Part Two



“He did what?” Melanie asked in disbelief. Brian and Justin had gone directly from Michael’s shop to see Melanie.



“Here’s all the paperwork,” Justin said as he handed her the file of papers, including the contracts, the accounting from the publisher and the checks Justin had received from Michael.



Melanie looked through it, but she knew that Brian and Justin had no reason to lie about something like this. “Are you asking me to represent you?”



Brian and Justin shared a look before Justin said, “We don’t want to put you in the middle of this, especially when you’re trying to get pregnant.”



Mel sighed. “I’m actually glad all this came out now. There’s no fucking way I’m having a kid with a man who would do something like this to his friends.”



“Mel…” Justin didn’t like the idea that they were causing so much turmoil for her.



Mel waved him off. “This isn’t your fault. And honestly, I’ve been having doubts about using Michael for a while. I mean, he and Debbie are a bit much to handle. This just pushed me past my limit for tolerance. As for acting as your lawyer, I’ll give you a name of a really great litigator; I don’t feel comfortable taking the case considering I’ve been friends with both parties, even if I think Michael is a snake for doing this.”



“Thanks,” Brian said. “We appreciate your help.”



Both Justin and Mel looked shocked at Brian’s gratitude, but neither of them commented upon it. “Well, um, just let me get that name for you. I’ll see if I can get you in to see him today.”



Once Mel was out of the office, Justin turned to Brian with a smile. “You were very nice to Melanie.”



Brian shrugged. “If she isn’t going to use Mikey as a sperm donor, that puts you back in the running. If that’s the case, I want to be on her good side. We could possibly work out shared custody.”



Justin nearly choked on his own tongue. “What?”



“You heard me,” Brian said with a smirk.



“You’d… you’d want that?” Justin asked carefully.



“Yeah,” Brian said. “I mean, how hard can it be? Besides, you’d make a great dad. And maybe they’d loosen up a little about Gus, too. Our kids might not share blood, but they would share parents at least.”



Justin’s smile was incandescent. “I think that would be really great. If they ask. I don’t want to get our hopes up.”



Brian shrugged again. “If it doesn’t work out, we’ll figure something else out later.”



When Melanie returned, she found Brian and Justin kissing rather passionately. She rolled her eyes at them before clearing her throat to get their attention. It still amazed her that Brian had changed so much just because of this one young man. Justin really was a special person.



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“You do realize that this is an offense punishable by 4-6 years in prison,” Walter Reed told the two when they met him at his office a few days later. He had already reviewed all of the documents that Brian and Justin had faxed over the previous afternoon and was rather amazed at Michael Novotny’s audacity. He hadn’t really even done anything to hide what he had done. He had just hoped that no one would notice.



“We aren’t interested in putting him in jail,” Brian said. “He’s family. Not by blood, but in every other way. It would cause too much damage.”



“He’s been like a brother to Brian for a lot of years,” Justin explained. “Debbie, Michael’s mother, would be devastated. We couldn’t do that to her.”



Walter nodded. “Since this is a private partnership, it’s up to you whether or not you press charges. From what I can see here, however, it looks like a pretty clear case of embezzlement. We should be able to easily win repayment of the funds, interest, and punitive damages.”



“We’re not trying to bankrupt him,” Justin said. “We just… we want what he owes me.”



“If we settle out of court, we can control that,” Walter said. “If we go before a jury, there’s no telling what they will award. It would definitely be in his best interests to settle out of court.”



“Michael is pretty hard headed,” Brian said. “He may not listen to the good advice of his lawyer.”



“In which case, it will not be your responsibility,” Walter said. “The dissolution of the partnership is an issue, however. We probably should make that part of the settlement. Otherwise you’ll just have to give him the money back to buy him out. I assume you want to retain rights to the comic.”



“I do,” Justin agreed. “I can keep it going without him. I doubt the opposite is true.”



“Alright then,” Walter said. “I will have him served tomorrow. He’ll have a week to respond. After that, we file the suit with the city.”



“We gave him a month to pay up,” Justin said.



Walter noted that on his pad and looked at the two men. “In that case, we’ll give him until the date you verbally agreed to.” “He’s got 25 days left,” Brian said.



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Once they left Walter’s office, Brian and Justin headed back to Kinnetik. They took a cab, since the office was too far away to walk.



“I’m actually surprised that no one has said anything about this,” Justin said after they were on their way.



“You mean the rest of the family?” Brian asked. “I’d guess that Michael won’t say anything until he’s served with the suit. And Melanie can’t say anything.”



“I guess,” Justin said. “The shit’s going to hit the fan when it does come out. Somehow, we’re going to be the bad guys.”



“Well, we already know Mel’s in our corner,” Brian said, “mostly because it’s your corner.”



“And we can be pretty sure that Lindsay will side with you,” Justin said. “Ted’s still so grateful to us for hiring him that he’ll side with us.”



“I wouldn’t be so sure about either of them,” Brian said. “Lindsay can be pretty unpredictable. And Ted resented me for a lot longer than he’s liked me. He’s more likely to remain neutral out of fear for his job. I think Emmett’s a better bet.”



“Debbie will stick by Michael,” Justin said quietly. It was painful to both men to believe that they could conceivably lose their relationship to the woman who had been surrogate mother to both of them at times in their lives when they were most vulnerable.



“He’s her kid,” Brian shrugged. “She should.”



“He’s a lying sack of shit,” Justin muttered. “And a manipulative one at that.”



Brian chuckled darkly. “Yeah, he is.”



Justin felt bad for saying what he had almost immediately. “I’m sorry, Brian. I know this really sucks for you. He’s your best friend.”



“No, you were right the other day,” Brian said as he took Justin’s hand and squeezed it. “He’s my oldest friend, not my best friend. You’re my best friend. You have been almost from the very beginning. You understand me in ways that Michael never has and never could. Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself.”



Justin leaned over and gave Brian a kiss. “You’re my best friend too. Just don’t tell Daphne I said so.”



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The papers were served the next morning and by lunch, Brian and Justin had gotten calls from almost everyone in the family who hadn’t already known. Predictably, Michael had ranted to everyone, making himself out to be the victim. If one listened to Michael’s version, Rage had been a conspiracy to bankrupt him from the very beginning.



“How could you do that to him?” Lindsay scolded Brian. “He’s your best friend.”



“He used to be my best friend,” Brian countered. “And then he fucking stole more than $100,000 from Justin. We gave him a month to come up with the money, that’s more than fair. And we haven’t taken this to the cops. Embezzlement is a criminal offense, you know.”



“You wouldn’t do that,” Lindsay said, scandalized.



“I just said we wouldn’t,” Brian said. “That doesn’t meant Michael doesn’t deserve to go to jail. I think we’re being rather lenient on him.”



“But Brian, there’s no way he can come up with that kind of money,” Lindsay pleaded.



“Jesus, Linds,” Brian huffed. “Listen to yourself. He pocketed more than $240,000 over the past year, half of which wasn’t his. Where the fuck did that money go? We aren’t trying to steal from him. We aren’t trying to bankrupt him. But fuck, we’re barely making it right now and he… You know what? I don’t want to discuss this with you.”



“Brian, you can talk Justin around,” Lindsay tried again.



“I could, but I won’t,” Brian said tersely. “Does your sudden loyalty to Michael have anything to do with the fact that Mel was planning on carrying his kid?”



“She won’t even consider him now!” Lindsay said.



“Then find someone else,” Brian said. “Find someone who didn’t steal from his friends. You both thought Justin was a great choice before, so why not him now? I have to go. I have a meeting with a client.”



Brian hung up the phone before she could reply. When he looked up, Justin was standing in his doorway. “They know.”



“How many calls have you gotten?” Brian asked.



“Three,” Justin said.



“I’ve got you beat,” Brian chuckled. “I got seven. Debbie was first, followed by Ben, Melanie, Emmett, Debbie again, then Hunter, and finally Lindsay.”



“Vic called me,” Justin said quietly. “I’d already listened to Debbie bitch and Lindsay plead. I stopped answering my phone after talking to Vic.”



“What did he say?” Brian asked seriously.



“He said that he understands why would press to get the money back, he also thinks Michael was way out of line, but ultimately he has to support Michael,” Justin said with a shrug. “He has to stand by him as long as he’s living with Debbie if he wants any peace at all.”



Brian nodded. “I think Lindsay is just pissed about the baby. She’ll come around. Emmett thinks we’re being harsh, but he also thinks Michael was wrong. Hunter just swore at me before he hung up. Ben… well, I think he’s torn. He doesn’t want to believe that Michael would do something like that to anyone, especially to you. Melanie just reiterated her support.”



Justin nodded and “Why is it that Michael does something so monumentally wrong and it’s somehow your fault?” Justin shook that thought away because there really was no answer. Then he smiled as another thought occurred to him. “I can’t believe that Mel called you to offer support.”



Brian smirked. “I can hardly believe it myself. You ready to meet with Norton?”



“The boards are set up in the conference room,” Justin said. “Cynthia was giving him a brief tour before she takes him there. If the work keeps rolling in like it has this week, I think we might need to hire some more staff.”



Brian grabbed his suit jacket and straightened his tie in the mirror in his bathroom. “Ted thinks we should sign at least two more accounts and then we can afford to expand a little bit.”



“Can we afford to start paying ourselves better?” Justin wondered. “Right now, Cynthia and Ted are bringing home more individually than we are together.”



“If we get this account, we can,” Brian said. “So let’s go sign this guy.”



Justin smiled at that and followed Brian out of the room.



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That Saturday, Brian and Justin bought a new sofa to celebrate landing three new clients in one week. They still weren’t at full salary, but they were now at least making enough to be able to pay the bills and have a little left over at the end of the month, and they had given themselves a small bonus for the hard work they had accomplished. Justin had suggested that they use the money to buy several pieces of furniture for the loft, but Brian had insisted that quality costs, so they blew the entire bonus on just the sofa.



“Just you wait and see,” Brian said. “This sofa will be the focal point of our decorating. It was worth every penny.”



Justin rolled his eyes, but had to agree that is was a great sofa. It was comfortable, but still maintained Brian’s minimalistic standards. The red leather was both beautiful and practical. It would be much easier to keep clean than any of the fabrics Justin had preferred. He lay down on the sofa and propped his head up on the arm rest. This would be a great place to watch a movie on a lazy evening… once they bought a television.



Brian moved Justin’s feet so he could sit and then replaced them into his lap. “What’s going through that brain of yours?”



“I was just thinking that this will be a great place to watch television if we ever can afford such a luxury,” Justin teased.



“Just think about how much we’re saving in cable bills, though,” Brian said. “Do you know how much we were paying every month before I had it shut off?”



“Too much,” Justin agreed. “I’m glad we at least still have the stereo.”



Said stereo was currently playing the soft jazz both men preferred on a quiet evening. The mood of their music often changed with whatever activities they were performing. When Justin painted, the stereo was usually playing blues or R&B. When he cooked, he liked pop or rock. When Brian was working from home, the stereo played oldies. They usually left the dance music for Babylon, and though Justin liked some country, Brian forbade its inclusion on the common stereo. Justin could listen to it with headphones if he wanted.



“You know what I miss more than television?” Brian asked.



“The gym,” Justin said. He knew that Brian missed not only having a place to work out, but a place where he and his friends could meet up.



“Yeah,” Brian sighed. “I also miss take out. I love your cooking, but sometimes it’s nice just to have the food brought to you, ready and waiting without all the extra work after a long day.”



“I miss the Jeep,” Justin said. “I know it was yours, but you gave me rides all the time. Now it’s either take the bus or walk.”



“With the rare cab ride,” Brian agreed. “The Jeep was great. We’ll get something even better soon. Maybe a classic Corvette.”



Justin snorted. “And how exactly do you intend to get Gus around in a sports car with no backseat?”



Brian frowned at that. He really hadn’t considered needing to take Gus places, but Justin was right. He couldn’t put Gus into a two-seater car. He still had to use a booster seat. “Well, we’ll just get two cars then. Maybe an SUV. You can haul groceries in it.”



Justin sat up and swatted Brian’s arm. “Who says I’m doing the grocery shopping once we can afford two cars? We can hire a housekeeper who will do the shopping.”



Justin shifted around so that he could curl up next to Brian. The two men sat in silence for a time, both lost in their dreams of when Kinnetik really took off.