Thank you to everybody who read or left kudos for the last section. You are all wonderful. I appreciate all the encouragement.

Sorry, this is late. I wanted to have a few more chapters done before posting.

I've been having some health issues, so that put me behind in writing.

Chapter 67: Snakes on a yacht

Evening Labor Day 2010. Somewhere along the Hudson River

So far, this evening has not turned into a disaster, much to Cory's shock. He was expecting at least one drink to be thrown by this point. Honestly, he was expecting to get kicked out for not actually belonging here. But Matt never made him feel that way as he introduced him to people he liked. Which was very few, but he enjoyed that Matt kept an arm around him. He even kissed his cheek a few times. It was definitely more than boss and employee or even friend behavior. Matt's behavior made Cory realize he wanted more, but they would take their time.

The evening could also be considered a success because Cory has yet to run into his father. Matt had the good sense to send him away to get more wine when the devil herself showed up a few minutes ago. That led to him running into Hillary at the bar. Even at her worst, Hillary was preferable to Victoria Hartley.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Hillary quickly enveloped him in a hug. Because of their jobs, they don't get to see each other as much as they used to. Yes, Monique left the magazine in good shape when she transitioned to Mode but uncle being the EIC of the number two non-pornographic men's magazine is time-consuming. It is even worse during a time when you're absorbing half the staff of your defunct sister publication. Several former Hudson staffers were upset that their magazine was shut down. The Hudson transplants are just starting to get used to his management style.

"I wanted it to be a surprise. I'm here with one of my colleagues to keep him far away from his abusive mother," Cory explained.

"You can say boyfriend," Hillary smirked. "I saw the way he was holding you before you walked over. I've never held a work colleague like that. I'm not my father. Vivian has been introducing everybody to her foster son's boyfriend all night. I think everyone can handle it."

"I would if that was accurate. We're just friends." Hillary just stared at him for a moment. "But there's potential there," Cory added hastily under her gaze. There had to be if Matt told him the Amanda truth. That showed absolute trust. Cory felt that they could build something from that. At least, he hopes so.

"I have to meet this potential boyfriend you went into the lion's den for."

"You've met him before, but I hope you won't hold that against him. He should be here as soon as he can escape his mother again. He sent me away for libations so I wouldn't have to converse with the dreadful woman again." He could see from his current position that Vivian's assistant was already trying to drag her away for reasons unknown.

"Then you should definitely get your wine." Hillary motioned for the bartender. He quickly ordered more wine for himself and Matt. Hillary went for something stronger. Although, unlike Cory, she wasn't avoiding hard liquor. Since Monique literally had to pick him up from the bar floor last year, Cory has stuck to the occasional glass of wine. Although that rule will definitely be broken tonight. At least when it comes to quantity, if not liquor type.

"Just so you know, the sperm donor is in Cabo this week with potential stepmom number four," Hillary explained once the bartender was no longer in listening distance. Cory exhaled in relief.

"I'm glad he's not here. Although you really shouldn't hate his new girlfriend just for the sake of hating her. My former boss Monique's stepmom is younger than her, but she's super sweet."

"This is obviously why Brittany left him. In addition to the forced pregnancy." Hillary commented.

"I sometimes forget you're more familiar with Monique than I am."

"I'm more familiar with her public persona. Not the actual person." As Hillary spoke, Matt walked up to him and took his hand.

"Please tell me you got more wine? Victoria wants me to sit at her table, so I will need it. I think she will try to set me up with other girls again. I owe her assistant flowers for getting her away from me so fast. I doubt that there was an actual emergency. She probably didn't want a fight to break out when I told Victoria that I brought my boyfriend with me to this, so I didn't need her to set me up anymore."

"I shouldn't be surprised that your mom is still trying to set you up with random girls," Cory sighed.

"Not at all. I told her that you're my boyfriend. It's new, but I'm hopeful." Matt kisses his cheek again. He really loves that. He found an adorable even if wish the man would kiss something else. Although maybe not in front of his sister because that would be awkward.

"Now I know you weren't lying about the toxic mom thing. Nice to see you again, Matthew. You're still in the magazine Business? Is that how you met my brother?" Of course, Hillary knows Matt. They're both parts of the upper echelons of New York.

"Yes. Not the sports magazine because I hated it there, but I am a managing editor at Player now. Cory is a great boss." Matt explained.

"He's good at what he does, and I'm sure the benefits are good. You always did like a good benefit." Cory is now profoundly regretting not warning Hillary. This might go badly.

"Yes, but there's been less of that lately. Besides, that's not what I'm looking for right now. I need more than that, and Cory gives that to me." Matt answered. Cory felt like he was being 100% truthful.

"Good to know since you're interested in my brother." Matt's eyes widened at her words.

"You're the sister Hillary?" Matt asked lightly, surprised.

"You didn't give last names, did you? You should tell prospective boyfriends you're technically one of those Malicks." Hillary mentioned as she grabbed her freshly delivered drink.

"It's an unfortunate technicality. And if old man Malick refuses to recognize me, why should I recognize him."

"Fuck." He heard Matt say as he grabbed his glass of wine and drank half of it.

"Is your mom coming back?" Cory asked him, concerned.

"No. Although, I think I know why the assistant was trying to get my mom out of here. My dad is here." Matt sighed. Oh, that was definitely not a good thing. Cory looked around to see if Austin was nearby, but he didn't see him. Cory really hoped he was elsewhere dancing.

"Isn't he supposed to be in the Hamptons with the new girlfriend?" Cory asked.

"That's what Aunt Brianna told me, but he's currently making small talk with Marc and Cliff. This surprises me because I sincerely doubt that my father actually remembers that Marc used to work for him technically. Or that Cliff used to date his sister, for that matter. I have to go yell at my aunt now." Matt was already grabbing his phone out of his pocket.

"You will after you say hi to him," Cory told Matt because he already saw that Cal Hartley was walking right towards them. Cory just hopes he's less hostile than his ex-wife. Hillary passed him more wine. He's probably going to need it.

Xxxx

"Vivian and Antonella have been warned," Marc whispered to Cliff as he placed an arm around him now that Cal Hartley was wandering toward his son and Cory.

"You're wonderful. Although to be on the safe side, we should probably look for them."

"Agreed," Marc says as they start to walk around the room, looking for Austin and Justin. He really hoped that they were in one of the other rooms. "I didn't know that you knew Cal like that." Cliff kept Cal occupied for five minutes, giving Marc ample time to send warning text messages.

"You remember I dated Brianna a little during college until she caught me sleeping with my roommate. Actually, I'm surprised Cal was that nice to me. Although considering how complicated their relationship is, he probably doesn't know."

"Probably. I think the incident is probably the only reason you're still speaking to me."

"You know I hate being a hypocrite, and if I never forgave you, then that's exactly who I would be. Although, like Breanna, I had to take a step back and get over the anger. And I was angry at you." Cliff explained. Rightfully so due to the fuck up with the neighbor."

"Because you only proposed out of guilt. That was worse." Cliff let go of his hand at that moment.

"That's not what happened because I had a moment of clarity. It made me realize that you're the only person I wanted for the rest of my life. I just didn't know how to show you that." Marc grabbed his hand again, and thankfully Cliff didn't push him away.

"You're getting better," Cliff commented as Marc's phone beeped. He quickly looked to see that he had a message from Antonella.

"The happy couple are mingling on the observation deck." Cliff excelled in relief.

"Which means they're very far from here."

"Although maybe we should get upstairs and run interference in case Cal comes back." Marc pointed to the nearest exit.

"I really would like to avoid a second conversation with Cal tonight. Was it okay that I introduced you as my boyfriend? I should've talked to you about that first, but if it makes you uncomfortable, I won't do that with anyone else. It's just that Cal tends to try to set me up with his sister again whenever I'm single." Cliff explained.

"And that's why you're sure he doesn't know about the cheating?" Marc remarked.

"Yes.

"I like it when you say that you're my boyfriend even though we both know that's not 100% accurate. My days of trying to pull one of the waiters in the restroom are long over." Because you're the only person I wanna go home with. "I just want to go home after this and crawl in bed with you." Shit, he didn't mean to say that out loud. He was so embarrassed that he let go of Cliff's hand. " I mean crawl into bed by myself. Especially because Princess Jade will not be there to wake me up at the worst possible time."

"I like when you're in bed with me," Cliff said before leading him upstairs to find Austin.

Xxxx

"Dad, you're here. I thought you were at your house in the Hamptons this weekend?" Matt asked as his father ordered what was probably the most expensive whiskey being carried at this party.

"That was originally the plan. But it was brought to my attention that there would be too many high-profile donors here for just your mom to deal with." What Cal meant was that the people running the foundation didn't want his mom alienating the big donors. There was a reason why Breanna was now the face of the foundation. "Because your aunt is still in Ohio with Alexis's fa-other parent, it has to be me."

"At least he caught himself." Matt heard Cory whisper to his sister.

"It's more than what you get from the sperm donor," Hilary whispered back. Matt knows Cal can hear them, but he doesn't care.

"Father, I want to introduce you to my date Cory and his…" Matt stops, unsure if it's okay to introduce Hillary to Cal as a relative of Cory's. There are certain secrets kept in their social circle. This might be one of them.

"Sister." She held her hand out for Cal. Matt should not be surprised. From what he remembered about Hilary Malick, she was always forward and had little fear.

"Just because my father refuses to acknowledge Cory does not mean I'm going to follow in his footsteps. Besides, it's an open secret." Hilary turned her gaze to Matt.

"I have known since at least 1981. The divorce was very messy." Messy means that the entire country club circuit knew all the dirty details. Matt is confident those dirty details include Cory's existence.

"This is not surprising at all. We should probably take our seats for the sit-down dinner portion of this experience." Technically that wasn't needed for at least 20 more minutes, but it gave them an excuse to get away from Cal. The bar area was much too small on the ship. Unfortunately, Cal just followed behind them.

"Are you sitting at the table with mom? She's forcing me to sit with her. Although maybe there's some space at Hillary's table for us." Matt will have to bribe an assistant because Hilary, despite their complicated history, is preferable to his mom.

"I hope not. I'm not sure where her assistant Clarice is putting me. I didn't even realize there was a sit-down portion of the evening." Cal remarked.

"She changed it after Aunt Breanna changed the Christmas event. We lost one of the dance floors because of it." This means he lost another place where he could hide from his mother.

"Of course she did. She's always trying to one-up your aunt. They've always had a very complicated relationship."

"Because she wanted you to dump her in foster care." Matt didn't mean to say that, but it just slipped out.

"Which is something I wouldn't do to my family." That's pretty much what you did to Tyler. However, Matt kept that thought to himself as he tried to devise a way to get away from his father.

Xxxx

Group text message to the keep Austin safe conspiracy group

Vivian: Cal is here. I just got a warning text message from Marc and Cory. Matt is doing his best to keep his father near the bar. We will keep Austin here on the observation deck/dance floor or, at a minimum, very far from Cal.

Breanna: Seriously?

Vivian: Yes.

Hilda: I knew I should've come with you. I thought you said Cal wouldn't be there.

Breanna: His assistant Corban said he would be in the Hamptons. He's very good at helping me avoid my brother whenever possible.

Vivian: Apparently, someone at the foundation decided he needed to be here with you in Ohio. They were afraid Victoria would alienate some of the more significant donors.

Breanna: Okay, now I have to send angry text messages to my number two at the foundation.

Breanna: Nikki says it wasn't her, although they are worried about Victoria alienating the biggest donor here. Which happens to be you, Vivian. Apparently, they overheard her saying some not-so-nice things about your foster child. Maybe someone else took the initiative to ask him here for your sake.

Vivian: That would make complete sense.

Breanna: Especially because Nikki just told me he's at your table.

Hilda: Fuck!

Mercedes: That seems on-brand for tonight. I just ran into my future ex-husband and his new beard. We might be at the same table because Victoria Hartley is evil and vengeful.

Vivian: I'm so glad I decided not to bring Ryan with me tonight.

Vivian: Breanna, can you get the table situation fixed before dinner?

Breanna: I'll see what I can do with Nikki. But we might need help on the ground.

Vivian: I will work with Vivian's assistant. She knows me.

Mercedes: You're going to offer Clarice a better job, aren't you?

Hilda: Being away from Victoria is probably all she really needs. I'm sure she's a horrible boss.

Breanna: You don't even want to know how many HR lawsuits we had to settle in arbitration because of Victoria. Look, it's a miracle that Matt is only slightly fucked up with both of them for parents.

Breanna: Update, Nikki still doesn't know who convinced Cal to come. It's no one on her immediate staff. They are working to fix the seating situation. Still, it might be faster to go directly to Victoria's assistant or just swap the cards around. Apparently, Victoria put Matt at her table so she could introduce him to potential girlfriends. However, Cory is in the other dining room with his sister, Hilary Malick.

Hilda: Of course, she did that. Although that might be an excellent place to put my son and his boyfriend. I'm sure it would keep him safely away from Cal. Although can you trust this Hillary Malick person?

Mercedes: Hilary Malick is the opposite of her father, so yes. Skye and I will go to the dining room and swap the cards around. Even I don't want Matt to have to eat with his mother. I'll let you know where everybody ends up.

Vivian: Give me Matt's seat at Victoria's table. I want to fuck with her head.

Mercedes: Done. I will swipe the cards around because Mercedes is now talking to Cal. This is Skye, by the way.

Xxxxx

"Lindsay, it's so lovely to see you again. I'm glad we're going to be at the same table. We really need to talk about the potential hotel in Singapore." Mercedes is not even surprised that he brought up the hotel in Singapore. She almost wonders if that's the real reason why he's at their table.

"Call my assistant to make an appointment." You Which she will never actually give you because I don't trust your company and don't want to be in business with you. "If I have to be here, I'm definitely not working today. I've had to speak with my soon-to-be-former father-in-law twice today and ran into my future ex-husband. Apparently, he's here to rehabilitate his reputation."

"I saw him with his date earlier. Obviously, she is an escort."

"That is best if he continues going the beard route. It's all exhausting." Mercedes explained as she took another drink of her wine.

"Former in-laws are always the worst. I'm just grateful Victoria's father is no longer with us. He was horrible," Cal commented.

"I remember him. He made a pass at me at this very party when I was barely 18. It's why I wish I could be partaking in the all-you-can-eat Sunday bar with my daughters. However, I had to support my new foster brother's society debut. Monique is still getting used to Jamie and is unavailable to be here."Mercedes explained.

"That's completely understandable. Your mother's fostering again? I thought she had stopped doing that. Your sister's sister-in-law being the loan exception." Unlike the mess with her marriage, her mom fostering Austin wasn't public knowledge. At least not until tonight. She is sure it will be all over the gossip pages by morning.

"Antonella's friend Austin has a horrible mother who cares more about her husband than her child. Mom convinced her to sign custody over to her instead of dragging Austin all the way to Chicago," Mercedes explained.

"Your mother would do that."

"I personally prefer the way my mom gives me new siblings." Mercedes commented just as Skye took the seat next to her.

"Okay, I think I figured out how to let Matt sit at Hilary's table. Although, do you have any objections to her aunt Ariel and her partner sitting at your table with their daughter?" Skye asked.

"None at all. They are wonderful friends of mom. I'm surprised she didn't introduce them to you earlier. I knew she introduced them to my new baby brother."

"What did my ex-wife do?" Cal asked, almost sounding concerned. This surprised Mercedes.

"Just keeping your son away from his boyfriend. We fixed it. Although this means that aunt Vivian is now sitting at the same table as your ex-wife." Skye explained.

"She absolutely deserves that," Cal said, taking another drink of wine.

"She does."

xx

Matt: Dad is here. I just got grilled on my relationship status with Cory. He only stopped paying attention to me when Mercedes arrived. He mumbled something about a hotel in Singapore.

Breanna: Lol

Matt: I know business always comes first with him. Although, unlike my mom, he seems to like Cory as a person. She literally put us at different tables in different rooms.

Breanna: Cal liked all of my girlfriends before. He just worried about the scandal and about how people will treat us. I am trying to decide which is more critical for him, but I can never tell.

Breanna: Yes, I know about the seating thing. Nikki and I are working on it, but her solution has Skye moving name tags around.

Matt: That is definitely my father.

Matt: Thank you, Skye, for fixing things.

Breanna: Since I'm working on the seating issue, it's obvious I know he's not in the Hamptons. Vivian contacted me after receiving warning messages from Marc and your boyfriend. That's when we found out Cal was assigned to their table.

Matt: Of course he was. I assume you're fixing that?

Breanna: Skye is trying to figure out how to move you, Austin, and Justin to Hilary's table as Mercedes keeps your father distracted.

Matt: Good, although I wish I wouldn't be spending an entire dinner with Hillary. But it's preferable to my mom under the circumstances. Also, it will keep dad away from Austin.

Breanna: Is there a reason you don't want to be at a table with Hillary?

Matt: I may have had sex with her a few years ago right after her divorce. I'm trying to figure out the best way to tell my potential new boyfriend that I had sex with his sister. I would prefer to minimize my time with her until I figure out how to actually have that conversation.

Breanna: Is it weird that I'm just happy you remember having sex with her? There are a lot of people you don't remember.

Matt: That's what happens when you're a sex addict. Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before.

Breanna: It probably did, but you weren't around long enough to realize what happened. Consider this another step in your recovery.

Matt: You're probably right about that.

Breanna: This sounds hypocritical, but tell him right away because if you wait, it will blow up in your face. I think you like Cory too much for that to happen.

Matt: It's not hypocrisy. It's a lesson learned.

Matt: You're right. I do like Cory. I'm just not sure what to do with that. My last two relationships kind of imploded.

Breanna: The situation with Betty is not entirely on you. She was already in love with someone else before she met you. That wasn't your fault. You're still friends.

Matt: Sort of. She did send me a couple of pictures from the birthing class. Apparently, the birthing video made Daniel throw up.

Breanna: You did the same thing when you were my birthing coach.

Matt: Yes, but I actually made it through labor.

Breanna: Look, what happened with Amanda wasn't entirely your fault either. There were lots of factors. But it's essential to learn from those mistakes should going into your next relationship.

Matt: I'm not sure how to keep Cory away from my mother when he keeps volunteering to be my escort for events when I have to deal with her.

Breanna: That just means that he is not afraid of her. This makes sense considering who his biological father is.

Matt: I'm aware that he's a member of the Malick family now that I've met Hillary. Who is coming my way. I have to go.

Xxxx

"I brought you more wine," Hilary said as she placed the glass in his hand. This is his third one for the evening. He's grateful he didn't drink anything alcoholic at Vivian's house during the pre-party lunch. "I feel like you're going to need all the wine tonight. I've just been informed that you're now sitting at my table. Better than your mom, but Skye took aunt Ariel and not Uncle Geoffrey. He's never been happy that I have a familial relationship with my brother." Matt is not surprised at all. The Malicks were well known for being weasels. Even his father doesn't like to do business with them.

"God, yes. Alcohol is always necessary when I have to deal with both of my parents in the same place. I usually try to avoid that. If I knew this was a possibility, I definitely would not have brought Cory with me." Austin also wouldn't be here. Vivian decided this was an excellent place to make Austin's debut because Cal wouldn't be there. "Even quality time with your Uncle Geoffrey seems preferable. My mom was putting Cory at your table anyway. At least now I can run interference."

"You seem protective of my brother. More than someone you're pretending to date to make your mom mad." Of course, Hilary would think that.

"It's only fake in the sense that we haven't officially put a label on what we are yet. I do care about Cory, and it's not platonic." Matt felt Hilary deserve that truth.

"I didn't think so. Honestly, I didn't even know platonic was in your vocabulary. Although previously, I thought you just stuck to women. Is this new?" Hilary asked, obviously concerned. It makes sense after the Shawn fiasco. Matt only knows the basics, at least from Cory. Matt is not sure he can trust the Player rumor mill for Intel on this.

"No, I figured that out in high school. Although I always kept it quiet. Cory is not another notch on my bedpost. I'm not who I was when I was with you. Not long after you, I went to therapy and dealt with my sex addiction. I'm still a work in progress, but I'm doing better."

"And are you still keeping quiet about the bi thing?" Hilary asked, concerned. "Because that was Cory's last boyfriend. They were together for seven years, and he married a woman for his inheritance. He even tried to have sex with Cory the weekend of the wedding." Okay, the Player rumor mill got that part right, at least. Also, what an asshole.

"That's not me. First, I'm a dick but not that much of a dick. Also, my parents already know, and I have yet to be disinherited. They hate it, but they know. Victoria more than Cal."

"That makes sense."

"There's already a plan for me to come out publicly soon. Everyone will know by the end of the month," Matt explained.

"You're doing this for my brother?" Hilary asked.

"I'm doing it for a brother," Matt explained simply.

"I'm not gonna get more than that?" Hilary asked.

"Our families are not as different as they appear," Matt commented cryptically.

"That feels obvious."

Xx

About an hour later

Victoria Hartley was having a dreadful time at her own party. She almost wished that Breanna would've taken over this event, but that would mean giving one more thing to the interloper, and Victoria refused to do that. The only thing Victoria liked about her former sister-in-law was baby Alexis. The child is an absolute angel, which is a minor miracle since she is half Mead.

Not only did Matt have to show up with a brand-new boyfriend, but it was also somebody who was untouchable. She knew better than to go after a Malick even if he didn't publicly go by that name. Hilary Malick was much too powerful. This resulted in her being almost nice to her son's boyfriend, much to her disappointment. She didn't even yell when she found out that he swapped seats with Vivian just so he could sit with Hilary. Maybe she'll get lucky, and Matt will become interested in her. A Malick wouldn't be horrible in the family. It just needs to be a female Malick.

Although Matt wasn't at Vivian's former table, which was a good thing because her ex-husband was sitting there making small talk with Lindsay Windham West Black, her sister-in-law, and Mode's current acting EIC, Marc St. James. The co-owner of Isabella press suggested that she invite Marc to this event to steal him away from Mode. Unfortunately, she couldn't go near that table with Cal there. He wasn't supposed to be here at all. Especially sitting at a table with the son he's not supposed to have. Thankfully Vivian being the mama bear that she is, had Austin moved to the other dining room in the other part of the ship. Looks like Vivian wants to keep Austin away from her ex-husband as much as she did.

Victoria really wanted to know how this mishap happened, but she had already fired her assistant before she could explain. She would also fire Nikki, but technically she worked for Breanna and the wayward ex-husband. She wasn't allowed to fire foundation staff after the wrongful termination suit two years ago.

Since she no longer had an assistant to deal with Cal, she had to handle the problem herself. That's why she followed him when he left dinner halfway through for the restroom.

"You know, if you needed to speak with me, you could've set up a meeting through our attorneys or Breanna. You didn't have to follow me to the bathroom." Her ex remarked.

"Why are you here, Cal? Shouldn't you be in the Hamptons with Amber?" She was very grateful that at least Cal was alone.

"Ambrosia," Cal corrected.

"Oh, that's even more pretentious. At least Claire was your own damn age. I bet Ambrosia isn't even Matt's age. Did she already leave you for a newer model?" Victoria mocked. "Is that why you decided to crash my event when you're not welcome."

"Ambrosia is working tonight. That's what happens when you're a doctor. She's actually five years older than Brianna. You were the cradle robber, not me. And I think I'm allowed to be at an event for my own foundation. The trustees asked me to be here." She doubts that. The trustees know better than to have her and Cal in the same location.

"Let's not start. Otherwise, I'm going to have to name the names of every assistant you fucked." The first being Tiffany. Thankfully she's been thoroughly dealt with for good this time. Only her child remained. He may be untouchable at the moment, but he won't always be. She'll take care of him then.

"It's a very short list, not that you actually believe me. My relationship with Tiffany did not occur until after we were divorced. I was already making plans with HR to move her to another position before the accident." Victoria scoffed, not believing a word he said.

"Why are you here? Did Vivian Wyndham Wes invite you here to meet the new foster child?" Yes, she moved Austin to another table, but it was a table with Matt. Never underestimate what games Vivian Windham West is playing.

"I won't say who, but I was told I needed to be here to keep you from fucking up another one of Matt's relationships. Weren't the last two enough for you?"

"Of course, it was Breanna. Considering they're both currently fucking your ex-girlfriend's son, I think I did the right thing to do."

"Matt will never be who you want him to be. The more you force him, the more he will rebel. You're not gonna like what happens next." Cal warned.

"Rebellion requires focus, which Matt has never had."

"Yet, he's still working for the competition. I bet he even helped them take your signature event. Breanna even warned me he's planning something big for the October issue of Player."

"There's nothing big that magazine can do to get out of second place," Victoria said bitterly.

"You'll be surprised. Now excuse me. I need to be elsewhere right now."

With that, Cal was gone, and Victoria was just as confused about his presence as before. She didn't believe he was there for Matt. There was something else going on, but what?

To be continued.