Cole Raines sat back in his chair and glanced out his office window. It had been three days since the anniversary party and he’d discovered a lot about Brian’s friends and so-called family. He’d done extensive background searches on all of them, including Brian and Justin, and hadn’t found anything that really shocked or surprised him. He glanced back at his desk and looked at the two names he’d printed on the top sheet…Alex Glaser and Miguel Barton. He’d need to talk to these two a bit more and get some facts straight. He also needed to talk to Justin’s family and that wasn’t going to be any fun if the phone conversation he’d had with Craig Taylor was any indication. He shook his head in disgust and wondered why some people even bothered to have children at all.

Todd knocked lightly on Cole’s door before opening it and entering quietly. His partner looked worried and that was never a good thing. He laid the files on Cole’s desk and asked, “Anything I can do to help?”

Cole looked up at Todd and sighed tiredly. “I hate my job sometimes.”

Todd walked behind the chair and started rubbing Cole’s shoulders. “Want to talk about it?”

“It seems that Melanie and Lindsay have somehow been able to retain Robert Cohen as their counsel.”

Todd whistled softly. “Isn’t he the one who won that huge settlement for Ivana Trump and got her custody of the kids?”

Cole nodded. “The one and only.”

“How the hell can they afford him?” Todd asked.

“It seems that Miss Peterson’s parents are footing the bill.”

“Damn. Have you told Brian?”

Cole shook his head. “Not yet. I figured I’d finish up my interviews and get some of my questions answered before I speak to him and Justin.”

“You know I have the utmost respect for you and your abilities, but are you sure that we’re equipped to fight someone like Robert Cohen?”

“He’s good, but I’m better.”

Todd smiled and kissed the top of Cole’s head. “That’s all I needed to hear. I can’t have you losing faith in yourself.”

Cole turned his chair around and yanked Todd down onto his lap. “That’ll never happen. I’m the best. Cohen is about to get his ass handed to him on a silver platter.”

Todd laughed. “That’s my man.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emmett heard the banging on the metal door of the loft over the sound of his blender going on full blast. He turned off the appliance and headed for the door, pulling it back and coming face to face with Michael.

“What the hell are you doing here, Emmett? Where’s Brian?”

Emmett stepped back and allowed Michael to walk into the newly redecorated loft. He waited, giving Michael time to take in the new furnishings before speaking. “I live here now, and Brian’s at work as far as I know.”

Michael couldn’t believe his eyes. All Brian’s tasteful furniture had been replaced with some pretty outlandish pieces. The entire loft looked different. “What the hell did you do?”

“I redecorated my loft.”

“This is not your loft! This is Brian’s loft! Now, where is he?!”

Emmett sighed and walked back into the kitchen. “I live here now, Michael. Brian was nice enough to offer me the place when he moved in with Justin.”

Michael’s mouth fell open. “He moved in with Justin?! Now I understand why Mel and Lindsay have a problem with him seeing Gus.”

“What the hell do you mean? There isn’t any problem with him seeing Gus,” Emmett stated in an angry voice.

“Well he shouldn’t have moved in with him if he wanted to continue to see his son, but then he always did put his dick before everything else in his life. Why should his son be any different?”

Emmett slammed the spoon he’d picked up back onto the counter with a loud bang. “Get the hell out, Michael. How could you talk about Brian like that? I thought he was your best friend.”

“Well, obviously Brian doesn’t think of me as his best friend. I didn’t even know he’d moved or that he’d let you have his loft.”

“I wasn’t aware that Brian needed to get your permission to move.” Emmett glared at Michael. “You need to leave before I say something I might regret. As my great Aunt Lula always used to say, ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.’”

Michael headed for the door. “Fine! I’m out of here, but you need to tell Brian that he’s really fucking up. The girls just hired some big name attorney from New York to represent them. He supposedly won Ivana Trump a lot of money in her divorce.”

Emmett’s eye grew wide. “How could they afford to do that?”

Michael shrugged. “Lindsay’s parents are helping her out.”

Emmett closed the door behind Michael and grabbed the phone, dialing Alex’s number.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alex had just put the finishing touches on his latest creation when his phone rang. “Yo!”

Emmett heard the familiar greeting that usually always made him smile, but this time it just didn’t work. “Alex, the girls have hired some big time attorney from New York to represent them in the custody case and I’m worried about Brian and Justin and what if this guy really can win? What do we know about this Cole Raines character he may not be able to win this one…what are we gonna do????”

Alex held his phone away from his ear until the tirade ended. “Hello to you too, Em. What the hell has your dander up this morning?”

“Didn’t you listen to a word I was saying?!”

“I’m not sure you were speaking English at all. About all I understood was something about a lawyer from New York.”

“YES!!! The girls have a hotshot lawyer!” Emmett repeated.

“Calm down for fuck’s sake. Okay, I’ll call Miguel and we’ll all meet here in a couple of hours. Okay?”

Emmett took a deep breath. “Yeah, okay. That sounds good. I’ll bring some snacks.”

Alex grinned. “You do that. Oh, bring my favorites.”

“You got it, Sweetie. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Later, Em.” Alex quickly hung up and dialed Miguel’s number.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Miguel picked up the phone on the first ring, expecting it to be Jake. “Hello handsome, you need to hurry up and get your fine ass back home. I miss you.”

“Awwwwwww! You miss me?! I just saw you yesterday and already you miss me. I’m so touched.” Alex tried to keep the laughter out of his voice.

“Fuck, Alex. I thought it was Jake calling.”

“Don’t you have that new and highly sophisticated thing called caller ID on your phone?”

“I didn’t look. I was expecting and waiting on him to… Never mind. What do you want?”

“Testy today are we?” Alex chuckled softly.

Miguel rolled his eyes and gripped the phone tighter. “What do you want, Alex?”

“Sheesh, you are testy today. Listen, Em called and said the girls have hired some hotshot attorney and he’s all worked up about it. We’re meeting here at my place in two hours, can you make it?”

Miguel stopped pacing. “Damn, Brian and Justin don’t need any more shit right now. Yeah, I’ll be there with bells on.”

Alex made a little groaning noise. “Please, by all means, leave the fucking bells at home.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Brian walked into the Diner and immediately saw Lindsay sitting in a booth with Gus. His first instinct was to walk over and pick up his son, but Lindsay had that restraining order and Cole said they needed to abide by it until he could file a temporary injunction. He froze in the doorway and stared at his little boy. He wanted to hold him so badly that he ached, but he took a deep breath and turned around to leave.

“Da-da. Ge’ me!” Gus was bouncing in the booth when he saw his father.

Brian’s heart felt like it was breaking as he pushed the door of the diner open and stepped outside walking away from the sound of his son’s voice. His fingers curled into tight fists and he whispered, “Don’t hate me, Sonny boy. I’d get you if I could.” He quickly climbed into his car and headed back to Kinnetik. He wasn’t going to be able to deal with this for much longer.

Brian parked in his spot and headed toward his office at a quick pace. He needed to lock himself inside and call Justin. Cole had better do something fast or he wasn’t sure he’d be able to survive this shit.

He’d just hung up the phone from telling Justin about what happened when Cynthia buzzed him. “What is it, Cynthia? I told you that I didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“I know, but Lindsay’s here.”

“Send her in.” Brian sat up straighter in his chair and waited.

Lindsay pushed Gus into Brian’s office and shut the door behind her. “Why did you run away? Didn’t you hear your son calling for you?”

Brian couldn’t believe the audacity of this woman. “Yes, I heard him.”

“Then why didn’t you come over and spend some time with him? You supposedly want to see more of him, but you walk away when he calls for you.”

Brian clutched the side of his desk trying to remain calm. “I can’t see him, Lindz. You have a restraining order against me, remember?”

“Well, that was just for when you’re with him. I never meant that you couldn’t see your son when he wasn’t around.”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant, Lindz. The restraining order means I can’t come near him regardless of whether I’m with Justin at that moment or not.”

“Well, we’re here now so you can spend some time with Gus.” Lindsay picked up the little boy and carried him over to Brian.

Brian stood up and took Gus into his arms, hugging his little boy close. “Hey, Sonnyboy.”

“Da-da. Me up.” Gus smacked his lips together and smiled brightly.

Brian laughed. “You’re getting so big, and you’re a very smart boy.”

Gus reached up and gently smacked the side of Brian’s face.

Brian turned his head and captured the little fist in his mouth and made a growling noise.

Gus squealed in delight and squirmed in Brian’s arms. “No no no. Mine!”

Brian kept his back to Lindsay and walked over toward the paintings hanging on the wall. He pointed up to the colorful painting done by Miguel. “See the pretty picture, Gus?”

Gus nodded. “Petty, Da-da.”

Brian laughed. “Pretty, Sonnyboy. Not petty.”

Gus nodded his head again. “Petty.”

Lindsay walked up behind Brian and put her arm around his waist. “I could bring him by a couple of times a week so you could spend time with him.”

Brian stiffened and felt extremely uncomfortable with Lindsay’s close proximity. “I’d love to see him, so I’m not going to say no, but what about Melanie?”

“Melanie agrees with me that we don’t want Gus around Justin and his influence. She’d be okay with me letting you see Gus in private.”

Brian kissed the top of his son’s head and wondered what kind of game Lindsay was trying to play. “Like I said, I’m not about to turn down the chance to see Gus.”

Lindsay gave Brian’s waist a squeeze. “I knew we could work things out without all the legal issues.”

Brian stepped away from the woman he’d once considered a friend. “I’m not going to stop fighting for my rights to see my son, and I’m not giving up Justin to appease your misguided thinking.”

Lindsay stared at Brian in shock. “We can work something out. All you have to do is move back into your loft and keep that deviant away from our son.”

“If you call him a deviant, what am I?”

“Brian we all know that he’s somehow warped your mind, but I’m sure you’ll do the right thing for your son.”

“So I should just give up the person who makes me happy so that everyone else can feel better about being my friend? What if I said you had to leave Melanie or I was going to take Gus away from you?”

“That’s different, Brian. Melanie and I are married and in a committed relationship.”

Brian kissed the top of Gus’s head again and handed the boy back to his mother. “I love my son, Lindsay, but I won’t be manipulated by you or anyone else.”

“Brian you really don’t want to fight me on this. I know too much about you and your past.” Lindsay took Gus and buckled him back into his stroller.

Brian watched as she headed for the door before speaking. “Never forget that I know just as much about you and your past, Lindz. I believe I’m the only one who knows that you had an abortion in college.”

Lindsay turned around and glared at Brian. “You wouldn’t tell anyone about that. You promised!”

“This is my son we’re talking about Lindz. Push me and for the first time in my life, I’ll break a promise.”