Nepotism - In business and life

Matteo topped his coffee off and stepped out onto his patio to relax for a few minutes before he started getting ready for this big family event. He absolutely loved his west-facing home on Weber Point on Lake Sammamish, it was way too big for just one person but he didn’t care when it went on the market while he was still in high school, he bought it. The sunsets were spectacular but mornings here looking out over the water were his solace as the lake came alive with the sun hitting the water as it skimmed across the lake – the view was outstanding. Matteo and his siblings grew up on Lake Washington right around the corner from the O’Hanlon family. His parents’ home faced west across the lake and the O’Hanlon home faced south toward Mercer Island. The two families spent a great deal of time together when they were younger. Julianne was the oldest at 30, Shea was the next at 27, Alicia followed at 26, then came the two boys – Matteo and Johan both 24, and Charlotte, the youngest at 22. As Matteo thought about his childhood, he smiled to himself – who would have thought that both boys in the family would turn out to be gay or at the very least man leaning?

Matteo’s phone rang – “Morning sorella. What can I do for you on this beautiful morning?” Shea smiled, her brother was always charming and she would do anything to protect him – “Well my dear baby brother, I’m at your front door but wanted to call and give you time to put some clothes on. I know how much you love running around naked.”

Matteo laughed out loud – “Mia sorella, please come on in, grab yourself some coffee,” and join me on the patio. Mom already saw me naked this morning when she stopped by to make certain I would be at this little shindig the parents have cooked up.”

As Shea stepped onto the patio, Julianne was right on her tail. Both women were stunning and looked more like twins than just sisters – roughly the same height 5’ 8” – 5’ 9”, with light brown hair, deep brown eyes, fair skin, and bodies to die for. As his sisters sat on either side of him, he knew there was a purpose to this early morning meeting – “Ok spill it, my mood is waning and you le mie sorelle are the reason.”

The girls chuckled – “Please don’t do the Italian/English thing this early morning. You and Mamma get going in Italian and the rest of us are totally lost. Shea, I told you he would be suspicious if we both showed up today. Anyway, we really did stop by for one or maybe two reasons – 1. Given all the meet-and-greets Matt and Dad set up for you, we know you had a tough week. We know that you wanted to hit the ground running and 2. Today’s barbecue has disaster written all over it.”

“Wow, I never knew it bothered you so much that Mamma and I went off on our little Italian journey. Nonno and Nonna speak primarily Italian, how do you communicate with them, in English? You have to be kidding, I know you both can speak Italian so what gives?”

Shea jumped in to defend her sister – “Italian comes naturally to you, for fucks sake look at you, then look at us. If you, me, Jules, and Dad were together and someone saw us, they would think you and I are dating because the only physicals feature, we share are our height and gorgeous smiles beyond that nothing is visible. Now reverse that – you, me, Jules, and Mamma – again people would think you and I are dating and Jules is my sister. So, sue us, we go with what we know best.

That is also the reason that Nonno and Nonna like you the best and filled your trust fund up to the top, that and you are the only grandson and use their name.”

“You two are so full of crap.”

Jules started to chuckle – “Ok we are off topic but we should address this one. I know for a fact you are Mamma, Nonno, and Nonna’s favorite – Your trust fund is roughly 5B dollars, and Shea and mine are 2B. We each were given money to buy a home – you were given roughly 8M and Shea and I received 5M each.”

“I give, I’m the De Luca favorite. That said, you are definitely Papa’s, sorry Dad’s favorite. Thick as thieves always chumming it up. Shea, I know you have Mimi and Gramps all sewed up. Anyway, you both could get further with Nonno and Nonna if you threw in some Italian occasionally. Tell them to slow down so you can understand them. Never mind you two need to figure that one out on your own, back to what my darling sisters came over to annoy me about.”

The girls redirected the conversation and started in on the week in review and Matteo was clear – he was disappointed but their mama had set him straight already. Life doesn’t always happen on the timeline we set, there are forces that can change our trajectory very quickly. As far as the barbecue the only concern Matteo had was Alicia, she was apparently looking for a husband and had her eyes set on the heir apparent at De LORS Technology. Matteo was fairly certain that wasn’t going to happen but was unsure how she would react.

The girls left after a 30-minute catch-up with smiles on their faces. Both knew something Matteo didn’t and he was clueless about it, which was fine with both Shea and Julianne. As they departed Matteo made certain that his godson would be attending; if he wasn’t going to be there neither would Matteo. Julianne assured MJ that his mini-me would be there so the two kids could play.

As Juliane drove toward Shea’s home in Bridle Trails, they talked about the potential sparks that would fly later on that day between Johan and Matteo. The girls were convinced that the two would definitely hit it off and both of the sisters had been talking about this since the boys were 12. Given they were in separate grades but the same age they didn’t hang out much but as the two had grown up Julianne and Shea were convinced the two would end up together. Only time would tell. They said their goodbyes as Shea climbed out of her car. Julianne drove around the corner to her home and was greeted by her two-year-old son Jonathan Matteo, who was covered in syrup from his pancakes. His dad was standing in the background without a shirt on looking absolutely edible. Jonathan Caleb Nichols was Julianne’s best friend, lover, and confidant. They had been married for almost 6 years and loved each other as much today as the day they met in freshman year of college. “JC, you better get a shirt on or your wife is going to have her way with you right here in the entryway.”

JC chuckled, kissed her on the cheek, and picked up the mood killer so he could clean him up. Julianne was not to be deterred, she was pregnant and horny and her husband was perfect – hot, hard body and a dick that hit all the right spots. “So here is the plan, when we get to Mom and Dad’s we give JonJon to MJ and let him entertain for a bit, we go upstairs to my old room and get naked.”

JC smiled as he wiped down JonJon, who started chanting – “nekkid, nekkid, nekkid, nekkid.” JC’s smile turned into full-on laughter. Julianne tried not to laugh but could not help herself as she wrapped herself around her husband’s back and slid her hands down his shorts as he bathed their son in the farm sink in the kitchen. Julianne was grinding up against JC and jacking his rock-hard 8-inch cock while he tried to maintain his composure bathing their son. She was really good and had him shooting his load into his shorts within minutes, the finger sliding into his ass did the trick every time.

Julianne patted his ass and suggested that she could finish up with JonJon while he finished getting ready. She made it a point to lick the cum off her index finger while he watched – “Trust me, you will take care of me while we are at this barbecue.” He ran into the wall as he was leaving the kitchen – “Honey you are gorgeous, smart, built, and clumsy as hell. I love you with all my heart.” JonJon was laughing with his mom as she finished getting the syrup out of his hair and left ear.

At 10:30 AM, Julianne, JC, JonJon “Squirt”, Shea, Colton, and Matteo “MJ” arrived at Sofia and Jonathan’s home. Colton was introduced to MJ and the two hit it off fairly well. Colton knew the deal, he needed to keep the fact that Matteo was the boss’ son to himself until such time as it was confirmed by the management team.

MJ had already commandeered Squirt; they were talking a mile a minute when JonJon let it be known that his mommy and daddy were going to get nekkid at Mimi and Papi’s. Shea started laughing – “Out of the mouths of babes.” MJ, Colton, and JC all made comments about heading in to help finish setting up, anything to get away from the topic of pregnancy sex with MJ’s sister.

Once clear of the sister zone MJ asked JC – “Obviously you are getting some, you have a kid and it sounds like my sister is a bit of a fiend right now. I have to ask – am I the distraction for today with Squirt here?” JC smiled a mischievous smile – “Two things – 1. I’m not 100% comfortable talking about this with you as Jules’ younger brother but 2. I’m worn out. I can tell by the look in her eyes I’m in for it this afternoon. That said she got me off while I was bathing JonJon. Ok, smart ass, wait until you get Shea pregnant – if she is anything like Jules you are in for trouble.”

MJ was laughing hysterically when Jules and Shea caught up with the men. Jules punched JC in the shoulder and gave him the evil eye – “So you have been talking about my libido with my brother and subordinate from work? Nice job.” MJ couldn’t resist – “So Shea, when you marry Colton and get pregnant it sounds like your libido will go into overdrive. My advice Colton is you get a replica of your manhood made so she can use that part-time – I know for a fact she is insatiable, we shared an apartment at college, and damn that girl had more ass than I did.” MJ ducked and ran into the house with JonJon giggling the entire way.

The rest of the adults chatted on the way in with both Shea and Jules poking fun at JC about being old and worn out. Colton was doing a good job of staying out of the conversation. JC noticed he looked nervous but let it ride. The couple split with Jules and JC heading into the house and Colton and Shea making a beeline for the boat house. When they got there, they sat down and looked out over the water watching the boats cruise around the lake. When Shea got up to head up to the house to help, Colton only rose to his knee and asked Shea to marry him. She quickly agreed and he slid a 3-ct. flawless diamond with two 1-ct. side stones on her finger and kissed her passionately.

The intercom next to them went off, Sofia was talking – “Shea and Colton, that is enough slacking off, we need you up at the house to help with final details.”

They headed up to the house holding hands and talking quietly. As they rounded the corner of the house they ran smack into MJ. MJ had Squirt in his arms but was able to keep from falling as well as keep Shea from tumbling into the shrubs. His hand slid across the new engagement ring which he brought up into view, both Colton and Shea blushed a bit. MJ hugged his sister tightly – “Congratulations. You deserve to be happy. Colton, you hurt her intentionally and your body won’t be found.” MJ hugged Colton tightly and whispered in his ear – ‘I’m 100% serious about what I just said. I don’t know you that well but my sisters are great people and I will defend them to the ends of the earth.’ “Congratulations and best wishes to both of you.”

Shea was annoyed – “MJ, stop being an ass and quit threatening Colton.” MJ smiled his most angelic smile – “No threats were made. Just a promise.” MJ kissed his sister’s cheek, shook Colton’s hand, turned, and left. Shea was apologizing for her brother's behavior but Colton cut her off – “I get it, if someone screwed with my sister and hurt her on purpose, I would deal with them in a similar fashion. All I can say is that I do not intend to hurt you, that said there are going to be times I hurt you unintentionally and I hope that MJ understands that.” MJ yelled across the backyard – “Colton, ho capito. Intenzionale - brindisi. Involontario - noogie sulla testa”

Shea groaned, what he said was – “Colton, I understand. Intentional - toast, unintentional a noogie on the head.”

MJ was playing with JonJon aka Squirt, and the staff that Sofia hired were finishing up with setup. Just as Colton and Shea entered the backyard, JC and Jules emerged from the house. MJ didn’t miss a beat – “So Jules did you get that itch scratched?” Jules hurled a roll from the food table at her brother which he caught and asked for some butter too. Jules then flipped him off, to which he replied – “thank you my loving sister, your gift is captured with the love and kindness it was given.”

The O’Hanlon family walked in at that moment – Matt, Anna, Alicia, Johan & Charlotte. Matt called out – “It’s nice to see things don’t change that much, even though you are old enough to behave better.” MJ stood up with JonJon in his arms and turned to face the O’Hanlon family. When he made eye contact with Johan, he was totally gone, just as Johan was.

Alicia was chatting away to Matteo, how great it was to see him after all these years, how she had been on a business trip this week and didn’t get a chance to welcome him to De LORS, and in general trying to make small talk. Charlotte interrupted her – “Al, he is not interested in you, he is focused on our brother. Not sure how you missed that.” Alicia stopped talking and stared open mouth.

Jules and Shea were walking around the yard collecting money from – Colton, JC, Charli, Mama, Pops, Matt, and Anna. The girls high-fived each other, which brought a scowl from Alicia. Shea walked over to Alicia – “You have always been a bit distracted by your skewed view of the world. Matteo has been out about his sexuality since he was 16 and you ignored that fact for 8 years. I’ve told you that several times over the years and I believe I reinforced it last week before he started at De LORS.”

With everything going on Johan was staring and trying to figure out what to do next – ‘fuck me, he is hotter than hot. I’ll bet he is still an asshole that thinks he is smarter than everyone, fuck he is smarter than almost everyone I know including his dad who is brilliant, but the prick is probably still an asshole who thinks he is god’s gift to everyone. Did I think he’s fucking gorgeous and that body, shit I’m getting a hard-on, God he is going to notice, fuck me I’m never like this, WHY GOD WHY him.’

MJ was having similar thoughts – ‘holy crap the guy has definitely changed since last I saw him. Long lean lines and a bulge that seems very respectable, shit did his cock just jump, fuck I know mine did, I hope he is versatile to bottom, why am I reacting like this to that ass, he always had this superiority complex that was so off-putting, fuck he is nice to look at though.’

At this point, Squirt was squirming and grabbing Matteo’s face to the point where Matteo had to look away from Johan and address Squirt – “Hey little buddy, I’m sorry I was totally distracted. What’s up?”

Squirt kissed MJ’s cheek and wiggled down. As MJ stood, he realized that 10 pairs of eyes were bouncing back and forth between him and Johan. “What the heck are you all staring at?” Johan looked up and realized everyone was indeed staring.

Shea jumped in – “Oh little brother some of us had a bet going to see how long it would take for the two of you to recognize that you are attracted to each other. Jules and I won – we said once they locked eyes and everyone else picked something beyond 30 minutes, so needless to say – Jules and I split 600 bucks. Baby brother don’t you dare try and deny it, you were drooling and everyone can see it. . JT, I’d watch my superior attitude, you’re stiff as a board and have a little drool on the corner of your mouth.”

Alicia had disappeared into the house and the rest of the family was just watching with a curious eye. JonJon was back in MJ’s arms with some snacks as he walked up to Johan, extending his hand to shake the others he whispered – ‘let’s go out on the boat and catch up.’ MJ yelled over his shoulder as they were running toward the dock – “I’ve got Squirt Jules, scratch that itch again.” Jules yelled at him – “Don’t scratch your itch in front of my son, he’s only two.”

MJ, Johan, and Squirt hit the boat dock and quickly put him in a kid’s life vest and the adults slipped into the inflatable life vests. As MJ pulled away from the dock Colton and JC were running down to join them but MJ punched it to get away. As they made their way around the lake and let Squirt steer the boat, MJ and JT got to know each other again. They both admitted that they had initially thought the other one was stuck on themselves but in the end, realized it was likely because they themselves had not let go of the crap from when they were young. MJ had gotten a little full of himself when he got bumped up in grade levels and JT acknowledged he was jealous that he was getting done sooner. At one point JT said something out loud that was meant to be thought – ‘God he is freaking hot, why would he want me.’

MJ smiled and took JTs hand – “Because you seem to have a huge heart, are a good man, and have you looked in a mirror lately?” JT looked at him like he had lost his mind – “That was a random MJ.” MJ chuckled – you do know that you said – ‘God he is freaking hot, why would he want me?’ out loud? Don’t be embarrassed, I have been thinking the same thing. Top or bottom?”

JT turned red – “Both, but I would say 30/70.” MJ was now struggling internally – “Is that 30 / 70, top to bottom or bottom to top? Please say top to bottom, please, please, please.” It was JT’s turn to laugh – MJ, you know you just said that out loud – would it be a deal breaker if I said bottom to top?” MJ shook his head – “No but we would have to get to more like 50 / 50, I’m just more of a top…” JT took it upon himself and pulled MJ into a deep passionate kiss when they broke apart – “I think we will be ok as I’m more of a bottom but never will be exclusively anything.”

While the guys were on the boat the family members were talking about the two of them and whether this was a good idea or not. Alicia was definitely not on board, Jon and Anna were oddly quiet. Charlotte took Alicia to task – “You have been infatuated with Matteo since Jr. High School. He wasn’t into you then and he isn’t into you now. He is a 24-year-old gorgeous bi-sexual man who appears to be gaga for our 24-year-old equally gorgeous gay brother. You need to get over yourself.”

Alicia was annoyed and kept throwing up roadblocks where most of the family was intent on helping the two of them get together. Sofia and Jonathan’s live-in housekeeper came out onto the patio as there was a gentleman at the front door saying he was a friend of MJ’s. Jonathan went to the front door to greet the guest, he found the gentleman in the foyer, and he stuck out his hand to shake it – “Good afternoon, I’m Matteo’s father, who might you be?”

Keegan chuckled as he shook Matteo’s father’s hand – “Just like our MJ not to inform the host that he invited someone to the party. Sir, my name is Keegan Whitten and I went to college with MJ. I’m in the area for a couple of interviews next week. I reached out to MJ yesterday and he invited me to your barbecue to catch up as he knew he would be here all day.”

Jonathan welcomed Keegan to his home and let him know MJ was out on the boat with his nephew and a friend of the family. God help MJ if this was a boyfriend, Johan would not be pleased and that relationship would blow up before it got started.

Jonathan began introducing Keegan around to the rest of the family, after he had introduced him to Sofia, Matt, and Anna he heard a high-pitched squeal from his youngest daughter – “Oh my God, Keegan Whitten as I live and breathe, what brought your not so skinny ass to town?”  The two embraced and started to talk privately when Jules finally put two and two together – “Sissy, is this THE Keegan? The best friend of our baby brother that you put through the wringer in college?”

Shea grabbed Colton’s hand and pulled him into the conversation – “Keegan this is my fiancé, Colton O’Connor, Colton this is the only friend of MJ’s I dated Keegan Whitten, turns out dating a sibling’s best friend is not the smartest idea but luckily it didn’t ruin their friendship, we also remained friends and my brother is still speaking to me.”

Jonathan “Pops” came over the boat’s radio – “Time for barbecue boys and you need to bring my grandson back now.” MJ got on the radio – “We lost the little guy. A couple of girls out here on the lake fell in love with him. I told them Jules wouldn’t mind as she has one in the oven.” Pops asked – “Hell you say, Jules is pregnant again? You are in so much trouble MJ, we didn’t know.” MJ was trying to raise his dad but to no avail, he was gone.

JT was openly laughing at the look on his new, well what are they exactly, friends, boyfriends, acquaintances, uggghh. MJ noticed the change in Johan – “What’s up buttercup? You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

JT took a deep breath – “I was laughing because of the look on your face – I was struggling to figure out what to call you; friend, acquaintance, boyfriend, family friend, uggghh.”

MJ smiled, which melted JT’s heart even more – “Stop doing that…” It was MJ’s turn to look perplexed – “Ok a couple of things, I would say you were a friend that within the last hour plus I would like to call my boyfriend. I am totally taken with you – you are smart, idealistic, sane, fucking hot as hell and I haven’t even seen you naked, have what appears to be more than a mouthful hiding behind those shorts, witty, charming and did I mention hot as hell? Hold on, what am I doing that has you so annoyed?”

They were pulling up to the dock at this point, JT quickly answered MJ – “Yes you mentioned hot as hell twice. Thank goodness you are thinking of me as a boyfriend – ditto here. I told you to stop doing ‘that’; ‘that’ is the lopsided grin you give when you are trying to disarm your companion. I have seen it in the past with other people and if I’m being totally honest it makes my dick hard and yes there is more than a mouthful behind these shorts.”

MJ had maneuvered the boat onto the lift and was raising the boat before JT stepped out. He had JonJon in his arms and as JT went to pass MJ, MJ grabbed him by the neck and pulled him in for a deep passionate all-consuming kiss. It wasn’t until JonJon started wiggling and yelling – “yous squishing me…” MJ and JT broke apart but never lost eye contact. MJ flipped the switch on the lift and took ahold of JT’s hand and the three stunning guys made their way to the barbecue.

Shea yelled – “Well Damn It.” Everyone turned to stare at her but Jules was taking the other half of the money from her baby sister. Charli interrupted – “What gives with you two?” Jules chuckled – “We had a side bet. I bet that our brothers would be holding hands when they returned and she said there was no way MJ would move that fast – he has never been one to show affection in public. Holy crap, he just kissed JT on the mouth – this is moving faster than even I thought possible.”

Every pair of eyes on the massive patio was now staring at JT and MJ as they walked up the remaining grass slope hand in hand with JonJon on MJ’s hip. JC was quick to grab his son and whispered to MJ – ‘Sorry man, you’ll have to get your own. But damn the three of you do make a stunning sight.’

There were a lot of questions that were hurled at the pair but MJ ignored them all as he made his way to Keegan with JT in tow. MJ bro hugged Keegan but never let go of JT’s hand – “You came. I’m so glad you are here. Keegan, this is Johan Tyler O’Hanlon my boyfriend and hopefully, if things go the way I think, will be my future husband, Johan, close your mouth it’s not a good look, this is Keegan Brendan Whitten my best friend in the world and future best man.”

The chatter and questions around the group were background noise as the three continued their introductions.

Keegan bro hugged JT, still, no change in the hand, held tightly by MJ – “Johan, seems my BFF here is truly taken with you. In all the years we lived together I have never seen him so attentive and focused on anyone, not that there were a ton of guys or girls he dated just none that ever got him to show any public affection. You must truly be special to him.”

MJ yelled – “Ouch, what the hell was that for?” Jules was standing there staring daggers at her baby brother. “You can stuff your indignant behavior up your ass. You never once told me that your pregnancy was a secret. Shea did she ask you to keep it a secret? Jules this is on you, not me

MJ yelled out – “Where is Al?” Matt let MJ know she went back to their house, which annoyed the shit out of MJ. He promptly put his hand on Keegan’s shoulder and pushed him to the front of the house.  JT was at his side like a permanent fixture, everyone was talking about how quickly they had fallen into that close proximity and mandatory physical contact. Keegan was perplexed – “Where are we going, I just got here.”

MJ chuckled – “Keeg, you are my best friend in the world and I invited you here for two reasons – 1. Because I wanted to see you and catch up, after all it has been over a week since we last saw each other, and 2. I wanted to introduce you to Al, I think you might hit it off.” Keegan stopped moving – “MJ, I’m not gay or bi, I like girls.  We hooked up that one time and it was fun but not necessarily something I want to do again, let alone make it my future.”

When MJ was able to pull himself together and stop laughing – “Keeg, Al is short for Alicia. She is JT’s sister and has had the hots for me forever according to our sisters. Since you are the straight version of me, I thought maybe you two might hit it off.”

They made their way around the corner to the O’Hanlon’s house, MJ went to knock but JT opened the door and yelled for his sister – “By the way dumbass, it’s okay for you to walk in now as well. According to you, we will be married in the near future.”

Alicia heard that comment – “Fuck, why does everything fall into your lap, and I’m left out in the cold.” JT shook his head – “That’s insane. Everyone in the families and our school knew MJ was bi/gay leaning. I’m not sure how you missed it but get over it already.”

MJ interrupted – “Ok you two – Al, you have been a friend for years and I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were into me but I do believe I love your brother with my whole being. That said, that is not why we are here. My friend Keegan Whitten, who I believe you met earlier was invited to the barbecue because he is the straight version of me – without the stunning good looks of course. Kidding already.

Keegan this is Alicia Maureen O’Hanlon, Alicia this is Keegan Brendan Whitten. I think you two have a lot in common and if you give it a chance it might go somewhere or it might not but I wanted the two of you to meet. JT and I are heading back to the barbecue.”

With that JT and MJ left the house and started a slow walk back to the barbecue. JT squeezed MJ’s hand – “How are you so sure we will end up together and married?”