Part 58: ************************************************************************** Brian answered the door and immediately clutched the doorknob for dear life. "What are you doing here?" He smiled, "Do I need a reason to see five of my favorite people?" Brian's eyes narrowed, "How'd you find us, this is unlisted...no one knows about this place." "Evidently someone does. Guess I'll have to give my secretary a nice little bonus. Now Brian aren't you going to invite one of your oldest and dearest friends in?" A hollow laugh came from Brian, "If there was one out here I would." "So harsh!!" Kevin walked up behind his cousin, "Who is it..." he trailed off seeing the man on the step and his stomach lurched. "What do you want?" "I'd like to talk to you all." "Let him in Brian..." "Kevin what the hell..." He turned and stared at him in wide eyed disbelief. "I SAID let him in Brian." Kevin said, glaring at his cousin. "Come on in Lou." "Thank you Kevin." he walked in, "Lovely place you fellas keep up here. Must be nice for get togethers." "It gets its use." The three of them walked into the living room and were met with wide eyed looks from the people sitting there. Howie and Nick looked questioningly at Brian and Kevin but Kev just shook his head. "Girls why don't you get lost for a couple hours?" Kev said, pointedly. E looked at him like he had lost his mind but Alec slowly stood up. "Come on guys we can get dinner and have a girls night out." she pulled Jenn and Ty to her feet. "Just go with Kevin's instructions." she whispered, picking her purse up. "E you come too." Watching the wives leave through the back door Lou smiled, "They look well...but one's missing. Where's Lis Nick??" Nick went to lunge for the man but Howie held him back with a strength neither knew he could possess. "Get out of MY house you sick son of a bitch!!" Lou frowned, "I thought you boys raised him better then that??" "Have a seat Lou, something important must be going on for you to track us down like this." Lou nodded as he took a seat in the one armchair and Brian made a mental note to get rid of the chair in the morning. "It has...I've got it on good terms that shall we say the BSB is totally over, beyond repair. Is that right?" "What do you think?" Howie asked, knowing immediately what he was referring to. Lou's eyes took in the four men, "Quite possibly. Now I'm not sure if all of you know of my offer...it extends to all four of you, although I am putting myself on the line with Brian given what happened the last time we were in a room together." Brian smirked, "One of my proudest moments." "What has happened to you boys??" Lou asked opening up his briefcase. "What I have here gentleman are four contracts, equal lengths of time, equal amounts of money. I'm all ready in talks with your label about solo projects and they are most enthused and anxious to get the ball rolling." "Four contracts? Uh there are five of us." Nick muttered, the anger going through his body was near the boiling point. Lou smiled, "There are but there are four unsigned." Brian's face paled, "AJ signed one?????? What the hell did you do to him?" "AJ came to me willingly." he answered, a small smug smile on his face. "I wanted to extend you four the same invitation. Feel free to peruse the contracts, I'm sure you'll find their quite lucrative...and Howie I mentioned to the label executives you probably would only be interested in recording for the next several months with the new arrival and all. May I say Ty looked wonderful." Howie clutched the armrest on the sofa as he fought to keep from killing him right then and there. He was sure Nick had had the same idea, given the way his breathing had become irregular. "She does but she has no part of this discussion Lou, none of the wives do." "Just a comment Howie, no need to get upset." Kevin sat there in silence measuring Lou up. He had some nerve to come there like this. If only they'd had a way to get this whole deal on tape. Maybe there was a way to use this against him. Too late now, he told himself. "What's all in these contracts?" "Same money, same terms which can be renegotiated later on. All you boys are talented I just don't want to see such talents go to waste. None of you should be sitting around like you have...its time to get busy again. The whole Brian scandal seems to have died down now so I think your free to join the world again and not have to be holed up in seclusion although this place does make it tempting to stay." he looked around the living room. "We're not extending you an invitation Lou." Howie said. The only invitation he wanted to give him was to walk out or be kicked out, he was hoping he'd pick kicked out so he could hurt him as much as he had hurt all of them. Lou nodded and separated the contracts, setting one in front of each boy. "No pressure to sign now fellas but it would be nice if you did." "It would also be nice if you'd leave us the hell alone." Nick said angrily. "Have you been drinking Nick?? My no wonder your wife left you." "You stupid..." Kevin moved over and blocked Nick's way. "Why are you protecting him Kevin?? You actually gonna sign it?? Sell your soul to the big fat man?" "Nick relax he's goading you. Let him..." Kevin said quietly. "Just ignore it..." The women walked anxiously out of the house, casting glances back towards it. "I do not want to leave them alone with him!!" Jenn said, "They could kill him with all that anger they've got going." Shan nodded, "Its really not that smart of an idea. I can stay..." "No...the five of us are are leaving. And we're gonna do what we told them we were, dinner and girls night out. Let them handle this." Ty said as she headed around to the front. "She seems overly confident." Alec said as they all made their way upfront to the cars. "What do you know Ty???" Jenn asked as she reached her friend. "I know that their all men in there and they won't do something stupid. They've got a lot to worry about." "Uh huh, and right now with the mood Nick's in I'd say he's volutile." "Kevin wouldn't let him hurt Lou...too much." Alec stated, pulling her car keys from her purse. "We gonna spend the night talking out here?" "No...we should go..." Shan said, glancing back at the house. Nick flipped through the contract, shaking his head. AJ had actually agreed to sign one of these?? What was he on? He threw the contract on the table. "Thanks but no thanks Lou, I'd rather never sing again or write then be associated with you." "That's a shame Nickolas...It would be even more awful if some of those pictures of you were leaked to the press." "Are you threatening him??" Brian asked, he couldn't believe it. He was outright threatening Nick in front of the rest of them. The man was a total psycho. "I'm merely making a comment. Its such a shame he cheated when he had a wonderful marriage." "It was a wonderful marriage until your fat ass decided to ruin it. You get a kick out of this Lou?? You feel really good about driving me and Lissy apart?? What did she ever do to you Lou? Why the hell did you have to hurt her for??" Nick yelled, getting to his feet. This time Kevin kept his eyes on his contract, he'd pull Nick off eventually. Lou stared at Nick, "How did I hurt her?" "You ignorant..." Nick clenched his fists as he advanced on him. The only thought in his mind was to tear Lou limb from limb. Just as he got close enough to touch him Howie spoke. "Stop it Nick...you'd play right into his hands if he could another of us arrested for assault." Lou laughed, "Be a shame for that to be added to your list of behaviours Nicky..." An evil smirk appeared on Nick's face, "I'd be honored for it to be there...Get out Lou, take your damn contracts and get out of my house. And I'm warning you, if you so much as go near one of the wives I will personally come after you." "Uttering threats?" "I'll be more than uttering." Lou shook his head as he gathered the four contracts. "Well gentleman I guess I will say goodnight. If any of you change your minds my office door is always open for you. No need to set up an appointment just come down, I'll make time." Kevin stood up, "Thanks for stopping by." he said following Lou out to the door. He stopped and looked at Kevin, "I'm rather worried about Brian and Nick...they don't seem themselves. I'd watch them closely." "I will, thanks for your concern. Night Lou." "Night Kevin." he smiled and walked outside, "Always nice to know you haven't changed over the years." Kevin nodded and shut the door heading back to the room where the rest of the guys were sitting where they had been when he left, all staring at his empty chair. "First thing in the morning that sucker's fumigated." Nick stated. "I was considering burning it." Kevin said, walking back to his seat. "Thank god! I thought you were losing your mind the way you were treating him." Howie spoke up. "Its called creating a false sense of security. Make him think at least one of us may be able to be swayed. I was worried though Nick was about to kill him right here." Nick laughed, "I thought I was too." "Well you kept it together as much as you could given the last couple days. I'm proud of you bro." Brian commented, smiling at his best friend. "Thanks."