Being apart like this felt . . . Ominous. 

But at least there was one good thing about Aleksi’s busy agenda; it had kept Michael entertained and away from Brian for the entire afternoon. He had seen the way Michael had been looking at him and Justin over lunch, and had braced himself for yet another confrontation with his old friend. He was beginning to rethink the wisdom of including Michael on this trip. He knew that having his ‘Best Man’ with him helped prop up their cover story, but the best man hadn’t exactly been on his best behavior. If it hadn’t been for Beks and Greg dogging Michael’s every step and constantly distracting him, Michael would have already given them away at least a dozen times. Brian hoped they could keep the blabbermouth reined in for at least the next twenty-four hours, or however long it would take to get the goods on Kacmar and get the fuck out of there.

Brian was still brooding about the situation when Serjay - a brute on par with Andre The Giant - took over the controls of the boat and his friend - Goliath - released the mooring line so that they could head out into the harbor. He had a hard time enjoying the fast ride, no matter how distracting the experience was. The hour or so they spent racing pointlessly up and down the Adriatic coast seemed to drag by for Brian while he worried helplessly about what Justin might be doing, although he tried to pretend like he was having the time of his life.

They made it back to the pier just in time to change for dinner and then Aleksi’s limo transported them across town to one of Split’s most famous restaurants, Sug. Kacmar was greeted like an old - and very rich - friend. The meal lasted seemingly forever and between the heavy food and the many rounds of libations, all of which came on the heels of the long plane trip the day before, Brian was exhausted long before the dinner ended. He’d tried not to drink too much, wanting to keep his wits about him, but even the few glasses of wine he’d drunk, on top of his fatigue, was enough to almost wipe him out. He would have fallen asleep in the limo on the way back to the hotel if Aleksi hadn’t been there yelling celebratory ‘Opa!’s in his ear every few minutes.

It was late when they piled out in front of the resort and Brian tried desperately to beg off to his room but Aleksi wouldn’t hear of it. 

“No sense, my very much friend,” Kasmar insisted, his English getting more garbled and less intelligible the more he drank. “We must have you party before you - how you say - tie the noose?” Aleksi thought his joke hilarious and spent the next couple minutes chuckling to himself until he was interrupted by the appearance of his wife. “Oh! Yes! Petra! Please to meet my friends, Petra. Brian cousin, Cara-mia, and husband, and Michale and husband Ben . . . This is my lijep supruga.” They all greeted the woman who gave Brian an exuberant hug in welcome. “Cara-mia, you go with Petra now. You and girls have spa night, yes? We boys do bachelor now.”

“You do know that Justin isn’t a ‘girl’, right?” Brian pointed out, annoyed for the tenth time by Aleksi’s apparent slip when referencing his fiance. 

“Pederu, girl, no difference,” Aleksi laughed, clearly drunk enough by that point that he was no longer being careful with his words; not that Brian knew exactly what the word ‘pederu’ meant, but he had a good idea and wasn’t happy about it. “Off you go, Cara-mia. Go with other girls. We men have much drinking to do!”

Cara let herself be dragged off by Petra with relatively good grace. Brian and Greg shared a wary glance but there was nothing for it. Then they let Aleksi lead them on to the next item in his wedding weekend agenda, which seemed to be happening in the nightclub.

“Is now time we celebrate, yes?” Aleksi cajoled, wrapping one arm around Brian’s shoulders to lead him on to his doom. “Is my friend Brian’s last night of freedom. We much party. I have my girls come to tempt you. Perhaps you not so much pederu as you think, eh?” Aleksi laughed uproariously as two shapely females came and took over the job of escorting Brian towards a roped off VIP area at the back of the nightclub complete with upholstered couches and its own private minibar. “Yes, yes. This is my Veronique and my Laura. They will take very, very good care of my friend.” 

Both women’s hands began to explore Brian’s body very familiarly. Brian tried to fight them off but they were very determined. He looked over to his friends, but the rest of the group was too busy laughing at him to provide any assistance. Michael, especially, seemed to think it was hilarious to see Brian Kinney being fondled by two voluptuous women, one of whom’s hands had already found their way under the tails of his shirt to tweak at his nipples.

“Brian Kinney, making out with a woman,” Michael snorted. “Now, this is something I never thought I’d see. Wait’ll the guys back on Liberty Avenue see pictures of this.” 

Michael snapped a quick picture with his phone while one of the girls leaned in and made a production of planting her red lipsticked lips against Brian’s cheek. Brian shot his old friend a look that would have drawn blood in someone less obtuse than Michael. The idiot just laughed harder and took more pictures.

“How you say in America? When you get married? Is ‘old ball and chain’, yes?” Aleksi piped up, already stretched out on one of the couches with another scantily clad woman draped over him and a highball glass in one hand. “Maybe, though, you prefer a chain without the balls?” Aleksi laughed heartily at his own joke. “My girls happy to let you try before you decide. Is not too late to switch teams, my friend.” 

“Thanks, but I think I’m too old to change. And I’m not interested in anyone without balls yanking MY chain,” Brian corrected them all, while purposely removing the hands of the woman who had been attempting to undo his fly. 

“We see about that,” Kacmar breyed with laughter again. “Night is very young and my Laura can be very persuasive. She was girl I meant to send you before the little pederu mess up my plans. Laura is very good girl. She would make you much more good wife. You should try her out tonight. You might like jebati with real woman. We can always do substitution tomorrow at wedding. How you say, put in a ‘pinch and hit her’?”

“Fuck me . . .” Brian grumbled, fed up with the entire situation. 

He almost immediately regretted his words though, as both women crawling on him seemed to take this as an order rather than a complaint. They both immediately redoubled their efforts to remove his clothing. He spent the next however-many-minutes distracted, trying to protect his virtue from the marauding women attacking him while his ‘friends’ looked on and laughed. 

In the back of his mind, though, Brian was still worried about what was happening to Justin while he was busy being so thoroughly distracted.