"You gentlemen are too good to me," Johnny said, and JC knew he was too old and too rich to be bothered but that tone of voice still made him squirm in his chair. "You knew my birthday was coming up, and I certainly have been blessed in this life, so you thought to yourselves, what should we get the man who has everything? I know, let's get him his own starring role on COPS."

"I didn't -" Justin said.

"Oh, don't even," JC said.

"I didn't call the police."

"And I didn't enter a person's home without permission and then stay there even after I was asked to leave about a million times," JC said.

"And so you called the police?" Johnny said. "Look, unless he was lighting the place on fire - and even then, I should be your first call - you don't get outsiders involved. Do you know how much trouble this was to clean up? Not to mention the fact that there might have been, I don't know, some actual crime going on somewhere."

"I didn't call the emergency number," JC said. "I'm not an asshole."

Johnny looked at him. "Leaving that question aside for the moment," he said, "it's still -"

"Look, I don't care," JC said. "I told him. I told him I was going to, and he didn't believe me but that's not my problem. I told him what I was going to do and then I did it."

"God," Justin said, and there was something in his voice, a trace of amazement, of admiration, that made JC look sharply at him. "You really will do anything, won't you?"

"Are you just figuring that out now?" JC said.

"God," Justin breathed again, and he was looking at JC like he'd just figured something out for the first time. JC didn't look away.

"Get out of here," Johnny said. "There's no talking to either of you."

Justin walked out of the office with him, his shoulder just inches from JC. The whole time he kept shooting looks at JC, a small smile just licking at his lips when he thought JC wasn't looking back. When they stepped into the elevator, Justin said, "JC -"

"Wait," JC said, and Justin closed his mouth. JC watched the elevator doors slide shut. In the mirrored surface he could see Justin watching him, that small smile still on his face.