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Temporary Lover part 2

Chapter 3: Been There, Done That (3)

***

Joel wasn’t someone that would be surprised by something like that, besides it’s happened times and times before. He’d saved countless women from being splashed with a drink, only this time the one he saved was a man but it made little of a difference at the end…

“So that’s your game huh? Bringing your little lover here like this? You’re not even ashamed anymore!?!” The woman’s angry voice sounded far too clear in the event area. However no one looked at her with contempt as much as they did Xander.

“It’s an important event. I wanted to introduce him to everyone.” Xander pulled the carefully folded napkin he had in his upper breast pocket and began wiping away at Joel’s face. “I’m sorry you had to get wet like this.” He apologized with a low voice next to the man’s ear but others around them could still hear them.

Soon enough there were people taking pictures, this would soon be posted online, it was exactly what Xander wanted from the start, to stir things up.

“Enough already. You won’t fight amongst yourselves. Your father would be disappointed to see you all like this.” Cornelia, their mother spoke in a rough voice, from behind her the man’s older brother approached.

“That’s right, father would hate to see us fight.” Austing was a confident looking man stat struck others as being cold at first until he spoke in that gentle demeanor that instantly made others trust him.

“You both should be saying that to Jessica, right?” Xander turned to his sister and instantly he reverted back to his extremely childish behavior. “To think my young sis would be so against my relationship, it hurts a lot.” He acted overly dramatic then approached Joel and kissed him on his lips.

At first Joel was about to back away but remembering this was literally his job he embraced the other man. Passionately they kissed in front of anyone. Again there were pictures taken, whispers among the guests and many more.

Soon enough everyone was focused on them

“…could you at least tell me what this event is?” Joel asked in a low whisper as their lips separated.

“My older brother’s wedding.” Xander finally admitted. At that moment Joel felt like he’d gotten himself into a huge mess. Out of all the times he’s had insane requests asked from him, this was the first time he’s ever crashed a wedding.

“Xander!” His mother Cornellia called out to him. “Behave in public, whether you decide to sleep with this man in your free time is your choice but don’t make it obvious.” She warned him with a steady stare.

“You got it all wrong mom. He’s the one doing me, not the other way around.” Xander confidently declared, Joel felt like he could sink into the earth from embarassement.

“Could I have a moment with you?” Suddenly Austin, the elder brother and the groom that day had approached Joel.

“Sure thing.” Joel agreed seeing no harm as he noticed Xander was busy speaking with his relatives. The moment the two of them were alone, Austin pushed the man against a concrete wall. They were away from the ear shot of any of the guests.

“I don’t care how long you two have been together… if you don’t break up with him, you will ruin everything.” Austin spoke in a low and intimidating voice. But Joel wasn’t scared, after all being intimidated by a larger than him guy was his usual, and in this case the man in question wasn’t even a bit stronger or taller than him.

Calmly Joel removed the man’s hand away from his left shoulder. “I don’t appreciate being told what to do and who to date.” He smiled kindly at the man.

“I know you two have been planning on taking over the position from father, but it won’t work.” Austin glared at the man he’d only seen once before. “I’ve heard about you, you seemed nothing like the rumors… I guess he was lying to us all along.”

Joel was confused but didn’t pay the man too much mind, simply walked past him to head back to the party.

“Where do you think you’re going? We’re not done yet!” Austin continued to yell after him but was ignored.

“Hey, Xander… tell me…” Joel went back to his client, the man turned towards him with a pair of innocent eyes. “You already have a lover?” He questioned him sincerely.

At that moment Xander’s demeanor seemed more serious as he responded. “He’s heavily injured and can’t come here right now, that’s why I need you to pretend to be him… Besides… his health is frail and being around my family would cause him no good.”

Suddenly Joel felt sympathy for the man. Similar to how he took care of his sister, Xander had someone he cared about in the hospital. Maybe out of sympathy or because he felt they were similar, he was at that moment determined to help him as best he could…

“Is the reason you don’t want to take over because of your lover?” Joel asked him with a sense of familiarity to this man.

Xander nodded his head carefully. “The one that inherits the company will be forced to provide the next ‘heir’ to the family. Thus I’d have to marry a woman and have a kid. If that’s the life I have to lead I’d rather not take over the company at all.”

Self sacrifice… it showed how much a man really was worth.

If Xander was willing to disregard this endless wealth because of the person he loves, then he truly is a man of principle.

“Alright. Then let’s make sure you never have to do that.” Joel said with confidence at he wrapped his arm around the other’s waist.

Xander felt the sudden motion as rather strange. “What are you planning on doing?”

“Anything and everything to piss them off, so are you in?” Joel asked him. Of course there were limits to the things they could realistically do but it didn’t hurt to have fun while at it.

“Right.” Xander who previously looked like an innocent puppy, quickly regained the air of mischief he had on his face before. This party would have to be crashed in the most phenomenal way, maybe to the point they end up disowning Xander altogether…

And what better way to do that then to flirt with the bride?

Chapter 4: Been There, Done That (4)

***

Joel approached the bride, she was a tall and beautiful woman, her long gown and beautiful shoulder length blond hair would make her stand out even in a crowd of similar dressed people. Her very aura, the way she carried herself seemed dignified and with purpose. Few people in this world had come naturally into such a vibe but she seemed to be one of them.

The ceremony was yet to commence, thus he had sleeked her out. However right before he could approach the woman, she spoke up to him.

“Give up.” Were her simple words without even glancing back at the man standing at her entrance way to her closet. She’d already changed.

“I hadn’t even tried anything yet?” Joel said with a bit of disappointment on his face. “How do you know what I was trying to do?” He asked curiously.

Then as the bride turned around to reveal her face everything became a bit clearer than before…

“Because I’ve hired you before.” The bride’s expression softened ever so slightly as if she was seeing an old friend of hers.

Joel stood there in silence for a few moments then approached her for a hug. “Victoria, I didn’t think I’d see you here out of all places.” After exchanging their greetings, his eyes turned serious again. “So you’ll be marrying into this family? It was your dream to have a rich husband, right?”

“Exactly, and that’s why I can’t allow you to ruin this moment for me. Besides… Xander is almost sure to be the one to inherit everything…” Victoria’s eyes seemed stained with pity at the mention of it.

“Why exactly? It’s obvious he’d rather not… Why would they insist on him when his brother and sister seem like they’d like it more?” Joel of course had no knowledge of how rich families worked in reality. This was the first time he himself had been in the middle of such a conflict.

“Because Xander is the only biological child to his previous wife who he loved dearly, both his sister and brother are from their current mother.” Victoria said while sitting down at a nearby chair, Joel did the same.

“But… isn’t Austin older than Xander? So he must have had him with his current wife before he married his first one… Is he an affair baby?” Joel felt like his head was hurting trying to figure out this complicated family dynamic.

“Yes, his current wife used to be his mistress…. Well that might not be the right word for it. That woman… forced herself on him while he was drunk, or so I’ve heard… and they had a kid together. However the old man didn’t care about Austin one bit and waited until he could have a child with his loving wife…” Victoria seemed to know these secrets first hand, it would make sense since she’s marrying into the family after all.

“Even so… do bloodlines really matter that much? They can’t force him to take over and bear a child if he doesn’t want to.” Joel said as if it was obvious but once again Victoria shook her head at him.

“In truth… They can and they will…” Victoria’s hands were shaking ever so slightly. She was trembling all over at the next moment. Joel stood up and hugged her.

“You don’t need to tell me anymore… I get it…” Joel couldn’t fully comprehend the situation but he understood it was severe, severe enough for Xander to spend money on him for help.

“You…!?” A voice was heard from the door once again, it was Austin, seeing his soon to be wife being embraced by another man! And none the less the man that was introduced as his younger brother’s boyfriend. This was a mess.

“Wait! This isn’t what you think! Listen to me!” Victoria stood up and rushed to her lover’s side, grabbing and dragging him inside. Her strength seemed unraveled as she managed to take in a man that was surely much heavier than her.

Austin stumbled and sat on the ground after being dragged inside.

“Xander doesn’t want to take over.” Victoria explained. “This man, I know him, he’s a fake boyfriend you can rent out. He’s here because Xander wants to mess with our wedding and be disowned from the inheritance.” She continued her voice a little rushed, her make up although still intact was slightly being messed up by her welling up tears.

“There’s no way he’d do that… giving away everything because of what?” Austin stood up and asked crossing his arms.

“Because he has someone he actually loves, he’d rather be disowned and have nothing but stay with him, that take over and be forced to be unhappy.” Joel chimed in again, since his own identity had been revealed already in front of this man there was no point to hiding it.

“Let’s work together on this…” Joel suggested while extending his hand and the other man stood firmly watching him.

“I won’t work with you. Do whatever you want but don’t involve me and my wife.” Austin was also a man of principle. “I will be the one to take over the corporation, you can just sit on the sidelines with Xander and watch.”

“Fair enough.” Joel sighed as he knew there was no winning against a stubborn man.

“What was that?” There was some loud noise outside as Victoria rushed to the window the other two men followed after her. They saw Xander who was seemingly drunk to his core out on the stage with the band singing some old fashioned love song.

“This guy… is nuts…” Joel himself couldn’t help but remark. They quickly rushed outside.

“Father’s probably already arrived at the venue!” Austin was rushing while holding his wife’s hand.

While they were running downstairs, Joel slightly slowed down seeing someone in the kitchen. It was Cornelia, the mother of them all preparing a drink. He hid at a corner and the rest waslked past him going outside.

After Cornelia left the kitchen Joel went to see what she had done. It was medicine mixed in with slight amounts of a very dangerous dust…

“A poison?” Joel stood there staring at the traces of it. He was quick to take a small sample in a little plastic wrapping he had with him. He’d get it tested later but now the real question was…

Who was Cornelia planning on poisoning admits the wedding day of her eldest son?

There could be only one answer…

END of Temporary Lover chapters