New York, Head office of Zoltan Industries

Antony DiBlasi ran his hands through his short dark hair, resisting the urge to scream in frustration.

At thirty-eight, he was the youngest man to ever become CEO of Zoltan Industries. Now, less than two years later, Zoltan's stock had gone through the roof and he was one of the wealthiest men in the world. Not to mention one of the most powerful.

He met regularly with heads of state, military leaders and politicians. The Who's Who of America's elite practically begged him to sleep with their daughters or their sons. His policy of 'Equal Opportunity' was well known.

So why in the hell was one tiny sub-division of his empire giving him such a headache? His best troubleshooters hadn't been able to find the problem, let alone fix it. And now it was spreading, like some opportunistic disease.

Every division that had the slightest contact with the Sunnydale branch office was showing identical symptoms. Shipments disappearing, systems crashing, employees going missing. If it could go wrong, in Sunnydale it did. It was time to handle this himself.

He buzzed his secretary, irritation making his usually smooth voice harsh. "Carol, have them get the plane ready. I want to leave for California first thing in the morning. And get me a driver. I want to be in Sunnydale as soon as possible."

"Yes Sir, Mr. DiBlasi."

Antony let out a small sound of satisfaction, at least something was going right around here.

He poured himself a drink and went to stand in front of the floor to ceiling windows that made up one wall of his office. He stared out over the New York skyline, lost in thought until the annoying buzz of the intercom on his desk broke the silence he'd been enjoying.

"Yes, Carol. What is it?" He asked wearily.

"Sir, Sheik Ahkbar and his assistant just arrived. They were wondering if you had a few moments."

"Show them in please." Things were looking up, Ben and Hamid were always good for a laugh.

He met them at the door, hand out stretched in welcome. "Ben-ashir, Hamid, what a surprise. What brings you to New York?"

Ben-ashir clasped his friend's hand between both of his own, "A celebration of sorts. We were hoping you would join us for dinner at our hotel."

Antony shook his head regretfully, Ben always threw one hell of a party, "Sorry Ben. I've been having problems with one of our branch offices, I'll be leaving for California first thing. I know how your parties go, I'd never get to the airport on time."

Ben looked his friend over carefully, noticing the signs of stress and fatigue. "No my friend, just the three of us having a quiet dinner. You do not look well, some good food and relaxing amongst friends will do you a world of good."

Antony laughed, "You never could take no for an answer. All right, I'll come. But just dinner mind you. I want to get 'some' sleep before take off." He grabbed his suit coat and rang his secretary, "Carol, have my driver bring the car around, I'm leaving for the day. And go home Carol, that husband of yours will kill me if you stay much longer."

"Yes Sir. Are there any instructions during your absence?"

"I'll call from the plane Carol. Have a good night."

"Thank you Sir."

Antony turned to his friends, "Well gentlemen, shall we?"

*****

Sunnydale, CA. that same evening:

Frank Harris sent his personal secretary out for coffee and leaned back in his leather chair. A mere six months ago he'd been unemployed, broke and drinking rot gut. Now he was head of the Sunnydale branch of Zoltan Industries, drove a BMW and drank private label scotch from cut crystal tumblers. All courtesy of Wolfram and Hart.

He didn't know why the law firm had such a hard-on for that queer DiBlasi, and he didn't care. He just did what he was told and racked in the perks.

He grinned when his secretary came back with his coffee, and here was one of those perks now. What was her name again? Bambi? Candy? It didn't really matter, what mattered was how well she was trained to take care of her boss.

He pulled her to her knees by her hair and smirked when she immediately opened his pants and swallowed his cock whole. He used the grip he had in her hair to force her head down farther and faster. "You're a good little whore aren't you? I'll remember this when employee reviews come out."

Yes, life was good, and 'nothing' was going to ruin this for him. Nothing.



Plaza Hotel, New York City

Antony and Ben shared a cynical look when the maitre'd made a total ass of himself while trying to impress them. Hamid merely shook his head, he was quite accustomed to people's reactions to the older men.

They had a quiet dinner, talking about mutual acquaintances and laughing over the recent crop of rumors that people spread about them. Antony summed it up the best, "If I spent as much time in bed as people say I do, I'd have to declare bankruptcy." Ben had to slap Hamid on the back when he choked on his wine, the idea that Antony DiBlasi would ever let his company go for 'sex' was ludicrous.

Once Hamid could breath again, he smiled at Antony's wicked grin, "If you will both excuse me, it has been a long day. I believe I will seek my bed now. Antony, it was nice to see you again, maybe we'll run into each other before we head home." Ben and Antony said goodnight and watched as the handsome young man headed out of the restaurant.

"So, Ben, how long have you two been together?"

Ben looked startled for a moment and then laughed heartily. "I should have known you could see through our charade. Tomorrow is an anniversary for us, ten years since Hamid became mine."

"Ten years? Hamid's what? Twenty five? Wasn't he a little young to be playing house with you?"

Ben regarded his friend seriously, wondering how much to tell him. "Antony, in my country, things are very different. For which I thank Allah every day. And we have never 'played house'." Ben once again looked over his friend, maybe the truth would help Antony make some decisions that would ease his burden. "Come Antony, let us take a drive in your beautiful limousine and I will tell you a story."

Ben signed the check for their meal and the two men left the restaurant. Once in the car Ben told Antony how he and Hamid came to be together.

"You do know I am married?"

Antony nodded, "Of course, I've never met your wife, but I have heard you speak of her. Does she know about...?"

"No, nor would she care to. My wife is a beautiful woman, and a blessing to my name and my house. But there is much I cannot share with her about my life outside of our home. Our children worry only about money, clothes and who they will spend time with. After I am gone, my son will rule, that is the law, but my business, that will go to Hamid."

Antony offered his friend a drink, totally fascinated by the tale his friend weaving.

Ben settled back in his seat and remembered the day he had seen Hamid for the first time.

"I was in Cairo, I don't really remember why. In the market, I saw a young boy picking the pockets of tourists. He was quite good at it, but not good enough. He made the mistake of trying to steal my money. Stealing from foolish tourists is one thing, stealing from a ruler of another country means death. I convinced the local constable that I would deal with the child."

Ben laughed in remembrance of their first turbulent days together. "He was a wild thing. No education and without a civilized tongue in his head, but under the filth, he was beautiful. I debated with myself for days over what to do with him. The plan I devised served more than one purpose."

Ben finished his drink, and allowed Antony to fix him another before he continued. "A man hopes that his son will follow in his steps, but that seldom comes about. In Hamid, I had an opportunity. Not only for a beautiful lover, but for a protege. Someone I could educate and train to run my business the way I wanted it done. It took months to civilize him and tame him to my hand. But the effort has been more than repaid. Now I have a willing, skillful lover, who loves me and no other, as well as an heir to my empire. He is the one person I trust completely, and is my companion in all things. My life, and hopefully his, has been the better for knowing each other."

Antony was fascinated, "How did you...?"

"Train him?" Ben asked. "With time and patience. The rewards for good behavior were very generous, the punishments were something to be avoided at all costs."

Ben saw the look on Antony's face and laughed. "I never beat him, if that's what you are thinking. I wanted to mold him, not break his spirit. But all young men have one thing in common; lust. I used that to my advantage. I took him to the edge, and kept him there. For days on end. I denied him release until he submitted to me willingly. His control now is phenomenal. In bed as well as in the office."

Ben smirked at the heated flush on his friend's handsome face, the story had obviously gotten to the younger man. "You, Antony, I think would benefit from such a companion. Those lovely young things you spend your time with are no doubt pleasurable, but meaningless. Think about it my friend, I'm sure Hamid would be happy to answer any other questions you might have. But I assure you, he is quite happy with the way things are. And now, I believe it is time for me to return to my hotel. There is a lovely young man no doubt waiting eagerly for my return."

Antony told the driver to return to the hotel. He and Ben where spoke little on the way back, each man so lost in his own thoughts that their arrival came as almost a surprise.

"Antony, think about what I said. You would be a much happier man if you were not so alone. Goodnight, my friend."

"Goodnight Ben. And Ben, congratulations." Ben nodded and hurried into the hotel, eager to see his lover, while Antony made his way back to his empty house.

*****

Manhattan

Antony laid sprawled across his king sized bed, staring up at the ceiling. He was tired, but his conversation with Ben-ashir kept running through his head. He'd had lovers, hell, he'd even been married once. He winced when he thought about what a disaster *that* had been.

Gloria had been beautiful, educated, wealthy and moved in all the right circles, but she'd also been a frigid, malicious bitch. Their so-called marriage hadn't lasted long, but it had been too long for Antony. Even their divorce proceedings had been more reminiscent of guerilla warfare than a legal procedure. Thank God for prenuptual agreements, she'd tried her damnedest to take everything he had. Six years later and people still went out of their way to make sure the two of them were never in the same place at once.

As for lovers, there had been Randy. Tall, tan, graceful and hell in bed. But he'd whined incessantly. Antony snorted, "Antony, you never spend enough time with me. Antony, I want to go out. Antony, I want to go shopping. Antony, Antony, Antony. Oh, and let's not forget about Staci, the psycho bitch from hell." That debacle had been enough to put him off women for a loooonnnnggg time.

He'd broken off with her after he'd found her giving one of the night janitors a blowjob. In the hallway outside of his office no less.

She then proceeded to trash his car, his limousine, spray paint obscene grafitti on the front of his office building and tried to set his house on fire. The newspaper had a field day with that one. Her family finally had to have her placed in a 'care facility' for her health. If there was ever a person who deserved to be committed, Staci was it.

He couldn't think of one person he'd ever been involved with that he'd actually trusted. Not like Ben trusted Hamid. Ten years, his longest relationship had lasted less than ten months.

He admitted it, he was jealous of everything the two men had together. He laughed in the darkness, "Ben took that old saying 'Get 'em young and bring 'em up right' a little too seriously." He rolled over, punching a pillow into submission, "Forget about it DiBlasi. It'll never happen for you. Worry about fixing the Sunnydale office, that's what's important."

He finally drifted off to sleep, only to dream of a handsome young man with smiling eyes, who loved only him.

*****

Sunnydale, CA Zoltan Industries

Frank Harris was leaving his office for the day when his visitor arrived. "Mr. Harris, we need to talk."

He sat back down and regarded the young man from Wolfram and Hart. "Mr. McDonald, what can I do for you today?" He asked genially, waving at a empty chair.

McDonald took the chair, but refused the offer of a drink. "Mr. DiBlasi will be here tomorrow to take control of the situation."

Harris felt his blood freeze, he was a dead man. The young lawyer immediately reassured him. "Not to worry, Mr. Harris. We've been expecting this and have a plan. It all depends on you. How much are you willing to give to keep your new found wealth?"

Harris swallowed, thinking about the money, the power and his oh, so talented secretary. He voice was rough when he spoke, "Anything. Anything you want, it's yours."

McDonald smiled in approval, "We were hoping you'd say that. But it's not what we want, it's what DiBlasi wants."

"Besides my balls you mean?"

"Now, now, Mr. Harris, there's no need to be crude. Never tell DiBlasi about our involvement and we guarantee you'll keep your anatomy intact. Just do what we tell you and everything will be fine."

"All right, I'll do what you say. You haven't led me wrong yet. What do you want me to do?"

"When DiBlasi confronts you, offer to make a deal. You keep your position here, all of the problems go away and DiBlasi gets what he wants."

"I don't get it. What do I have that DiBlasi could possibly want?"

The smile on McDonald's face was calm, cool and slightly terrifying, "Simple. We want you to offer him your son."

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