Fortune's Slings and Cupid's Arrows

by Ari McKay

  Dane didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he nodded. “I’m not angry. I’m worried. But I know better than to argue when you’re wearing your war plaid,” he said, smoothing his fingertips along the length of Cal’s tie.

  “Girdin’ meself for battle, laddie,” Cal replied in an exaggerated brogue. He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ve been taking on men worse than your father for years. Speaking of which….” He reached out and flipped the elevator back to Run. “He’s on his way back to the office now, and I don’t want to miss him. I just didn’t want you caught in a cross fire.”

  “Should I pretend to ignore you or try not to let Father spot me in the area?” Dane asked.

  Cal considered for a moment. “Just ignore me. I’m not your friend anymore, right? I’ll act frosty to you, and you can return the favor. All the better to let him see we’re at odds, rather than just having your word for it.”

  “He’d definitely want proof,” Dane said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “He wouldn’t take my word for it.”

  “Yeah.” Cal smiled mirthlessly, then glanced up at the floor indicator, which slid from 4 to 3 to 2. “Showtime. I’m hoping I timed this right. He’ll probably have his normal retinue, so there should be plenty of witnesses.”

  With a last smile at Dane, Cal turned to the door and assumed a hard expression, as though he were angry. As the elevator doors slid open, he strode out quickly, moving brusquely past people who were waiting to enter the car. He didn’t look back to see what Dane was doing, because to his immense satisfaction he spotted Randolph Coulter standing in the lobby, holding court with a small cluster of young men from his firm who seemed to be hanging on his every word. His timing had been just about perfect.

  Crossing the lobby in a few long strides, Cal went right up to Randolph and got in his face.

  “I’m putting you on notice, Coulter!” he snapped, his voice loud enough to be heard by everyone nearby. The cluster of young lawyers in Randolph’s retinue moved back out of the way, as though worried there might be violence. “You’re despicable, and Caldwell and Monroe isn’t going to stand by and watch while a homophobic bastard like you destroys people’s lives. I’m going to fight you with everything I have!”

  Randolph Coulter reared back, his dark eyes narrowing dangerously. He was a big man, although not as big as Cal, and he didn’t like being intimidated. “You’d better watch what you say, Monroe! I could sue you for slander. Don’t think I won’t do it!”

  “I’m not saying anything that isn’t true.” Cal felt more like one of his warrior ancestors than a normally mild New York attorney as he glared at Randolph, letting the disgust he’d always felt for Randolph show in his tone. “I’m just letting you know where I stand, so you can’t fake surprise that someone is finally standing up to you. People have let you walk all over them for too long. I’m going to stop it. No matter what it takes.”

  A cold smile curved Randolph’s lips. “Is that so? We’ll see, Monroe. I don’t think a queer like you has the balls to stand up to me. You’re not a real man, no matter how hard you pretend to be.”

  Cal returned the smile, his eyes hard as emeralds. “You go on thinking that, Coulter. You always have been stupid as well as repulsive. Just don’t be surprised when this queer gives it to you up the ass.” He paused, savoring the shock in Randolph’s eyes, and lowered his voice to a silken purr. “Who knows? You might even learn to like it. Most homophobes secretly do.”

  Randolph’s jaw dropped open, but Cal was already walking away, head held high as he ignored the gaping onlookers, having done something very few people ever had: gotten the last word on Randolph Coulter.

  He caught sight of Dane as he turned away. Dane looked stunned, his brown eyes wide with shock, but Cal couldn’t risk smiling at him or even acknowledging his presence. Hopefully he’d get a chance to talk to Dane later and alone, but for now, there wasn’t anything he could do to reassure Dane that he hadn’t completely lost his mind. He’d hurled the gauntlet right at Randolph’s feet. For good or ill, the battle was on.

  IT WAS nearly four o’clock before Cal made it back to his office, but he stopped only long enough to drop off his briefcase and the jacket of his suit before leaving again. It had already been a busy day, but although he was tired, he was also grimly determined.

  Going after Randolph Coulter wasn’t going to be easy; it was going to be a bloody fight that he was in no way assured of winning. A part of him hated making a scene in public, but it had been necessary. He only hoped it wasn’t going to come back to haunt Dane in some way. Certainly Dane was aware that his father wasn’t a paragon of virtue, and he’d even known that Randolph had done things that might not be illegal but were professionally questionable, particularly when it came to Coulter and Coulter’s chief rivals.

  The rivalry went even deeper than Dane knew, building during the years Cal had worked on the activism side of the marriage-rights issue. Randolph Coulter had tried to use his influence with politicians to sway them his way, which had made the fight a very bitter one indeed. Cal was well aware that Dane didn’t care for politics or politicians, and Cal had never spoken of some of the back-room deals he’d learned of that involved Dane’s father. He preferred to look at things from the perspective that the right side had won in the end, and what Coulter had done hadn’t ended up mattering in the long run. Especially once Cal had met Coulter’s son and fallen head over heels in love with him.

  But the gloves were off now, no matter what happened, and Cal had meant what he’d said to Dane about not letting Randolph have his way. Which was why he was about to resort to tactics that he loathed and would never have considered in any other situation. Unfortunately, he was realistic enough to know that the only way to fight fire was with fire—and that meant Caldwell and Monroe was about to deliver Randolph Coulter the equivalent of a legal bitch slap in the face.

  He stopped outside his chief litigator’s open door, knocking on the doorframe before looking inside. “Do you have a few minutes?”

  Erik Wilson glanced up from his laptop and nodded as he saved whatever file he was working on. “Yes, sir! What can I do for you?”

  “First, call Kevin in, if you don’t mind,” Cal replied, stepping into the room and then dropping heavily into one of the chairs in front of Erik’s desk. “I need both members of my best litigation team.”

  “No problem. I can buzz him.” Erik picked up the receiver of his desk phone and punched a button. “Hey, ba—uh—Kevin. Could you come to my office? Mr. Monroe wants to see us.”

  Cal’s lips twitched at Erik’s swift recovery. He was very proud of Erik and his partner, Kevin, who was not only the other half of one of the best legal teams he’d ever had the pleasure of working with, but also the light of Erik’s life. The two men deserved the happiness they’d found in each other, and it made Cal’s heart lift every time he saw them together, reminding him that true love did exist. It gave him hope for his own love life.

  Or it always had before.

  Kevin entered the room, his blue eyes pensive, and Cal nodded to him. “Close the door, please. I don’t want what I’m going to say to go any further than this room.”

  “Right.” Kevin closed the door, and he took the remaining chair in front of the desk, shooting a quizzical look at Erik, who shrugged slightly and shook his head.

  “You said you need your best litigation team.” Erik turned his attention to Cal, obviously curious. “We’ve got a full caseload already. Is there something else you wanted us to take on?”

  “Actually, yes.” Cal rubbed his forehead absently. “First, I want you to hand off any cases you think can be handled by Stuart and Jane to them, so you can free up some time. I need your skills, but I’m not about to work you to death.” He gave them a weary smile. “I don’t want you to give up any snuggling time. It wouldn’t be fair for me to ask that of you, and I won’t.”

  Kevin blushed. “Er… all right,” he said, glancing at Erik again. “I think we could
pass off the Ashton appeal and maybe the Davidson patent dispute. What do you think?”

  “Oh, sure,” Erik agreed. “Maybe the Fournier case too, if we need to lighten the load a little more.”

  Kevin nodded, and Cal drew in a relieved breath. “Good. I can also give you a full-time paralegal, if you need one.”

  “Shelley,” Erik and Kevin said in unison, and Cal smiled, not terribly surprised. Shelley’s research skills were definitely the best among the paralegals, and her time was competed for among the attorneys.

  “All right. I’d prefer you not mention that I’m switching you around, although I suppose it’s going to get out eventually.”

  “What is?” Kevin frowned in concern.

  “I take it my little scene in the lobby hasn’t been replayed for the entire firm?” Cal chuckled, a little surprised they were out of the loop. “If someone didn’t record it on their cell phones, then I didn’t do it right.”

  Erik’s eyebrows shot up at that. “I don’t know about Kevin, but I’ve been holed up in here, preparing for court tomorrow. If there’s something going around the office, I haven’t heard about it yet.”

  Cal sat forward in his chair. “I issued a public challenge to Randolph Coulter. You know how he’s treated both Ted Caldwell and me over the years. It’s behavior I’ve ignored, because I felt as though living well was the best revenge. I even ignored it when he moved his firm into this building after we moved in, although I know he did it to spy on our clientele. Men like him end up getting their comeuppance in the end, and I refused to make it personal.”

  “But now?” Kevin, who was a mild-tempered man, looked genuinely angry, hopefully on Cal’s behalf.

  “Now it’s personal.” Cal shrugged slightly. “For once, my live-and-let-live attitude may have done a disservice to… someone I care about very much. I need to fix that, if I can. Which is why I need your help.”

  Sympathy flashed in Erik’s eyes as he nodded. “You just tell us what you want us to do. I for one will be more than happy to go after that old bastard.”

  Cal smiled gratefully. “Thanks. This is what I want: find out every pending case Coulter and Coulter has, no matter what it is. Look at the merits of each, and anywhere you feel the opposition has any viable case at all, I want you to offer the firm’s help. Pro bono, if you must, but if it’s as part of a legal team, that’s fine too. I want us involved in as many cases as you think we can take, with emphasis on the ones where you think Coulter is bullying someone who has a justifiable claim. I want to be a thorn in his side, a burr in his butt, and a fly in his ointment every waking moment. He needs to know that someone is going to stand up against him, and I think we’re just the firm to do it.”

  Erik leaned back in his chair, visibly surprised. “What about after you prove whatever it is you want to prove to Coulter?” he asked, sounding troubled. “This sounds like surface-level philanthropy, and I’d hate for it to come back and bite you on the ass.”

  Grimacing, Cal ran a hand through his hair. “I appreciate your concern, and you’re right, it’s something I should have been doing from the start. I should have followed through after the marriage-rights battle, but I decided it wasn’t honorable to kick him while he was down. Now I realize that was a mistake. Men like him never learn, do they? You notice I say when you find the cases, not if you do, because I have no doubt there are plenty. I guess I’m hoping that helping people who are in the right to achieve the justice they deserve will sort of mitigate the bad karma of doing it for my own reasons.”

  “We could expand our pro bono work beyond the family law side too,” Erik suggested. “In fact, you could spin it that way from the beginning to explain why you’re going after Coulter now.”

  “Oh, that’s brilliant!” Kevin beamed at Erik in obvious pride. “Even if Coulter doesn’t believe it for a moment, it would keep it from looking too much like it’s personal.”

  “Thanks.” Cal smiled at them gratefully, glad they were on his side. He wished Dane could see how the two of them worked together and how much they were in love. Maybe it would help Dane to see that sometimes the good guys got their happy endings after all.

  He stood up. “I’ll leave you to it, then, and I trust the two of you to handle it however you think is best. Don’t hesitate to call me in if my particular skills are needed. I suppose I don’t need to tell you that I’m not taking all this out of the firm’s coffers, but I will anyway. Track your hours, and they are to be billed to me personally. I have the resources, and there’s nothing else in my life to spend them on. Not anymore.” But maybe, just maybe, there might be. If he succeeded, and if Dane could ever forgive him.

  “We’ll get right on it,” Kevin said firmly. “Right, love? I mean, Erik.” He blushed vividly red.

  “Right.” Erik smiled at Kevin, warm affection shining in his eyes as he looked at his partner, and then he wrenched his attention back to Cal. “I’ll talk to Stuart and Jane about the cases and get them up to speed, and then we’ll dig in. Kev’s a brilliant researcher. I’m sure he’ll find plenty for us to work on.”

  “Good. The sooner, the better. Let me know as soon as you have something.” Cal nodded and left them to get started. He had no doubt they’d turn up something fairly quickly. With Randolph Coulter, finding a dirty deal wasn’t like looking for a needle in a haystack. Not unless the haystack in question was made entirely of needles.

  Chapter Three

  USUALLY WHEN Dane was summoned to his father’s office, he went with a cloud of dread looming over him, because Randolph only commanded his presence when Randolph thought he was either screwing something up or not behaving like the perfect son. This time, the cloud of dread was joined by the fear that Randolph somehow knew he was conspiring with Cal, and his stomach was one massive knot of sick apprehension. He approached Randolph’s office and waited for Randolph’s personal assistant to announce him before going inside.

  “You wanted to see me?” He strode into the room and stood in front of Randolph’s desk, sliding his hands into his pockets as he waited, schooling his features into as neutral an expression as he could muster.

  Randolph glared at him with piercing brown eyes, obviously not liking the attitude Dane was presenting. “I want to know what in the hell is going on!” he snapped, pointing to a stack of papers on his desk. “Suddenly Caldwell and Monroe are against us in everything! I can’t file a damned brief without those assholes filing one of their own! Cases we were on the verge of settling now either have one of those queers on the opposite side, glibly urging more in-depth analysis, or they’re filing briefs as amicus curiae, helpfully pointing out obscure points of law to sway the judge!” He pounded his fist on the desk. “What in the hell does Cal Monroe think he’s doing?”

  “I have no idea.” Dane shrugged, grateful he wasn’t lying—not completely, at least—because Randolph would have sniffed out the lie in no time. “I haven’t spoken to him in over a week. Not since he ended our friendship.”

  His father’s lips twisted. “I said you couldn’t trust him, didn’t I? Now look what it’s gotten us. What did you tell him about our business? Did he get what he wanted out of you, then dump you flat on your ass when you were of no more use to him?”

  “I didn’t tell him anything, and he never asked,” Dane replied flatly. He wasn’t surprised Randolph was beginning a litany of “I told you so” already; he just wondered if it would ever end.

  “Hmph.” Randolph’s gaze sharpened, his eyes narrowing in thought. He was a physically imposing man, big and blustering, with brown hair graying at the temples and a florid face that could flush deeply with anger. But Dane knew he was far more dangerous when he was quiet, his busy brain turning over plots and plans. When Randolph got quiet, it meant bad news for someone.

  After a moment, his father leaned forward over his desk. “I want you to tell me everything you know about him. Any secrets he’s shared, any plans he’s made. Who has he slept with? Any judges? How about any of his cl
ients? There must be something he’s worried that I’d find out, or that bleeding heart son of a bitch would still be sucking up to you just because he knows it annoys me.”

  Anger rose up in Dane, white-hot and boiling over, and he struggled to keep his temper in check. Randolph had never understood Dane’s relationship with Cal, and Dane had long since given up trying to explain. Now Randolph was commanding him to betray the one person besides his mother who supported him and loved him, and Dane would rather die than do that.

  “I don’t know,” he replied, his voice low and tight. “Even if I did know something, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell you about it. You’ve dogged him so much that maybe he’s tired of taking it and decided to fight back, so you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.”

  The shock in Randolph’s face attested to the fact that Dane rarely spoke to him like that, but Dane was beyond caring about the repercussions. He would pay for it sooner or later; Randolph didn’t forget disobedience, and he would find a way to rake Dane over the coals for it eventually. For now, Dane just didn’t give a damn.

  Randolph’s face went from pale to flushed, and he surged up from his chair. “I will not listen to such disrespect and impertinence from my own son! Get out, and don’t come back until you learn how to speak to your father with respect!”

  Dane was almost tempted to keep pushing just to see if he could force Randolph to disown him. Then he would be free. Jobless and possibly broke or homeless, depending on how vindictive Randolph decided to be, but free. But he thought about his mother and bit back the words. Instead, he turned sharply and strode out of the office without a backward glance.