March 15 – Beware the Ides of March (Part One)

Brian stood across the gallery, one eye on Justin at all times as he chatted with various patrons and fans; the other was keeping track of Mikey, because like hell was he going to allow him anywhere near his husband tonight. Thankfully, it seemed that the other members of their 'family' had had the same idea as, if he wasn't by Justin's side, then one of them was, outside of Deb. She was standing on the far end of the gallery, well away from Brian as she'd picked up on the fact that Brian was none to happy with her for her interference.

Sweeping the room again, he pinned Mikey with a 'stay the fuck away' look when it seemed as if he'd worked up the courage to try and approach Justin yet again. Michael halted and looked away unhappily, but Brian didn't even give one fuck. What had he really expected when he'd shown up here? That just because he'd been invited that all was forgiven?

And then Brian paused and sighed; of course, that's what Michael thought. He really wished that Justin would have talked over with him before caving to Deb's whims, and invited Michael, Ben and Hunter. He would have put a halt to this train wreck real fast. Hunter, he didn't care about, and was actually happy to see; but Ben and Mikey? He didn't trust them as far as he could throw them.

"You seem distracted tonight, darling boy," Lucille said, distracting him from his thoughts; he smiled wryly as she linked her arm with his. Only she could get away with calling him that without him immediately balking; had it been anyone else, he would have eviscerated them in a nanosecond.

"Sorry," Brian sighed; he downed the rest of his Beam and then set it down on a passing tray. "I just don't trust Michael. And I don't want him anywhere near Justin if that's at all possible. And while he seems to be on his best behavior right now, I know how quickly that can change if he doesn't feel that he's getting his just due."

"Michael?" Lucille asked, a keen interest sparkling in her eyes; Brian watched her warily. "That's the little twerp that upset Justin enough to hospitalize him, correct?" Brian smirked at her choice of words and nodded. "And which one was he again?"

"Like I'm going to tell you," Brian snorted; he knew damned well that she'd been gunning for Michael ever since she'd hear about Justin's anxiety attack and the resulting hospitalization. "If I did, we'd be scraping him off the floor; and I really doubt that Sydney would appreciate bloodstains on his newly polished, hardwood floors."

"Oh, pish posh," Lucille said, trying to appear innocent, but Brian wasn't buying it. "I wouldn't physically harm him." Brian arched a skeptical brow and just waited; Lucille answered with a saccharine smile, her eyes glinting with a hint of malice. "Much."

"That's not as reassuring as you think it is," Brian huffed, rolling his lips under as he internally debated giving Mikey up. Part of him wanted to see Lucille hand Mikey's ass to him; but the other part hesitated as he didn't want anything to ruin Justin's show.

"You might as well give in and tell her," Leo chuckled, shaking his head at his wife's maneuvering. "She'll find out eventually."

"I know that," Brian smirked; knowing it to be the truth - when Lucille wanted something, no one could stop her. But he wasn't going to help her out with this. "But this way, if something happens, it's not on my conscience."

"That wasn't a 'no' then," Lucille smirked, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she looked around the room, her eyes halting on Emmett. "Excellent."

"Lucille…" Brian said; he cast a warning glance her way, and then huffed when it fell on deaf ears.

"Not now, darling boy," Lucille said; she dismissed his concerns with a wave of her hand, and then smirked over her shoulder as she headed off in Emmett's direction. "I do believe it's time for me to mingle with your little friends."

"I give up," Brian huffed, shaking his head as he and Leo began to do a circuit around the room, one eye still on Justin, and the other on Mikey.

"Wise decision, my boy," Leo said, chuckling heartily when Brian made a face at his words; as he said, there was only one person that got away with calling him that. "I learned a long time ago to just give into her. It makes my life much more peaceful."

… … … … …

Brian finished his circuit of the room, having lost Leo somewhere in the mix, and ending up with Kellie of all people, who did nothing but gush over Justin's work. Brian smirked and nodded as she waxed poetic about the Reflections series which included A Quiet Place, Reflections, Reflections 2 and Peaceful Gardens. Not because he didn't agree with her, but because he couldn't wait to tease Justin about his favorite fan girl. it always irritated him and made for an interesting night.

He actually loved the pieces, all taken from pictures of various areas on their property at Britin when they'd gone on their rambles, exploring each and every nook and cranny when they'd moved in. He was especially fond of Peaceful Gardens, and amused by the irony of the title; as while it was an idyllic and peaceful scene, he remembered all too well dragging Justin to the ground by the pond and fucking the shit out of him. It hadn't remained silent or peaceful for very long after that.

Sipping on his second tumbler of Beam, Brian nodded his head and responded in all the appropriate places as Kellie prattled on, but his focus really wasn't on what she was saying. It was, as ever, with Justin, who was just finishing up a conversation with Sydney and some critic for a local paper or magazine, a typical scene at one of those things. But that wasn't what had really garnered his attention and ire.

No, it was the pretentious, smarmy, little asshole that was standing on the edges, just waiting to pounce on Justin that had his hackles rising. Honestly, hadn't the idiot gotten a clue the first dozen or so times that Justin had sent him packing? It was, frankly, fucking ridiculous that he continued to seek Justin out despite being shot down time after time.

"Will you excuse me, Kellie?" Brian said, nodding over to Justin, who was frowning at a particularly smug Ethan. "I need to run interference before my husband smears this idiot across the floor. I really don't need to be bailing him out of jail tonight."

"No problem," Kellie laughed, knowing exactly how Justin felt about his ex. "I need to talk to Sydney anyways. I want to grab Peaceful Gardens before someone else has the chance to snatch it up."

"Excellent choice," Brian smirked, chuckling to himself as he walked across the gallery and came to a standstill behind a posturing Ethan. He looked at Justin, who just rolled his eyes as Ethan continued to prattle on about nothing anyone cared to hear about. He arched a brow, making Justin snicker and swiftly ending Ethan's little monologue with a frown.

That was one way to shut him up; Ethan hated to be laughed at. Of course, it also stripped the charming veneer away to reveal the true, little cockroach that he was.

"What? No paintings of Brian?" Ethan sneered, looking around; and that instantly garnered Brian's attention. Because while Justin still wasn't one hundred percent certain which of his paintings had been destroyed, Brian did. And Ethan's question put him on high alert. "I'm shocked."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Brian asked, smirking when the little weasel jumped and spun around; Ethan scowled and scuttled back when he saw that was Brian hovering over him. Brian just  snickered and walked over to Justin; he wrapped an arm around Justin's waist and pulled him securely into his body, every line in his body and every gesture screaming, 'mine.'

Ethan scowled at the gesture; which is exactly why Brian did it.

"Well, Justin is always saying that you're his muse anytime he's interviewed," Ethan taunted, a sour expression on his face; Brian just stared at him blandly, utterly unimpressed with the other man's fit of pique. "I'm just surprised that there isn't anything with you in it."

"Oh, but there is," Justin disagreed, an amused smile spreading across his lips; Brian smirked and dropped a kiss onto the top of his head, further riling Ethan up.

"All I'm seeing are a bunch of landscapes," Ethan spat, his nose firmly out of joint as he swept his arm out and around, encompassing all the pieces in the room.

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to understand, Ethan," Justin said, speaking to him as if he were explaining something to a recalcitrant toddler. "After all, that would require you to look beneath the surface of something, and you've never been very good at doing that." Brian snorted, but remained otherwise silent. "Had you actually developed that skill, you would know that each and every one of these pieces is inspired either by Brian or our life together."

And damned if Brian hadn't wanted to shout, 'that's my boy!' And then soundly kiss Justin in front of this cretin; but, surprisingly, he managed to squash the urge. But tonight…oh, tonight his boy was going to get the fucking of his life for that little gem.

"How sweet," Ethan said, his sour tone belying his words. Brian just shook his head, utterly amused by the pipsqueak's continued petulance.

"Isn't it just?" Justin agreed with a saccharine smile.

And then, just to be a little shit, Justin turned to Brian and tangled his fingers into his hair; he crushed their lips together and thoroughly kissed him as Ethan watched and fumed. Brian, rarely one to deny himself, tightened his hold on Justin, and kissed back, barely quelling a groan as the little twat teased and tempted him into more. Oh, his ass was so getting it when they got home.

Licking his lips as he pulled away, Justin smirked and then turned to face Ethan once more, a smug look on his face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I see someone I need to talk to." His husband then turned back to him and arched a brow. "Are you coming or shall we meet at the bar in a few?"

"I'll catch up to you in a moment," Brian smirked, barely holding back a chuckle as his husband turned on his heel and walked away; he watched appreciatively as Justin added an extra little swing to his hips just to be a complete and utter brat.

God, how he loved that man.

Brian turned back to Ethan, who stood there watching Justin walk away, his hands clenched into fists and hateful glare burning holes into his husband's back. Brian snapped his fingers in front of his face, drawing the little dickwad's attention back to him; a smug satisfaction curling in his stomach when Ethan flinched at the cold look Brian directed his way. No one, but no one messed with his Sunshine.

"Act smug while you can, Kinney," Ethan spat, but at this point it was nothing more than false bravado as he slowly backed away from Brian. "But eventually he'll see through you; and when that happens, I'll be right there waiting to say 'I told you so.'"

"You've been saying that for years, Ian," Brian said, his tone silk over steel as he advanced on the little asshole. "And we're still together, still married and still having a child. I'd say it's time to admit that you've lost."

"We'll see about that," Ethan huffed; his anger over Brian purposefully getting his name wrong, seeming to reassert his backbone; but not for long.

Ethan was, at best, weak-willed, and at worst, an outright coward. Not that that knowledge would stop Brian from keeping an eye on him; even cowards snap and do atrocious things. After all, look at Chris Hobbs.

"And it is Ethan, not Ian," Ethan hissed, glaring at Brian; and Brian couldn't help but snort, almost expecting the idiot to stomp his foot like a petulant two-year-old. "As I've told you a hundred times before!"

"And I care about this, why?" Brian mocked, blandly staring at the idiot for a long moment before shooing him off with his hand. "Go away, Ian. I have more important things to worry about than some loser who can't let go of the past."

Ethan huffed and stomped away, leaving several looks of mild amusement in his wake; but Brian had other things on his mind. He didn't like the fact that Ethan was asking about the lack of portraits in the show; and it was definitely something he wanted to bring up with Tak and Carl.

… … … … …

Brian watched until Ethan left, storming out of the gallery in a high dudgeon; he finished his drink and then looked around, only to find that Justin had been caught by Kellie this time. He looked over at Brian, a pleading expression in his eyes, but Brian just smiled and waved. Justin scowled as soon as Kellie turned to look at one of his pieces – Color in the Rocks – and flipped him off.

Brian just laughed and pointed towards the bar, where they'd indicated that they were going to meet. Justin rolled his eyes and nodded, before he turned back to Kelly. This was actually good, because now he could grab Carl and ask him what he thought about Ethan's words. He was willing to believe that he was being paranoid; but when it came to Justin and Sunbeam, better safe than sorry.

Looking around the room, Brian spotted Carl near Deb and grimaced; he really didn't want to deal with her yet, but he also really needed to speak with Carl. Sighing, Brian started their way, but halted when a server came up to him with a tray.

"Your drink, sir," the server - a slight, twenty-ish brunet that stared at him with lust and awe - said as he held the tray out. Brian just arched a brow, making the wet-behind-the-ear boy flush and look away.

"I didn't order this," Brian said, warily looking at the drink; and then he looked around to see if anyone was watching him. But he didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Oh, well; I was told it was for you?" the waiter stammered, looking a bit nervous when Brian denied the drink; and that just made Brian all the more suspicious of the server's, or whoever-sent-it's, intentions. "Perhaps a patron sent it?"

"Perhaps," Brian said as he studied the nervous boy; and then, deciding that the server was only worried about doing his job, he took it and watched as they boy scurried away.

But he didn't drink it.

Surreptitiously looking around the gallery, Brian noted that while people's gazes were drawn to him, none lingered. But he just had a bad feeling about this, and he wasn't about tempt fate. He looked around again, and met Carl's eyes; he nodded at the drink gravely, hoping that he'd catch on that something was amiss, and was rewarded with a single nod back.

Carl said something to Deb, and then quickly crossed the gallery to Brian's side. And again, Brian swept the room, curious to see if anyone was leaving, or looked concerned with this turn of events; and still he found nothing.

"Is something wrong?" Carl asked in a hushed tone, looking around the room too once he'd noticed that Brian was looking for something or someone; but he looked as confused as Brian felt.

"I didn't order this drink," Brian said, flicking a look down at the tumbler in his hand, and then looking back at Carl. "Yet, I was told it was for me. Call me paranoid, but after everything that's happened, I'm not all that keen on drinking it."

Carl looked down at the tumbled with a grim smile and nodded.

"Come with me," Carl said; he took the crook of Brian's elbow and ushered him into the back room, and into the small kitchen. He pointed to a table and chairs. "Stay here, and watch it, so that we know that it hasn't been further tampered with or switched out. I'll call Tak or someone to bring a vial to do a collection. It may be nothing…"

"But it could be sent by our friendly neighborhood stalker?" Brian asked rhetorically, a grim smile on his face.

"Anything is possible," Carl said, pulling out his phone as he left the room.

Brian sat there, staring at the innocuous glass; and even without tasting it, even without the test results in his hand, he knew that there was something off about it.

… … … … …

Brian was exhausted, and he still hadn't managed to catch up with his husband, who was now looking at him with worry as they were supposed to meet up at the bar an hour ago. Sadly, Brian had been stuck in the back answering questions and watching as Tak collected samples from the drink before placing the empty glass into a bag. He'd hoped that he was just being paranoid; but somehow, he didn't think that he was.

Blowing out a breath, he and Carl moved over to the bar, and sat down. They both sighed while Brian ordered a beer, deciding to stick to unopened bottles for the rest of the night. Emmett looked surprised by the request, knowing that he preferred Beam; but he nodded, grabbed a beer and opened it in front of him. Brian grabbed it and took a long drink before arching a brow as he set it down.

"So, why are you manning the bar?" Brian asked, watching his friend with mild curiosity; Emmett rarely served at his event, preferring to be available if the clients or their guests had questions, or his staff needed his input.

"My bartender had a family emergency and had to leave," Emmett said, his brow pinching a bit as he helped another patron; Brian stiffened and looked at Carl, who seemed equally grim at that announcement. "I have someone coming in to replace him in about twenty minutes, but in the mean time…" Emmett shrugged.

"Did he?" Brian drawled, his tone instantly garnering Emmett's attention; his friend looked back and forth between Brian and Carl, automatically sensing something was afoot by their grim countenances, especially when Brian asked. "What was his name?"

"Ummm…Blaine?" Emmett said, cocking his head to think on it. "I think that was it. Can't be sure though. I'd have to look at the files. It's only his third or fourth time working for me as he only does events for the gallery for some reason." Emmett paused as Brian and Carl exchanged another look. "Why do you ask?"

"What does he look like?" Brian asked, as he turned back to Emmett, his heart hammering in his chest; it didn't make any sense, but this was far too big of a coincidence for him to ignore.

"Oh, God...um..." Emmett hummed, averting his gaze thoughtfully as tried to recall the other guy. "I haven't seen him in a month or so, as he only does the gallery gigs and he was late today. But, um… blonde hair, blue eyes, slender, about Justin's…height…"

Emmett stopped, his eyes widening as he looked at Brian and Carl; Brian cursed under his breath, running a hand through his hair. It doesn't make any sense, but yet it sounded like the Blaine they'd been looking for. But, if he was, why would he tell the cops anything if...?

"Shit," Emmett cursed, looking seriously pissed off. "I didn't even think of it; it didn't even click until just now as I have a different last name for him," Emmett paused, confused. "But I thought you said this guy tipped you off and ran; why would he be here if he knew you were looking for him? I mean, this is the last place I would be if I knew you and Carl were going to be here."

And that was an excellent question; one he'd love an answer to.

"I…" Brian began, but immediately closed his mouth when Carl shook his head and looked around the room at the various patrons. Brian nodded.

"Not here," Carl said, shaking his head when Emmett opened his mouth to protest. "Tak should be there if what we suspect is true." Emmett's eyes widened as he recognized the detective's name. "Can we meet sometime this week?"

"Sure," Emmett nodded, his expression still showing his alarm at the possibility that his business was somehow involved with the case. "Just let me know when you want to meet; unless I'm dong an event or meeting with a client, I'm pretty well open."

"I'll get back to you in a day or two once we have more information," Carl said, grabbing his drink and exchanging a look with both of them before he walked away, his phone once again pressed to his ear.

Brian sighed and ran a hand through his hair, shaken by the implications of this new information, and only twitched a bit when Emmett reached out a squeezed his shoulder.

"We'll get through this, Big Bad," Emmett said, his eyes burning with rage as he stared into Brian's. "And I promise you, if this asshole is using my business to get close to Justin, I will end him. Whatever you need, I'm here for you."

Brian nodded and took another long swallow of his beer, looking away as Emmett went back to serving his guests, his mind troubled by the night's unfolding events. And it wasn't even over yet.

Fucking Beware the Ides of March indeed.