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Author's Chapter Notes:

Time to spice things up! Lorie & TAG



Chapter 5 - Confusion Now Hath Made.



In between vivid dreams about Brian and what he hoped would happen between them, Justin tossed and turned. He was feeling very guilty about deceiving the beautiful man who had been nothing but kind and generous to him since his arrival. When he woke up, he made the decision to confess everything and hope Brian could forgive him. 


Justin wasn’t sure precisely how he felt about Brian. They’d sort of started off on the wrong foot, but at least the other man hadn’t sent him to jail or seemed mad at him for not being the missing ‘bride’. Brian had actually been pretty amazing, all things considered. But did that translate into Brian being someone he would want to live with, sleep with, just spend time with, or what? Was there any possibility for more? What would it be like to have a man like Brian in his life full time? Justin hadn’t really thought seriously about settling down into a real relationship with anyone but he could maybe, possibly, see himself with Brian in that role. Only, in order to do that, he would have to come clean to the man first. 


Since he wasn’t exactly sure what to say to Brian, he figured the first order of business would be to call Daphne for some advice. She never led him wrong; at least not when he let himself follow her wise direction. There had to be some way to confess to Brian without seeming like he was the baddie for his temporary deception. It would just take a little extra finesse. 


As he started to reach for his phone, though, it rang. Looking at the caller ID he saw a foreign number that he didn’t recognize, so he rejected the call. As soon as he did, the same number called again, and again he rejected it. The phone then rang a third time with the same number showing in the display. By now he was curious, so he tapped the icon to accept the call. 


“Justin Taylor?” asked a man with a deep, Croatian accent. 


“Who are you and how did you get this number?” Justin replied, curious and a little nervous. He had only answered because he thought it might have been someone he had fucked while he was in Europe, but the voice of the man on the phone wasn’t one he recognized and the speaker sounded too old to have been someone he would have slept with. 


“I am Aleksi Kasmar. How I get your number is no your business. What is my business is you! I see you steal ticket for the plane from Laura. NO ONE STEALS FROM ALEKSI! You hear this? No one! Nemoj me jebat! Anyone even TRY to steal from me gets trouble! You get trouble, Justin Taylor. You fuck up my plans and you be sorry now!” 


“I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m not a thief,” Justin replied nervously. 


“I know who you are, Justin Taylor. I know people everywhere. I find you and I make you pay for fucking up my plans. Ti si mrtav covjek, Justin Taylor. Ubit cu te!” 


Even though Justin couldn’t translate the last few words, he knew from the context and the tone that he was being threatened. Scared now, he hung up the phone and blocked the number. He immediately tapped at the icon on his favorite’s list to call Daphne. 


Before she could even say ‘Hello’, Justin started talking excitedly. “Fuck, Daph. You wouldn’t believe the phone call I just got. I think I’m in deep, deep shit . . .” 


“Slow down, Justin, I can barely understand you,” she shouted into the phone halfway through his disjointed explanation about the threatening phone call. 


That got his attention at least. Justin took a breath and calmly continued his story. He told her about the phone call and the man’s threat, then he told her what he had originally planned to call her about, and what had happened with Brian the night before. 


“Crap, Justin! How the fuck do you get yourself into this kind of shit? It’s like you’re living in Rick and Morty’s Mobster Movie or something,” Daphne teased him. 


“Daph, could you please be serious for a minute?” Apparently, Justin didn’t see any humor in the situation. “What if this guy really is some top guy in the Mafia over there? I heard Gunter’s friends talking about them - they call them YACS - it’s like the Yougoslavian mob. And, from the way people talk, they make the Italian mafia look like Disney. These guys are fucking dangerous if you cross them.” He paused and then, in a whisper, suggested,  “Maybe I should call the cops. Or the FBI. What do you think?” 


“No, Justin, you can’t,” Daph responded instantly. “That could be even more dangerous. Didn’t the guy say he knew people everywhere; what if he has connections to police in the states? You know how corrupt the police are these days. Until you know what’s going on, I think you should just stay at Brian’s and hide. He shouldn’t be able to find you there, right? If he’s looking for you, he’ll probably start with your family and friends, so you can’t go home, or for that matter, come stay with me. But you have no connection to Brian, right? He’s not likely to look for you there.” When Justin made a sound as if he were going to object, Daphne immediately shushed him. “For once in your life, Justin, listen to reason. This isn’t like Boris and Natasha planning to take out Moose and Squirrel; this is real life gangsters. They torture and kill you slowly. After they get what they want from you, that is. I’m telling you, you need to just lay low and wait this out.”


“I think you’ve been watching too many crime dramas on Netflix, Daph,” Justin joked, but then he too got serious. “You’re not wrong, though. But what about Brian? How am I supposed to keep living here without telling him the truth? Especially when I really like the guy . . .”


“Don’t you see,” Daphne rushed to explain it to him like he was a slow kindergartner, “that’s why this set up is so perfect. Brian doesn’t know anything about you and, since he thinks you don’t speak English, he can’t ask you anything either. He doesn’t even know your real last name, right? You’re safer staying there, where nobody has a clue who you really are, than anywhere else. He’s even paying for everything, right? That means you won’t have to use your bank cards or anything. You are basically 100% off the grid right now. It’s the best possible hiding place. And as long as you don’t tell Brian anything about you, he won’t be in any danger either, because he doesn’t know enough to get him in trouble with the YACS guys.”


“Fuck. I hadn’t thought about that,” Justin admitted. “I don’t want to put Brian in danger either.”


“That’s why you can’t tell him anything about you, Justin.”


“But . . .”


“Justin! No. Just sit there, keep your mouth shut, and wait until the coast is clear.”


“Fine. I’ll keep quiet for now, even though I don’t like it. But you’re right, Daph, the most important thing is that I make sure Brian is safe. I don’t want anything to happen to him,” Justin told his friend.


“Good. Now, hang up and turn your phone all the way off so nobody can track you using your number,” Daph ordered. “And, just in case they get to me, I don’t want to know anything more about where you are either. They can’t torture out of me what I don’t know. Don’t call me unless you’re about to be kidnapped and whisked away to be human trafficked. Good luck, Justin!” And then she hung up on him.


“Fuck my life,” Justin moaned and fell back onto the bed in a funk. 



Brian had approached the guest room door without even thinking about it. He’d wanted to see if his blond guest was awake and hungry. There was this little bakery about two blocks over that he’d been wanting to try ever since he’d moved in and having a visitor seemed like a good opportunity to make that happen. 


As he approached the door, he heard his guest speaking. It wasn’t like he was eavesdropping or anything; Youstin was talking quite loudly, so it wasn’t difficult to hear what he was saying, even through the door. Brian paused before knocking, curious about whatever it was that had the kid so worked up. In doing so, it quickly became clear that his guest was talking to someone, and the phone was on speaker, meaning that Brian could hear every single word of the conversation.


What was surprising, though, was that Youstin - the guy from Croatia who everyone thought couldn’t communicate - was speaking in perfect English.  


“Fine. I’ll keep quiet for now, even though I don’t like it. But you’re right, Daph, the most important thing is that I make sure Brian is safe. I don’t want anything to happen to him,” Brian heard the young man say. 


Then, a female voice responded, “Good. Now, hang up and turn your phone all the way off so nobody can track you using your number. And, just in case they get to me, I don’t want to know anything more about where you are either. They can’t torture out of me what I don’t know. Don’t call me unless you’re about to be kidnapped and whisked away to be human trafficked. Good luck, Justin!”


What the fuck? What the hell were they talking about? Human trafficking? And why would Brian be in danger? Who the hell was this kid anyway? It wasn’t bad enough that, apparently, his guest had been lying to him the whole time and pretending he only spoke Croatian, but it sounded like the guy was mixed up in some really nasty shit. Maybe he’d somehow got Brian mixed up in it too, it seemed? Seriously, what the actual fuck!


Brian backed away from the guest room door and quietly made his way back downstairs where he could have some privacy to think this thing through. He grabbed the cup of coffee he’d already poured himself off the kitchen island and carried it with him as he paced around the furniture in the big open-concept main room. Walking usually helped him get his thoughts in order, but this time he was really struggling. How the fuck was he supposed to make sense of what he just thought he’d heard.


Based on the tiny portion of the conversation he’d listened in on, a couple of things immediately became clear. The young man he’d been introduced to as ‘Youstin’ was clearly a fraud. He obviously wasn’t Croatian; the man staying in his guest room spoke English fluently and that accent was as American as Brian’s. He didn’t know how the kid had ended up in Split or how he’d somehow taken the place of the woman that Aleksi Kacmar had tried to send Brian, but it was clear that there was something underhanded going on. 


What wasn’t clear was whether or not Brian was the target of whatever con game was going on. Brian had clearly heard the kid say that he wanted to make sure Brian was safe and that he didn’t want anything to happen to Brian, but what was it he thought he was protecting Brian from? And what did the woman he was speaking to mean by her reference to kidnapping and human trafficking? How the hell could such an innocent looking kid be mixed up with that kind of crap? More to the point, what the fuck was Brian supposed to do now that he’d found out their little secret?


He’d paced around the entire floor at least ten times and finished his second cup of coffee before he came to any sort of conclusion. He didn’t understand everything that was going on, which was part of the problem. The only thing he thought he did understand correctly was that the kid - Justin, not ‘Youstin’, the way he’d pronounced it when he was pretending to have a slavic accent - was actually trying to protect Brian. Which, he supposed, was admirable, although Brian would have preferred not to have gotten dumped in the middle of this heaping pile of shit in the first place. But, whatever. That ship had apparently sailed without Brian even being aware a ship had even existed. At least the kid seemed like he had good intentions, right?


Well, two could play at the protection game, Brian decided. 


First thing he needed to do was somehow get more information. He couldn’t make any real decisions until he’d figured out what, exactly, was happening and how not to get burned. Hopefully, if he played along with the kid’s charade, he could find out more without letting on that he was any wiser. He knew ‘Youstin’ could understand everything that he was saying, but ‘Youstin’ didn’t know that. Not yet. So, perhaps, the best course of action was to just do nothing, play dumb, and keep his eyes and ears open. As long as the kid didn’t know that Brian was onto him, he could surreptitiously pump him for information and, maybe, eventually, whatever was going on would become clearer.  


In the meantime, he’d have to let the kid continue to freeload in his guest room. As much as he wanted to be pissed that the kid had lied to him, until he found out more, he needed to keep Justin close to him. Though, to be honest, if what he’d overheard wasn’t just another part of the con, and the blond really did want to protect him, Brian didn’t really mind. He was touched by the kid’s concern, actually. What Brian really wanted to know though was what, exactly, the blond thought he needed to be protected from. So, as much as Brian didn’t like the idea of snooping and spying, it was probably what he needed to do in order to figure this whole thing out. 


As soon as Brian had resolved on a plan of action, he felt much better. On his next circuit around the living room he stopped off at the kitchen and put his coffee cup in the dishwasher. Then he emptied the rest of the pot of coffee into a second cup, put that on a tray along with a small ceramic creamer and the sugar bowl, and headed back up the stairs to wish his guest a good morning. 


Maybe, Brian thought as he trudged up the stairs mulling over his plans, he could have some fun with this while he was pumping his visitor for information? It was actually a pretty fucking amusing situation, right? He knew that Youstin could understand everything he was saying, but the kid couldn’t let on about that without betraying his play-acting. Brian could say any shit he wanted and Justin couldn’t react at all. There could be some definite humorous opportunities there. And it would serve the kid right for trying to trick Brian in the first place. 


Brian paused at the top of the stairs, listening for a minute or so until he was sure the kid wasn’t making any more phone calls, before knocking on the door. 


“Co . . .” Justin began and then added a quietly whispered, “shit.” 


Brian was still trying not to laugh when the door was opened and he was greeted by the bright smile of his houseguest. “Good morning, Sunshine. I come bearing coffee.” He held out the tray. “And, when you’re done with that, I thought you might want to get something to eat?” Just to play along with the farce, Brian pantomimed eating. 


Justin looked nervous but gave a hesitant smile and nodded his head without responding verbally. 


“Great! Well, then, hurry up and get that luscious bubble butt of yours into some clothes before I throw you down on the bed and eat YOU for breakfast,” he said, maintaining a casual smile and making sure that the tone of his voice wouldn’t have given away the meaning of his words to someone who didn’t understand the language. Pointing to his watch, then holding up his hand with all five fingers splayed out, he added, “I’ll give you five minutes and if you’re not dressed and downstairs, I’m going to come back up here and fuck the living shit out of you.”


‘Youstin’ looked at him as if Brian had gone insane. But, quickly realizing his reaction was going to give him away, the kid expertly wiped the flustered look off his face and replaced it with the same blank, semi-confused look he’d maintained the entire evening before. Brian held up the five fingers again and Youstin nodded to indicate he understood. With one last completely innocent smile at his guest, Brian went back downstairs, laughing under his breath the whole way. 


Yep. This was gonna be fun! 


Justin made his way downstairs a few minutes later, dressed in a tight, bright yellow t-shirt that set off his blond hair and blue eyes to perfection. Brian wished for half a second that he didn’t have to play this stupid game of pretence. The kid was smokin’ hot and, if Brian wasn’t worried that getting involved with him might end up being physically dangerous, he might just have said ‘fuck it’ to breakfast and taken the kid back upstairs so he could do the thing he’d teased him about earlier. As it was, though, he was rather glad he hadn’t fucked the kid the night before. For once he’d been thinking with the head between his shoulders and not the one between his thighs. He didn’t think it was a good idea to fuck someone who may, or may not, be involved in some kind of plot to physically harm you. Especially not when, if he treated Justin the way he normally would any other trick after he was done with them and kicked them to the curb the morning after, he wouldn’t be able to worm the truth about this potential threat out of him. Nope, this once, it was a good thing he’d held his libido in check. 


That didn’t mean, however, that Brian wasn’t going to fantasize about what it would be like to plow such a sweet, perky ass into his mattress over and over and over again or that he wouldn’t keep right on teasing the little charlatan with the suggestion of it.


On the way out, Brian grabbed baseball caps and sunglasses for both of them from a shelf near the door. He pointed up and squinted at the sun, so his guest would understand why he was offering the headcovering. Justin was happy for the semi-disguise and glad that it was a sunny day so he wouldn’t have to look like he was trying to hide, which would have probably have made Brian suspicious. He gratefully accepted both offerings with a smile for his considerate host.


Once they were outside and on their way to the bakery, Brian surreptitiously looked around, keeping an eye out for anyone who looked out of place or seemed like they might be watching his guest. Nobody stood out, though, which was reassuring. They made it to the bakery and ‘Youstin’ happily pointed to several pastries that he wanted for his breakfast. Brian made do with a couple of chocolate biscotti, a banana, and more coffee. 


They grabbed a small two-top table in the corner and made themselves comfortable. Justin immediately laid into his croissant, devouring the whole thing in less than a minute while, at the same time, happily slurping up a healthy dose of his hot chocolate between bites. Brian, however, took his time, enjoying the aroma of the Kona blend coffee that the bakery served. He waited until he was sure that Justin had slaked his appetite enough that he was once more paying attention to his breakfast companion and then made a show of picking up and slowly peeling the banana. Making sure Justin was looking at him, Brian ostentatiously licked his lips before deep throating almost the entire banana, sliding the meaty part in and out of his mouth a couple of times before biting off the tip. 


"Some of my skills are good for many things," Brian announced innocently, watching Justin‘s widening eyes. “Bet you wish that was you, huh, Sunshine?”


Justin, who wasn’t sure what the hell was going on or how he was supposed to react to his host’s little demonstration, almost choked to death on his next sip of cocoa and ended up spitting the warm chocolate concoction all over the front of himself. 


“Careful there, Youstin,” Brian responded, offering a napkin to help the boy clean himself up. “I wouldn’t want you to choke to death. Unless, of course, you were choking on my dick.”


Justin didn’t know what to say, so all he offered was a confused, “hvala vam,” the translation for ‘thank you’ being one of the few Croatian phrases he’d already memorized. 


Justin was quickly mopped up and, after they had finished breakfast without further antics, Brian led Justin back to the firehouse. They only made it as far as the den on the first floor, though, before Brian stopped his guest. With a few translated words and a lot of gestures, he explained that he needed to go to work and that Youstin was welcome to stay there and watch television or find something else to do. Justin, who was just fine with putting some distance between himself and the gorgeous brunet who had spent the entire morning teasing him, pretended to look up words so he could ask for paper and pencils. When Brian seemed confused by the request, he pointed to a lovely pencil sketch on the wall behind the bar - a drawing that his friend, Lindsey, had given him of his son, Gus - and then pointed to himself, miming that he wanted to do some drawing of his own. Brian easily found what Justin asked for, handing him an old sketchbook that he kept around for when he needed to make rudimentary sketches of ad concepts for his art department, and then headed for the door into the garage. 


Before leaving, he made sure to turn towards his guest, telling him, “stay inside and don’t answer the door.” Justin thought that was an odd request, but he nodded his head in agreement. "Good, because I want to be the only one you let inside," Brian added with a virtuous smile that didn’t match his words at all.


Justin was still just standing there, looking gobsmacked, struggling to control not only his facial expression but his body's reactions to Brian’s suggestive comments as Brian closed the door behind him.



 

Chapter End Notes:

4/18/22 - Now the fun can really start! Thanks to Winnie for the suggested reference to Rick & Morty’s Mobster Movie (Ep 5x07). It’s on Hulu if you want to watch! Also, if you haven’t stopped by the Male Order Bride - Working Doc, why not? We would love to get your ideas for other ways Brian can tease Justin! Come write with us! TAG & Lorie

 

Croatian Words:

-Nemoj me jebat - Don’t fuck with me

-Ti si mrtav covjek - You are a dead man

 

-Ubit cu te - I will kill you


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