Will sent Matt a text to meet him at the Brady Pub. He found out it is his favorite restaurant. He then texted Claire to find out what he orders most there. After gathering information, he headed to the Pub early and ordered cherry pie a la mode and a beer for Matt. For himself, he ordered apple pie and water.
Matt sighed as he sat down across from Will. "Thanks for meeting me."
"Of course." Will grinned. The waiter set down their plates and drinks.
"Ahh. Pie and beer. My favorite combination." Matt exclaimed. "How did you know?"
"I have my ways." Will said mysteriously.
Matt chuckled and took a swig. He cleared his throat and pulled out a recorder. "All right, let's get down to business. You don't mind if I record this, right?"
"Of course not." Will smiled.
"Okay…interviewing Will Horton, nephew of subject Eric Brady. So…Will. Are you close with your uncle?" Matt asked.
"We talk, but, we're not that close." Will answered.
"Being an ex-priest, was he okay with…you know…" Matt waved his hands around.
Will chuckled softly. "I don't see how that's relevant."
"It's called a character profile." Matt shrugged.
"Oh. Well, if you must know, he was actually okay with me being gay. He even came to my wedding." Will shrugged.
Matt nodded. "What are your thoughts about the accident? I understand your aunt and uncle were hurt?"
Will nodded. "It was an accident. Uncle Eric wasn't in his right mind…he made a mistake and deeply regrets it."
"Will, I asked for your thoughts on the accident, not your uncle's." Matt sighed.
"Those are my thoughts." Will insisted. He then got an idea. "Okay…how about this: I blame the DiMeras for Uncle Eric's downfall."
"Really? Why is that?" Matt asked.
"Because if Kristen DiMera hadn't completely destroyed and humiliated him in the worst possible way, he would still be a priest, and Dr. Jonas would still be alive." Will said simply.
Matt nodded and started eating his pie. "Hmm. You know, blaming someone who's already dead doesn't really help this story."
"Well, then blame Stefano." Will shrugged. "If he hadn't adopted Kristen, she wouldn't have gone crazy and became evil."
Matt exhaled sharply. "Okay…I see where this is going." He turned off the tape recorder.
"What?" Will asked innocently.
"You're protecting him." Matt said matter-of-factly.
"Actually…" Will leaned forward. "I'm protecting you."
Matt scoffed in disbelief. "Really?"
"You've heard of Sami Brady, correct?" Matt nodded. Will continued. "Then you know what she's like when someone hurts a member of her family. She and my uncle are twins. They're really close. If you write an article trashing Eric Brady…I guarantee you: Sami will come at you with everything she's got. Your life, reputation, and career will be annihilated."
"Oh, this is something I haven't heard of before." Matt replied, sarcastically. "You're threatening to sic Sami Brady on me if I write the article, right?"
"I'm not threatening you. I'm warning you." Will insisted. "But…I have a solution."
"Do you?"
"Yes. I write the article…but your name will be on it." Will offered. "We'll go all Cyrano on this bitch."
"So you write an article about your uncle that will glorify him killing a beloved top surgeon to make him and your family feel better?" Matt raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't say I was going to glorify him committing manslaughter." Will argued.
"Even if I agree to this, what about Dr. Jonas' family? I think they'd have a problem with Eric being painted in a positive light." Matt said, simply.
"I'll make sure everyone is satisfied." Will promised. "So…does this mean you'll let me write the article?"
"Oh, hell no." Matt shook his head. "This article will be the pinnacle of my career, and this story is too juicy to be watered down." He stood up. "Thanks for the pie. See you around."
"But-" Will stood up and followed him out of the pub. "Wait! I'll pay you."
"Now you're trying to bribe me?! Wow, you really want to write this article." Matt scoffed and shook his head.
Will stepped in front of him. "I'm serious. I am prepared to offer you $250 million to let me write that article and let you take credit for it."
Matt just stared at Will in disbelief. That much money is tempting… he shook his head. "Sorry, pal. That article is mine." He walked off.
Will sighed in defeat. There was no way he was going to budge.
XXX
Meanwhile, Club TBD was experiencing one of their slow days. Sonny finished wiping off the counter, and looked around to make sure there weren't any customers waiting, turned around, leaned against the counter, and pulled out his phone.
"Hey, how did everything go?" He asked Will.
"Not good. Zoe won't budge. I tried everything! I also tried it on the person who is writing the article…still no dice. That article's gonna be written." Will groaned slightly.
Sonny sighed in sympathy. "You tried. That's really all you can do."
"Yeah… I'm hoping that our families will go easy on Uncle Eric so his reputation won't be totally ruined."
"I think the only people who wouldn't go easy on Eric are Uncle Vic, Maggie, and Nicole. Melanie is a wild card." Sonny replied.
"Yeah." Will nodded. "Think you can convince your uncle to go easy on mine?"
"I'll try, but I doubt he will." Sonny answered.
"Thanks." Will replied.
XXX
Sonny knocked on the door of the Kiriakis mansion. Henderson answered.
"Hello, Master Sonny. Welcome back." Henderson replied.
"Hey, Henderson." Sonny greeted. "Is Uncle Vic here?"
"I'm always here." Victor quipped. He stood in the doorway of the living room. "Come on in, Sonny." Sonny nodded and walked into the living room. "So, what do you want?"
"Well, this is about Sonix." Sonny replied. "They are writing an article about the New Year's Eve accident."
"Hmph. Who's writing the story?"
"Well, not Will." Sonny shrugged.
"Oh, well, then in that case, thanks for the warning." Victor replied. "Any sleazy journalists come close to this house, I'll threaten to press charges for trespassing."
"So…you don't want to be interviewed?" Sonny asked to make sure.
"Hell no. And I don't want Maggie to be interviewed, either." Victor said sharply. "We've all been through hell."
Sonny nodded, relieved. "You're welcome for the warning."
"Speaking of warnings…you should know that I have another younger brother." Victor said. "Deimos. He was supposed to be in jail for the rest of his life, but he got out on good behavior. He is very dangerous, and will come after the family to hurt me."
"What'd you do to him?"
"What'd I do to him?! He killed my fiancée!" Victor exclaimed. "After seducing her four days before our wedding."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Sonny raised his hands to calm him. "I didn't know."
"It's all right. Just steer clear of him." Victor replied.
"I will."
XXX
Will had to think fast. If he could get all of Matt's potential interviewees to not trash Eric, maybe it won't be so bad. His next stop was Jennifer's house.
"Will! Hi! Come on in." Jennifer greeted, smiling wide.
"Hey, Aunt Jennifer." Will replied. "How are you feeling?"
"Great! Pain meds are the best, aren't they?" Jennifer replied. "Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm good." Will cleared his throat. They went into the living room and sat on the couch.
"So, what brings you by?"
"Well, I just want to give you the heads-up: Sonix is writing an article about the New Year's Eve accident." Will said. "I'm not writing it, but someone else is."
"Oh." Jennifer nodded. "Hm. Let me guess: you want me to not trash talk Eric, right?"
"Right. He's gone through so much in these last few years. I know he hurt you and Brady and accidentally killed Daniel, but…"
Jennifer nodded and sighed. "I know. I-I forgive Eric for what he did. I was a journalist once. I speak the language. I know what to say to this person."
"Great! Thanks." Will smiled and hugged his aunt. "You're the best."
"Aw. Thanks!" Jennifer replied.
XXX
Will headed to the hospital next. He went to Brady's room just as Brady was climbing back into bed. "Hey, Will."
"Hey." Will greeted. "So…just so you know, Sonix is writing an article about the accident. I'm not writing it, but…"
"You wanna make sure I don't say anything against Eric?" Brady guessed, nodding his head. Will nodded, and Brady sighed. "Look, I understand why Eric did what he did, but, I'm also not going to throw him under the bus."
"Great! Thanks."
"Hold on." Brady held up a hand. "I may be okay with this, but, not even I can protect Eric from Nicole. She's not gonna want to go easy on Eric."
"Not even if you talked her out of it?" Will asked, hopefully.
"Nope." Brady shook his head. "Actions have consequences, my dear nephew. You can't coddle and protect everyone from the fallout. I know. I tried."
'Wanna bet?' Will thought. "Okay. Thank you for the input. I'll remember that."
"Sure."
XXX
Later, Paul sat in a booth at Club TBD. Matt sat across him. "Thank you for meeting me."
"Sure." Paul smiled.
"This interview is about your thoughts on the accident that claimed Dr. Daniel Jonas' life." Matt replied. "I believe one of the victims is your half-brother?"
"That is correct." Paul nodded.
"And the person responsible, Eric Brady, is your stepbrother."
"Yep."
"Are you close with either of them?" Matt asked.
"I'm closer to Brady than Eric, but I don't see how that's relevant." Paul replied.
"You must have been pretty upset that Eric almost killed your brother." Matt continued.
"Well, I'm not happy that he chose to drink and drive." Paul shrugged. "But, I understand that alcohol can make you do stupid things."
Matt nodded and jotted down some notes. "I also understand you work closely with Nicole Walker, Dr. Jonas' fiancée."
Paul nodded. "I do."
"Do you have her contact information?" Matt asked.
Paul sighed. "Look…I know Nicole. She is extremely devastated. I wouldn't want to add more to her grief by interviewing her."
Matt smiled humorlessly, looked away, then back at Paul. "Will put you up to this, didn't he?"
"Excuse me?" Paul asked, confused.
"He tried to talk me out of writing that article." Matt revealed. "He even tried to bribe me with $250 million!"
Paul tried not to cringe. 'Oh, dammit, Will!' "Matt, I promise you. I haven't even spoken to or seen Will in the last few days."
Matt scoffed. "Okay. Fine. Whatever. I'm still gonna hunt Nicole down and get a statement. Oh- Daniel's daughter's name is Melanie, right?"
"I actually never met his daughter. I don't think that's her name." Paul lied.
Matt nodded and stood up. "If you do see Will, tell him no matter how hard he tries, he will not stop me from writing the article?"
"Of course." Paul nodded.
"Thank you." Matt walked off.
XXX
"Will, I think you should just let this go." Sonny said over the phone. "Clearly this guy won't budge. Maybe it won't be so bad."
Will exhaled sharply. "There has to be a way…"
An alarm rang in Sonny's head. "Will…do not do anything stupid or illegal."
"Like what?" Will asked innocently.
"I'm not giving you ideas." Sonny shook his head. "Just…let it be, okay? Promise?"
"Sorry, babe. Can't promise anything."
"Will!" Sonny snapped sternly.
"I gotta go. I have a meeting. Love you! Bye!" Will hung up.
Sonny huffed, shook his head, and turned around. He jumped slightly when he saw a middle-aged man with dark hair sitting at the bar. "Oh, sorry about that. What can I get you?"
"Mimosa, please." The man answered. "You're Sonny, Justin's son, right?"
"I am. How do you know my father?" Sonny asked as he prepared his drink.
"I'm his uncle. Which makes me your great-uncle." He replied. "Deimos Kiriakis."
Sonny nodded. "Oh. Nice to meet you."
"You don't seem surprised." Deimos noted.
"Uncle Vic warned me about you." Sonny replied, gripping the edge of the counter.
"I see. Let me guess: he told you I was dangerous and to stay away from me." Deimos guessed, sipping his drink.
"Can't blame him, given that you slept with and then killed his fiancée." Sonny raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure that's what he told you." Deimos said bitterly. "Ever thought that he framed me?"
"What?"
"Think about it: why would I kill the woman I love? Why wouldn't I just kill Victor? Hmm?" Deimos raised an eyebrow. "I mean, it wouldn't be so surprising. After all, he did threaten to kill your husband if he ever cheated on you again, right?"
Sonny was thrown. This was the first he was hearing of this! "What?!"
Deimos tried to act surprised and embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry. You didn't know?"
"No! How did you know?" Sonny asked, aghast.
"I've been studying our family since I got out of prison." Deimos admitted. "And like the annoying little brother that I am, I discovered and read Victor's journal. There was an entry dated sometime early April of 2015 that said something along the lines of 'I let that cheating manwhore know that if he ever hurts my nephew again, the next time he sees an employee of mine, it won't be to summon him here'. I'm guessing he was talking about your husband."
Sonny fumed and turned around. How could Victor do that?! And why didn't Will tell him? And why did he have to find out from Deimos of all people?
"Sonny, I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is cause drama." Deimos lied. Justin walked in and his eyes widened when he saw Deimos talking to Sonny. Deimos finished off his drink and slapped money on the counter. "I'll see you around."
Justin smiled and blocked Deimos' path. "Hello, Uncle Deimos. I'm Justin, Sonny's father."
"Oh, hello, Justin." Deimos held out his hand.
Justin shook Deimos' hand, then gripped it tight, and pulled him forward. "If you ever come near my son again, I will revoke your parole. Do you understand me?"
"Perfectly." Deimos replied.
"Good." Justin dropped his hand and glared at Deimos as he walked out of the club, then sat at the bar. Sonny was a little distracted, so Justin cleared his throat. Sonny snapped from his thoughts and turned to his father.
"Hey, Dad. The usual?" Sonny asked.
"Yes, please." Justin replied. "So, I saw you talking with your not-so-great-Uncle Deimos. What were you talking about?"
Sonny shook his head. "Just Uncle Vic. He told me that Uncle Vic threatened to kill Will if he ever cheated on me again."
"Eh, well, I can't blame him." Justin said before he could stop himself. Sonny glared at him. "Look, Sonny…Uncle Deimos obviously holds a serious grudge against Uncle Victor. He could just be saying that to turn you against your uncle."
Sonny sighed deeply. "Well…only one way to find out."
XXX
Will laid out three ads for three different homes out on his coffee table. One house was a 19th century Victorian home- one of the very first homes built in Salem. It was the smallest and cheapest. The second home is fifty years old and slightly bigger with a breathtaking view of the lake. The third one was fairly new- only five years old, and was the biggest and most expensive. He loved all three houses, but, he loved the newest one the best. He looked up when Sonny walked in.
"Oh, hey, I was just looking over our housing options." Will grinned, then his face fell at his expression. "Sonny, what's wrong?" Sonny just sighed and shook his head. Will took a deep breath and stood. He knew what he was thinking about. "Okay, look, I know you're worried about how I'm dealing with this whole article situation, but, it's under control."
"That's not why I'm upset." Sonny said.
"Oh. Then why are you upset?" Will asked.
Sonny hesitated. "I'm going to ask you something, and I need you to be brutally honest with me."
"Okay."
"Did Uncle Vic threaten to kill you if you ever hurt me again?" Sonny asked.
Will laughed softly in surprise. "Um, what brought that up?"
"My long-lost great-Uncle Deimos is in town." Sonny said. "He told me he studied our family, and read Victor's journal. He wrote that he threatened to kill you if you ever hurt me again. That entry was dated early April of last year."
Will's face fell. "Look, Sonny, I didn't want to cause any more pain than I already did."
"Oh my God!" Sonny said through gritted teeth. He turned away.
"I knew this would have caused a rift between you and your uncle, so I didn't tell you. I'm sorry." Will replied sincerely. "Please don't be mad."
"Oh, I'm not mad. I am furious!" Sonny turned back around. "But not at you, no. I'm furious with Victor. He had no right to do that to you."
Will was relieved and touched. "Yeah. But…to be fair…you would have done the exact same thing."
"Of course I would!" Sonny yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration. He sighed and shook his head. His face softened as he walked over and took Will's hands in his. "Will…I'm sorry. Victor shouldn't have done that. You must have been freaked out."
"I was. But I understand why he did it." Will admitted. He sighed. "I'm just wondering why this mysterious great-uncle of yours told you about this."
"To turn me against Uncle Vic." Sonny replied.
"Why?"
"Victor put Deimos in jail for killing his-Victor's- fiancée after sleeping with her." Sonny answered. "He wants revenge."
Will nodded. "Wow. No wonder he hates women so much."
"Mm-hmm." Sonny nodded. "This guy- Deimos- is dangerous. You need to stay away from him."
"Okay. I will." Will promised.
"Good. Now…" Sonny took a deep breath. "Let's focus on happier things. You said you were looking at our housing options?"
"Yes!" Will said, relieved and happy. He grabbed the ads. "Okay, so, the Victorian house is cheapest, but it's kind of isolated. I don't know if I like that. The newer one is close to schools and the square and the park, but it's also the most expensive. I can't decide- I like them both. What do you think?"
"Hmm. Well…I kind of like the idea of Salem's first gay couple living in one of the very first homes." Sonny smiled. "And it's cheap. But, like you said, the newer one is closer and near everything…hm. The fifty year old house is right in between Sonix and the club."
Will sighed and blinked slowly. "Oh, yeah, about that."
"What?"
"I decided that I'm leaving Sonix." Will revealed.