Ashton And Justice (2 page)

"You can let me go now," he grumbled to his cousin Bryce.

"Are you sure about that? If you get into a fight and get arrested it's me your dad's going to blame. Call me a coward, but I don't ever want to get on Uncle Carter's bad side," Bryce replied with his usual smooth, even tones.

Of course Bryce would be cool and unaffected by all this. It took a lot to get the guy worked up, so even nearly getting into it with the DA's oldest son wouldn't be a bother.

Ashton shrugged off Bryce's hold and turned to glare at the man. "I'm positive. Now let's get out of here."

They left via the back door, lessening any chance of him running into Craig and his buddies on the way out. Ashton tried to tell himself not to get too upset by the events of the past couple minutes. After all, now that he had Justice's full name, it shouldn't be too difficult to track down the man.

Even then a warm feeling went over him as he thought about Justice. How his dark brown hair had looked just messy enough that it seemed to be begging to be tamed. The way his face had tipped up so trusting as his full lips pursed for a kiss that never came. The man also had a hint of vulnerability that called to Ashton--his soft gray eyes were so full of innocence yet hinted of weariness, too. Almost as if he expected somebody to start yelling at him at any moment.

He climbed behind the wheel of his Jeep and started the engine, barely waiting for Bryce to get the passenger door shut. That finally managed to ruffled Mr. Everything Is Always Okay's pants a bit. He shot Ashton a disgruntled look.

"You're not going to stay pissy because you almost got into a fight with Craig Knowl are you?"

"That's not what upsets me."

Ashton pulled out onto the road. He gripped the steering wheel as he fought the urge to release his anger with some good old-fashioned speed. He restrained his reaction by reminding himself that would almost certainly lead to him getting a ticket. It seemed as if the entire police force was on a lookout for his car and they were just itching for an excuse to pull him over.

All because his last name was Garner. His chest grew tight as he thought about the unfairness of it all. He was nothing like his father. Ashton had never so much as swiped a hotel towel, yet the world still labeled him a thief, a loser, a blight on the nice upstanding community.

"You want to talk about it?" Bryce urged in a soothing voice.

"It doesn't matter what I do, they still hate me," Ashton spat. "I work two jobs to pay my way through college, volunteer at the GLBT center, and I've never once been in trouble with the police. Yet, every time somebody finds out my last name they instantly hate and fear me."

Ashton wanted to laugh at the sheer irony of it all. He was the kind of guy that couldn't even stand to kill a spider, even though they creeped the hell out of him. Instead he'd put a glass over it until Bryce came home and released it outside

"I don't know. Justice didn't seem to mind so much. Even after he found out who your father was, he kept giving you the eye," Bryce said.

"
The eye?"
Ashton echoed.

"You know, the
I want to get to know you a whole lot better
eye."

Ashton shook his head in disgust, but a smile threatened to break free. "I need you to talk to Larry for me."

That got a second ruffled feather reaction from Bryce. He cocked a brow and let out a low whistle. "Why would you need the services of your Dad's best hacker?"

"I want Justice's number and something tells me DA Knowl wouldn't let that be public information."

"You probably have a point there, but I have a better idea."

"What?"

"Well, I've noticed Justice on campus before tonight and he seemed pretty friendly with Paula Chase."

"Who's Paula and how in the hell can she help me get Justice's number?"

Bryce gave a knowing smile. "Paula just happens to be close friends with Kiki."

Now it was Ashton who smiled. "Is this the same Kiki who has a massive crush on you?"

"Yeah, and she'd do anything for me, including asking Paula for a certain somebody's number."

For the first time since Craig's massive cockblock, Ashton felt a thrill of excitement. "The best part of all will be that we won't have to involve any of my dad's employees."

"Yes, we both know how much you hate asking him for anything."

"Well, wouldn't you? Thanks to him, my mother is constantly trailed by police, my older brother is in prison, and the entire town treats us like we're trash," Ashton seethed.

"He does love you. Which is a whole hell of a lot more than my dad ever did."

Ashton's heart went out to his cousin. "I'm sure your dad cares about you, too. When's the last time you saw him?"

"The day they sentenced him to life for killing my mother. I've never gone to visit the bastard and I never will. He can rot away for all I care."

Okay, so much for Bryce not being unflappable because he was just throwing the emotions around. It made Ashton feel a bit guilty for whining over his own problems. If he and Bryce were the huggy types, Ashton would have pulled the car over to give his cousin a comforting embrace. But one trait they'd both picked up from their fathers had been an aversion to physical affection

"Have you ever written him?" Ashton asked.

Bryce stared straight ahead, his jaw set hard. "Nope. He's sent me a few letters, but I never bothered to read them."

They rode in silence for a moment before Bryce changed the subject. "Give me an hour, tops, and I'll have Justice's phone number for you. Just don't go to Larry. You don't need to be indebted to that piece of slime. Even if you are Carter's son, he'll make you pay some kind of disgusting price."

Ashton glanced back over at his cousin, touched that Bryce still worried over him. Then again that'd been the way it'd always gone down. While the rest of the world looked down and sneered at them, the two of them stood together.

"Thanks, I owe you," Ashton replied simply. Better than going all sappy and spewing what he was really thinking. That would only lead to an awkward,
getting in touch with our feelings moment.

In their family that would just be tragic.

When Justice opened the door to his apartment, it didn't come as a surprise to find his father waiting for him. That still didn't stop him from freezing, hand on the handle, his mouth opened like some cartoon character expressing shock.

"Get in here and close the door," Lloyd ordered in an overly cool tone.

The DA seemed so out of place in Justice's run-down apartment. Dressed in an expensive charcoal suit to match his carefully clipped gray hair, he appeared almost uncomfortable to be surrounded by piles of books and papers. To add to the whole surreal feelings was that Lloyd sat in the battered, recliner that Justice had rescued from the curb two trash days ago.

When Justice still didn't move, Craig gave him a not-so-gentle shove from behind. Once they were inside, Craig shut the door behind him and blocked it with his massive body. Okay, so it looked as if this wasn't going to be a social visit. Justice swallowed hard against the ball of fear clogging his throat.

Lloyd stood, smoothing the wrinkles from his suit in short jerky movements. Justice waited in silence, knowing his father wouldn't speak until he'd decided Justice had squirmed enough. True to form, three excruciating minutes slowly ticked by before Lloyd broke the silence.

"I just received a very disturbing phone call from Craig."

Yeah, jackass, I was sitting right next to your head prick when he made it
, Justice snarked inside his head. Outwardly he lowered his eyes in the show of perfect obedience. While he would have loved nothing more than to fire a few choice comments back, he knew that would only worsen his punishment.

"Yes, sir," he mumbled, his heart pounding with fear.

"I had to leave a meeting and come all the way over here to deal with you. Do you think I have time for these kinds of games?"

Wow, and you still managed to beat us here? Damn, you must have been flying. I guess there's nothing like having the threat of a gay son scandal to get you moving.

"Sorry, sir," Justice replied, a cold sweat breaking out over his body.

"Now what is this I hear about you talking to Carter Garner's brat?"

"I didn't know that's who he was, I swear. He seemed really nice," the words burst from Justice's trap before he could censor them.

He flinched, but it was already too late. Lloyd swung, the back of his hand connecting with Justice's mouth with a loud smack. Justice staggered, but managed to stay on his feet as pain exploded over his face. He quickly straightened, knowing that if he didn't Lloyd would see it as a sign of weakness and strike out again.

He could feel a warm trickle of blood going down his chin, the sensation sadly not unfamiliar. Lloyd always loved to go for the face first. Unless it was election time and then he kept his blows to areas that could be covered up during photo opportunities.

Justice longed to wipe it away, but he knew that also was a no go. Years of experience had told him how Lloyd expected this to play out and any veering from the plan would not be tolerated. So he kept his hands to his side as the blood ran unchecked. It would probably end up getting on his shirt, but he'd become a pro at getting bloodstains out of clothes.

His father moved closer, his minty breath fanning against Justice's cheek. It became too much, with Craig behind. Justice began to feel boxed in. While he fought it, panic clawed at his chest. His breaths grew shallow and rapid, his pulse quickening so much that he could hear it thumping in ears.

"Please," Justice whispered.

He tried to take that single word back, but once again he was too late. He earned two more slaps, each one harder than the last. He tried to back up, only to have Craig deliver a sharp punch to his kidney.

Justice let out a cry of pain, this time powerless to stop himself from falling to the ground. More agony shot through his legs when his knees slammed onto the cheap carpet. Despite the additional hurt, he still tried to stagger to his feet, but didn't move fast enough to avoid Craig's foot. Just his luck, Craig loved to wear steel-toed boots, a fact Justice's gut didn't appreciate.

The kick knocked the wind from Justice. He fell forward onto his elbows as he sucked in to no avail. Tears filled his eyes and he hated himself for showing that weakness on top of everything else.

Lloyd reached down and grabbed Justice by the hair, tugging hard so Justice had no choice but to go back up on his knees. Lloyd continued to pull, until Justice's head was tilted back and they were locking gazes. A shiver went through Justice as he saw the angry glint in Lloyd's normally cool, blue eyes.

They remained that way for a moment, the only sounds in the room Justice's wheezing breaths and Craig's snickers. Finally Lloyd grunted in disgust before he threw Justice away from him.

"If it weren't for the fact that you help me get the liberal vote, I would have disowned you years ago," Lloyd spat.

Justice sat up, his hand going to his stomach in a protective gesture. He tried to apologize but all that came out was another wheezing sound.

"If it weren't so close to another election year, I'd toss you away now. Otherwise what use would I have for a faggot son?" Lloyd continued.

The slur hurt ten times worse than any of the blows. Justice closed his eyes and willed himself to let it not affect him so much. How could it not, though? Whatever happened to parents loving their kids no matter what?

A dash of bitterness went through Justice. Yeah, right. His dad had never cared for him. Not even when he'd been little. So when Justice came out of the closet, he'd all but nailed the coffin on that relationship shut.

Lloyd smoothed out his suit once more before threatening, "Don't let me hear about you talking to that piece of trash again. If I do, you're not going to like what happens."

Lloyd nodded to Craig to open the door and they both left. Neither one of them bothering to toss out a goodbye. Justice listened tensely to the sounds of their departing footsteps. It wasn't until he'd been certain they weren't coming back that he allowed himself to sag in despair.

He brought his fingers to his lips, wincing as he came into contact with the tender flesh. Damn, looked as if he'd be sporting another split lip. Going by the way his jaw ached, he'd have at least one bruise to go along with it.

No sense sitting around and feeling sorry for himself. Justice pushed himself to his feet and staggered to the bathroom. He started a hot bath, adding plenty of bubbles. Since he was feeling down, he even allowed himself to use his most expensive kind, so the room soon smelled like an orange field.

While he waited for the bath to fill, he stripped off his clothes, setting his cell phone on the sink top. Then, even though he knew he wouldn't like what he found, he forced himself to look into the mirror.

Justice let out a soft groan as he tilted his face side to side. It wasn't the worst his face had ever looked, but he wouldn't be winning any modeling contracts any time soon, either. One side of his face was red, but he could still see a purple bruise blossoming on his right cheekbone. As expected, his bottom lip had grown nice and fat, too. The blood had mostly dried on his face making him look like an extra in a boxing movie.

God, how he wished he had the courage to stand up to Craig and their father. Here Justice was in college and living on his own, yet he remained under his dad's rule more than ever. Justice would do anything just to be able to go somewhere where nobody knew him. Where he wasn't
Craig's Queer Brother
or
Lloyd Knowl's Gay Son.
More than that, Justice just wanted to be free from the beatings and verbal slurs from his own damn family.

He let out a weary sigh. He may as well have been wishing for rainbow tooting unicorns, because he was never, ever going to be free of his father. Lloyd would see to that. Justice made a face of disgust at his own reflection before he turned away and shut off the water.