2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"You have got to be fucking kidding me with this shit." Jon had had it with his latest boy toy. Well, clearly soon to be former boy toy, based on the way the guy was tearing through Jon's condo packing up his shit to leave. Thank you, Jesus! Relief flooded Jon's system.

"You fucked her, Jonathon." Barron's voice was high, and his eyes were lasers as they took aim at Jon. It was hard to keep from smiling, but Jon managed to do so for fear of the guy totally losing his shit and perhaps begin throwing Jon's expensive home furnishings against the walls.

The entire scene had been an unanticipated, huge misunderstanding, but it was turning into the out Jon had been seeking to end his relationship with a guy who was too young and too damn possessive. Barron George had been a lot of fun when they began spending time together a few months prior, but he became progressively more jealous and controlling during the time they'd been seeing each other.

Jon was truly done with the relationship, but his desire to avoid conflict had made him lax, so he didn't push things with Barron to the point of calling it off. The events of earlier in the evening had been embarrassing to say the least, but they were about to give him the freedom he greatly sought.

"Audrey, I can't understand why you're thinking about leaving the firm." Jon was sitting with his best friend, Audrey Langley, as the two were having dinner at an Italian restaurant down the street from their offices.

Audrey's father, Sherman Langley, and Jon's father, Hamilton Wells, were the founding partners of Langley & Wells, the firm where Jon and Audrey worked. There were offices in Richmond, Alexandria, and Fairfax, and there were about fifty attorneys in the firm at Jon's last count.

They were a premier Virginian firm, and they'd been around for about twenty-five years. Jon had followed in Ham's footsteps, just as Audrey had followed in Sherm's. Jon and Audrey had known each other all their lives, and they were dear, dear friends, but that was where it stopped.

"It's fucking smothering me, Jon. Surely you feel the same suffocating pressure to get married, don't you? Hell, they all think we're dating, and we both know we wouldn't touch each other with ten-foot poles. Lyla is about ready to leave me if I don't tell my parents I'm a lesbian, and hell, you go through men like a hot knife through butter. When are you going to man up and tell your parents the truth about your lifelong love affair with dick?" Audrey put her hands over Jon's that were resting on the table. He gripped hers and smiled just as he heard the exaggerated gasp and its accompanying hiss.

"You motherfucking cheating bastard!" Jon turned to see Barron standing at the end of the table with one of his hags in tow, sporting the requisite scowl of derision.

Instead of allowing Barron and his shadow to embarrass them, Jon tossed money on the table, kissed Audrey's hand, and escorted Barron out of the restaurant. The hissy fit which followed on the street as Jon led him to the parking lot was epic, but not unexpected. He was sure the next morning when he awoke alone, he'd believe the whole scene to be worth it if it meant he'd ultimately gotten Barron out of the Barron worked at a house—and out of his hair.

"At this point, Barron, it doesn't matter if I did or didn't, does it? You've made up your mind about what happened without any hesitation. Maybe it's better this way? We should kiss and say goodbye, once and for all. I'll take the copy of my key you had made." Jon held out his hand.

The key was numbered, and the management office had been called when the key was taken to a shop to be copied. Jon was called by the building super and gave his consent, not wanting to cause a fuss at the time, but he was definitely going to get his key back and then have the locks changed.

He looked at the young man he hoped would be gone from his life very soon, and he saw the anger-laced surprise in his light-brown eyes. Jon didn't suffer fools, and obviously, Barron thought his tantrum would result in Jon begging him not to go. That wasn't going to happen.

Barron was the most recent of a long line of go-to guys who Jon had kept around beyond their shelf life. He seemed to always pick guys who got too attached, too quickly. It really plucked Jon's nerves that he wasn't strong enough not to go back for a second bite of the apple, but he ended up succumbing to the whims of his own libido, which was a terribly sad trait in a grown-ass man.

Jon tried to maintain his distance when it came to intimate encounters, but sometimes they had beautiful eyes, or they could suck his cock down their throats, and that distance would evaporate like so much smoke. There was always something to entice him to stay too long at the party, regardless of how many leaves he turned over in his imaginary dating journal. Barron was a good example of a bad decision Jon should have rectified long ago.

"And your fucking job always comes before me, just like your precious Audrey. I wanted to go to that concert at Constitution Hall in DC, but nooo , we couldn't go because it was Audrey's birthday, and she wanted to go out for a quiet dinner—without me coming along. You should have told her no! You should want to make me happy, Jon. You should have wanted to spend time with me, but instead, you did what Audrey wanted."

The young redhead continued to pack up his things which had quickly accumulated without Jon's permission or notice. Barron continued bitching and moaning about every little wrong he felt had been foisted upon him since he and Jon had started fucking.

Meanwhile, Jon poured himself a Scotch and took a seat on the leather sofa in the living room. He placed his drink on a coaster resting on the glass-topped coffee table and bounced around a bit, finding the sofa too hard for his taste.

The piece of furniture was a year old, and it wasn't any more comfortable now than the day it was delivered. Jon decided to be on the lookout for something new when he had time. Ridding himself of things in his life which were only okay seemed to be a new goal he was looking forward to achieving.

Jon heard stomping from the hallway and steeled his face before the grown toddler reached the room. Barron held a sweater of Jon's, and while he didn't want to have a full-on shouting match over it, Jon liked it far too much and damn well wasn't going to watch the man walk out with it.

It was a beautiful, royal-blue cashmere Jon had received from his mother for his birthday in February, and Barron knew it was his favorite. He wasn't going anywhere with that sweater if Jon could stop him.

The lawyer rose from his seat on the uncomfortable couch and slowly walked over to the young man who looked flooded with anger. Jon eased the garment gently from Barron's delicate hands and spoke softly.

"This one's mine. It was a gift from my mother which I cherish. Take any other one in the closet if you must, Barron, but this one's mine." Jon calmly brushed the back of his right hand against the younger man's cheek.

A little tenderness could diffuse an attack on his wardrobe with a pair of scissors, as he'd been slow to learn in the past. There was definitely a downside to dating twinks—their thirst for revenge. It was a lesson Jon should have learned years earlier.

The younger man smiled before a tear slid down his cheek. "Sorry, baby. I don't want us to end on a bad note. It's just… You won't ever commit to a guy, will you? You'll never have a serious relationship with a man, right? Please, tell me it's not because you don't find me attractive." Jon could see the vulnerability in Barron's sparkling brown eyes.

Well, he's got that right. He wasn't looking to hurt Barron, nor was he hoping to remain friends with the man. His only course of action was to play the card he'd used so often when he tried to let someone down the easy way.

"No, honey, it has nothing to do with my level of attraction for you. I just can't go down the yellow-brick road, looking for the rainbow, Barron. My parents… Hell, if they knew I was bisexual, they'd have a cow. My father would probably fire me before they both disowned me. It's just not the way a Wells is supposed to behave. It's nothing against you, but I just can't live without my family." Jon's voice didn't sound right to his own ears. He hoped Barron didn't notice.

Jon's parents were very down-to-earth, and he could never imagine a scenario where his father would fire him. They weren't the snobs Jon was making them out to be, but he was pretty sure they'd be disappointed if they found out he was dedicated to dick. It was for the best.

Jonathon Wells had grown up with privileges and luxuries few of his peers had enjoyed. His father was a successful attorney. Considering he was a black man in the south, it was really a tribute to the man's tenacity and intellect. He definitely had a way of handling those who retained his services, many Jon would bet were nothing but bigots. Ham Wells' success rate in a courtroom couldn't be ignored.

Jon's father, however, attributed all his successes as a lawyer to his best friend, Sherman Langley. They'd been friends since law school, and they'd both met the loves of their lives on the same night at a bar in the District of Columbia. Sherman was equally as business savvy, and Ham always claimed the clients wouldn't come if Sherm didn't schmooze them.

Marnie Mbutto was a beautiful, ebony-skinned woman of West Indian ancestry. She came to Washington, DC, from Cambridge University as part of an exchange program at American University. She became best friends with Allison Granger, a beautiful WASP born and raised in Concord, New Hampshire, who was also attending American University.

Both women were studying public policy at the time, and they were ready to take on the world, which was likely what attracted Ham Wells and Sherm Langley to them in the first place, or so Jon speculated.

Marnie and Allison worked together as waitresses at M cGriff's Public House at 13th and Eye Streets in the District, and that was where they met two, first-year associates: Sherman Langley, a white guy originally from Quincy, Illinois. He was five-ten and slightly balding at twenty-five, but he had a self-deprecating sense of humor that was like catnip to women.

Hamilton Wells was an African American man from Jamaica Queens, New York. He was six-two with a fade haircut and a charming personality he too swore wooed the ladies, unfailingly.

Both men had attended Georgetown Law, and after they were accepted for the Georgetown Law Journal , they got to know each other better and became best friends. After graduation, they went to work at the same Washington law firm, and they shared an apartment on Capitol Hill. They met the women they'd marry on the same night, and their lives had been unabashedly intertwined ever since.

As it turned out, Jon Wells and Audrey Langley, the fruits of those happy marriages, were biracial. Audrey had light-brown skin and straight, golden-brown hair with amber-colored eyes, while Jon had dark brown, curly hair and silvery green eyes, his skin a shade darker than Audrey's. To say they were a mix of their parents was an understatement.

They'd confessed they were queer to each other in high school, and they'd vowed to keep each other's secret until they were ready to come out to the families, which both were yet to do. They were both thirty-three, and neither had given up the fa?ade of being straight, nor did they feel ready to settle down into a permanent relationship.

Jon nor Audrey could imagine disappointing their parents, so they continued to play the game, regardless of the personal cost to them, individually and intellectually. They loved their families and swore they'd never do anything to harm them in any way, including coming out of their very deep closets.

"You do realize, Jonathon, when I walk out this door, I'm gone for good. Don't come to Fordham's looking for me. This is it." Barron's thinly veiled threat caught Jon's attention and pissed him off immediately.

Barron worked at a high-end men's clothier where they'd met a few months prior, and while Jon knew he'd miss the quality of the tailoring, it wouldn't be enticing enough that he'd risk running into the ginger again.

Jon looked into Barron's eyes and smiled gently. "I'm sorry it ended like this, but I can't… Eventually, I'll marry Audrey, because if I don't produce grandchildren, I'll break my mother's heart and probably her mother's as well. I just can't live a different life, Barron. I'm sorry if I led you to believe we had the possibility of something that will never be."

His comment was mostly a lie. He and Audrey would never marry. Of course, that wasn't anything Barron needed to know.

The redhead hissed at him, but Jon gave him a sad smile as he held out his hand for the key, making a mental note to get the locks changed on Monday. After a peck on the cheek, Jon slammed the door after Barron stormed out, thankful to have his condo to himself again.

"Rule number one, no more overnights." Jon made the statement out loud as he walked into the kitchen area of the open-concept condo and poured himself another drink.

After the day he'd had, he wanted one more drink and then he'd hit the sack. He would miss Barron's ass because the guy had amazing skills when a hard cock was inside him, but other than that? He wouldn't miss anything else. It was about time he went on the prowl for greener pastures.

The next morning, Jon waved to his friend, Sam, at the security desk in the lobby after he stopped at the café for his double espresso. Sam was ex-Navy, and he'd helped Jon on cases in the past. The two had an easy friendship, neither expecting too much from the other, but prepared to come to the rescue if needed.

Jon took the elevator up to the eighth floor and stepped off, whistling as he walked down the hall. "Good morning, Karen. Anything I should know?"

Jon was filled with energy and optimism. He'd gone to the gym in his building before the sun had risen, running five miles on the treadmill before taking a steam and a cold shower to get prepared for his day.

Karen smiled at him. "Look at you all full of vim and vigor. Uh, Ronni Turnberry called a few minutes ago. She'd like you to return her call this afternoon because she's in court this morning," his assistant, Karen Stubbs, explained. She was about forty and a very kind woman. She'd never married and was endlessly devoted to her job, which was sad in Jon's opinion, but he was the same.

"Remind me who she is." Jon glanced through the mail she'd handed him. As usual, there was a lot of shit—solicitations to attend cocktail parties from stockbrokers who wanted to get their hands on his money, or charities who wanted him to volunteer his services or a pricey donation. He tossed all of them into the trash unopened before he picked up his phone message slips from the pick on the ledge above Karen's desk.

Karen laughed. "You have the retention span of a three-year old Chihuahua, I swear. Ronni is Tim Moran's lawyer. She's at Clauson & Associates in Philly."

After a moment's concentration, he recalled who Tim Moran was—the boyfriend of one of his clients, Matthew Collins. The large man had been a professional bull rider and seemed to have a knack for getting himself into situations which ended up costing him money. Jon liked the man, though he found Matthew to be na?ve for his age. Jon believed it was time to do something about his gullibility before the man did detrimental harm to his bank account.

"Ah! Maybe we're finally going to iron out a damn domestic partnership agreement I've been trying to get Matt to put in place to keep him from giving away the whole damn ranch to another gold digger, this time of the male persuasion." Jon's comment was off the cuff, but no less true.

"Boss! That's harsh." He glanced up to see Karen smile.

"I know Tim Moran has some money because I still believe he paid off Roberta Collins to get her to sign over her parental rights, though they both denied it, but Matt has a lot of assets that should be off-limits when the two of them break up. I've been trying to get him to think about an escape clause for months. Anything else?" Jon didn't wait for an answer, strolling into his office across from her desk.

Karen followed him and closed the door, surprising him. When he saw the smirk on her face, he knew it was going to be embarrassing. "I didn't write a slip for this one because I thought it better to deliver the message in person. Barron George called to say your new Hugo Boss suit is ready to be picked up from tailoring. You want me to have Billy Fremont swing by Fordham's on his way to pick up dry cleaning?"

Jon knew he'd never get away with not confessing the recent chain of events to her. She wanted information he was nervous to give, but she was the gatekeeper for him, and if he didn't want to deal with Barron himself, he needed to give her what she was seeking. "What else did Barron say?" He was certain the little twink had spilled the beans.

Karen flipped through her pad and cleared her throat. "Tell him ‘I'm really sorry I behaved like a raging queen last night. I shouldn't have reacted to him having dinner with his friend, but I'd planned a special evening for the two of us. When he bailed, I got pissed.' He went on more about things I don't need to know, but did you call your super to change the locks?" Jon shook his head, having decided to put it off until Monday, but maybe she had a point.

Karen made a note on the pad in her hand and looked up at him. "I'll call a guy I trust and have him out there this afternoon. I'll call your building manager and have them let him in and stay with him to collect the new keys for you. You need to leave a trick as a trick, Jon. You have a lot to lose if the truth comes out before you have the chance to talk to your parents, just like Audrey. The two of you are in line to take over for your fathers when they decide to retire, and if you're not going to get married and continue to be indiscreet, the two of you need to explain things to your families. Her girlfriend is pitching a fit as well, according to Sara."

Jon knew she had to suspect he was at least bisexual, but he didn't realize she and Sara Alito had figured out about Audrey and Lyla. He felt the need to defend his best friend, and himself in the process. "Look, Karen, Audrey and I are both very free-spirited when it comes to our love lives. It's not like we're at the point where we're ready to take the walk, okay? I hope you and Sara don't gossip with the others about us." His tone was scolding. His defenses ratcheted to high alert.

Karen held up her hand to stop him before he said another word. "Hold it, boss. You owe me no explanations, and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't treat me like I'm a run-of-the-mill dimwit. Your sexuality is no more my business than mine is yours, so let's just stop that train. Sara and I don't talk to anyone at the firm besides each other because I work for Sherman and you, and Sara works for Audrey and Ham. You can surely see where we'd keep each other apprised of scheduling issues or bad moods?"

Jon nodded, hearing the wisdom in her words. He knew he could trust her because she'd never given him any reason for concern regarding his privacy. "Forgive me, please. I should know better. Can you get me the Collins' file so I can refresh my memory before I talk to Miss Turnberry?" Karen nodded before heading out of his office, closing the door noisily as she returned to her desk.

Clearly, he'd pissed her off, so Jon decided to send her some flowers to make up for his callous reaction. She really was a gem when he compared her to the other assistants at the firm with whom he was vaguely familiar, and he didn't want her to leave him.

Jon knew if she told Sherman she didn't want to work for Jon any longer, it would be a done deal and he'd be on his own. He refused to work with any of the others he'd encountered from time to time when Karen was busy with Sherman, to whom she was a prize as well. Jon knew his standing on that totem pole… way at the bottom.

After eating at his desk, Jon carried the salad container to the kitchen to throw it away and grab a bottle of water. He was about to return to his desk to finish a new draft of the domestic partnership agreement he'd worked up for Matt Collins when he heard humming behind him. Jon turned to see his father in the kitchen with a trash bag of his own.

"Hey Pop. How's your day?" Jon asked as he washed his hands at the sink while his father made himself a cup of coffee.

"Your mother's going to the farm this weekend, and she wants me to come along. I hate going to the country." Hamilton Wells had always complained about going out to their second home.

Jon laughed. "You're full of shit. You love going out there, you just don't like to ride horses. It's her thing, Pop. You've enabled Mom for far too many years. It's too late to change things now." Jon couldn't help but tease his father, not surprised at seeing the big grin light up Ham's face.

His parents owned a horse farm in Dillwyn, Virginia, about an hour away from Richmond. The house, of course, was massive as most of the houses in hunt country were. They'd owned it for several years, and Jon had spent enjoyable times there when he was younger.

There were six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a great room, a large, glass-enclosed atrium/trophy room, and a game room, complete with a pool table and theater seating in front of a ninety-six-inch television.

There was a pool and pool house with an outdoor kitchen. The large veranda had an outdoor fireplace. Behind the house were large riding fields for his mother to practice her various equestrian pursuits, which were her passions, and Jon knew his father would rather sever an arm than give up the property, regardless of how much he bitched about going to the country.

Allison Granger Wells worked for the city of Richmond as a marketing executive. She was the face of the city as far as extolling its prospects for media events, potential movie sites, and convention opportunities to promote it as a great historic, southern destination. She was very successful at her job, and Jon was proud of her, but not nearly as much as his father.

He knew for a fact his mother was Ham's whole world, and the man wasn't afraid to show it every time he was within arm's length of Allison. His father didn't believe it made him vulnerable to laud Jon's mother's accomplishments to everyone at the firm.

Ham and Allison lived in a large house in Henrico, just outside of Richmond, and his time growing up in that home was filled with wonderful memories. Jon had an idyllic childhood, even with his mixed-race parentage in a city that didn't exactly embrace them when they'd first gotten married and moved to southern Virginia. The Wells' had many parties at their home with the more progressive socially elite of Richmond and Washington, DC. His parents had established an annual tennis tournament held on Memorial weekend, the proceeds of which went to children's charities in Richmond and the surrounding area.

His father and Sherman Langley were the tennis players in the group. Marnie loved to garden and cook, and Allison was the horsewoman. They all, however, joined forces to host many charitable events at the ranch or at their homes in Richmond. Jon and Audrey tried all their parents' hobbies, and truly grew up as free spirits. It wasn't a bad way to ease into adulthood.

The memories from those events were precious to Jon and served as a good example for him and Audrey regarding those less fortunate and how fulfilling it was to give to worthy causes. The two of them took on more pro bono cases than any of the other associates at the firm, and he knew their fathers were proud of them for their selfless acts, though he doubted their co-workers appreciated the pressure.

Ham chuckled, obviously seeing he'd gotten lost in the memories of times spent at the farm. "I guess you're right about changing things at this stage of the game. So, you want to come out for the weekend? I could use some company. Mom's getting ready for breeding season, and I hate the new barn manager, Clyde Chambers. He's a pompous jackass, and I believe he has designs on your mother as a benefactor for some sort of Ponzi scheme he's dreaming up. I honestly don't think it's in my best interests to let her go out there without me present to guard the coffers."

Jon laughed. "Mom said he's the next best up-and-comer on the circuit. Have you started doubting her character assessment skills these days?"

Jon had been at the awards dinner where his mother met Clyde Chambers, who was escorting one of Allison's cronies that night. His mother had chattered excitedly with the younger man before the awards ceremony kicked off. She was set to win her last high-point trophy that night before she retired from the hunter-jumper show circuit.

He knew his father was relieved that his mother was retiring. Ham had always worried she might suffer an injury, but he'd supported her without fail. Jon hoped for that kind of devotion someday.

"Pop, I can't commit to the weekend, but I had the guy checked out for you and he seems to be legit. Unless you can talk Mom into quitting her job and managing things herself, you're just going to have to suck it up. Mom needs a barn manager, and she likes the guy. I don't think he's a threat, from what I read in the report I gave you." As his father seemed to contemplate the information, the phone rang in Ham's pocket, and the two of them parted ways.

Jon went back to his office, seeing Matt Collins' file on his desk. He flipped through it to reacquaint himself with the information he'd gathered when he was apprised of Tim's entrance into Matt's life. It reminded Jon why he'd made the draft agreement so stringent in the first place, certain it would be rejected offhand.

With the latest iteration of the agreement, they'd have room to negotiate if it ever came to be that Matt and Tim were going to register as domestic partners. He'd definitely steer them away from anything as remotely stupid as marriage. It was a no-brainer for him, and he was sure he could convince Matt he was right and head off that mistake at the pass.

Jon was interested in what the high-powered female attorney from Philadelphia wanted to discuss. Matt Collins was still pissed at him regarding a joint custody clause he'd suggested to ease the way for a quick divorce from Roberta Collins. Jon desperately needed to redeem himself with his client, so he didn't lose the man's business.

He knew for a fact Matthew Collins could be irrational when it came to his son, Ryan, but Jon supposed if he were a parent, he'd be the same. He hoped when it came to dealing with issues regarding the relationship with Tim Moran, calmer heads could prevail.