“Jax is blackmailing you? Jax?” Katherine laughed. “I don’t believe it.”

     “Well, believe it,” Milt snapped, irritated by her amusement. “Perhaps you don’t realize this about him, Katherine, or just don’t want to see it. But behind your brother’s deceptively angelic, golden-haired façade, and despite his young age, he happens to have the capacity to be as ruthless as Genghis Kahn!”

     Katherine waved her hand in dismissal of Milt’s exaggeration. She knew that Jax was no angel and was actually impressed with this latest maneuver of his. But to compare Jax to the likes of Genghis Kahn was absurd. “What is he blackmailing you with?” she asked.

     Milt gave her a rather condescending glance and rose to his feet. “Do you really expect me to share that with you? Your brother has coerced my cooperation by promising not to divulge what he knows, so I’m hardly inclined to go talking about it,” he snapped. “I must be on my way, at any rate. I only came here to tell you that he will be the next CEO. There is nothing to stop it now, as I am no longer in a position to oppose him. And I’m sorry to say that I think he will run your father’s company into the ground and ruin you all.”

     “That’s nonsense,” Katherine said, her hackles rising in defense of her brother. “I might not want him to be CEO for my own reasons, but I have no doubt that Jacks Enterprises would flourish under his leadership. Jax is brilliant, and you damn well know it.”

     “Are you so blind then?” Milt asked her. “Hang his brilliance, Katherine - that is not the point. He wants the company to use it as a weapon, don’t you see that? So he can declare all-out war on Warner World.”

     “That’s part if it, I know,” she confessed quietly. “I know his loathing of that family runs deep. But Jax was closer to our father than anyone. He worshipped the ground my father walked on. He adored him and idolized him; and I will never believe he would run JE into the ground.”

     “Think what you will,” Milt said. And then he strode from the room with a murmured “I’ll show myself out.”

     As Milt got into his car and was pulling out of the driveway, Jerry watched him through cool, brown eyes.

     “See, I told you I thought it was his car,” Holly said.

     Jerry nodded, not saying anything.

     “Do you think he was looking for you?” Holly inquired. “Or Jax?”

     “No. I think he found exactly who he came here to see,” Jerry said tightly and then drove the car into the garage and got out, walking around to the passenger side to open the door for Holly. After getting his pregnant wife settled in their room, Jerry made the long walk to the other wing of the house and knocked on his sister’s bedroom door. He was surprised to find that his fury at her constant betrayals of Jax when it came to Jacks Enterprises was not lighting him into a foul temper as usual. In fact, as she opened the bedroom door to admit him, he found himself feeling oddly sorry for his sister.

     “Jerry?” she said, as he stood there just staring at her.

     Jerry leaned against the door looking thoughtful. “Why do you do it, Kat?” he asked.

     “I beg your pardon?” his sister responded.

     “What is it that drives you to work against a brother that I know perfectly well you love with all of your heart? What makes you seek to steal away his true happiness in favor of what you perceive as his happiness?”

     Jerry’s questions and his mild, almost gentle tone were confusing Katherine, who was much more accustomed to him yelling at her, and was not at all certain exactly what he was accusing her of now. Had he been in the house after all - and overheard her conversation with Uncle Milt?

     “Jerry, I really don’t know what you mean. And it’s awfully late for…”

     “You know exactly what I mean,” he interrupted. “I’m trying to figure out now why it is that you do this.” Jerry walked into her room and took a seat on the elegant chair by the curtained windows. “And it suddenly occurs to me, Katherine, that perhaps you’re simply… well… unfulfilled, unchallenged and perhaps… bored?”

     “Don’t be ridiculous.”

     “Am I being ridiculous though? You have no life, Kat. You’ve made raising Jax your life. That was a challenge for you to take that heartbroken, little boy, so full of fury and anguish, and try to tame him and bring him back into the world - try to control his behavior. What puzzles me is that if you couldn’t do it when he was ten years old, what makes you think you can possibly do it now? Uncle Ian was the only one who could really control Jax and calm him and soothe him back then - don’t you remember that? And I’m not taking anything away from you, Kat, because you did bloody well raise him, and you devoted yourself tirelessly to him, but…”

     Kat held up her hand, her eyes visibly upset with this conversation. “Just stop this, Jerry. Obviously you have no point to make, so why don’t you just…”

     “I do have a point to make,” he interrupted her. “My point is that you’ve been living vicariously through Jax for so many years now that you simply don’t know how to live any other way, do you? Which is undoubtedly why controlling his life is so vital for you - even if it comes at the expense of his own happiness. You hold him dearest to your heart - I know this - so your intent can’t be malicious. And yet you continually try to destroy him, all the while deluding yourself that you know what’s best for him and so that makes it okay to do the things you do. It’s fascinating, in a rather twisted way, when you think about it. A psychiatrist would have a field day with this.”

     Katherine folded her arms in plain displeasure and anger. “I’m growing quite bored with this conversation, Jerry,” she said, her lips drawn into a thin, mutinous line, her tone defensive - seeking to deflect any truths he may have hit upon as to the emptiness of her own life and how desperately she needed to control and to live through her father’s golden child - Jax - to give her own life meaning.

     Jerry rose to his feet for a shake of his head. “Sister, let me leave you with some advice and a warning. First the advice: you need to actively seek a life of your own and leave Jax and his life the hell alone - he is not your child, Katherine, no matter how much you try to make him into that. If you like the political arena so much, run for an office yourself. If you want a child to control, then get married and bloody well have one. But leave Jax alone. And now for the warning: I’m perfectly aware that Uncle Milt was here tonight. I assume you and he were cloaked in the shadows, scheming to cost Jax the CEO position of our father’s company. For the life of me I will never understand why you would do such a thing, but I intend to make Jax aware of this latest endeavor of yours to work against him. And this might be a prudent time to remind you of Jax’s promise to disown you. He will do it, Kat. Apparently that is what you want, which baffles the bloody hell outta me.”

     “Jerry, wait!” Katherine said, as he walked through her bedroom door. “It’s not at all what you think. Uncle Milt and I were not scheming.”

     Jerry shrugged. “I don’t believe you.”

     “But we weren’t!” she insisted. “He only came here to tell me that Jax was, in fact, assured the position, and naturally Uncle Milt was very upset about this turn of events.”

     “And you? You surely were just as upset.”

     “What does that matter?” she asked. “The fact is that I was for once not scheming against Jax tonight, and if you tell him any such thing you will be lying. You will be causing my brother to disown me for no reason at all!” she shouted. The thought of such a division between her and Jax was unbearable. God’s truth, she did feel like his very own mother, more so than his much older sister.

     Jerry sighed. “Is this a plea for my silence then?”

     “Jerry, I swear to you we were not plotting against Jax. Uncle Milt was ranting and raving about Jax blackmailing him and being assured the CEO position. He came here only to inform me of that and to tell me there was nothing we could do. And that is the truth!”

     Oddly enough, Jerry believed her frantic explanation of the night’s activities, but he didn’t tell her that and instead just gave her an ambiguous glance and left her room.

     Rattled by Jerry’s words, Kat immediately picked up the phone to call off the messenger who was going to deliver the phony emergency note to Jax. She may not have been plotting with Uncle Milt tonight, but she had been scheming to get Jax home and prevent any marriage proposals from him to Brenda Barrett. And heavens - she really had forgotten all about Jax’s threat to disown her until Jerry had reminded her of it.

     “But he can’t marry her,” Katherine murmured, her frustration making her talk to herself. “He can’t. Why am I the only one who sees that? She’s not… she’s not right for him. She won’t be an asset to his future” And yet how could she stop it? How could she come between them in a manner that would allow her to keep her brother? It was not possible, she realized, stunned that she might actually have to give up her grand plans. She was not prepared to give up… had never intended to - not completely. And the idea of her having to do so now made her feel physically ill. Was Jerry right? Did she have no life, other than setting the course of Jax’s life?

     The ringing of her cell phone diverted her attention, and she walked over to the Victorian bench at the foot of her bed where her pocketbook was. She reached inside and pulled out the ringing phone.

     “Yes, who is it?” she asked, irritated at the late hour of the phone call.

     “Katherine, it’s Veronica Barrett,” the voice on the other end of the phone identified itself.

     Katherine’s irritation increased. “Oh, what in God’s name do you want?” She’d forgotten that she’d given the annoying woman her cell phone number back in the days when the two of them had been plotting to marry their kids off. Katherine stopped in mid-thought, startled that she had so automatically thought of Jax as her child. Another thing Jerry was always accusing her of and was dead-on right about. Her irritation reached new levels. This was turning into one hell of a horrendous day.

     “Now, Katherine, I really think you should try to be more civil with me. I’m calling to offer you assistance, after all. Unless, you’ve suddenly decided that you like the idea of Brenda getting her hooks even deeper into your brother Jax?”

     Katherine’s interest was peaked. “Keep talking,” she said. “But I’m warning you, Veronica, I’m having a very bad day and if you’re wasting my time, you’ll regret it.”

     “Well, I’d say your day is about to get better,” Veronica crowed. “I have some information to share with you about Brenda that might definitely affect Jax’s stubborn infatuation with her. My only condition is that you can never reveal that this information came from me. It’s a part of the damned divorce agreement that I can’t talk about it,” she grumbled, cursing Harlan’s cunning in adding that in. “I’ll lose everything if it ever gets out that this came from me.”

     Katherine was salivating with curiosity now. “You have my word,” she said, nearly light-headed with relief at the possibility that she might not have to abandon her plans for Jax after all.

     “Not good enough,” Veronica stated flatly. “I want it in writing. I want it stipulated that if you ever tell and cause me to lose my amazing divorce settlement, then you will be responsible for keeping me living in the lifestyle I am accustomed to and that you cost me.”

     Katherine was reminded how much she really disliked this tiresome, money-grubbing, social climber. “That will take time,” Katherine said through gritted teeth. She wanted this volatile information now, damn it!

     “Then I suggest you get working on it. You have some time because I’m out of the country at the moment. I’m calling you from my timeshare in the Bahamas, but the weather has been dismal and the company hasn’t been much better,” she said in reference to Alexa’s increasingly bad moods, as Brenda and Jax’s closeness was starting to have a storm-cloud affect on her. “So I’ll be returning home sooner than scheduled,” Veronica said. “As soon as I have the agreement in writing and approved by my attorney, you and I will meet and I will tell you something about Brenda that will positively make your day,” she purred. “I’ll deliver the bombshell into your hands, but it’ll be up to you to do the damage. I will expect to hear from you the moment I get back to Beverly Hills.” And with that Veronica Barrett hung up.

     Katherine stared at the phone for a few moments, as she tried to imagine what on earth Veronica could be talking about. Was it something that would change Jax’s feelings for Brenda? Make him abandon his foolish plans to wed the beautiful girl? And could Katherine somehow assure that if anything was found out all roads would lead to Veronica and not to her, so that Jax would never blame her for the loss of his ‘bonny sprite’?

     Mind reeling with schemes, heart thundering with hope, Katherine hurriedly dialed her attorney, not caring about the lateness of the hour.

Fiji…

     The hike through the lush, endless rain forest had been amazing and had taken them half the day. It was as tiring as it was exhilarating, though, and so they made plans to stay in for the rest of the day - starting with staying in the bathtub.

     The bathtub was huge enough to accommodate four and made out of smooth, cool jade. It was situated on a marble dais in the midst of live, potted palm trees and a glass ceiling, letting the fragrant air, blue sky and sunlight pour down on the occupants. The water was warm, the scent of the rosemary, eucalyptus and peppermint shampoo invigorating, as Jax lay back against Brenda, relaxed, eyes closed, as she lathered his hair while softly, absently singing Ricky Martin’s ‘Private Emotion.’

     It’s a private emotion that fills you tonight
     And the silence falls between us as the shadows steal the light
     And wherever you my find it, wherever it may lead
     Let your private emotion come to me

     The way she touched him - even in something as simple as washing his hair -stirred him, soothed him, pulled him into his own private heaven. Everything about her enchanted him. Everything. And everything he felt - for her and from her -communicated a connection between them that defied description and seemed to be borne of the very gods and surely had no equal.

     He wasn’t sure what he loved most at this moment: her beautiful voice; her beautiful touch; her beautiful body, soft and wet against his. She was his now. Truly. Finally. Just as he had planned. Just as he had dreamed. It had been a week now since he had first confessed his love for her and they had made love, and he did not doubt that she was bound to him by both the profound feelings of love they shared and the breathtaking intensity of their physical passion. He did not doubt that no other man would be able to overcome that bond, and thus would never be able to so much as turn her head, much less take her away from him. He did not doubt that she was his in every possible sense of the word; soon to be etched in sweet permanence when she became his wife just as soon as he got around to asking her, which his plan dictated would be a month from now, but his heart dictated it be much sooner than that.

     “Jax? When did you know?” her soft, curious voice broke through his thoughts.

     “Know what?”

     “You know…” she said, nudging him with her thighs.

     “That there was no Santa Claus?” he teased her. “Well, let’s see, I think I was seven…”

     She reacted to that by dunking his head under the water. “You know what I mean,” she said, as a laughing Jax wiped the water out of his eyes.

     “Yeah,” he said. “You’re asking me when I knew that I was in love with you, right?” he asked, reading her mind. And after all, didn’t all women eventually ask this question?

     “Yes.”

     Jax tilted his head back and gazed into her eyes. “I’ve loved you forever,” he said with a grin.

     She laughed. “I’m serious, Jax.”

     “Okay,” he said, resting his arms on her knees, as he tried not to be distracted by the magic of her hands in his hair or the heavenly feel of her naked body against him and the warm, tropical sunlight kissing their skin. “When we were in Scotland the first time, my attraction to you was incredible. I knew that I wanted you then. Love or no love, I wanted you. I think everything - every relationship between a man and a woman - starts out with attraction… desire… and genuinely liking the person. And then either that’s all it ever is or it evolves into something much more significant. Do you know what I mean?”

     She nodded in agreement, although she really had nothing to base that on since Jax was a series of firsts for her. The first man she had ever been this wildly attracted to, the first man she had ever made love to, the first man she had ever fallen in love with. But she trusted that he knew what he was talking about, and so found it easy to agree with him.

     “That’s what happened with us… with what I felt for you,” he continued. “I always liked you. Always. And my initial attraction to you - which I confess was rather staggering in nature, in and of itself - turned into so much more than I ever imagined I could possibly feel for any woman. It was little things at first; like the way your smile could make my heart jump around inside of me whether I wanted it to or not, the way being away from you made me as moody as hell. Even Jerry used to notice that,” he mentioned with a grin. “The very thought of you consumed me whenever I was away from you. It used to drive me bloody crazy. But the moment I really knew in my heart, I think, was when you gave me that sailboat on Christmas. What you made me feel at that moment was something I had never felt before in my life,” he confessed. “You touched a part of me no one ever has,” he said quietly.

     “I knew that day you took me sailing for the first time,” she said, laughing as she remembered her own confusion over her feelings at the time. “Totally freaked me out. I kept thinking: ‘no way, Brenda, you can’t be feeling this! We’ve only been together for two weeks!’”

     Jax nodded. “That would explain why you looked as if you wanted to jump overboard,” he murmured, recalling the day. “I thought you were reacting negatively to my implications that I wanted us to get serious. I had no idea that you felt that way about me then. Although… God, I really wanted you to,” he said with a grin.

     Brenda kissed his cheek and then rinsed the shampoo out of his hair. “Don’t you feel like we wasted so much time not telling each other what we felt when we actually felt it?”

     He shook his head. “No time with you was ever wasted time in my book. I wanted you to love me, but I wanted you to be sure that you loved me. I wanted you to love me in a way that no other man could possibly ever tempt you away from me. I wanted to make sure that I - and I alone - was your heart’s desire.”

     “You are,” she said, with a flash of dimples.

     “I know,” he bragged, looking as sexy as hell when he made that confession. “But I wasn’t always. And I don’t mind that I had to wait a little bit for it - and to be sure of it. It was worth the wait. You were worth the wait. And if we’re going to get technical about this, we can say I’ve been waiting for you for seven years. I might not have known I was, but I was.”

     “We were probably meant to meet that night,” Brenda decided, as Jax shifted her in the water so that she was now cradled in his lap, her head resting on his chest as he poured the shampoo into his hands and began lathering her gorgeous locks, as she relaxed contentedly along his body. “You know, I almost didn’t go outside that night. But then I remembered that I wanted that bracelet, so I went. Had I not done that, I might never have met you, Jax,” she said, that being a dismal thought indeed. “And even if you had seen me in England shimmying down a rope, you wouldn’t have known me at all.” What would have happened had Jax never met her that summer night? Would everything be dramatically different? Would he right now be married to Alexa? Would she be involved with Ryan Thornton maybe?

     “Even if I didn’t know you, if I’d seen you in England climbing down that rope I would have had the same reaction. You are breathtaking, Brenda Barrett, whether I would have known you or not - that wouldn’t change. And your personality is utterly bewitching. Trust me, I would have pursued you relentlessly. But the fact that I did know you - that I had a connection to you that feels like our own personal radar - it just made the whole thing more than just this amazing attraction. It made it veer off there into the magical. Like it was meant to happen, just like you said.”

     He washed the suds out of her hair and ran his fingers along the shiny mass of dark chestnut curls, then kissed the back of her neck. God, she smelled incredible. He kissed her again and then slipped his arm under her knees and lifted her out of the tub. The color of his eyes let her know where his thoughts were headed even before the evidence of his body did.

     Her hands reached out to caress the wet, warm skin of his face.

     “The hike was great today,” she said.

     “Yes,” he agreed, moving towards the bedroom. The warm, tropical breeze from the windows kissing their bodies, still wet from the bath, was an intoxicating sensation.

     “I thought you were tired?” she said with a smile, kissing the pulse throbbing rapidly at the base of his throat.

     “I’m not that tired,” he said. “I will never be that tired.”

     Brenda kissed the side of is face and then swirled her tongue along his ear. “Maybe we can go on another hike tomorrow? By the waterfalls this time. I think I want to get another one of those henna tattoos tomorrow, too. Right here,” she said, indicating her wrist.

     Jax kissed her proffered wrist and continued towards his destination, moving quicker with long, graceful, cat-like strides. “Ummm… Brenda? I’m not really thinking about tomorrow right now, sweetheart,” he informed her with a rakish smile.

     Brenda laughed and wrapped her arms tightly around him. She was so happy. Being in love was just the most amazing thing. “I love you, Jax.”

     “I love you, too.”

     “Are you sick of me saying that yet?” she asked.

     His chuckle was low and sexy. “No,” he told her.

     “Jax?”

     “Yes?”

     “No one can ever take this away from us, right?”

     His eyes smoldered a spectacular shade of blue. “No one,” he promised her, “is ever going to take you away from me - or anything away from us,” he finished, just before dropping her gently onto the bed and pouncing on top of her to her shrieks of delight.

     They arrived back at LAX on Saturday evening, a week later. Coincidentally, it was the same day and approximate time that Veronica and Alexa came back from their abbreviated trip to the Bahamas. And although Jax and Brenda were far too wrapped up in each other and the joy of being in love to take notice of much around them, Veronica and Alexa spotted them outside of the airport as they awaited Jax’s limousine.

     Alexa was stunned and pained to see Jax and Brenda acting as in love as two people could possibly be, as they waited for the limo to pull around. She felt her insides boiling as she watched them; watched how Jax’s gorgeous baby-blues lit up like a starlit sky whenever they were trained on Brenda; watched the intimacy of the way Jax touched her, the way Brenda positively sparkled when he bent down to whisper something into her ear. Alexa felt a wash of rage at the unfairness of it all. Jax was supposed to be hers. This was the way she and Jax should have been. In love, happy, unable to keep their hands off of each other, excitedly planning their future. Watching Brenda and Jax, it was as if she were witnessing Brenda living the life that should have been hers. Stealing it.

     Alexa hailed a cab and stormed away, leaving her mother and her bags behind, and Veronica knew she was likely off to a bar. Veronica was stewing over Alexa’s humiliation and Brenda’s happiness!

     “Enjoy it while you can, little one,” Veronica said, gazing at Jax and Brenda coldly as they climbed into the limo. She contemplated the news about Brenda’s familial blood ties to the Warners that she would bring to Katherine tomorrow over breakfast at the Beverly Hills Hotel. News which could very likely put an end to that happy twosome and give Alexa something to gloat about, instead of being upset and miserable all the time.

     At the bar at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Alexa was enjoying her fourth Margarita while venting about how much she hated her sister to a nice looking guy, who was very sympathetic to her feelings and was content to buy her drinks and listen to her. She was too angry, too embroiled in her self-pity, her need to whine, and too affected by the margaritas to notice that he had eyes strikingly similar to those of her sister - hair the same color, too. His name was ‘Phil’ … and he was happy to buy her drinks and sympathetically listen to her ranting about her hate for her sister and that was enough for her.

     It was enough for him to watch the whining, angry blonde woman get more and more intoxicated, and do his best to fuel her jealousy…

     “Well, how long do these cravings go on?” Jax asked in exasperation as he and Jerry pulled out of the 24-hour supermarket parking lot, heading back home. “Until she has the baby?”

     Jerry shrugged “I don’t know. Hey, I count myself lucky that her only craving now is Rocky Road Ice Cream. She could have one of those really weird cravings I read about, like a peanut butter, eggs and fish sandwich.”

     Jax shuddered and nodded.

     Jerry turned a corner and gave Jax a sideways glance. “At the risk of sounding clichéd, I’ve never seen you this happy,” he told his brother. “It’s nice.”

     “It’s Brenda,” Jax said. “And, by the way, I’ve never seen you this happy either. Just for the record.”

     “It’s Holly. It’s impending fatherhood. It’s seeing you so happy. It’s knowing that the CEO position of our father’s company is practically in the palm of your hands.” Jerry laughed then. “Incidentally, what are you blackmailing him with?”

     “He’s having an affair with a board member that could definitely ruin him. Not just ruin his marriage, Jer - ruin him.”

     “Danielle Barrington?”

     Jax shook his head. “Her father.”

     Jerry nearly choked on his shock. “Get out!” he howled.

     “I kid you not,” Jax said.

     “Uncle Milt and old, decrepit Mr. Barrington?” Jerry could still not fathom it. He didn’t know whether to laugh until he cried or just plain cry at the horrid imagery in his mind at the thought of a naked Mr. Barrington.

      “You should have seen Uncle Milt’s face when I told him I knew. Talk about a Kodak moment.”

     Jerry was still gawking in shock.

     “Jer, turn down Brenda’s block,” Jax said.

     “Bloody hell, kid, you were with her for two weeks straight and most of today on that damn, endless plane ride. It’s eleven-o’-bloody-clock at night anyway; she’s probably exhausted from the long trip and getting ready to go to sleep.”

     “I’m not going in; I just want to pass by.”

     “And do what?” Jerry asked. “Look at her house? See if you catch a glimpse of her pretty puss flashing those cute dimples at you in the window? Geez, Jax, you’re hopeless.”

     Hopelessly in love… yes, he knew that already. Separation anxiety, he supposed. He did not like to be away from her.

     “Oh, my god,” Jerry said gravely, as he turned down the block where Brenda’s grandmother’s house was. Flames were licking through the windows, smoke billowing in dark, ominous plumes in the night air, choking out the moon. And two fire trucks had just raced up.

     Jerry did not even notice when Jax flung open the door of the SUV and ran like hell towards the burning house.

     “God, please don’t do this to him. Please,” Jerry begged, as he ran out, too, chasing his brother down. “Jax! Wait! The firemen are here, damn it, just let them do their jobs!” Jerry hollered.

     Jax’s feet had wings as he all but flew down the street, his eyes taking flashes of information as he flew by. Neighbors filled the streets, staring at the burning house. Police cars arrived, lights flashing, sirens blaring, screeching to a halt in the street. Brenda’s father - he saw Brenda’s father. And Brenda’s grandmother, next to him, both of them shouting, sounding frantic. Jax’s heart began to crumble. His eyes scanned the street wildly. She was not there. A coldness crept over him, numbing him, preparing him to be able to endure devastation. He shook it off. He could not lose it now, damn it! He could not fall apart - go into that place again. No, no, no. She was okay, she was okay, she was okay…

     “Jax!” he heard Jerry yelling his name, catching up to him.

     “Jax!” he heard again, this time it was Dr. Barrett’s voice, choked with emotion. No, no, no. Jax was not going to listen to these people.

     “She’s in there! She’s in there, damn it!” Dr. Barrett said, the anguish in his voice like whiplash across Jax’s heart.

     A panicked wildness overtook Jax, and he raced towards the front door, fully intending to go inside and get her even if he had to break the door off of its hinges. Jerry literally leapt on his back and tackled him to the grass to stop him from going into the burning house.

     “Jax, please,” Jerry begged. “What are you doing? Please…”

     Jax threw him off and tried to get to the front door again, but this time two burly firemen tried to stop him, to no avail. He was at the door when it flung open wildly and Brenda come racing out, taking big gulps of the smoke-free air and coughing, her beautiful face smudged with smoke, holding her grandmother’s beloved cat, Sylvester, in her arms.

     The cat? She was in there, in a bloody burning house, looking for her grandmother’s damned cat?! Jax just stared at her, caught between wanting to kiss her senseless for being all right and wanting to throttle the bloody dickens out of her for daring to take such a chance. Brenda could feel the tension emanating from him, and she reached up and touched his face, her touch soothing him like nothing else could, her eyes telling him she was sorry, and she was all right, telling him please not to worry and please yell at her later, not now.

     All at once Jax embraced her tightly, in a hold no one could possibly have broken had they tried. Sylvester, not wanting to be crushed in the center of the crushing embrace, scrambled out of Brenda’s arms with a yowl and over to Ruby, who was hugging Harlan and wiping at her eyes and shouting at her cat.

     “Brenda…” Jax said, his voice an unsteady tumult of emotions, his eyes stinging - with smoke, Brenda thought.

     “Please don’t yell at me, Jax.”

     “I’m not going to yell at you, just please don’t ever do that to me again!” he yelled, holding her closer.

     She decided not to point out to him that he was yelling and instead took another gulp of fresh air and wrapped her arms tightly around him, allowing him to lift her right off the ground.

     Harlan, seeing Brenda was all right and in good hands, still insisted that she go over to the EMS unit to get checked for smoke inhalation. And while she and Jax were there, Harlan questioned the fire chief about this fire.

     “It started outside by the garage,” the chief informed him. “And, Dr. Barrett, we found traces of accelerant. This fire was deliberate, sir. Either intended to ruin the cars in your garage and it got out of control, or intended to do much more harm than that. Do you or your mother or daughter have any idea who would try to do something like this?”

     Harlan was seething. Someone had deliberately tried to harm his family?

     Jax and Brenda heard the tail end of the chief’s comments, as they made their way back over to Harlan and Ruby.

     “I seem to have the worst luck with cars, don’t I?” Brenda said to Jax, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere this night and these revelations about the use of an accelerant had caused. “I haven’t even had this one for a month, and it’s already gone,” she said, gazing at the completely burnt wreckage of the Aston Martin sitting next to the only semi-burnt Lexus of her father. Her grandmother’s little Honda had been parked on the street and was fine.

     Jax knew she was trying to soothe him, but he was wondering if it truly was the car that the arsonist was after? Brenda’s car. Hell, this was a car that car thieves would kill one another just to have the chance to steal. Who in their right mind would torch it? Or had the intent been more sinister? Had someone wanted to hurt the Barretts - Brenda, in particular? Or was her quest to save the life of her grandmother’s blasted overweight cat the only reason she had been in more danger than the others?

     It was midnight by the time Harlan had finished talking to the police and the firemen. The house was salvageable, having only partially been gutted by the flames, but it would certainly not be inhabitable for several months, until repaired.

     “You’re welcome to stay at my family’s home until other arrangements can be made,” Jax said to Ruby and Harlan.

     “No, thank you, dear boy,” Ruby declined firmly. She was still chafed about Jax’s pursuit of Brenda, his knowledge of her paternity and how he might plan to cruelly use her granddaughter for his own personal vengeance against a hated enemy. “The insurance company agent has already informed us that we’ll be provided with hotel arrangements. Come along, Brenda,” she said, trying to disengage her granddaughter’s hand from Jax’s firm, possessive grip.

     “Let me rephrase my offer, Mrs. Barrett,” Jax said slowly. “You and Dr. Barrett are welcome to my family’s hospitality - the choice is yours,” he repeated, “Brenda, on the other hand, is coming with me, no ifs, ands or buts.” And having made that clear, he swept Brenda up into his arms and carried her off to Jerry’s car, which was still parked several feet away, both front doors wide open from where the men had raced out.

     Jerry looked at the gaping Ruby, then over to Dr. Barrett, who had his arms folded and one eyebrow cocked high.

     “He’s very decisive like that,” Jerry explained, and then followed after his brother.

      “Can you believe that!” Ruby sputtered, gazing after the three departing figures. “I tell you, Harlan, that boy could give that pugilist Prince Nasim a lesson in highhanded arrogance!” Ruby muttered. “How dare he dictate to us like that, and then to physically abduct…”

     “Coming mother?” Dr. Barrett interrupted her, as he followed after Jax, Brenda and Jerry.

     With a snort of disapproval to show her son that she did not care for his attitude, Ruby followed.

     Respectful of Brenda’s father and grandmother’s presence, Jax had given Brenda her own room, although it was directly across from his own. But the night was a restless one for Brenda, who found sleep most elusive. In the middle of the night, clearly unable to sleep and thrillingly aware that Jax was right across the hall from her, Brenda felt a wild need for his touch, his taste, his closeness. After a few more moments, in which she tried to read a book, tried to count sheep, tried to play solitaire, and tried to talk herself out of going to his room, she climbed out of her bed and did just that. The door to Jax’s bedroom opened quietly with not a single creak or squeak, the hinges obviously as impeccably kept as everything else in the Jacks family mansion. Brenda walked inside and then closed the door, leaning against it as her eyes adjusted to the darker room.

     Jax lay sprawled on his back on the bed, illuminated by a wash of moonlight that made Brenda catch her breath as the moonbeams haloed Jax in a surreal, silvery light that made him somehow seem wholly divine and untouchable. The black silk sheet that covered him had worked its way down to his waist, exposing his bare torso.

     Brenda walked closer to him, her eyes moving from the moonlit splendor of his body to his face that looked heartbreakingly young and stunningly angelic in slumber. Long, dark-gold lashes lowered in sleep, shielded eyes that she already knew were the most magnificent shade of aquamarine, beautifully set under low-arched, golden brows. His entire face, in fact, was so perfectly formed that it appeared as if some master craftsman of great skill had carefully chosen every feature and placed it just so. And the tiny scar that appeared over his lip, the one little thing that prevented complete flawlessness, actually added to his appeal. He shifted his sleeping position then, turning on his side, facing the window.

     Even asleep she felt the heady intensity that flowed from him, electrified the air and touched her very soul - connecting them to one another in ways both mysterious and wonderful. Being in the same room with him, breathing the same air, knowing that he was hers, filled her with tenderness in her heart and fire in her blood.

     All at once craving maximum proximity to him, Brenda shed the sleeping gown Holly had lent her and climbed into the bed and slipped underneath the sheet. Trying not to disturb Jax, she carefully fitted her body against his, circling his ribs with one arm so that her breasts were pressed against his back, snuggling her body against his. He stirred at the contact but did not awaken. Then Brenda relaxed, finally cured of her restlessness because she knew she was exactly where she belonged now. His warmth and strength and masculine sensuality against her nude body was too alluring by far though. She began to stroke his chest, enjoying the contrast of smooth, warm skin sprinkled with soft, springy golden hair. Despite her relaxation, she felt paradoxically alive.

     She kissed the hollow under his shoulder blade. “I love you, Jax,” she whispered. What had begun as a need to simply be close to him became more as her blood quickened and desire raced thrillingly within her. She skimmed the firm, muscular shape of his body beneath the sheet, then daringly moved her hand up the front of his thigh until she found what she sought. Already semi-aroused, he became fully aroused at her light touch.

     “Brenda,” he murmured. Rolling onto his back, he drew her close with one hand and began to caress her breast with his other hand. He wasn’t truly awake but his instincts were remarkable, Brenda thought with a grin, as she closed her eyes to the pleasure of his touch. She was also nearly giddy with delight that, of all the women’s names that could have fallen from Jax’s lips during a sleepy, sensual haze, the name he had murmured had been hers alone.

     She rose her head and kissed him. His lips, warm and welcoming, aroused her. She shifted so that she was fully on top of him as she deepened their kiss. His arms captured her, holding her so close it was as if their hearts were beating as one.

     Strange dear, but true dear
     When I’m close to you dear
     The stars fill the sky
     So in love with you am I.
     Even without you
     My arms fold about you
     You know, darling, why
     So in love with you am I.
     In love with the night mysterious
     The night when you first were there
     In love with my joy delirious
     When I knew how much you cared
     I’m yours until I die
     So in love with you am I.

      Jax awakened to Brenda’s sensual ministrations with an initial jolt of surprise and then a slow, sexy smile. “You’re really here,” he said, having thought he’d been having the best, damned dream of his life. He kissed her with a dark, velvet richness. “Of course, you shouldn’t be,” he added with a chastising grin.

     “This is exactly where I should be,” she countered. “With you.”

     “Yes, I agree with that in principle, but you forget that your father and grandmother are here - just down the hall somewhere. I put you in your own bedroom out of deference to them.”

     Brenda laughed. “Meaning you’re trying to win them over.”

     “Only your grandmother. She doesn’t like me, in case you hadn’t noticed,” he muttered.

     Brenda shrugged. “She just can’t get past her suspicions that you’re just this gorgeous, charming, worldly playboy who’s going to leave me a broken-hearted mess. But she doesn’t know you like I do. And I know that you would never do that to me - that you would never do anything to hurt me, ever. My grandma may not approve of you - yet - but I love you, Jax, with all my heart, and she knows that. It just scares her, that’s all.”

     Jax gave her a hot, sultry kiss for that response. “Do you have any idea how much I love you, my bonny sprite?”

     Brenda brushed her lips against his and nodded. Although their love was still so fresh and new to them both, she was extremely secure in Jax’s love for her. It was a very wonderful feeling to be that sure of something that meant the world to her.

     He kissed her temple. “So why are you here exactly?” he teased her. “Magnetic attraction to yours truly?” And then all at once the teasing light in his eyes disappeared. “Or did you have a nightmare about the fire?” he asked in that soothing, sensual baritone of his that was so pleasing to the ears that one could listen to him speak all day, even if it were only nonsense he was uttering.

     “Nope, no nightmares,” she assured him. “Honestly, Jax, I think that fire affected you more than it affected me.”

     He sighed and gazed into her eyes. “Obviously,” he murmured, running the back of his knuckles slowly along her face. She would never really understand the stark terror that had paralyzed him at the thought of her perishing in that fire. He’d had enough of death in his life - death of those he loved the most. And god, no one had ever gotten as deep into his heart as she had. He would not lose her - not that way, nor any other way, damn it! “So what was it that kept you up all night then?” he asked.

     “I just couldn’t sleep,” she shrugged.

     “Oh,” he nodded, a smile touching his lips. “Translation: you missed me.”

     She laughed. “Did I say that, you arrogant man, you?” her lips brushed sensually over his. “I just didn’t seem to be tired, that’s all. I really tried not to come in here, Jax,” she insisted with the most mischievous smile he’d ever seen.

     “So you’ve come here with the request that I tire you out then?” he asked with a devilish raise of a golden blonde brow, as he cradled her face in his hands and brought her mouth down to his to drink from her sweet lips.

     Her eyes sparkled bewitchingly. “Would you do that for me?” she murmured dreamily against the heat of his kiss.

     “Just this once…” he murmured back, capturing her giggle in his mouth as he seized her mouth in an erotic kiss of devouring intensity, while rolling over in the bed with her so that she was now beneath him, her legs bracketing his. Then they rolled over again, Jax beneath her once more.

     “Your bed feels so good,” Brenda announced, while taking breaths in between passionate kisses. Jax laughed at her declaration.

     “Uh… it does?” he asked in a voice laced with laughter and desire.

     “Yes. But not as good as you,” she said, shivering with delight as she kissed his cheek and his throat, enjoying the feel of his unshaven skin tickling her own. Then she sat up on him and trailed her long hair down the length of his body, and he was the one shivering with delight now, as a moan escaped him.

     “I’ll have to get you back in your bedroom in the morning before anyone wakes up,” he said, even as his hands stroked the outside of her thighs, and then he swiftly drew her full down on top of him for a mind-reeling kiss, so hot that Brenda thought the sheets might be on fire.

     “Mmmm... Okay,” Brenda said, content to spend the night in his arms, even if she had to go back to her own room with the coming of the dawn’s early light. She trailed kisses down his chin, down his throat, down his chest, stopping to circle her tongue around both of his nipples. She felt the slam of his heartbeat thundering beneath her palm, felt the hot throb of his masculine delight against the back of her thighs.

     “And we have to… ah…try to be quiet, Bren. You know, we don’t want your father or your grandmother thinking there’s bloody murder going on in here and running in on us, for the love of…”

     “Oh, they won’t be,” she assured him, whipping her head up, her hair cascading beautifully all around her, like a cloud of glistening chestnut. “This house is way too big! Besides, I locked your door,” she whispered with a flash of dimples. “Do we really make so much noise that we sound like we’re being bloody murdered?” she asked, mimicking his accent on the last two words. “And how exactly would you know how a bloody murdered person sounds anyway?” she asked with a roll of her eyes. He would have given into his laughter, but she chose that moment to lean down and run her tongue along his lips. He gently gripped the back of her neck to hold her just where he wanted her as his tongue came out to stoke sensually against hers. Then he drew her tongue into his mouth for a deep, long kiss that was endless and provocative to the extreme.

     “Brenda,” Jax breathed, grabbing a hold of her hips hard, his eyes sparkling wildly with passion’s blue light. “I want you.”

     She smiled down at him. “I know that,” she said, deliberately brushing the inside of her thigh against his arousal to illustrate. “I want you, too, Jax ” she said, her voice suddenly breathless as she held Jax’s rivetingly beautiful gaze. “Always.”

     “I want you now,” he clarified in a soft whisper, those strong hands on her hips lifting her and then lowering her slowly down onto himself. He sent her a wicked, heart-stopping grin over the way her eyes widened in astonishment and then her head fell back and her hands gripped the sides of his stomach.

     “Oh - my - god!” she said.

     So much for being quiet, Jax thought.

     She moved her hips experimentally. “Oh god!” he groaned out loud, as she slid up and down with sensual ease. Yes, so much for being bloody quiet indeed.

     Brenda liked this sense of power, the fantasy that she could enslave him with joy, as he had her. She moved and he moved with her, excitement scorching through their veins until it fused with the fire in their blood. The illusion of power vanished as her body escaped her control. Her hands slid into his palms, their fingers interlocking like their bodies. Every ounce of her was moving, writhing, pulsing in a divine dance of breathless passion where he was the only imaginable partner for her. A man who loved her and whom she loved with all she had and all she was. A man who enriched her, whose untamed spirit meshed so perfectly with her own. A man who was without a doubt the mate of her soul, if one believed in such things. And she did now.

     “Oh god, oh god, oh go-od!” Brenda cried out. She was vaguely aware of Jax echoing her words. And had she not been so enthralled by the whirlwind of orgasmic ecstasy that was carrying her away, she would have smiled triumphantly over the fact that he was certainly shouting louder then she was!

     They made love faster.

     Hotter.

     Until they were splintering.

     Then free falling. Free falling right into heaven together.

     Floating in a sensual paradise that held them lingeringly in its thrall and ebbed away slowly. So very, very slowly. Taking them long, long moments to descend back to earth.

     And Jax made good on his promise to tire her out, too. No sooner had she made her descent to earth than he reversed their positions, kissed her breathless, and took her back to the heavens, as they found their climax together in an explosion of passion so consuming and so beautiful it would have blotted out the sun - had the sun been up, of course.

     Afterwards they lay tangled in the bed, silhouetted in the moonlight, both of them gasping for breath and laughing, as they each accused the other of making enough noise to wake the dead, let alone her father and grandmother. Smoothing back her hair, he said huskily, “I adore you, Brenda.”

     A scant moment later, when Brenda pressed her lips to the base of his throat and murmured a sweet “I love you,” she drifted off to sleep in the blink of an eye, a feat Jax found truly amazing. He’d never seen anyone fall asleep so fast. But he knew he had blissfully exhausted her. In fact, he was moments away from sleep himself, as blissfully exhausted as she.

     He held her to him, stroking her hair as he found himself once again marveling at the fact that he was nearing twenty-four years old and had never known that passion could be so… shattering. Some of that intensity between them tonight, he knew, came from the fear he had experienced when she had been in the burning house and the profound, nerve-wracking gratitude he felt at having her safe again. All of that spilled over into their lovemaking tonight. But mostly, more than anything else, it was Brenda herself. He’d never known a woman who was so absorbed when they made love. She had no self-consciousness; no calculation about who was winning the silent battle that often lurked beneath the surface when men and women came together in sexual unions. It was the love, Jax realized. It was the love that made all the difference in the world. Brenda gave herself to him utterly, with complete trust and unchecked joy - and there was no greater aphrodisiac than that.

     She gave him paradise and he wanted this forever. He wanted her forever.

     It was time.

     He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

     The sun filtered into Jax’s bedroom as the grandfather clock downstairs cheerily played the Westminster Abbey and chimed ten a.m.

     Jax had promised to have Brenda back in her bedroom by the morning before anyone woke up, but the sheer contentment of having her in his arms after such splendid lovemaking led to a very deep, luxuriant slumber for them both and they had both awakened only moments ago, well aware that everyone else in the house was most likely already up and about and down at breakfast, wondering what on earth was keeping them.

     “So much for getting me back to my room by dawn, huh?” Brenda teased him with a swat on the behind, as she watched a semi-dressed Jax brush his teeth. Jax stuck his hand under the water tap and flicked the water in her face.

     Done brushing his teeth he kissed her and she tasted the minty-cool of the toothpaste on his lips. “It’s your fault anyway,” he informed her, as he watched her parade around his bedroom in one of his shirts.

     She sat down on the bed. “Because I came in here last night and ravished you?” she asked with an unrepentant smile on her exquisite, young face.

     “Exactly,” Jax said. “Although the ravishing was most definitely mutual.”

     Brenda laughed and got up and walked over to the open window gazing, out at the lush beauty of the Jacks mansion property.

     “I can’t help it,” she said, turning around to face him again. “I always want to be with you. All the time.”

     His blue eyes held her brown ones in a deep gaze. “Do you mean that?”

     She laughed. “Of course I mean that.”

     “Well, that settles it then. You’re going to have to marry me,” he informed her.

     Brenda’s infectious laughter filled his bedroom.

     “I’m serious, Brenda,” he said quietly.

     She stopped her laughter when she realized he really was.

     “You… are?” she said, her voice now as seriously quiet as his was. “You are not. Jax, you are?”

     He leaned against the doorway of the dressing room, gazing at her sitting on the bed. “I want to be with you all the time, too,” he told her. “And this seems to be the most logical way to make that happen, don’t you agree?”

     Logical? She looked at him uncertainly, as she digested that way of putting it. Logical? She decided she hated that way of putting it. He held back his smile as he gazed at her and thought she definitely looked as if she might possibly wish to strangle him.

     He walked over to her and knelt in front of her, resting his hands on her bare thighs. “And then, of course, there is also the fact that I love you more than life itself and want very much to make you my wife,” he added with a devastating grin, “if that reason is more to your liking, sprite.”

     Brenda tossed her head back and laughed with joy and then placed her hands around Jax’s throat. “Logical?!” she said.

     His boyish smile made her turn to mush. “Well, it was logical,” he argued, removing her hands from his throat and pressing them to his lips. “Brenda, I love you. I want to marry you. May I have an answer please?”

     She was melting into the incredible blue shimmer of his eyes. “I can’t even believe this is happening to me,” she whispered. Her gaze kissed his very soul. “I am so in love with you. When I think of my future, I only think of you.” Her fingertips brushed across his lips. “I would love to be your wife, Jax,” she said. “I would be so honored and so proud and so deliriously happy to be your wife. Are you understanding that I want to be your wife?” she laughed and kissed him.

     He smiled at her and nodded.

     She closed her eyes and then opened them again, as if testing if she were having a dream or if this was really occurring. Her radiant smile indicated she’d discovered it was definitely the latter. “If you really want me, I am yours. The answer is yes,” she said with several nods for emphasis.

     He had expected that answer. Yet still his heart fluttered madly with a mixture of sheer relief and complete happiness as he leaned forward and enveloped her in his arms.

     “Of course the answer is yes,” he whispered boastfully into her ear.

     Brenda laughed and tossed her arms around him, sliding down into his arms, pushing them both back to the floor and herself completely off of the bed. “I’ll make you so happy, Jax. You’ll never be sorry you married me. Never,” she promised him in a soft, heartfelt rush of words.

     “You already make me happy, Brenda Elizabeth. And if you think I would ever regret marrying you, you need to have your pretty, little head examined.” He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and gazed at her critically. “Although maybe you ought to do that anyway.”

     She laughed and grabbed his face. “You stop insulting me right now and kiss me,” she ordered.

     And he did. He kissed her softly parted lips, the center of her chin, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, her temple, the corners of her eyes, then her lips again, murmuring ‘I love yous’ with each touch of his lips to her face. He had kissed every inch of that lovely face and dallied at length with her tantalizing lips before he finally pulled away, aware that he was becoming very aroused and thinking they were already late enough for breakfast as it was.

     They got dressed and went downstairs to have a late breakfast and tell everyone their exciting news. As they came down to breakfast at such a late hour that breakfast had to be changed to brunch, they were greeted by a full table (with the exception of an absent Katherine, who Jerry explained had a breakfast meeting with someone) and a glare of censure from Brenda’s grandmother, who furiously whispered to Harlan: “I told you so! The boy has no self-control. She was in a fire last night, for heaven’s sake - you’d think he’d have the decency to let her sleep!”

     Harlan merely shrugged, not knowing if it were Brenda or Jax who didn’t have the self-control, assuming it was likely both of them, but knowing Jax was gentleman enough not to have gone to Brenda, so it had likely been his daughter whose self-control had slipped last night. Not that it mattered much to Harlan’s way of thinking. People in love made love. As often as possible. That was simply the way of it. He thought his mother must have surely forgotten how it felt to be so passionately in love because she was certainly cutting the kids no slack at all. Passionate love was still fresh in Harlan’s mind, even though it had been eighteen years since he’d felt its fiery, intoxicating magic carrying him off in its whirlwind. He still knew vividly how it felt, how it made you feel. And he rejoiced that his beloved child had found such a love. In time he was sure his mother would feel the same way. How much time that would be was anyone’s guess, of course. In her mind, Brenda was still just a baby and Jax was the bad, bad playboy who was snatching her away.

     Sylvester strolled lazily past Jax as he pulled out a chair for Brenda, and Jax was sorely tempted to kick the cat sky high.

     Jax and Brenda seated themselves and their secretive glances and smiles were driving Jerry batty.

     “Oh, for the love of god, what is the matter with you two?” he demanded, banging down his cup of coffee and spilling it onto his saucer.

     That made Brenda laugh, the pretty sound lilting down the dining hall. Holly laughed because Brenda did, even though Holly had no idea what was so amusing. Brenda’s laughter was always so bloody infectious.

     Jerry rolled his eyes. “I am a constant source of amusement to your girlfriend,” he bemoaned to Jax, who chuckled.

     “What the devil is the cause of this phenomenal mood you two are in?” Holly asked, glancing from Jax to Brenda and back again.

     “I asked Brenda to marry me this morning,” Jax informed the table.

     Holly gasped.

     “I said yes!” Brenda piped in cheerfully, when Jax was taking too long to finish the telling for her taste.

     Holly was ecstatic, Jerry was beaming, Harlan’s smile started out slowly and grew and grew as he saw the proof of his daughter’s joy right before his eyes. Ruby sat gape-mouthed, her spoon hanging over a half of grapefruit, her cat lolling at her feet.

     This was madness! They were too young - especially Brenda. Good lord, she was just starting college! This was happening too fast! Ruby glared good and hard at Jax. Surely this was all his doing. He had no doubt leveled those glorious blue eyes of his at poor Brenda and then hit her with one of those smiles that made the heavens open up, and what chance did she stand against such an arsenal as this skilled, young, Aussie playboy possessed? He had Brenda utterly bewitched, bewildered and bamboozled!

     The good cheer and congratulations at the table was making Ruby daft. She poked her son rudely in the ribs, demanding he say something to stop this. He brushed her hand away, as he continued to join in the good cheer. She tossed down her spoon, which hit the grapefruit, causing it to squirt into her eye. “I object! Owwww!” she bellowed as she furiously tossed some ice water on her eye where the grapefruit had squirted and was stinging.

     The entire table grew silent. Brenda looked over at her grandmother and held her breath, desperately trying not to laugh. It was not to be. She tossed her head back and laughed. “Grandma, what are you doing?” she asked, as Ruby seemed to be trying to dip her entire eye into the water pitcher.

     Even Ruby saw the humor in this and shook her head as she groped for a napkin, her lips quivering with laughter. Lord, she must look ridiculous! She would say nothing now, she decided. She would allow the good cheer to reign at the table and would talk to Brenda in private, away from the allure of Jasper Jacks. She would caution her granddaughter about rushing into something so serious as marriage at such a young age to man who would likely be a playboy at heart for the rest of his days. The good news was that they at least had not set a date yet, she thought, breathing a sigh of relief over that much.

     At that very moment Jax was leaning across to Brenda to whisper in her ear, “So when do you want to do this, sweetheart?” as he brushed his lips against her ear and laughed softly.

Cocoa Beach, Florida . . .

     The Fillmore brothers filed into the library of their grandfather’s home and sat down.

     “Why did you call this meeting, Steven?” Daniel demanded. “With the old man out of the country, the last place I want to be is in this stuffy mausoleum he calls a home. This is our time to be free until he gets back.”

     Steven ignored Daniel’s question, as he instead passed out a packet of papers to his brothers.

     “Do you know what this is?” he asked. “It’s a copy of grandfather’s updated last will and testament that I managed to get my hands on.”

     “Oh, man, he will kill you if he ever finds out,” Alec warned.

     “Look, you guys, just read it, damn it,” Steven said, highly agitated. Do you see this garbage? It says there is a stipulation that everything goes to his granddaughter, with instructions for his lawyers to make sure she is found if he dies before she is found! If she is never found or has died, then his grandsons get the money, with his split to be determined in a codicil.”

     “Damn,” Billy said, stunned that their grandfather had actually named the phantom sister in his will. The old man had talked about it all the time, but no one thought him crazy enough to name a beneficiary who might not even exist at all.

     “But this will only affect us if the phantom sister even exits,” Alec pointed out.

     “She does exist,” Steven dropped his bombshell. “She is no phantom because I have seen her with my own eyes. And she’s in league with our greatest enemy, no less.”

     “Steven, what the hell are you babbling about?” Alec demanded.

     “Jasper Jacks has a fiancée, are you aware of that? Well, no, you’re probably not, since it’s very new information, which I only found out from my loose-lipped, margarita-swigging source. Her name is Brenda Barrett - not the loose-lipped one, but Jax’s fiancée. She’s our mother’s daughter. There is no doubt of that.”

     “My god,” Daniel murmured. “She exists?”

     “And she’s with Jax?” Billy spat out in disgust. “Hell, Steven, are you even sure of any of this?”

     “I’m sure. I’ve known for weeks now,” Steven admitted.

     “Weeks?” Billy erupted. “And you never said anything to us?”

     “I’ve been trying to manipulate things so that her jealous half-sister - that would be the loose-lipped, margarita-swigging source - takes care of her for us,” he explained, “but that stupid creature is proving to be incredibly inept. I’ve been doing my damndest to keep the old man from finding out that our phantom sister is alive and well and engaged to Jasper Jacks. I created that emergency situation in Bangladesh to get him the hell out of the country so he wouldn’t see any photos of this girl once the engagement is announced and covered by the mainstream press. And let me tell you, all he has to do is see her and he will know. She’s the right age and she looks just like Mom,” he said with a shake of his head.

     “Really?” Billy asked, and Steven did not like the tenderness and curiosity he heard in his brother’s question.

     “She’s the most beautiful girl I have ever seen,” he said matter-of-factly, coldly, clinically - just spelling out the facts and showing a coldness when discussing Brenda. Deliberately refusing to let any familial ties be sparked to life… even remotely. “And as we stand here, she is this very minute the lone legal heiress to a billion-dollar empire. Our empire that that crazy, vindictive old man is just going to hand over to some stranger in some desperate attempt to assuage his guilt over the way he pushed our mother right into the grave. A stranger, who is technically family, yes, but no less an outsider to us. An enemy to us. A threat to what belongs to us!” Steven emphasized. “A stranger who is our honest-to-god baby sister. So what? Does that fill your heart with warm and fuzzy brother feelings?” he sneered, gazing at Billy, who took exception to being singled out.

     “I never said that! What the hell are you looking at me for?” Billy said defensively, a dull blush coming to his cheeks.

     Satisfied, Steven continued. “The only thing her being our honest-to-god baby sister means is that it can be proven in a court of law with blood tests and DNA and just her pretty little face alone, damn it. Do you all understand the ramifications of that? If she is found, the old man’s lawyers can prove she’s legit. Everything will go to her. Everything.” He stood up and looked at his brothers, making eye contact with each and every one of them. “And for that very reason we have got to get rid of her.”

Song credits: "Private Emotion" written by E. Bazilian/R. Hyman, performed by Ricky Martin & Meja from the Columbia Records album Ricky Martin. "So In Love" written by Cole Porter from the musical Kiss Me Kate (Act II, Scene 6), performed by Michael Ball.