Two weeks after Philip d'Autremont is acquitted of his wife's murder, it's time for him and his partner and lawyer, Charles Barnett, to start building their life together. But it turns out that not everyone in Atlanta is as ready to leave the trial in the past as Charles and Philip, and a surprise attack leaves Charles in the hospital and Philip's arm in a sling.<br><br>With thoughts of their own mortality fresh in their minds, Charles and Philip make a decision that will change their lives forever. Future plans and home renovations take their minds off the attacks, but the danger isn't over yet: the people behind the attacks are still at large, and they weren't acting alone.

Tribulation

And so it went for four wonderful days and nights. We ate, sunned ourselves, took long showers together, and made love so many times we stopped counting. To put it crudely, we fucked as though there were no tomorrow. We didn’t see anyone, we didn’t call, nor did we hear from anyone, and most importantly, we left the television turned off. We talked for hours and hours, and at times, we just lay silently on the lounge chairs, listening to the surf and basking in each other’s presence. Sometimes we tuned a radio to an all-music station. On one such afternoon, they were playing ‘golden oldies’, and I was actually paying attention to the lyrics, which was unusual for me. I didn’t know who the artist was, but the refrain they were singing was “I love you more than yesterday, less than tomorrow,” and I thought it was sweet. The announcer eventually said that it was a song by a group called The Swingin’ Medallions, and I said, “That’s so sweet.”


Chapter 12