Orlando General Hospital, Orlando, FL

     Daniel stood next to Steven in the ICU unit, looking through the glass at their grandfather, who had suffered a heart attack at the airport.

      "What did you do to him?" Daniel whispered, impressed.

      "Nothing," Steven whispered back. "As luck would have it, something else caused his attack, not me. When I got to the airport, he was already on the ground; the airport medical staff hovering all around him."

      "How convenient for us," Daniel said.

      "It's only convenient if he stays incapacitated until we can get rid of our little problem and make sure her existence is never known to him," Steven pointed out.

      "Then, we'll have to ensure that, won't we? That he doesn't wake up until we get rid of all traces of baby sister." Daniel suddenly grunted in disgust. "Bad move bringing him here to this public hospital. It'll be all over the news now that he's had this attack. It's going to mess like hell with the stock of Warner World."

      "I've already arranged to have him moved to a private facility," Steven informed him. "Unfortunately, we have to wait for him to stabilize before they will do that. It's too late to undo the damage in this case anyway. This will be all over the news tonight."

      "Damn it," Daniel muttered. "Jasper Jacks will pounce on this, too - you know he will. He'll have our stockholders bailing on us like passengers leaping from the Titanic. We've got to find a way to calm the stockholders about grandfather's condition and try to minimize any damage Jax will gleefully try to inflict from this."

      "I'd like to know what gave the old bastard the attack in the first place," Steven said.

     Daniel shrugged. "He's always had a bad heart, baby brother, you know that."

     "Yes, but what if somehow he saw her and that's what brought on the attack, Daniel? What if he already knows she exists now? What the hell do we do then?"

     "We make sure he never wakes up to reveal that bit of information to his lawyers and activate his second will," Daniel responded calmly. "We let it die with him."

     Steven nodded solemnly, but then thought of a new problem. "What if he told someone?"

      "Someone like whom?" Daniel queried. "None of his attorneys were with him at the time. Even his personal assistant, Greg, was by the luggage carousel, not near grandfather when he collapsed."

      "Someone like Billy," Steven said, his eyes shifting over to the nurses' station, where Billy was filling out forms with medical information on their grandfather. "He was at the airport before I was, you know."

      "Did he ride with Grandfather in the ambulance to the hospital?" Daniel inquired.

     Steven shook his head. "No. He followed behind in his own car, just like I did. But the fact remains that he was the first family member on the scene; he possibly had time to be alone with Grandfather before the coma. Grandfather could have whispered some instructions to him."

      "Yes, perhaps. But Grandfather telling Billy is irrelevant. Billy already knows about Brenda and has a stake in keeping the news of her existence quiet," Daniel pointed out.

      "Yes, but Grandfather could have given him instructions on what to do with the information. Inform his lawyers, hold a press conference announcing her existence, or something equally disastrous that could jeopardize our inheritance."

      "It doesn't matter. Billy would never obey the old coot," Daniel dismissed.

      "He might in this case," Steven muttered. "He's changed, Daniel. He's not as motivated by the money as he once was. This whole little sister thing - he's going all mushy and soft over that. You know he was always the closest to our mother. I think it's Brenda's resemblance to her that's got him breaking away from us and acting all protective of her like this."

     Daniel nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "You have a very valid point there. When it comes to baby sister, Billy is not very predictable at all. We'll just have to find out what conversation he and grandfather may have had - if they indeed exchanged any words at all - won't we? And then we will take action accordingly." Then he gave his youngest brother a deadly serious look. "You realize that from here on out the stakes are incredibly high now, Steven. There is no going halfway or going back now," Daniel warned him. "This is all or nothing at all. We either commit to this or we forget about it."

      "I know," Steven agreed, "and I am committed to this. That little girl is not getting what we suffered the abuses of that old man all these years to gain. And that old man is not going to cheat us out of what is rightfully ours by just handing it over to some newfound grandchild." And then he turned towards the nurses' station to have a chat with Billy to discover if their grandfather had ever been conscious in Billy's presence after the attack.

     Jerry and Holly were enjoying a very pleasant sunset dinner out on the terrace when the sound of the doorbell interrupted their meal.

     Jerry sighed, rising to his feet. "It's times like these when I wish we had a butler. Houses like this need one, you know. I mean, it isn't at all feasible for Cook to race from the kitchen to answer the door, or I would shift that duty over to her."

     Holly smiled over at him. "And Cook would crack a soufflé pot upon your head if you ever suggested adding such a thing to her duties. Besides, we had a butler, remember? Charles? He was assisting your sister in one of her schemes involving Jax, and so you fired him. I told you to replace him, but as usual, Jerry, you procrastinate. It's been nearly a month since you fired him."

      "Oh, just eat your carrots," Jerry grumbled.

     Holly, still smiling, watched him go inside the house to see who was at the front door. She made a mental note to discuss the hiring of a new butler with Katherine first thing tomorrow.

     Jerry opened the door to find a stranger standing on the other side.

      "Good evening," the man greeted him. "I'm sorry to interrupt your night, but I'm looking for a Brenda Barrett Jacks. Might you be able to tell me where I can locate her?"

     Jerry's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Who are you?"

      "Pardon me. I'm Miles Stewart, of the law firm Stewart, Payne, Indursky, lead council for Warner World and personal council for William Warner III," he said, handing Jerry his business card. "I'm here in conjunction with a very personal family matter involving my client."

     Family matter? Good god, they must somehow know about Brenda!

      "I don't know what you're talking about," Jerry said. "Our family has nothing to do with the Warner family. And we are hardly even on civil terms with those people."

      "I understand that, Mr. Jacks. You are Mr. Jacks, correct?"

     Jerry gave a nearly imperceptible nod.

      "Yes, well, Mr. Jacks, I'm sure my news will come as a shock to your own family as much as it did to my client. Can you tell me where Brenda Barrett Jacks may be? I assume she is not here."

      "No, she is not here. She was married today, for god's sake. Why would she be here? She is on her honeymoon."

      "Ah, well, then if you would just tell me where…"

      "In an undisclosed location," Jerry added abruptly.

      "Mr. Jacks," Mr. Stewart sighed, beginning to get frustrated by Jerry's lack of cooperation and obvious hostility to his presence, "I assure you I regret deeply having to bother the young lady at a time like this, but this is a matter of extreme importance and time is of the essence. I'm sure once I get to speak with her and explain the matter to her, she will forgive my interruption of her honeymoon and will, in fact, be most grateful that…"

      "I cannot help you," Jerry said, cutting him off. "And if you don't mind, you are interrupting my supper."

      "Cannot or will not, Mr. Jacks?" Mr. Stewart asked pointedly.

     Jerry shrugged. "Does it matter?"

     Mr. Stewart gave a tight smile. "You may certainly think it matters in an hour."

     Jerry frowned in confusion. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

      "In an hour I suggest you watch CNN. I intend to hold a press conference telling the world what I wished to tell Mrs. Barrett-Jacks in person. A reward will be offered for anyone who can help locate the young lady, and the urgency needed for this will be explained then as well. I will also have to explain to the many reporters gathered that I did try to obtain the young lady's whereabouts from you, but you were uncooperative and dismissive, even when I told you it was an urgent matter. That will not reflect very well upon your family, Mr. Jacks. Your stockholders will not be happy. Now, do you perhaps have something to tell me about the whereabouts of Brenda Barrett Jacks?"

     Jerry glared at the man. "No!" he said, tossing the business card back at him and slamming the door in the man's face and then walking swiftly back into the house muttering "Damn, damn, damn!" to himself.

     Holly met him in the living room, having become concerned with what was taking him so long to return to her out on the terrace.

      "Jerry, your supper is getting cold. Who was at the door?"

      "Trouble," Jerry grumbled, picking up the telephone.

     Laughter filled the warm summer night and moonlight shimmered off of the tranquil waters, as Jax anchored the luxurious silver and blue cabin cruiser in a port island off Oahu, Hawaii. He disappeared down into the cabin and then returned about twenty minutes later to his waiting bride.

      "Are we here?" Brenda asked eagerly, the same question she'd been asking him for the past five hours. Jax had mystified her about where they could possibly be going, as he had sailed his yacht from the Jacks mansion in Beverly Hills to the Yacht Club's Pier 11 in Santa Monica. Then he had whisked her off the yacht and into a limo for a short ride to the airport, where they had boarded his private jet and the pilot had flown them to, as far as Brenda had known, an unknown destination. They had then landed on a private airfield, departed the plane and immediately gotten onto a shiny silver cabin cruiser Jax had rented. Jax had been sailing them over the tranquil seas for about 45 minutes and had now stopped. "Jax, are we here?" she repeated. "Finally?"

     Jax just laughed and shook his head. "When the sun rises in the morning, we'll be there. I promise you. Actually, technically we're already there, but not exactly there, if you get my meaning."

      "And where is there again?" she asked, dimples flashing, eyes sparkling.

     He shot her a disarming grin. "Nice try, sprite. But I'm not telling you that."

     Brenda gazed around at her surroundings. "Well, let's see… palm trees and crystal clear waters don't exactly help me very much. Many beautiful islands contain those, and I confess my sense of direction is just the worst. But we can't be in the Caribbean, because even I know that the flight would have been a whole lot longer and we probably would have had to make a stop. And I don't think it's Mexico because the flight would have been a little shorter, I think. So… I would say, therefore, we have to be in Hawaii!"

     His head was bent and eyes lowered as he tended to securing the boat, but a slight smile teased at his lips. "Do we?" he murmured.

     Turning with a triumphant smile, she gazed at him expectantly. "Well?" she asked.

     Jax shrugged, finished what he was doing and rose, meeting her gaze. "I have always contended that you were very smart and have a remarkably logical mind… for a female."

     Brenda's eye flared open. "Hey!"

      "No offense to your gender, sweetheart," Jax assured her. "I've just never met any women whose mind's impressed me, aside from my own mother," Jax confessed. "Until you, that is."

     Brenda grinned. "Well, thank you. So, does that mean I'm right? I guessed right?"

      "It means, I'm still not telling you where we are yet," he responded with a soft chuckle. "If you want to think we're in Hawaii, by all means, think we're in Hawaii."

     Brenda let out an exaggerated sigh. "My husband, man of mystery," she said. Her husband! She still could hardly believe it!

     His grin turned wickedly gorgeous; his blue eyes incredibly seductive. "Not much of a mystery what I'm doing now, is it?" he inquired, as he scooped her up into his arms and kissed her long and deep, while descending down into the cabin with her.

     Jax broke the stunning kiss when they got downstairs so that his wife's attentions could focus on her surroundings, which he very much wanted her to take note of, since he had done it all just for her. To Brenda's delight, Jax had the luxurious cabin set up perfectly for a wedding night. The bed was turned down and snowy white satin sheets covered the large, inviting bed. Several white candles, flickering seductively in white glass votives, were lit about the room. Music played softly, and a very light hint of fragrant jasmine floated alluringly in the air. It was completely romantic.

     Smiling with satisfaction over his wife's obvious delight in what he'd had done to the room, Jax set her down, took her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. "May I have this dance?" he asked her.

     Brenda's eyes met his, and she smiled and nodded as she slid into his arms; her arms sliding up around his neck. The gaze they shared burned with love and intensity as their bodies moved together to the soft music. She lifted one hand and traced her fingertips against his cheek. "I love you, Jax," she whispered.

      "And I love you," he responded with a soft-spoken honesty as he held her closer, tighter, as if he just wanted to melt right into her. "And, yes, my brilliant minded little bride, we are indeed in Hawaii. A private island off of the coast of Oahu - a private little paradise my parents purchased soon after they were married. Tomorrow I'll take you onto the island and show you the cottage my parents built there. This place is very special to my family, Brenda. I have never shared this place with any other person outside of my family. Only you. And I hope you will love it as much as I do."

      "I will love it," Brenda said with certainty.

     Jax kissed her and smiled against her soft, lush lips. "Yes, I think you will," he whispered, then lowered his head once more for a deeper taste of the ambrosia that was his wife's kiss.

      "Do you know what you are?" he asked her when he at last lifted his lips from hers, his hands stroking the delicate curves of her face.

      "Your wife?" she said with a smile.

     He smiled back, kissing the bridge of her nose. "Most certainly that. Also my heart. My love. And my Elysium."

      "Elysium? What's that?" she asked, even as she kissed him again.

      "It is from Greek mythology," he whispered against the softness of her mouth. "It is a place or condition of ideal happiness. And you are that for me, Brenda. You are the other half of me. You complete me and you are… the greatest blessing in my life."

     A sheen of unshed tears made her lovely eyes glisten. "You're my Elysium, too, Jax. I love you so much." And then they fell into another sumptuous kiss.

Love - soft as an easy chair
Love - fresh as the morning air
One love that is shared by two
I have found with you

Like a rose under the April snow
I was always certain love would grow
Love, ageless and evergreen
Seldom seen by two

You and I will make each night a first
Every day a beginning
Spirits rise and their dance is unrehearsed
They warm and excite us
Cause we have the brightest love

Two lights that shine as one
Morning glory and midnight sun
Time - will likely sail above
Time won't change the meaning of
Our love
Ageless and ever . . .
Ever . . .
green

      "Feel my heart," Brenda said, moving his hand over her heart so that Jax could feel the fast beating of it.

      "Hmm," he said. "Feel my…" And he guided her hand suggestively down his chest, headed towards a location that made Brenda laugh at his wicked antics.

      "You think I can't feel that already?" she teased him. "You forget how close we were dancing, Jasper Ian."

      "That dress looks beautiful on you," Jax told her, his knuckles skimming over the swells of her breasts.

      "Thank you. I…"

      "But I really must get you out of it immediately," he murmured against her ear.

     She laughed. "Yes, you really must," she agreed in a husky voice, as she turned around in his arms, presenting her back to him so that he could unzip her.

     He did so, and the dress pooled in a green silk puddle at her feet. Her undergarments came off next.

      "You are so beautiful," he said, as he looped one arm around her and lifted her off her feet and up against him.

     She wriggled her elevated feet so that her sandals fell off, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. "I didn't get my turn," she pointed out, indicating his still fully clothed state. Although she had to admit her naked body felt wonderful against the material of his shirt combined with the warm, muscular hardness of his body beneath.

      "I know," he hugged her tight in his arms and kissed her cheek. "I just wanted to hold you."

     And he did just that for a full minute before reluctantly setting her back down. "All right, wife, you may undress me," he said with a smile.

      "Ahh… at last!" Brenda grinned, as she gripped the bottom of his shirt and stood on her tiptoes to pull it up over his washboard stomach and magnificently chiseled abs and up over his head, where she had to jump a little to get it off, since he was quite a bit taller than her.

     They both laughed and kissed impulsively. Then Brenda went to work on his belt buckle. "Hmm… not a moment too soon, I'd say," she said, gazing down at the impressive manhood straining against the confinement of his jeans, clearly demanding to be free of such constraints.

     Jax just gave her a slow smile and winked at her.

     Brenda undid the button, her fingertips brushing against the golden line of hair that led a path to his arousal, then she unzipped the pants and pulled them down to his ankles. "Step out, please," she ordered sweetly.

     Jax did so, kicking the jeans off to the side somewhere. He gazed down at Brenda's bowed head as she untied the laces of his shoes. He stepped out of those, too, and lifted his right foot and then his left obediently upon her request, as she slid off his socks. She rose back up to her full height and placed her hands on his waist. She leaned forward and kissed his stomach almost reverently, then ran her hands down the solid planes of his chest.

      "Last, but most definitely not least," she said, as she removed his boxers and then just stared at the complete naked man in front of her, like a mortal girl who had just turned the corner on a routine walk and run smack into a golden god from some corner of heaven.

     Women looked at Jax like that all the time, but it was only Brenda who made his heart falter with such besotted, adoring gazes as the one she was giving him now. It was only Brenda who played the strings of his heart like a virtuoso.

     Jax encircled her in his arms, and they both thrilled to the feel of the body contact. Then he slowly lowered his head and kissed her with a scorching passion that sent her senses reeling with bliss.

     As Jax backed up to the bed, his lips never leaving those of his wife, he still had the presence of mind to reach one hand out to the dresser, fumble for his cell phone and shut the ringer off, leaving it on vibrate as he tumbled into the satiny softness of the bed with the woman he loved more than life itself wrapped up in his arms. Atop him. Caressing him, kissing him. Then they were in each other's arms again, rolling over and over in the big bed. And then she was beneath him, so soft and sweet and beautiful. And his hands were sliding in her hair as they kissed deeply. And then he was kissing her from head to toe; worshiping her body with his lips as he worshiped her whole being with his heart.

     Brenda writhed beneath his delectable attentions; her hands roaming over his body, sliding behind his neck, fingers sliding luxuriantly up into his golden hair, as she pulled him down for a sizzling kiss at the same moment that he slowly entered her body.

      "Oh… this is… magic," Brenda breathed huskily against his mouth, as her body instinctively arched upwards to take in more of him.

      "Yes," Jax murmured his agreement, before silencing any more conversation between them with another all-consuming kiss; his hands cupping her bottom to move them both into an ever deepening joining.

     The slow, luscious movements of their lovemaking began to increase in fervor and heat, as a fine sheen of perspiration began to cover their bodies - bodies locked in an ever-increasing dance of absolute sexual passion. The gently rocking bed was now moving about beneath them as if it had been seized by an earthquake. The soft panting breaths they shared were now long moans of escalating pleasure.

     Brenda was like a beautiful, crazed little wildcat in his arms, as she felt it coming. So close. So very close now.

     Jax, always one to make sure he did not take his pleasure before his lady love had found hers, opened his eyes and gazed down at her at the moment just before she was about to fall off the world into a vortex of ecstasy. He momentarily halted his movements.

      "Open your eyes, Brenda," he beckoned her in a voice that would have made her do anything he asked of her.

     She opened her eyes, watching in fascination as he was poised, golden and magnificent, unmoving now above her and within her.

      "This is forever. You and I," he whispered to her; eyes still locked with hers. "Forever, Brenda."

      "Yes," she breathed sensually. "Forever, Jax."

     And then he surged into her, and, with a small cry from her lips, her world shattered into a billion bolts of bliss. Exactly two seconds later, with a roar of release, her husband filled her with his seed, and his world, too, shattered into endless eons of ecstasy.

     It was indeed a most perfect wedding night.

      "Damn," Jerry hung up the phone.

      "You can't reach Jax?" Holly guessed.

      "He shut his phone off, I think," Jerry said, raking a hand through his dark hair. "He would answer it otherwise. He knows it has to be family calling. We're the only ones who have that particular cell phone number."

      "Well, he is on his honeymoon," Holly said. "It is understandable that he may not wish to be disturbed at the moment. Even by us."

     Jerry nodded. "I don't want to ruin this for him, but there are things he needs to know."

      "Is there anything you can do in the meantime, Jerry? To allow Jax and Brenda not to have to deal with all of this just yet? My god, this is their wedding night. Surely we can give them this." Holly thought the timing of all of this was abominable. She knew how in love Jax and Brenda were, and it was just a crime to have to ruin their honeymoon by bringing them home to deal with what Mr. Warner's rabid attorneys might be about to do.

      "I suppose I can try to stall any press conference this Mr. Stewart was planning on giving tonight. I'll call him now and let him know I am attempting to reach my brother; buy us some time. Give Jax and Brenda some time to enjoy their honeymoon. But the bottom line, Holly, is that they are going to have to come home." He sighed. "I can perhaps finagle them a day or two, and yet I know Jax. He would want to know of this right away. I owe it to him to try to keep contacting him and not wait," Jerry concluded. "He would be angry with me for waiting. I know him, Holly."

     She nodded, knowing that indeed her husband knew his younger brother very well. She walked over and looped her arm through Jerry's. "What can I do?" she offered.

      "You can call my Uncle Ian, while I try to reach this Stewart fellow," Jerry said. "Fill Uncle Ian in on what is going on. I think he'll very likely want to fly back here. He's always been the best at keeping Jax on some kind of even keel when it comes to Will Warner."

     Holly kissed her husband and went into the study to use the other line to phone Uncle Ian.

     Alone in the living room now, Jerry dropped into a chair with a sigh of frustration, plowed his fingers through his hair and dialed information. "Yes, can you please give me the phone number of the law firm Stewart, Payne, Indursky on South Rodeo Drive…"

     Dawn was just breaking, and Brenda sat up on deck gazing out at the sun rising on the ocean, while Jax stood behind her brushing her hair, still wet from the recent shower they had emerged from twenty minutes earlier.

     Brenda inhaled the balmy ocean breeze and smiled, then tilted her head back so that she could see Jax.

     He knocked his knuckles gently against her forehead. "Hey, no moving yet," he said.

     With a soft laugh she obediently straightened her head, gazing forward once again and enjoying the feel of Jax brushing her hair.

      "One hundred strokes," she reminded him, teasingly. "My grandmother always says that is the minimum required for a person's hair to actually gleam."

     Jax gazed down at her shining, damp hair speculatively. "Your hair was gleaming before this brush ever touched your head," he informed her. "So, you'd better school your grandmother on the facts that some women are just natural gleamers."

     Brenda giggled and reached her arm back to curve her hand around his wrist mid-stroke. "My grandma hates to be corrected. Maybe I'll just tell her that my hair is gleaming because it's as in love with you as the rest of me is."

      "Well, of course," Jax said, bending down to kiss the hand imprisoning his wrist, "that goes without saying."

     Brenda released Jax's wrist to allow him to continue his glorious ministrations to her hair and gazed back out at the sunrise.

      "You know, Jax, I don't think there's anything more beautiful than the sun rising on the water, other than maybe the sun setting on the water," she commented, watching as pink and gold streaked the dawning skies and reflected upon the ocean's glassy surface.

      "There's you," Jax said. "You are more beautiful than either of those."

      "Well, you're biased."

     He shrugged. "I don't deny it. But I think most men would agree with me." Then he pulled the brush through her hair one final time, and she felt his hand run slowly down the back of her hair. "That would be 100 strokes, sprite," he said, reaching over her shoulder to drop the brush in her lap. "You're all done."

      "And you are absolutely divine," she said, popping up out of the seat and placing a kiss on his lips. "Thank you for that. Now, what can I do for you?"

      "You can come with me into the kitchen and help me cook our breakfast," he said, taking her hand. "I thought we could have it on the beach on the way to the cottage."

     She smiled excitedly. "The cottage?"

      "Yep. Look right over there," he said, pointing to a small island off of the mainland, where Brenda was delighted to see a lovely little cottage set in the midst of a little tropical paradise. "Before you is honeymoon central, Mrs. Jacks. We're sailing over there as soon as we're finished making breakfast."

      "That is just beautiful! Is that your parent's cottage? Wow."

      "The very one. But you'll see upon closer inspection that it is a tad larger than your average cottage. But then again, my father did intend it to accommodate my entire family of five, which it did." Then he tugged on her hand, leading her enthralled gaze from the sight of the island as he led her down to the cabin cruiser's kitchen. "Come on, let's go make breakfast," he said, pulling her around so that she was in front of him and bending down to impulsively kiss her cheek.

     He loved this. Being with her. Touching her. Kissing her. Making love to her. Falling asleep with her in his arms. Waking up with her sprawled on top of him, singing "Rise and shine and give God your glory, glory" in his ear and trying to tickle him awake. Watching the sunrise on the ocean with her. Brushing her hair. Making breakfast together. Such simple things, really, and yet he had never known such happiness as this.

     They got to the kitchen, and Brenda put her hands on her hips, looking around. "Well, let's see - oh, you know what? I think I can make a pretty good omelet," she told him. "I've seen my grandma do it lots of times. We just need some ham, cheddar cheese, onions, cherry tomatoes and green bell peppers. Oh, and we need eggs, of course."

     Jax gazed down at her. "Eggs? You think?"

     She elbowed him in the ribs and walked over to the refrigerator. Jax smiled at her, admiring the view of her shapely legs in the white shorts she wore; the white color of the shorts only serving to accent the golden beauty of her legs. The tiny pink tank top she wore fit snugly, hugging her breasts and her flat belly and making it very difficult for Jax to take his eyes off of her. His wife was truly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. And that her physical exquisiteness was accompanied by such a beautiful, kind, playful and loving soul made her a prize beyond the imagination for any man. He knew how damned lucky he was. But luck wasn't all this was about - he was a Jacks, after all, and a Jacks saw what he wanted and made a well thought out and well executed plan to obtain it. Jax's plan certainly had delivered him the desired results in spades.

      "And so, what are you contributing to this breakfast of ours, Jax?" Brenda wanted to know, as she searched through the fridge, taking out the items she would require for their omelets.

      "Pancakes," Jax said. "Blueberry, my wife's favorite."

     She smiled over at him. "Yum!"

      "And Mimosas," he added.

     She laughed. "Yes, because every day should begin with champagne."

      "Well, our first breakfast together as husband and wife certainly should," he said with a smile.

      "So, how do you feel? Married a whole day already," she teased him.

      "I feel spectacular. How do you feel?"

     She sent him a smile that was one of those smiles that was for him alone and no other living soul would ever see it. "I feel amazing," she responded. "I have to tell you I love being your wife," she said, spying a carton of blueberries in the fridge and tossing them over to him, then taking a frying pan from the wall and placing it on the stove.

     He caught the blueberries, grabbed a bowl to mix the pancake batter in, and moved next to her at the counter. "I have to tell you, too, that I love being your husband. So, it would appear that it is a very good thing that we got married."

      "Oh, yeah, I absolutely agree," she said with a nod, bumping her hip against his leg.

     He laughed and grabbed her suddenly into his arms and covered her mouth in a heart-melting kiss that lasted a good five minutes. Then he set her down, as Brenda breathed rapidly from the effects of the kiss and gazed up at him. "Do you know that kissing you now, I don't know how I ever lived without it?" she told him.

     He smiled and stroked his knuckles against her cheek.

      "We better get cooking," he murmured, gazing at her lips and giving them another quick kiss.

     She nodded eagerly and then pouted. "Oh, you mean the food?"

     He laughed again and kissed her pouting mouth. "You're incorrigible, Brenda. It isn't very sporting of you to tempt me like this when I happen to be starving. A man needs to eat almost as much as he needs to make love, you know," he said, wagging a finger at her as he began to make the pancake batter. "Besides, I had it in mind to… ah… mate with you on the beach, but if you would prefer the kitchen…"

     Her eyes widened. "Won't people see us 'mating' on the beach?"

      "No, sweetheart. That is the beauty of a private island."

     She smiled. "Oh. Well, I like that."

     He looked at her, blue eyes sparking mischievously. "Yes, I thought you might."

     He watched her as she broke her egg (and did it very well, he thought), and began her omelet preparation.

      "You might want to heat up the pan," Jax suggested.

     She laughed and glared at him. "Hush! I know that," she insisted; an adorable flush that said otherwise covering her cheeks as she hastily turned on the burner. As they prepared their meal side by side in the kitchen, they kept stealing glances at each other and stealing kisses. And even the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky knew that they were in love.

     Because they were busy in the kitchen, Jax was unaware of his cell phone vibrating in the bedroom, as Jerry once again tried to phone him.

     In the wee hours of the morning - 2 am to be exact - Daniel and Steven Fillmore sat atop the rooftop terrace of their grandfather's home, smoking slim cigars and talking quietly. The two middle Fillmore brothers were inside the house, presumably asleep, but Steven made sure he was facing the glass door of the rooftop terrace so he could be alerted to any eavesdropping by his brothers or any of the staff.

     Daniel let out a long puff of cigar smoke and gazed up at the night sky of Cocoa Beach, scattered with stars. "So, you think Billy was telling the truth?" he asked, crossing one ankle over his knee.

     Steven shrugged. "Actually, yes. His claims seem verified by the paramedics on the scene. Billy got there only in time to basically see grandfather being taken into the ambulance. There was no alone time for them."

      "So, we still don't know what precipitated the old man's attack. If it was indeed seeing Brenda's face on television."

      "No, we don't know. But I just have a gut feeling about this, Daniel. That's what did it. They did show a picture of her on the news, you know - CNN - about the same time Grandfather's plane had landed. The Jackses have been really good about having no current photos of her and keeping the wedding as private as a family in that position can, but there was nothing they could do about the press getting ahold of her high school graduation photo, which is as current as you can get since she is only 18."

      "If he saw her face… well, I can see how he would have had a heart attack," Daniel agreed. "She is the spitting image of our mother." He grinned heartlessly. "He would have thought it was his daughter come back from the grave to seek vengeance upon him."

     Steven glanced up at him. "You think he killed her? It was labeled a suicide. And even though we were just kids at the time, I certainly remember how miserable she was in her marriage to our father. I think he repulsed her."

      "Oh, I believe it was suicide," Daniel said. "But I fully believe Grandfather drove her to it. You don't think if we were weaker beings, his controlling ways wouldn't have driven us to think about it? I mean, running away from that man would never be enough. His control reaches far and wide and deep, and he'd still be pulling the strings of your life to the point where you wouldn't want to live that way."

     Steven drummed his fingers on the patio table that separated them. "I don't get the old man. I mean, I know he has no love for us, but our mother… he loved her, Daniel. Does he treat the people he loves the same as those he merely tolerates?"

      "He seeks to control everything and everyone. It doesn't matter if he claims to love them or not," Daniel said, taking another puff on the expensive cigar they had pilfered from their grandfather's private stash in his study. "However, I do believe the closest he has ever come to feeling love is the way he felt about our mother. She was nearly perfection to look at, and I think that stoked his masculine pride - not to mention his natural, disgustingly arrogant, narcissistic nature - that he created a child of that magnitude of beauty. He thought himself a god for being able to sire a baby that looked like that. This is why he was so disappointed in us - her offspring - none of whom could rival the beauty of the mother who gave birth to us - every damn one of us looking like our father. The old man's slight preference for you, Steven, is due to the fact that you do at least have our mother's eyes. And his narcissism is also why he is obsessed with finding her daughter. I think he hoped she would resemble her. And he certainly hit the jackpot in that category."

     Steven nodded. "She's even more exquisite than Mom was."

      "Yes. He will see her as his most prized possession. Proof that he can still do 'god-like' things, like have a part in the creation of such beauty. He will want to mold her into whatever he desires - the heiress of Warner World, no doubt - and marry her off to whomever he desires, all the while hoping her sons and daughters will surpass even her perfection so he can take credit for that, too. We will be completely inconsequential to him. She is the biggest threat to us there ever was, Steven."

     Steven's unusually beautiful brown eyes hardened. "Yes, she is. Which is why she must be done away with."

      "Yes. And to that end, I have found someone who will take care of that distasteful little matter for us. However, he is a professional and his fee is rather exorbitant."

      "How exorbitant?" Steven asked.

      "One million dollars."

     Steven nearly choked. "One million dollars? How the hell do you propose we pay this person?" he demanded. "Not to mention your taking a 'hit' out on her is just so damned ridiculous. We agreed not to use an assassin, damn it. This is supposed to look like an accident!" Steven hissed.

      "It will look like an accident, baby brother. That is his specialty, Steven, and part of why he is so expensive. He is hardly your typical, shoot-'em-in-the-head assassin. In fact, he won't be using bullets at all, so calm yourself. He's very good. The other reason he is so costly is that there is a price for his silence in never implicating us as the ones who hired him. The actual job is $500,000. The other $500,000 is purchasing his lifelong silence on this matter."

      "Fine. You still have not told me how we're supposed to come up with one million dollars just like that to pay the man."

     Daniel stubbed out his cigar and shrugged. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. I had to liquidate several assets. You will have to do the same."

     Steven gritted his teeth. "You should have let me find the person to get rid of her."

     Daniel smiled wanly; his gray eyes condescending. "Yes. No doubt you'd have found someone cheaper and not nearly as efficient. Steven, there is a reason why you are the youngest and I am the oldest." He paused. "Well now, technically you aren't the youngest, are you?"

     That got Steven to glower angrily, as thoughts of the little sister who wouldn't go away plagued him.

      "Besides, the man I hired gives us a money-back guarantee," Daniel continued. "If he fails, we don't lose a dime. So stop whining about it, Stevie, and liquidate your damned assets to the tune of 500 thousand. You said you were committed to this course of action. I told you there would be no going back and no doing this halfway," Daniel reminded him. "Now, I'm going to get some sleep and I suggest you do the same. We've got to see about trying to have the old man moved to the private hospital out here tomorrow. If we're lucky he'll be dead in the morning, and we won't have to bother with moving him at all."

     And with that, Daniel Fillmore rose and walked back inside of the house; his brother glaring moodily after him.

     A gentle sea breeze swayed the leaves of the fruit trees - pineapple and coconut - while golden sunshine streaked down from the azure blue skies, blanketing the island in its brilliant, golden warmth, as Jax and Brenda came frolicking out of the surf.

     Brenda shrieked, as Jax bent to the sand and picked up a wayward crab. Jax grinned over her squeamishness and set the crab back down, heading it in the direction of the sea, and then he followed after Brenda, who had raced back to the blanket on the beach where they had enjoyed a delicious breakfast together and a delicious session of lovemaking after breakfast.

     Jax, shirtless and wearing only his knee-length jeans shorts, caught up to Brenda just before she reached the blanket and grabbed her playfully, falling backwards onto the blanket, with his wife landing atop him.

     She wore nothing but his shirt, wet and molded to her body from their frolic in the surf, her wet hair slid up into a ponytail.

     Brenda shivered on top of him and grinned. "That water was so cold!" she said.

      "It gets a lot warmer in the afternoon. Around noon-ish," he promised her, wrapping his arms tightly around her to warm her up.

     Her teeth chattered adorably, as she kissed him, already beginning to warm up from his touch and the brilliant sunshine that kissed their relaxed bodies.

     Jax's hands reached up to cradle her face, as he looked at her with a warm smile. "I remember when I first saw you," he said, "and thought you were a mermaid rising up out of that fishpond fountain in your backyard. Even then you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen."

      "Bet you never thought back then you'd be married to me some day," she said with a smile so beautiful that he was momentarily mesmerized by it.

      "No, not back then," he admitted. "Nor did I think I would ever love anyone this much." He stroked her face, kissed her lips and then lowered his hands to wrap them back around her body. "Warmer?" he asked her.

     She folded he hands on his chest and lowered her chin atop them and nodded. "I feel perfect now, thanks."

     He grinned and slapped her bottom. "Liar. You're still shivering."

      "Not from the cold," she promised him, and his eyes darkened with passion at her words. "You know, I never thought I would love anyone this much either," she confessed to him. "Although I did dream about a love like that. All girls do, I guess. They dream about it but never think they'll actually find it." She raised one hand; her fingertips stroking against his throat. "You make me so happy, Jax. And I'm just so excited about our future, our life together. I know we'll probably have fights and all that, like any couple would, but we need to promise that we'll never go to bed mad at each other."

     He grinned. "My parents had that same promise."

      "They did? Did they always keep it?" she asked hopefully.

      "Yes, they did. Like me, my parents took promises they made to anyone, most especially each other, very seriously."

      "I take mine seriously, too," she assured him. "Can we make that promise, Jax? Right now? To never go to bed being mad at each other? To not keep secrets or hurt feelings from each other? To talk it out - whatever it is - until we're not mad anymore?"

     She looked so vulnerable, so absolutely darling to him. "Yes, I will make that promise to you, sweetheart."

     Her eyes lit with happiness. "And I make it to you," she said, nodding with satisfaction.

      "Demanding woman," he sighed. "Any other promises you want from me?" he teased her.

      "Well… I wouldn't exactly mind if you promised never to leave me."

     He took one of her hands, linking their fingers together. "I will never leave you."

      "And that you'll always love me?"

     He took the other hand, linking their fingers there, too. "I will always, always love you."

      "And that you won't force me to name our firstborn after that awful protein shake thing you like to drink every morning?"

     He looked thoughtful, appeared to be considering that one. "Blue Algae Jacks… I'm sorry, I don't see the problem with that."

     She laughed - a delightful sound - and attempted to unlock their hands so she could pummel his rock-hard stomach. But he held their fingers locked together firmly and stretched her arms over his head on the blanket.

      "It occurs to me, sprite, that I am the only one making all the promises here," he said, quirking one golden blonde brow.

      "Oh, you want promises, do you?" she said. "All right, these are my promises to you, Jax. You ready?"

     His smile dazzled her. "I'm ready," he said.

     She took a deep breath, making him laugh and then she sang: "Don't you know? I have fallen in love with you, for the rest of my whole life through. Don't you know? I was yours from the very day that you happened to come my way. Can't you see? I'm under your spell by the look in my eyes? Can't you tell? Can't you tell? Now, don't you know? Every beat of my heart keeps crying out: 'I love you so.' Don't you know?"

     He marveled at her creativity, as well as the fact that the song she had chosen to sing to him was the favorite song of his very own mother and father. A song they had danced to on each anniversary, while their children had looked on with transfixed eyes; for John and Jane Jacks had been a truly mesmerizing couple, whose love had emanated from them like visible sparks any time they were in a room together.

     That was what he wanted with Brenda - that kind of love. And he was more positive with each passing second that he had found it.

      "So, was that good enough for you, father of the future Blue Algae Jacks?" Brenda asked him, wriggling her body on top of his.

     His response was to gaze at her for a moment and then bestow upon her a kiss that melted her into absolute silence. Brenda was sure that such kisses could bring about world peace if those cranky world rulers only had a person in their lives whose kiss could make them feel like this.

     Their kiss deepened, tongues tangling in slow splendor, and they were very definitely on their way to making ardent love for the second time that morning on the beach. But their passionate inclinations were interrupted by the sound of Jax's cell phone ringing.

     Brenda had found it lying on the floor in the cabin earlier, just as they had been about to depart the boat for their beach breakfast picnic. She had handed it to Jax, who had switched the ringer back on and shoved it into his pocket, then tossed it on the blanket when they had raced into the surf later.

     Now he wished he had never turned the ringer back on. But since it was ringing, he knew he would have to postpone his plans to make love to his wife and answer it because this was the phone to which only his family had the number.

      "I have to take this," he said, giving her an apologetic glance. "It's Jerry or Kat or maybe Uncle Ian. Or actually any other of my hundreds of extended family members."

     She smiled in understanding and kissed him softly. "I'll take a rain check then," she said, untangling herself from his body with great reluctance. "While you're on the phone, can I go inside the cottage and look around?" she asked.

      "Of course you can," he said, pressing the keys into her hand, giving her one more kiss and then flipping open the ringing phone as he watched her walking past the path of pineapple and coconut tress towards the cottage. God, but she was such a beautiful, beautiful woman.

     He watched her in fascination as he spoke into the phone. "Hello?"

      "Jax, it's me. Sorry to have to call you out there…"

      "It's okay, Jerry. Is anything the matter?" Jax asked, instinctively knowing his brother would not interrupt his honeymoon for idle chitchat.

      "They know, Jax. About Brenda, I mean," Jerry informed him. "I got a visit from Warner's attorney last night. I tried to call you, but your phone was off or the ringer was at least shut off, I think."

      "Yes, it was. What exactly did this attorney say to you, Jerry?" Jax asked, all ears now.

      "Well, he was looking for Brenda. He told me he was there on behalf of Warner on a personal matter and that they needed to locate Brenda and if I knew where she could be found - where the two of you were. I didn't tell him, of course." Jerry paused. "But Jax, you have to think about coming back here as soon as you can. This lawyer, Miles Stewart, he plans to give J&J Jacks some real public relations headaches if we keep stalling him as to how he can get in touch with Brenda."

      "Did he threaten to do something if her location isn't revealed to him?" Jax guessed, knowing how Warner's attorneys would work.

      "Yeah. He threatened to call a press conference last night disclosing to all the media why his client was looking for Brenda and the urgency of it and how we were deliberately blocking all of his attempts to find her."

     Jax said nothing, but inside he was furious, for that would indeed be a PR nightmare, as he was sure that this Stewart fellow would paint it as a story of a loving grandfather looking for the long lost daughter of his dead child and being cruelly held back from any reunion with her by the Jacks family she had married into - particularly that heartless, young, new CEO of J&J Jacks, who was personally blocking any reunion. They would make him and his family look like they were related to Leona Helmsley.

      "I have something else to tell you," Jerry added. "I found out this morning that Will Warner suffered a heart attack at the airport in Orlando last night. It's been all over the news this morning, although Warner World is denying it and calling it a malicious rumor started by their competitors. And apparently the press can't find him at the hospital he was reported to have been taken to. So the PR situation gets worse for us in that they'll paint it as this dying old man looking for his granddaughter for eighteen years and us as the big bad wolves preventing any meeting or reconciliation," Jerry said with disgust. "This could really hurt us, Jax. It could really hurt you. You just got the CEO position, and we can't afford the press to paint you in such a light now. The board is just looking for any excuse to oust you and put in some old, gray haired, play-it-safe CEO in your place."

     Jax knew this was true, although it would not hurt J&J Jacks worse than any corroboration of Warner's condition would hurt Warner World. Still, he knew that he and Brenda had to go home.

     He closed his eyes, trying to rein in his frustration and hatred for this family that always seemed to be messing up his life somehow. "Obviously you managed to stall Mr. Stewart from holding his press conference last night," Jax said to Jerry. "For how long?"

      "I told him I had to get in touch with you and tell you what was going on so you guys could come home. He expects I'd call you today, and you'd leave tomorrow and be back in Beverly Hills the next day. So he's given me until that afternoon before he goes ahead and calls his press conference," Jerry explained. "I led him to believe you were in Europe somewhere. So he doesn't expect you back for two-and-a-half days."

      "I'll be home by then," Jax said, hating the Warner family so much that his hate for them was like a living, breathing thing he could touch.

      "Damn it, I hate this, Jax. I'm sorry about all of this," Jerry said in frustration.

      "It's not your fault, Jerry. I'll see you in a couple of days. Do me a favor and make arrangements for it to appear that we'll be coming in at LAX, all right? I don't want any press or anyone tracking Brenda and me down at the yacht club, which they will be able to do if they're hanging around the Santa Monica Airport. They'll just follow us to the yacht club after we land. I'm going to leave the yacht there for maintenance but just want to leave some instructions as to what I want done first. So, if you could just arrange to have Albert there at the club to pick us up. V knows his number," Jax requested.

      "I will take care of everything on that end. I'll see you in a few days." Jerry was about to apologize for all of this again, but then just sighed. "See you, Jax. Give Brenda my love."

      "I will. You do the same to Holly and Katherine. Bye, Jerry." Jax flipped the phone closed and tossed it brutally onto the sand. He was now going to have to tell Brenda that they would have to leave their little island paradise in two days, and far worse yet, have to tell her that she was blood relation to a family he despised. He supposed he'd have to tell her that the old bastard might be dying, too, he thought grimly. Brenda was so sweet; her heart so kind and loving. Such a story would pull at her heartstrings no matter how she personally felt about the man.

      "Damn that family to the pits of hell," Jax muttered, rising to his feet and gathering up his phone, the blanket, Brenda's clothes, and the basket that their breakfast picnic had been in. Then he was taken aback to wonder that if, in damning that family to the depths of hell, was he damning his own beloved Brenda there, too? For she was part of that family, through no fault of her own. He decided that when damning the Warner-Fillmore clan he would call the family members out by name from now on, instead of damning the entire family in general. He never, ever wanted his Brenda to be inadvertently included in any dark wishes he might have for the destruction of that dysfunctional little dynasty.

     Heading towards the cottage, Jax wondered if he should tell Brenda right this minute or let them have this day of happiness with no worries and tell her tomorrow at breakfast? But then he remembered their promises made there on the beach. Promises never to go to bed mad at each other; never to not tell each other what they were really feeling. Never to keep secrets from each other.

     But damn, he did not want to see her upset or worried or wracked with confusion now. He would tell her today, he decided. But not now. He would do it when they were ready to go to sleep, and they would undoubtedly have one of their famous lengthy, late night conversations about this.

     She would have a stress-free, worry-free day, he vowed. But by this evening when they went to sleep, she would know everything.

     Jerry hung up the phone and looked up at the entryway as Holly entered the study, ice pack in hand. He got up from his perch on the edge of the desk; a look of concern on his face.

      "What happened? Did you fall? Did you hurt something?" he asked, anxiously looking her over for any bumps or bruises.

      "No, this is for you, dearest. I know how you like to beat yourself up over things that are not your fault, and I just assumed you were doing that in this case as well," she said, handing him the ice pack.

     Jerry gave a sarcastic roll of his eyes as he dumped the ice onto the desk, but then grinned at her and took her into his arms, hugging her close. "Oh, Holly love, what would I do without your rapier wit poking into my heart every now and then?"

     Holly stroked his dark hair and laughed. "I love you Jeremy Jacks, and I quite despise the way you cast blame upon yourself for things you have no control over. You know, if you keep this up, your son or daughter is going to run all over you when he or she is born."

     Jerry smiled, thinking about the baby growing inside of his wife. "I won't mind that."

      "Well, I will," his wife insisted. "I'll not allow us to raise some pampered, spoiled little demon child, who knows how to play its father like a fiddle, Jerry." Then she pulled back from him, gazing up into his dark eyes. "So, did you reach Jax today?"

      "I did," Jerry said. "They'll be home in two days."

     Holly sighed. "As if Jax doesn't have enough reasons to hate the Warner's, now they are responsible for forcing him to cut short his honeymoon, too."

     Jerry shook his head. "You know I rue the day we ever found out Brenda was tied to that family. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss."

     Holly shrugged. "The truth would have come out eventually. Clearly Mr. Warner has been seeking her out, if he has his lawyers involved in this."

      "That man is a filthy piranha," Jerry spat. "You know he's not going to stop until he somehow manages to get Brenda under his thumb and dancing to whatever tune he commands."

     Holly waved a dismissive hand. "Your brother will never in a million years allow that."

      "Yes, I know that. But what kind of effect do you think the constant push and pull between her husband and her grandfather is going to have on Brenda? It's going to make her crazy, is what. This is a bloody mess, I tell you."

      "Jax won't let it make her crazy either," Holly said with certainly. "Jerry, he adores her. He will protect her from anything and everything he can. And Brenda is hardly some pushover that Mr. Warner can bend to his will. That girl has got fire and spirit aplenty - and quite a stunning little temper when provoked beyond her limits, her grandmother tells me. It's one of the many reasons your brother loves her so much. It will be all right," she said, reaching up to stroke his cheek.

     Jerry admired the firm certainty in his wife's voice, but the grown man Jerry could not help himself from having the little boy Jerry doubts about how all right everything would be. This, after all, was Will Warner, the very devil who had in a way delivered Jax and Jerry's own parents unto their death with his obsession to best their father. And so, yes, Jerry was concerned as to what damage the Warner menace might manage to do now that he was set to insinuate himself, wanted or not, into Jax and Brenda's life.

     Alec and Billy Fillmore sat across from each other at the obnoxiously long dining table in the dining hall of their grandfather's home. Their grandfather's chef had prepared an enormous breakfast, as usual, and while Alec ate heartily, Billy picked at his food, his thoughts elsewhere.

      "Do you wonder, Alec," Billy said, poking at his Eggs Florentine, "if Daniel or Steven had anything to do with Grandfather's heart attack?"

     Alec reached over to heap more western scrambled eggs and bacon onto his plate and refill his cup of coffee. "I'm sure they were tempted, as I'm sure we all were over the years," Alec responded, "but, no, I don't think they did anything to cause his attack. Grandfather has a bad heart, Billy. None of us made it bad. But I tell you, if they had had a part in what happened to him, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it."

     Billy just looked at him, not saying anything.

      "That man may be our grandfather, but he is a vile human being," Alec said. "And you know it. I may have a problem with Steven and Daniel plotting to do harm to Brenda, who is an innocent young girl, but I'm not going to be a hypocrite and cry crocodile tears if the old man kicks the bucket. And I don't hold it against anyone who might have helped him step one foot into the grave," Alec said frankly.

     Billy nodded. He could not argue with Alec on this one.

      "Are Daniel and Steven still leaving the issue of Brenda up to you to solve?" Alec asked him.

      "They claim they are," Billy responded. "But I don't believe that for a minute. I'm glad she's away on her honeymoon; safe from whatever may be spinning around in their minds."

      "And married to our family's enemy," Alec reminded him.

      "She doesn't even know she's a part of our family," Billy pointed out.

      "Yeah, but I bet Jax does. I bet my whole inheritance he knew before he even married her. And he's laughing about hitting the old man where it hurts the most."

      "You think he told her?" Billy asked, taking a gulp of the fresh squeezed orange juice.

     Alec shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. I mean, if he's just using her as part of the war against this family then, no, he wouldn't tell her. If he really loves her, then, yes, he told her."

     Billy poked around at the ham next to his Eggs Florentine. "If he told her, how do you think she's going to feel about it? About us?" he asked softly.

     Alec laughed; a short, non-humorous sound. "If you weren't born into this family through no choice of your own, Billy, would you want to be a part of it? She was probably sick to her stomach once Jax got through telling her his version of the kind of family we are. He hates us, Billy. You think he's going to paint anything but the worst possible picture of us? You know he thinks Grandfather killed his parents. Brenda is going to want to run like hell from this family. Which suits me just fine, I guess. A sweet kid like her doesn't belong here anyway. And I don't want her sharing in an inheritance that we all suffered like hell for, while she would just be handed it on a silver platter for whatever the old man's warped reasons are and we'd be left with nothing. Forget that."

     Billy said nothing, but he felt sadness inside him at the thought of Brenda automatically rejecting them on Jax's mere say-so and not judging them for herself. He hoped Alec was wrong about that. He supposed he hoped Alec was wrong about a lot of things.

     Brenda was completely infatuated with the cottage. She thought it was an enchanted place; ensconced as it was on a gorgeous private island, surrounded by trees bearing exotic fruits, bright tropical flowers, scenic walking paths and crystal clear beaches.

     Jax, who was watching her now as she was attempting to make some pina coladas to go with their London Broil dinner, had delighted in her reaction when he had entered the cottage several hours earlier in the day. She had grabbed his hand, forcing him to drop the items he was holding onto the floor, as she sped him around the cottage with her commenting in exuberant excitement on everything from Jax's framed drawings (done as a very young child) on the walls, to the large size of the four bedrooms, to the huge gourmet-style kitchen that simply did not belong in a cottage and yet was utterly fantastic. She yammered on about the pink-and-blue playroom and laughed over the tiny punching bags that were in there, which he confessed belonged to him and Jerry and were his mother's idea, since she hated them pounding on each other. When they had fights, she would march them off to the playroom and make them hit the punching bags instead.

     And Brenda just adored the huge Jacuzzi that was in the back and got quite the kick out of finding Jax and Jerry's tree house in the back, as well, which still had a sign on the door carved in crude, little-boy handwriting proudly proclaiming "No KAT'S Allowed!" Then they had walked back inside into the family room, where she had marveled over the library his parents had kept and its amazing collection of books, and then declared the cottage 'absolutely fabulous' and a true family treasure that she hoped would be enjoyed by all future generations of their family. He loved hearing her say that; loved that she loved this place as much as he did. Loved that she was here with him.

     And now there she was trying to make those damned pina coladas, all because he had said his mother used to always make them for her family when they came here (non-alcoholic for him and Jerry, of course). Brenda groaned as the blender spit out her latest efforts all over the pretty pink floral summer dress she had changed into for dinner.

      "I told you to wear the apron," Jax said, giving her a look of sympathy for her ruined dress.

     In response she rolled up the clean, unused apron into a ball and threw it at his head and then announced she'd be right back after she changed.

     When she disappeared into the bedroom, Jax rose from the cozy dinner table and went over to the kitchen counter to clean up the mess his wife had left behind in her wake. He then hesitated a few moments, knowing she would be slightly irked with him for doing this, knowing she wanted to do it herself, but also knowing they could be waiting all night for his bonny sprite to get it right, which normally would be no problem, except for the fact that he really was starving. And so making the decision, he blended the drink himself, poured it out into two frosty glasses, added those little umbrellas, and brought them back to the table. He then lit the two candles on the table, dimmed the lights, and waited for her to come back.

     Brenda came back into the kitchen, looking absolutely scrumptious in an alluring goddess-style sheath dress of a very fetching shade of azure blue. The brooch holding it up at one shoulder glittered and winked in the candlelight.

     She breezed into the kitchen, radiant and so lovely and smiling and determined, ready to give the pina coladas another whirl.

      "Okay, give me that apron," she said, and then she saw the dimmed lights, the lit candles and already-made pina coladas sitting on the table, and her smile turned into a tiny frown, as he'd known it would. "Oh, honey, I wanted to do it," she said, as he'd also known she would.

      "I know. I'm sorry. I just…"

      "I would have gotten it right eventually, you know," she insisted, giving him the irked look he'd been expecting.

     He smiled at her. "I know, sweetheart, but I just really didn't feel like eating at midnight. So… forgive me?"

     She gave up her irked mood instantly and laughed and allowed him to seat her.

      "So romantic," she whispered, looking at the table.

      "As it should be," he responded, reaching over to kiss her hand. "And I promise tomorrow I will let you play with the blender to your heart's content."

      "You bet you will. Because you know I'm going to try to make that drink until I get it right, don't you?" she laughed.

     His eyes regarded her warmly. "I do."

     She smiled at him, showing off, perfect little white teeth and a flash of dimples. "I love how well you know me," she told him, curving her hand around his and laying her cheek against the back of his hand. "Hey, do you know what I was thinking? I saw the bikes in the shed in the back, and I thought that maybe tomorrow we could bike around the whole island. I want to see everything. How long do you think that would take us to do?"

     And so their dinner conversation that evening consisted of them happily making plans for tomorrow, but Jax wouldn't allow it to go any further than plans for tomorrow because he knew they would have to leave the day after that. And Brenda would know it as well, tonight. He would not allow her to get her hopes up with plans for the entire week when they were only to be there one more day.

     After dinner they sipped wine and ate chocolate covered strawberries out on the raised barbecue deck in the back, while laying together in a deck chair gazing up at the stars.

      "We should sleep out here tonight," Brenda said, her head resting on his shoulder; her hand stroking up and down his chest.

      "The insects would eat us alive as soon as those citronella candles go out," Jax told her, nodding in the direction of the large citronella candles in the clay pots surrounding the deck and scenting the air with a light botanical aroma.

      "Oh, never mind then," she said immediately, snuggling closer to him and causing him to laugh softly at her quick about-face at the mention of bugs.

     Brenda nuzzled his cheek with her lips and then turned her attention back to the stars. "I bet you know what constellation that is, don't you?" she guessed, because truly Jax was the most brilliant man she had ever met. Honestly, she didn't think there was a subject the man didn't have incredible banks of knowledge about.

      "It's Orion," Jax told her. "You see the two bright stars in the upper and lower left? That one is Procyon in Canis Minor and the other is Sirius in Canis Major."

      "And what's that one over there?" Brenda asked, pointing to the bottom left.

      "Rigel," Jax informed her.

     She smiled over at him, as he continued to gaze up at the heavens. She wondered sometimes if he even realized how smart he was. "How many constellations are there anyway?" she asked, watching his gorgeous profile in the moonlight.

      "Eighty-eight," he responded, just like that, because, of course, Jax would just know this, she thought, her smile growing.

      "When did people first try to climb Mount Everest?"

      "The first attempt was unsuccessful, but it was in the 1920's. In Tibet. And the team was British, I believe. It wasn't until 1960 that a team actually reached the top, though."

      "A British team?"

      "No, Chinese."

     Brenda was all but grinning by now. "What's the longest barrier reef in the whole entire world?" she asked him.

      "The Great Barrier Reef in Australia," he responded automatically, "although the Belize Barrier Reef is the longest in the Western Hemisphere." Then suddenly he turned his attention away from the glittering heavens and looked at her; a touch of smile curving his lips. "What, is this a test?" he queried, suddenly cognizant of all the random questions she'd been asking him.

     She laughed; her arms hugging him. "You're just so damn smart! I wanted to see if there's something you don't know," she teased him.

     He lowered his eyes, rubbed his chin slowly atop her hair. "Well, I don't really know how to tell you what I have to tell you right now," he said quietly.

     Brenda heard the seriousness in his voice and was instantly alert. "What's wrong?" she asked with some trepidation.

     Jax sat up in the deck chair and moved her so that she sat astride his lap, facing him. He linked one hand with hers, not letting go. "Brenda, you know a bit about your real mother, Grace Fillmore, already, right? You know she was an actress who did very well in France."

     Brenda nodded. "And you located all her old films for me so I'll be able to see her in them when we get home. What is this all about, Jax?"

      "You were not your mother's only child, Brenda. You were just the youngest," Jax began.

     She seemed shocked by that bit of information. "I was? But my father…"

     Jax shook his head. "Your father was not the father of your brothers."

      "Brothers?"

      "Four of them," Jax said, plunging onward. "They live in Cocoa Beach, Florida. All of them."

      "How did you find out all this?"

      "They have a grandfather," Jax continued, determined to just get it all out. "Their mother's father, so, of course, he is your grandfather as well."

      "Jax… how do you…"

      "Their grandfather, Brenda… your grandfather… he is the one man I despise more than anyone else on this earth," he finished, eyes lowered, hands still holding hers tightly. "I love you. And I will always love you. But I will hate that man until the day that I die, Brenda. I want to be honest with you about this."

     And suddenly she knew. Oh god. Will Warner - Will Warner - was her grandfather? And the Fillmore brothers - Fillmore, of course! - they were her brothers? She stared at Jax, still not quite believing any of this.

     She licked her lips nervously. "You are saying that Mr. Warner, that man you hate… he is my grandfather, Jax?"

      "Yes, Brenda. He is."

     She shook her head. "Are… are you sure?"

     He nodded solemnly, gazing into her confused, beautiful eyes. "Yes, I am sure. God, I told you this all wrong, didn't I? I'm sorry. I…"

     She looked down at his hands, tears blurring her vision. "I wish you never told me," she whispered. How supremely horrible to be related by blood to the man that Jax felt was responsible for killing his beloved parents. To be related to the family whose life mission it was to topple the Jacks family empire. She thought she was going to be sick at any minute.

     He raised one hand to cup her chin and force her to look at him. "Brenda, listen to me: I had to tell you. The man is looking for you and apparently is now aware of who you are to him. He is going to force this issue, believe me, sweetheart. And I will not allow you to be blindsided by anyone or anything. I had to tell you."

     She looked ill. Jax stroked her face, hating this moment. Hating Will Warner for making him do this.

      "Did my father know about this?" she asked in a voice nearly too soft to hear.

      "Yes. But don't blame him, Brenda. Your mother made him swear never to tell you about that side of your family. She never wanted you tainted by them, he told me."

      Oh god! Her own mother despised her own family? So much so that she had given Brenda up to be raised by her father and sworn him to pledge never to tell her anything about the maternal side of her family? Brenda looked even sicker as she processed this information. What spawn of demons was this family she belonged to? That everyone would try so valiantly to protect her from them.

      "Brenda?" Jax said, concerned about her prolonged silence.

      "You said he's looking for me, Jax?" she asked, her hands holding onto his tighter. She swallowed. "This man? Mr. Warner?"

      "Yes. Jerry called earlier today to tell me that one of his attorneys showed up at the mansion inquiring into your whereabouts. He mentioned that he had to find you in reference to an urgent personal matter that involved the Warner family." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, but we have to go home the day after tomorrow, Bren. This lawyer of your grandfather's…"

      "Please don't call him that," she asked quietly, with a vehement little shake of her head.

      "This lawyer of Will Warner's," Jax immediately corrected, his voice soothing, "has threatened to stir up a lot of PR trouble for Jacks Enterprises if he is not allowed to speak with you. Now, listen to me, you don't have to speak to him. You do not have to do anything you don't want to do. But we do have to go back home because as CEO of Jacks Enterprises I need to be there to handle anything they may try to throw at us." And he needed to be there to stir up his own trouble for Warner World by taking advantage of Will Warner's incapacitation as well. And speaking of that, he supposed he'd better fill Brenda in on that part, too. "There is one more thing," he began.

     She sighed tremulously, as if preparing herself for the worst, and he just wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her and melt all of her worries away into nothing. He hated things that made her unhappy; just hated them.

      "It appears that Warner may have suffered some sort of heart attack yesterday. I don't think it's been confirmed yet, although Jerry tells me it is all over the news. That may be the reason the lawyer is saying that it is urgent that he contacts you," Jax concluded.

     She just nodded and then gave him a very forthright look. "Did you know about my ties to this family before you married me, Jax?" she wanted to know.

      "Yes," he told her, preparing for her possible anger. But anger was not what he got.

     She looked astonished. "And you… you wanted to marry me anyway?" She seemed incredulous over that fact.

      "I love you," he said simply. "Nothing will ever change that."

     She stared at him for a long time, as if searching for any hint of insincerity in his declaration, and finding not a shred, she sank forward against him, wrapping her arms around him. And Jax held her just as closely, scattering kisses over her face and hair.

      "Brenda, I know this is a shock to you and a lot for you to take in, but this is going to be all right. I promise you, sweetheart. I will find a way to make this all right."

     Tears slid down her cheek. "I feel dirty," she whispered brokenly into his ear.

     Jax's heart broke at the words. Was he at fault here, too? With everything he had told Brenda about the Warner's over the months, she must feel as if she were now related to the very spawns of Satan. That would make anyone feel dirty and horrified.

      "Brenda," Jax began haltingly, concerned only with her state of mind. "I do not have a single good thing to say about Will Warner," he confessed, "yet, of his grandsons… well, I don't know them very well. They may be… perhaps are… better than he is," he offered hopefully to her.

     Brenda loved him so much for saying that right now. "I hope so," she said, her voice laced with a doubtful melancholy.

      "If your mother bore one as glorious as you, there is a chance that among your four brothers at least one of them is more like you than like the Warner side of the family," Jax said, wanting to give her that speck of hope to keep and hold onto. "And if not… well, Brenda, I am your family. And Jerry, and Holly, and Kat, and Uncle Ian, Uncle Terrance, Aunt Sophia, Nicolette, Kelsey, Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Geoff, Geoff, Jr., Mia, Uncle Roddy… Did I mention Uncle Ian's dog? Uncle David, Uncle Garrett…"

     He felt the laughter bubbling up in her as he kept rattling off names of his enormous brood, and then it finally spilled out in irresistible soft peals that just soothed his soul. He held her, awash in peace as her laughter flowed over him and eased his tense mood.

     Brenda laughed and laughed, loving him so much for making her laugh at a time like this and realizing that with him she could do anything and get through anything. Even this terrible and confusing thing she had been told this night.

     And Jax… well, he was just so gratified to hear her laughter again as it sparkled through the night that he laughed out loud with her. Wiping away her tears, kissing her lips, and laughing.

      "Come on now, Jerry, we've got it down to two candidates," Holly said, nudging him forward. They're both waiting in the study, so let's do a final interview so we can settle on one today."

     Jerry was all for that. The sooner the great butler hunt came to an end the better, as far as he was concerned. He was damned tired of interviewing these peculiar fellows.

      "All right, let's get it done," Jerry agreed. "Who are these two again?"

     Holly sighed and whacked his fingers with her pencil. "Do you never pay attention to these things, darling? They are Evan and Montfroy."

     Jerry shuddered. "Montfroy? I don't know that I can have a butler around that I must call Montfroy."

     Holly rolled her eyes at him and entered the study with Jerry right behind her. They were surprised to see only Montfroy sitting there patiently awaiting the final interview.

      "Well, it seems we lost one," Jerry quipped.

     Holly looked about the room frowning. "Did Evan have to go to the loo?" Holly inquired of Montfroy.

      "No, Mrs. Jacks. It would appear that he got a phone call with an offering of a position in Manchester, England, and left to take it," Montfroy informed her.

     Holly scowled. "Well, how rude! He could have at least waited about to inform us of his intentions. We would have understood."

      "Yes, or could have at least said goodbye and thank you for having him as part of the final two," Jerry muttered.

      "Well, that is that then, I suppose, Montfroy," Holly said, placing down her pad and pencil and beaming a smile at him. "I am happy to inform you that the job is yours."

     Jerry groaned internally. Montfroy. He would have to call the man Montfroy.

      "I thank you so very much, Mr. and Mrs. Jacks, and look forward to many years of happiness in your service. When do you wish me to commence?"

      "You may… er… 'commence' tomorrow," Jerry informed him. "We'll likely be having a small dinner party for my brother and his wife, so, not to worry, we'll start you out small… er… Montfroy," Jerry said, trying out the name and still feeling the need to shudder. Montfroy - geez.

     Holly laughed quietly over Jerry's problem with the butler's name. "We will see you tomorrow then, Montfroy. Welcome aboard," Holly said, shaking his hand.

      "Thank you, Madam," he smiled warmly and tipped his falling spectacles back up onto his nose.

      "Yes, welcome Mont…er… my good man," Jerry blurted out, and then turned to escort the newly hired Montfroy to the front door.

     Montfroy left the premises and walked over to his car. He opened up his trunk and neatly placed his spotless briefcase atop the form of the bludgeoned man stuffed into the trunk.

     Gazing down at the corpse in his car, "Montfroy," born Luis Alcazar, said in his perfectly practiced stuffy English accent: "Sorry, old chap, but I needed this job more than you."

     He then shut the trunk and stepped into the driver's side of the vehicle. He drove out to the front gate, and, as he awaited the electronic gates to open, he took out a photo of Brenda Barrett Jacks. "My target frequents this place, you see," he continued as if he were still talking to the corpse in his trunk. "And I've got a cool mil riding on her speedy demise."

     The electronic gates opened, and the assassin that Daniel Fillmore had hired to kill his eighteen-year-old sister in an "accidental" manner as soon as she got back from her honeymoon, drove out with a slick smirk, having just been hired as the Jackses new butler.

Song Credits: "Evergreen" written by B. Streisand/P. Williams). "Don't You Know" written by B. Worth