I made good on my threat to Justin, waking twice to deliver his punishment, not that he was unpleased by my actions. The second time he called me so I could hear just how much he enjoyed it. The call was mainly breathless panting and pleas to God but it was enough to get me hard and leave me horny as fuck. This summer I came to hate jerking off, it was never enough to really satiate me and just made me miss Justin more. The restless night left me feeling drowsy when my alarm rang at seven and since one of the perks of being your own boss is not answering to anyone, I hit the snooze button and was still sleeping at eight when the buzzer to the front door woke me.

"What?!" I scream into the intercom.

I recognize Ted's nasally worried voice on the other end, "Let me up, we have a problem."

I push the button to let him in with an aggravated growl and take some time to throw on a pair of sweatpants. Ted gets uptight when I answer the door naked and I try to not make him anymore uptight that he already is. I unclick the lock and crack the door and move to the kitchen to make some coffee. Whenever your accountant says you have a problem, it's best to be caffeinated for the news.

Ted comes in wearing his standard work attire, a modestly priced suit he likely got from The Men's Warehouse and a tie that was matched by some sales associate to the exact shirt he purchased. I want to tell him that I pay him enough that he could buy some style but his pinched up face distracts me.

"Theodore, this better be good?" I ask, not hiding my irritation that isn't really there. I was glad Ted was so loyal and on top of things at Kinnetik, but it was best not to get him too confident. Ted did his best work when he was worried about fucking up.

"This is" he thrust the business section of the paper into my hands. I unfold the paper and see a picture of Jack West on the page Ted points at. The headline reads Jack West, head of West Enterprises, found dead at age 68.

"Jack's dead?" I ask, sort of sorry to hear the news, I rather liked the old bastard. "And?"

"Keep reading" Ted instructs.

"Holy Shit!" I exclaim when I get to the part about Aiden taking over the reins at West Enterprises. "So he left Aiden to take the company public?"

"No!" Ted clarifies. "West Enterprises is not going public. Apparently, Jack never changed his will; controlling power of the company was left to Aiden."

"Why would a savvy guy like Jack not update his will, it makes no sense?" I ramble, finally putting Aiden's visit together with this turn of events and ignoring the look Ted gives me because he has on more than one occasion lectured me on my own lack of an updated will. Everything I have is still left to Debbie and I make a mental note to fix that so Justin and Gus are taken care of although part of my reason for choosing Debbie is I knew she would know what to do with it.

Ted sighs and I clearly sense I am meant to be more panicked by this news, "Well it would have been a moot point once the company went public since Jack would have left his controlling shares split between his five children, only together would they have been in control and the other kids resented Aiden's entitled attitude so he would have essentially had no power."

"OK, so it sucks we have to work with Aiden again but he still has to honor our contract, that doesn't change." I explain, hoping it will calm Ted down. His nerves are starting to annoy me.

"Brian" Ted says, drawing out my name to show his exasperation, "that's why I'm here. Aiden's already called the legal office and made moves to cancel the contract."

"What the fuck? Like hell he can! On what grounds?

"Incompetence" Ted takes a deep breath, "You know Neil, the art director, the one you hired right after we got the account."

I think back through the faces of the people I've hired over the last year and the name Neil doesn't ring a bell. "Fuck, Ted, I've hired forty people with this account. I don't know who's who anymore."

"Well let me remind you. He's the one with the experience and portfolio from oversees and the references you didn't check because his ass was reference enough."

I cringe because that does jar my memory and I now recall Neil vividly because of his delectable ass. Only I know I never indulged because it was during the time I stopped tricking but Justin was depressed and I was really hard up during the interview. I have a feeling it's going to bite me in the ass anyway. "Yeah, okay. What about him?"

"Well, he quit today, very suddenly, so I called him at home to see what had happened. But all his information is fake. His name, social, phone…it's all phony."

"What the fuck?" I mutter, looking at the employment file Ted offered me, "That can't be a coincidence."

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly" Ted continued. "Brian, I think you're being set up here."

"Look, we don't know that" I say even though I agree with his assumption, panic gets us nowhere.

I sit down and place all the papers out on the table. I knew Aiden was pissed when I went to his dad with the sexual harassment shit but for him to be behind Neil would have taken some serious planning and how would he know his father would die, that's just too far-fetched. I study the papers and finally summon the courage to ask the question.

"Okay, so let's say he does manage to cancel the contract, what's my exposure?"

"Worst case?" Ted asks. I nod, taking a deep breath in and holding it.

"I took a look at the cursory numbers, all in, maybe 10-12 million, less if we can get paid for actual costs but with a lawsuit, who knows."

"Lawsuit?"

"Yeah, Aiden's going to want this public. Very public. I'm guessing he wants to ruin your reputation, and then we could lose more clients."

"Fuck!" I exclaim, "Go ahead into the office and pull the team together for damage control. Also, get me some names for someone who can get some dirt on Aiden, it's time to go on the offensive. I'm not letting him destroy what I've built."

"Glad the hard-ass, take no prisoners Brian is back!" Ted exclaimed, making furious notes as I spoke.

"What do you mean back, I was only gone for three days?"

"Nevermind" Ted waivers, his ongoing fear of me despite our years of friendship amazes me. He makes it seem like I'm a complete asshole.

"No, what the fuck did you mean. Tell me, or you're fired." I threaten, for probably the four millionth time.

"Well since the thing with Evan, you've been distracted and then when Justin left for the summer, I don't know; it's like your heart isn't in the business anymore. I'm sure you miss him is all. When will he be home?" His voice is tentative and lacks conviction but his words hit home.

At the mention of Justin, I instantly felt guilty. It was true, ever since we reached this new stage in our, whatever the fuck it is, I've been distracted. I've worked hard to build Kinnetik from nothing but for the most part the creative work is delegated to my management team and my primary job was to hire good people. Letting someone slip in without vetting them was on me and I was going to be the one to fix it. I can't let my personal life fuck up my career. Not when hundreds of people counted on me for a job. I nod to Ted and usher him out the door with his marching orders. I hurry to the bathroom to shower and change, just as I turn on the shower, I hear my phone. It's Justin but for the first time since he left, I don't answer it. I need to focus and as much as I love him, he's a distraction. I had almost two weeks before he came home and if I can catch a break; this will all be resolved before he gets back.

On my way into the office, I check my voicemail and Justin's sexy voice comes over my phone and I can't force back the smile no matter how fucked up the day was. God I miss that voice in the morning. Before he left, I got used to our morning routine. I've always hated having roommates. I mean, look at Evan and what a cluster that turned out to be. Once I left college, I promised myself, no more roommates. Not even Mikey could change my mind, not that he didn't try numerous times to get me to share a place with him before I got my loft. When Justin first moved in, after his fight with his parents, I really hated it. I was even sort of happy he fucked up and left the door unlocked so I had a good excuse to kick him out. Not that I thought he would steal my credit card and run away to New York. Then when he came back and was living at Debbie's, the strangest thing happened, I missed him. I didn't miss his fucking wet towels on the floor or his inability to make even the simplest of foods without making a complete fucking mess. Once he moved back in things were different, he was different, more of a man and less of a boy. A man who could cook without making a mess and hung up his towels; so instead of taking care of him, he started taking care of me. He would hang up my suits I left on the bed, go to the dry cleaners and go out of his way to the specialty store to buy the organic juices I like. It was nice having someone to do little things for me and loved me, God how he loved me. I got used to his quirks and as much as I hated to admit it, I loved coming home to him. Telling him that might have been the hardest thing I've ever had to say, well, that was until I admitted I loved him.