CHAPTER 10: DAMAGE CONTROL

Daphne, in the company of Chaz, walked into the lavish offices of the matriarch of the DeCampo family. She always marveled at Donatella’s proclivity to change the decor of her designated work environment according to the seasons. Daphne imagined that if she had but time and inclination, she would have happily done the same with her own home and office. But alas, she was much too busy for that. Once again, she thought of how much she missed her home, but duty called.

“Hello Shelly, is Mother still in the office?” Chaz asked the woman, who was typing away on the computer.

“Absolutely, Chaz. In fact, she’s been expecting you and Ms. Chanders here. It’s nice to see you again, although I wish it was under better circumstances,” Shelly said.

“Likewise, Shelly. How are Jessie and the kids doing?” Daphne asks, smiling.

“Oh they’re fine. Bigger pains in my ass everyday, but they are all well. Thanks for asking. Will Mr. Taylor be along soon?”

“He will be along with his new team.”

“Ah, I caught the press conference a little while ago. The man with him… Brian Kinney… not only is he a looker, but it’s said that Kinnetik is the best in the business. I will say that he handled the press masterfully.”

“I haven’t seen it yet, but I know that if Justin decided to hire them, they have to be a good fit for both companies. With the crap Craig is trying…”

“Yeah, it looks like Kinnetik is about to earn its money just in the first week alone,” Chaz said, before knocking on the door leading to his mother’s office.

“Come in,” the strong voice ordered, even as it went back to speaking fast and furious Italian. To say that Donatella De Campo was pissed would be the understatement of the year.

“What’s happened?” Chaz hurried back into the lobby, and whispered the question to Shelly.

“This thing with Craig Taylor isn’t as cut and dry as it may seem. Your father is on his way back from the Hamptons, determined to be here to confront Justin about his mistreatment of Craig.”

“That’s quite possibly the most idiotic move I think I've ever heard of Cesare intentionally making,” Daphne advised. “I can tell you right now that Justin is not going to be in any mood to hear criticisms of how he has decided to handle Craig. There is a history there that you all are not aware of, as it should be, since it’s a family matter. But this last attempt of Craig’s to sabotage Justin was indeed the last straw! Family or no, Justin is not letting Craig Taylor get away with anything anymore.”

Chaz nodded. “I agree, Daphne, but you know my father…”

“And so do I,” came the heavily-accented reply. “Daphne, it’s lovely to see you again, although I know this is far from a social visit.” Donatella DeCampo reached out and embraced the young woman before ushering her and Chaz into her office.

“Thanks for having me on such short notice. I trust, aside from this unpleasantness, that you are well?”

Donatella smiled tiredly. “I am, despite this nasty business I’ve been dealing with all morning. Craig ought to be shot with shit, rinsed off with piss and then shot again for stinking!”

Daph and Chaz laughed. They were both aware that behind the elegant facade Donatella showed to the public, she had some really colorful sayings. “I believe that all of us are inclined to agree with you.”

“Not all…”

“Ah, I take it Caesar is wholly discontent with the way of things, is he? Well, I’m not afraid to tell you that he’ll just have to remain so. Justin’s not budging on this, and honestly, I don’t blame him.”

Donatella crossed over to the sitting area within the office, signaling for the two young people to join her. She took her time pouring out the three cups of coffee, adding milk and sugar to Daphne’s while leaving hers, and her son’s black. After they all took a fortifying sip, she spoke. “I know I have no right to ask as it is family business, but I can’t help being curious about what brought all of the previous little skirmishes to a head like this. To Caesar, it just looks as if Justin is not doing his duty by his father, and helping him in his time of need. But I know Justin; I know better.”

Daphne realized that she had two choices: either leave one of their most lucrative accounts in the dark about the inner turmoil within the Taylor family, or treat the DeCampos like the friends they have always been, since back when Matthew Alfred Winston first started doing business with Prada, Incorporated. Both JJ and Alfred- as he was known mostly in business circles- always tried to foster a family-like atmosphere with employee and client alike, so to leave the DeCampos in the dark at this juncture and still ask for their business, would besmirch the relationship the Taylors and DeCampos have built over the years. Making the decision, Daphne placed her coffee cup down and began to tell Donatella and Chaz the story of the Tumultuous Taylors.

~AC~

Fucking hell! Fucking unholy HELL! As he sat there listening to them, he knew he had to get word to the others. There was no way he was going to let them do this to the people he considered friends. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number.

FUCK! It went straight to voicemail, so he left a message to call him back as soon as possible. He decided to try the one place he expected everyone to be, and still the machine kicked on. Scrolling through his phone again, he remembered that he had Ted’s number. Around the fourth ring, the call connected.

“Ted Schmidt.”

Making his way outside of the bustling coffeeshop, he was finally able to speak. “Ted, it’s Ben. You won’t believe what the fuck Michael is up to now… and with Lindsay’s help!”

~AC~

As Ted listened, he was at first shocked and then he became angry. But he knew that he had to keep a cool head. While everyone else was checking into their rooms, Ted went over to the bar area. Ordering a club soda for himself- even though he wanted something much stronger- Ted continued to listen to the detailed account of the conversation Ben had gleaned within the confines of the coffeeshop.

“I mean it was amazing, Ted. Everyone within the place had gone silent, and they didn’t even notice. That’s how involved they were with making their plans. I guess it was fortuitous, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to overhear everything. I know that the Avenue is going to do everything within their power to stop the two idiots, but it never hurts to be forewarned. All I can tell you is that the young man who’s missing is the same young man that Justin’s sister Molly, had been married to and annulled from in the same day. Why or how that happened, no one knows as of yet. The good news is that according to Lindsay, her father isn’t going to help her get the information. But I don’t know about her mother. Apparently, there is some bad blood between Nancy Peterson and Jennifer Taylor.”

As Brian’s employee, the core of Ted’s job was to head off financial disasters. But as a friend, his job was to protect Brian. This was one of those times that he had to do just that. Not an easy task, especially since the man he may need protecting from is the only one he seems to want. Ted cleared his throat.

“I’ll relay all of this to Brian, Ben. In the meantime, alert Deb and Vic to this latest asshole avalanche. Brian is beginning to get attached to the young man, even if he won’t acknowledge it. And I think the feeling is mutual. Both are like lone wolves, and the fact that they…”

“I know, Ted. I know that I have had my issues with Brian in the past, but they were never his fault. It was all Michael. It makes me glad that I never went through with the Legal Domestic Partnership here in the States, so now I am free and clear of him in all facets. Dissolving the partnership in Canada shouldn’t be too hard, or be too long a process. The attorney I had when I was thinking of buying property up there, was all too happy to help me get the ball rolling. She really couldn’t understand why I was with such an imbecile- her words, not mine. But right now, I worry for Mel. She and Lindsay were together a lot longer than Michael and I were.”

“I know. But if it eases your mind any, Mel has already decided that she and Lindsay are through. In fact, I have to talk to her straight away. No doubt if Lindsay attempts to hire another private investigator, she’s going to approach Melanie with some cockamamie bullshit story about why she needs money immediately. I need to know what’s in the joint account, so that I can have her move it fast.”

“You do that, Ted. Look, I’d better get back in there and get back to my corner. I left Hunter in there. If he heard anything else, expect a call back.”

“No problem, I’ll leave my cell on. And Ben… thanks. On behalf of Brian and the rest of us, thank you. I know that the situation with Michael…”

“Think nothing of it, Ted. If truth be told, I’d been contemplating leaving Michael even before Hunter came along. For me, his reaction to Hunter’s advent in my life left me with no other choice. He knew that I always wanted to be a parent, and that I’d given up hope of it a long time ago. I know now that he only stayed with me for stability.”

“How are you so sure? I mean, I know what I’ve always thought, but to hear you say that…”

“It was evident in the way he spoke about Hunter, and tried to talk me out of adopting him. When he gave me the ultimatum of choosing between him and Hunter, I knew then that it was all about the money and never about what I needed. He actually threatened to sue me for everything if I went through with it. You can’t get any plainer about what was important than that.”

Ben and Ted said their goodbyes with a promise to be in touch later, if necessary. Ted couldn’t believe how Michael had them all fooled for such a long time. He couldn't believe how Michael seemed so innocuous, when in reality, he was probably one of the most dangerous people in their lives. If he was feeling the emotional scars from Michael, he could only imagine what all of this was doing to Brian, who not only had to deal with Michael but Lindsay as well. And now adding the secretive and seductive Justin Taylor to the mix of it all…

Ted moved forward quickly to the elevators, determined to get the whole story once and for all. The entire way up to the fortieth floor, Ted replayed all that he knew of Justin Taylor so far. Although a trust fund baby, he was also a self-made man. He was the heir of both of his grandfathers, and considered to be the head of the family from both sides. That alone would give him contacts all over the world, but…

If Justin had anything to do with the sudden disappearance of Lindsay’s cousin, Christopher Hobbs, they needed to know why, and fast! Given what he knew of the young man so far, and how similar he is to his own friend and boss, Brian, there wasn’t a doubt in Ted’s mind that there was certainly some truth to this accusation. Like Brian, Justin Taylor was a man of action, and a fixer by nature. The question was: why and what exactly did he do? What did he have to gain by making the young man fall off the face of the earth, and who else knows?

Stepping off the elevator, Ted turned left and marched straight to Cynthia’s room. He needed to fill her in on the latest developments, and garner her thoughts on how best to handle this. He knew they needed to gather the answers without coming right out and accusing their newest, and most lucrative client of foul play. He knocked urgently, hoping that she was still in the room. He breathed a sigh of relief, first at finding her there and secondly, finding her putting the finishing touches on her outfit.

“I see Brian has been hard at work already,” he said wryly.

“Indeed he has, which doesn’t explain the reason you aren’t dressed,” she said, as she was putting in her earring.

“We have a problem,” he told her, rushing into her suite.

“I know. One of which is that you are not in your room, changing out of your jeans and tee.”

“I’ll get there, but first, I have to tell you about the phone call I just got.”

“Let me guess. Michael and Lindsay…”

“Are plotting.”

“What else is new? They are always plotting, but that has nothing to do with…”

“Well if you would let me finish, you’ll understand why and how this is important right now!” He yelled at her, causing her to blink first and then narrow her eyes. The look is so reminiscent of Brian in that moment, Ted was tempted to run and hide. But he knew that wasn’t an option. He had to get this out. “Look, Cyn, I’m…”

“Sorry is bullshit and as long as it doesn’t happen again, I can let it pass. But next time, I’ll chop your dick off and mail it to Blake as a parting gift, before I kill you. Got it?”

Ted swallowed hard at the imagery she painted. If there was one woman on the face of the earth he wouldn’t cross, it was Cynthia. She looked fragile, but the woman of his acquaintance was anything but that and he knew it. “Yeah.”

“Good. So what had you so frazzled about the latest episode in Delusion Land?”

Ted crossed over to the minibar, and grabbed himself another club soda. After gathering his thoughts again, he proceeded to inform her of what he knew so far. “Ben called and said that he’d overheard Michael and Lindsay reformulating plans, now that Lindsay’s father is not willing to help her with information. Based on a confrontation she had with Justin’s mother and sister this morning at Taylor Industries, Lindsay has decided to look for someone named Christopher Hobbs. Apparently, he’s her cousin.”

“So?”

“So, it turns out… well according to Ben, that this Christopher, whomever he is, was married to Justin’s sister, Molly. However, the marriage was annulled within hours of the nuptials and Christopher had disappeared.”

“Okay, but what does that… wait a minute! Are you saying that…”

“It’s possible that Justin may have had something to do with his sudden disappearance, and if he did, we need to know why. The last thing we need is to have Lindsay be the dick she is, and go to the press with this accusation. Or even worse would be for her to uncover where Hobbs is, and be able to convince him to make trouble. We have to get ahead of this shit before it blows up in all of our faces, especially because we are now his publicists. If Taylor goes down, so will we.”

“Wait a second, Ted. You are getting ahead of yourself, and letting your natural tendencies towards neuroticism run wild. It could be nothing at all.”

“I doubt it, but okay. So how do we put this to Justin, without coming off accusatory in the process? He’s just as secretive as Brian is.”

“But he’s also just as honest from what I’m gathering. No, he won’t offer up reasons and explanations, but I don’t think that he will shirk the truth if a question is asked directly.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“As you’ve said, he’s like Brian. And if there is one thing I know about Mr. Kinney, it’s that he unfailingly honest… with others, at least. He may lie to himself in reference to the things that may or may not bother him in order to cope. But when it comes to shedding light on the truth in reference to others, he doesn’t hold back. I suspect that Justin Taylor is the same way. I’ve worked with Brian for many years and I’ve never seen him run or hide from a fight, especially regarding his reputation in this business. This won’t be any different.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

“Let’s go see Justin. No doubt that he is with Brian right now.”

Ted snickered. “In that case, are you sure it’s a good idea to interrupt them? I mean, you saw them on the plane.”

Cynthia smiled back. “Yeah, we all did. But again, Justin is like Brian. He may be horny as hell, but he’ll indulge after the meeting with the DeCampos. From what I gathered during my brief conversation with Maggie and Peter, Justin will need to keep his edge when dealing with Caesar DeCampo.”

“Well then, I guess we’d better go.”

“No, we will go and get you dressed first. There’s no telling how long the conversation will take, and I know that Justin is going to be in a hurry to make it to the DeCampos’ office in a relatively short amount of time. Right now, Daphne Chanders is at the office, meeting with Donatella DeCampo so that buys us some time.”

“Let’s hope so. This thing with the DeCampos, it affects us too, you know?”

“Yes, and in ways that Justin Taylor cannot imagine. I wonder how he’s going to take it, finding out that we also do their advertising. It’s not common knowledge yet.”

“It’s strange. For a man who doesn’t like secrets, Brian sure has a lot of them. Justin and Brian are more entwined, business-wise, than they know.”

“They are. And it’s going to either make us, or break us. But if this- whatever the fuck it is they are doing- works out...”

“Michael and Lindsay are…”

“History.” They say together and both smile at the thought.

~AC~

As soon as they entered the room, it began. The door hadn’t even closed all the way before Justin was on his knees, divesting Brian of his suit pants and underwear. He had wanted to get Brian down his throat since he’d first seen him that morning, looking delectable in just his unbuttoned jeans without a shirt. Once he’d seen Brian in his suit, he longed to be the material draping his naked body underneath. To know that it was the material from his company caressing the soft skin, muscle, and sinew just added fuel to his ever-growing fire.

Then the way he masterfully played the press during the impromptu conference… Justin couldn’t contain the lustful thoughts, running untamed in his head. It had taken herculean strength of will not to ravish him within the limo. But now, there was nothing stopping him from doing so, except time constraints. But he would have this!

Swirling his tongue around the head, Justin deepthroated the writhing man above him again, wanting nothing more than to bring them both the pleasure that had been building since early this morning. This wasn’t going to be a slow and easy blowjob. Just as Justin’s ass had claimed Brian over and over from the time they had met, he was determined that his mouth was going to brand Brian as his. If he had stopped to only examine that thought, Justin might have run screaming from the room all the way back to Pittsburgh in an effort to outrun his wayward thoughts. But at that point, he didn’t care.

“Oh… my… fucking… Justin, please…” came the breathy gasp from Brian, as Justin sucked hard.

Yes! That was the response he wanted; Brian begging for him. Justin tightened his jaws and redoubled his efforts, milking Brian’s cock with everything he had in him. He swallowed hard around the head, snaking his hand up under the tailends of Brian’s silk shirt until his fingers reached the protruding little dots of Brian’s sensitive nipples. He was gratified that the pulling of his hair intensified the moment his fingers connected.

With each tug, Justin felt his own dick dancing within the confines of his own pants. He would have loved nothing more than to get naked, and have Brian ass finishing him off. But that would come later… And so would he! Holding Brian’s member within his throat and flexing his throat muscles ever so tightly, he tasted the creamy natural nectar he’d been striving for.

Brian’s fingers convulsively flexed as wave, after wave of the most intense orgasm he’d ever received from a blow job crested. It was like he couldn’t stop himself from slamming into the mouth attached to him, still sucking him even while he felt the rhythmic clenching on each of his nerve endings. He didn’t want it to end but he knew it had to. As he stood there, knees buckling and his body trembling, he stared down into the blue eyes regarding him lustfully. The intensity there caused Brian to shudder, not in revulsion, but in confusion and understanding.

Not for the first time, he wondered what it was about this enigmatic man he’d only met days ago that was keeping him so enthralled. Justin Taylor was succeeding where many others have tried and failed. And all without a single effort on his part. But what was more telling was that Brian didn't mind it in the least. Before he could examine the thought even further, there was a knock on the door.  

“I, uh, guess we’d better get that,” Justin said, rising to his feet.

“Whomever it is better have a damn good reason, since I was about to get into your ass.”

Justin laughed. “On the contrary, Mr. Kinney. It would have been me getting into your ass. But I’m short on time, and that particular experience deserves to be savored.”

Brian’s response was cut short by the urgent knocking, which was quickly escalating to banging. ‘Fuck! Alright, keep your pants on! I’m coming!”

“You just did that,” Justin said with a self-satisfied smirk.

“And I would be again, if it wasn’t for the incessant pain in the ass at the door,” he said, smiling. Opening the door, he was surprised to not only see Theodore, whom he suspected it was, but Cynthia as well.

Pushing past him, Cynthia cut right to the point. Directing her gaze at Justin, she spoke calmly to him, “I need you to tell me everything you know about the disappearance of Christopher Hobbs.”

At Justin’s stunned expression, Brian knew that whatever it is, it wasn’t good. “What’s this about?” he asked.

Ted huffed out a long breath. “Lindsay had gone to the Taylor building this morning, pretending to be your wife. That much we all know, and she’d gotten her ass handed to her by both Jennifer and Marlinda Taylor. But afterwards, she met with Michael. It turns out that Christopher Hobbs is Lindsay’s cousin. She knows that he was married to Molly at one time, but that the marriage was annulled within a couple of hours. Ben overheard her and Michael’s plans to find him.”

“Fuck! Shit! Damn! This is another…”

“Justin, what is it? Look, you have to level with us NOW! There is no time to waste, and there is much more riding on this than you know.”

“What are you talking about? This doesn’t affect you; NONE OF YOU!” Justin yelled, his explosive temper shocking them all to silence for a time. Taking a few calming breaths, he said. “Christopher Marc Hobbs was a hateful young man, who needed to be gone… and he needs to stay that way.”

“What do you know, Justin?” Brian asked quietly. “Please, you have to tell us. If word of this gets out… look, just tell us that you didn’t murder him; that there isn’t a body that’s going to turn up where you will be the first suspect.”

Exasperated, Justin ran his hands through his hair and went over to the minibar. Finding the bottle of Beam, he poured himself a healthy glass before speaking. “He isn’t dead, although I wish more than ever that I could’ve killed the fucking bastard. In order for you to understand where he is, you have to understand why. Several years ago, Chris and I went to school together and a more sexually confused person I’d never met. He cornered me and tried to rape me, but that was timely interrupted by one of the teachers in the school. The Hobbs family had approached Craig about Chris marrying my sister. Of course, knowing how lucrative such an arrangement would have been, Craig jumped at the chance to marry his daughter off to one of the most prominent families within our community. They ranked probably fifth, with us being first. The families in between the ranks already were aligned with others within our set, so Craig’s first available choice would have only been the Hobbs family.

“We all begged him to reconsider, but he wouldn’t hear of it. My grandfathers all, but ordered the rejection of the Hobbs offer. We later found out that Craig was trying to cover up some seedy business dealings, and Molly was the bargaining chip he needed to keep Samuel Hobbs’ mouth shut. With an heir and a spare, Samuel Hobbs was sure to keep what he knew about Craig in the family, since it would also besmirch the Hobbs name. It didn’t help that- although Molly never verbally confirmed- it wasn’t hard to discern that something appalling had happened between her and Chris during their enforced dates. Anyway, as a result, Craig wouldn’t let anything deter his plans for Molly, so two days before Molly’s graduation, Craig caused a major problem between both companies that caused my grandparents to be away, both from the graduation and the time the wedding was scheduled.

“On the day of the wedding, he deliberately blocked all access to my sister, forcing her into matrimonial bondage with the jerk. The plan that Craig and the Hobbs father and son had come up with was to have Molly’s virginity taken care of by any means necessary, before the reception, so that even when Mom and I caught up to her, there wouldn’t be anything we could do about it.  So yes, it’s true that Molly was married for an hour to the fucker, and that I arranged the hasty annulment.”

“How?” Cynthia asked gently. Listening to Molly’s story brought back her own painful memories, about the family she had left behind many years ago. It was eerily similar to what she endured, and how Brian extricated her from her stepfather’s influence while they were working at Ryder, and he’d found her.

“My bodyguard and I arrived at the Hobbs mansion, where the reception was to be held. You could hear her screams from the body blows she had been receiving, echoing around the empty house. Chris was yelling at her, calling her a whore and a host of other epithets. But Molly wasn’t completely helpless; she fought back as best she could in that contraption of a dress. Even as we heard the rips of the material and the slaps, Molly continued to fight back. A door slammed in the distance, causing Daryl and I to speed up. I won’t go into full details of what we found, or the state of the room after I pretended to be a servant to gain access, but I had Daryl carry Molly out while I used a Louisville Slugger on Chris. All I remember was feeling blind rage at what Molly had endured; what I had endured in my defense of my sister. By the time Daryl came back, I was about to deliver the blow I knew would’ve killed him. As Daryl began to clean up the room around the unconscious man, I made a conference call to my grandfathers. They, in turn, called a mutual friend of theirs…”

“Who was it?”

“Dimitry Kosekova.”

“Dimi… do you mean the owner and operator of the largest network of male escorts, here and abroad? How the hell did they know him?!” Brian asked, shocked and at the same time admiringly. He had some of the most beautiful men, gay, straight, and indifferent available.

Justin smiled. “One and the same. Anyway, they told Dimitry of the situation and he agreed to help us on the condition that he be given to him immediately, and that no one know. Seems that Chris had made an enemy of Dimitry’s nephew, Kuren, and he had been complaining about the idiot since we all began high school. I knew there were some problems, but not the lengths Dimitry would go to rectify them.”

“So Hobbs is alive then?” Ted asked.

“Yeah, he is. I get a full report on the bastard on the ‘anniversary’ every year. He’s Dimitry’s personal servant, and is never allowed out of the man’s sight. If Lindsay and Michael think that Chris would be willing to come back here, they would be terribly mistaken. Not only has Dimitry made Chris his bitch-boy, but also holds the one thing Chris values.”

“What’s that?”

“His inheritance. Dimitry holds the controlling interests in Hobbs Construction. He allows Chris to attend the meetings with him as long as they don’t happen in Pittsburgh, or any other city Molly and I are visiting at the time. Although he has no say in matters, it allows him to at least see his mother and father on occasion. However, if Christopher defects or betrays Dimitry in any way, Hobbs Construction gets dismantled completely and Hobbs will have earn his keep within the brothels Dimitry has in Amsterdam.”

“So basically Dimitry Kosekova is like another Charles Lucky?” Ted asked, amazed at the story as a whole. He didn’t know what to expect when he’d walked in, but it wasn’t this.

“Sort of; he’s more like me,” Justin smiled. Brian looked at him closely and at Justin’s imperceptible nod, Brian had finally figured out the silent partner in his own favorite establishment. “Dimitry is my supplier, and has been since I started Lucky’s with Charles when I was seventeen.”

“Oh fucking hell!” Theodore said, nearly passing out from the shock. ”I’m never ordering lunch again!”