Scott was coming towards Jenna slowly. The room was warm, but she felt cold. Because she already knew how this sorry scene was going to play out. He was probably going to handcuff her and keep her here until the roads were clear enough to take her down to FBI headquarters where he would coldly hand her over to be arrested. Worse than that though was the prospect of him looking at her with hate and telling her that he despised her and regretted anything warm and passionate that had ever passed between them.

He stood in front of her now. He dropped the flashlight on the bed and then he shocked her senseless by pulling her into his arms and holding her as if he would never let her go. Disbelief raced through her system as her body felt the closeness, the warmth of his against hers. She had expected him perhaps to choke her, not to hold her like this -- so closely, so gently, and yet somewhat fiercely -- as if he would destroy anything that tried to pull her out of his protective embrace. No man had ever held her like this before.

"Are you all right?" she heard him murmur into her hair.

Her heart was pounding with a wary kind of joy and she thought that she might collapse from it -- or from her relief, or her disbelief. Her heart lurched with some powerful emotion and she rose her stationary arms, wrapping them tightly around his neck.

"Please forgive me," she begged him. "I didn’t mean to hit you with the flashlight like that -- well not so hard anyway. I would never hurt you . . never . . ."

Oddly enough, he knew this was true. He still recalled her knocking out that giant of a man who had tried to attack him at Dimitri’s party.

"My head may not forgive you, but I do," he said.

"You do?" she said sounding startled and not at all convinced. "I wish you would only say it if you meant it, Scott," she said, thinking this was all just too good to be true.

"I do mean it," he said.

"Then you’re not going to throw me to the wolves?" she asked.

He shook his head.

She smiled up at him and reached her hand behind his head to feel where she had hit him. "Does it hurt?" she asked, wincing a little with guilt.

"Not as much as thinking of you perishing out there in the ice and snow," he said honestly.

Jenna looked at him, her big green eyes dancing with glee. "So you were worried about me?!"

"Yes," he said, the back of his hand brushing over the softness of her cheek. Then he shook his head. "What have you done to me?" he groaned quietly.

"It can’t be any more confusing than what you’ve done to me," she countered. She kissed him quickly on his mouth and Scott felt as if hot, little sparks were dancing across his lips. "I really am so sorry that I hit you," she insisted, regretfully. "I only did it because . . ."

"I know, you had to go," he said, recalling her penchant for stirring up his passions, enchanting him, luring him in and then disappearing.

"No, because you said you were going to tell Jax about me," she corrected him.

"I still am," Scott told her and when he saw the startled doubt in her eyes he added, "but I won’t let anything happen to you."

Oh here they went again, she thought. This same damned impasse. "I still won’t do anything to hurt Bastian," she said. "I won’t set him up, I won’t give him up. I adore you, but I won’t do this," she said shaking her head.

She adored him? Scott smiled a little bit at that piece of information. Then he just looked at her. Damn she was stubborn. And loyal to this Bastian Reese. Very loyal. He had to wonder about the relationship between her and her partner and why it sparked such loyalty -- apparently in both of them for one another.

"Well we have to do something about this, Jenna," he said. "We have to do something about this situation and about . . us."

"Us?" she gazed up at him. "So there is an us then?"

"Hasn’t there always been?" he sighed in concession.

She tried not to laugh. "Well I certainly thought so," she said. "But you, on the other hand . . ."

"I’m admitting it now," he told her, grinning slightly and placing a finger over her lips to stop her playful chastising.

"Admitting what?" she asked sliding her arms around his neck as she sought specifics.

"You know," he murmured. "How I . . you know . . . feel. About you," he said, haltingly. Feelings like this were pretty new territory for him. He couldn’t exactly remember wanting a woman this much, or caring about one quite this much either.

"Okay, well I’m listening," she said, smiling up at him and laughing a little bit as she gave him a hard time.

"Listen to this then," he said, and she felt the sensual touch of his lips against her ear.

"Hmmm. You know, I really like the way that sounds," she said.

He grinned at her. "What about this," Scott said pressing his lips against her throat.

"Sounds grrrrreat," she said. "But could you say it a little louder, though?"

She laughed and so did he. Then he cupped her face with both of his hands and brushed his lips slowly against hers. "Is that loud enough for you?"

Jenna thought she would melt into a puddle on the floor of the room. It was the sweetest kiss she had ever felt, and more amazingly, Scott had initiated it. All other kisses they had shared had been initiated by her -- but not this one. The teasing, tantalizing kiss grew more passionate and deep. And then even more passionate and deep as Scott locked the door and they tumbled gently onto the bed.

Outside in the hallway Trey heard the door lock and was wondering what the hell was going on in there? Jenna had not come out, meaning that Scott had obviously seen her and had her now. What form of having her, Trey didn’t know. But he had a pretty good idea having heard that door lock just now.

"Damn," he muttered, wondering how everything could have gone so wrong in the space of one day.

He was headed back to his own room to figure out how to get Jenna out of there, when he saw Ariel coming out of it.

"There you are!" she whispered angrily. "I have been waiting for you!" she informed him one hand on her narrow hip. And so now Trey understood why Jenna had gotten out of the room. "Trey, I have to talk to you this instant!" Ariel informed him, taking hold of his arm.

"Ariel, go to hell," Trey muttered in annoyance, taking her hand off of his arm and then brushing past her and shutting his bedroom door in her astonished face.

Ariel marched off in a furious huff downstairs to her own bedroom. The minute he heard her descending the stairs, Trey came back out of his room and went right to the door of Scott’s room where he proceeded to knock on it. "Scott, are you up? Scott . . ." he said, rapping insistently.

In the midst of a moment of sizzling, erotic passion, Scott heard his name being called. Trey? He rose up on his elbows, his hands still gently entangled in soft, silky auburn tresses.

"Scott, come out here," Trey said, knocking again. "I think somebody’s in the house."

Scott gazed down at Jenna. "Bastian?" he whispered, urgently down to her.

Jenna was momentarily confused. Was Scott asking her if that was Bastian at the door?! How could he know? Then she calmed down, realizing that he was asking her if Bastian could be the person Trey was saying was in the house.

Jenna shook her head. "He’s . . .with his family for the holidays," she said. It was the truth, at least.

Scott rolled off of her and motioned for her to remain still and silent. He opened the door to find Trey on the other side, still dressed, as was he.

"I think I saw someone casing the house," Trey said, his eyes casually gazing inside, beyond Scott to see where Jenna might be.

"Outside?" Scott asked. "In this?" he added incredulously, as it was still storming, although it was letting up to some degree.

Trey nodded. "Should we go get Jax?" he asked.

Scott shook his head. "No, let’s check it out ourselves first. I can’t see how anybody could be trying to get in here in this storm."

Trey nodded. "I’ll meet you downstairs. I just have to go put my boots on."

"All right. Grab a flashlight too. And try not to wake anybody up unless we have to," Scott said as he headed downstairs.

Trey watched until he was sure Scott was gone, then he went into Scott’s room and yanked his pretty little partner up off the bed.

"This was not my fault," Jenna said as Trey pulled her out of the room and down the hall into his own.

"I know," he said, as he shut his door. Then he shoved a piece of stationary at her and a pen. "Write him a note. Tell him I . . tell him ‘Bastian’ was here and you had to go or something because you didn’t want to put Brenda in danger. I want Scott to think you are off the premises, do you get me?"

Jenna knew him well enough to know when he was dead serious. So without protest she penned the note.

"You can’t keep me away from him. He cares about me, you know," she said as she handed the note to him.

"Yes, I do know," Trey said quietly as he glanced over the note, noticing that she ended it with a promise to get in touch with Scott soon, and signed it ‘Love Jenna’. "Did you tell him anything?" he asked.

"No, of course not."

"Not yet you mean," Trey murmured. "Stay here and do not move unless the house is burning to the bloody ground, do you understand, Jenna?" Trey said to her, beautiful gray eyes pinned on her vibrant green ones.

She nodded mutely.

"In the morning, before anyone rises, even Jax, I’m going to get you to the airport," he informed her.

"But the weather . . ." she protested.

"The weather is surmountable."

"But Scott will want to know why I’m . . ."

He silenced her with a look. "That is what the note was for. Now, you’re to go to my house in the Cayman Islands and stay there and wait for me," he finished. "I’m going to trust you to do as I say this time, Jenna. This is important."

"Basti - -I mean, Trey -- are you going to tell me what’s going on?" she asked him. He seemed uncharacteristically anxious to her -- a little nervous even. Not at all like him, really.

Trey quickly slipped on his hiking boots. "Eventually," he promised, and then he made his way down the hallway. He went back into Scott’s room where he placed Jenna’s note on the bed and then he went downstairs to check the premises for an intruder he knew did not exist.

Brenda woke up the day after Christmas reaching over for Jax in the warm bed. She felt that his side of the bed was empty however, and she opened her eyes to find him sitting over by the desk tying the black laces of his combat boots. He was dressed in all black, combat gear, his shirt open so that she saw that his bullet proof vest was on.

Jax glanced up and saw her looking at him. He smiled at her and Brenda thought his smile alone could chase away even the most sinister, dark cloud in the sky.

"Hi," he said getting up and walking over to the bed where he knelt down in font of her side of it and kissed her.

"Hi," she said, sitting up and pushing the pillows behind her. "Where are you going?"

"I’m running an O.R.E. today," he told her, getting up and buttoning his shirt and then sliding the black nine millimeter into his shoulder holster and the back-up gun into the ankle strap on his right boot.

"An O.R.E?" she asked looking at him questioningly.

"Operational Readiness Exercise," he clarified. "For my squad."

Brenda smiled at the way his eyes lit up subtly when he said ‘my squad.’ She knew what an awesome achievement this was for him to be the youngest Mission Commander his unit had ever had.

"And you’re doing this today?" she asked. "Aren’t the weather conditions still awful outside?" She was out of the bed now and had slipped on one of his shirts.

"The unfavorable weather conditions are actually the reasons I’m doing it today," he told her. "We have to be ready to do what we’re sent to do despite any complications that may arise, weather being one of the most common complications. If we can run through the exercise in these conditions, then we’ll just be that much more prepared for the real thing."

Brenda nodded, understanding that logic. "So when are you leaving, Mission Commander?" she asked him, walking up behind him and slapping his butt.

"Well definitely not until I get another kiss from you," he told her, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her up into his arms.

Brenda squealed in delight and obliged him with a passionate kiss good-morning.

Jax enticed her into another long kiss before grinning at her and making his way across the room to retrieve his timer watch.

Brenda followed him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "So what exactly is an O.R.E.? Can you tell me?" she asked.

Jax sat down on the comfortable, expensive chair next to the dresser and took her on his lap. "We just do a basic run-through of the operation, normally in adverse conditions like this so we’re prepared for worst case scenarios," he explained to her.

"Where do you go to do this?"

"It depends. Different locations," he kissed her lips. "You taste absolutely fantastic, do you know that?" he asked her.

She smiled and kissed him. "So do you. Have you been downstairs already? Is anybody up?" she wondered, her lips kissing down the side of his face.

"Everybody’s up," he informed her. "My mother and aunt are cooking breakfast, I believe."

"The electricity’s back?" she asked next.

Jax nodded. "It came back hours ago."

"Your brother and your umm...cousins are all up too?" she asked, realizing that she still had the enormous Trey situation to deal with. It gave her a migraine just to think about it.

"Mm hmm," Jax said. "I put them to work shoveling out the driveway and steps so that Scott and I can get out of here in about 30 minutes." He got up and set her gently on the floor. "I’ll see you downstairs okay?"

"Wait for me," she said, racing to the closet. "I can be dressed in five minutes and I’ll go down with you. Hey, did you -- ummm -- mention to your cousin Trey our idea about him staying here with me?" she asked as she slid on a pair of black, bikini-briefs and a black silk bra.

"Yes," Jax nodded. "He’s going to do it. He actually suggested that Jerry stay here too while I’m gone."

"Jerry?" Brenda echoed as she pulled a snug, scoop-neck, silver-gray sweater over her head. "Why?"

Jax shrugged. "I don’t know. Maybe Trey doesn’t think he can trust himself alone here with you," he teased her. "I told you that he and I have the same taste in women."

But Brenda knew the real reason Trey had conveniently suggested for Jerry to stay too was to have a third party there so that she could not get him alone to grill him about his secret life. Was he so confident in his belief that she would keep his secret that he thought she would be deterred from asking him any questions just because Jerry was around? How did he know she wouldn’t just tell Jerry everything?

"But Jerry doesn’t have any training in protecting people the way you, Scott and Trey do, does he?" Brenda asked.

Jax shook his head. "Nope. He’s just a corporate raider, playboy, terrible poker player. I think Trey just wants him here to hang out with. None of us get to see one another as often as we’d like to. Our lives are all really crazy."

What an understatement, Brenda thought, as she pulled on black velvet jeans and slipped into her black ballerina flats. She then quickly brushed through her hair as Jax watched her. "Okay, ready," she said, tossing the brush back on the mirrored vanity table.

When they got downstairs, everyone was in the kitchen as Jane and Meredith were serving up breakfast for the hungry boys who’d finished shoveling out the walkway and the long driveway.

"The roads are a lot better already," Lance said as he sat down to a cup of steaming coffee. "I mean, at least they’re passable. And they got those power lines up really quickly."

"The perks of living in the best neighborhood in town," Jax murmured, pulling out a chair for his wife, who slid into it, smiling at him.

Ariel sat across from her looking like she had gotten no sleep at all. Dark circles were under her eyes and she looked absolutely cross.

Brenda’s eyes went to Scott, who was dressed identically to Jax in the black gear. He looked . . . different. She couldn’t quite place her finger on it, but it was something very positive, she thought. Maybe he was just thrilled that after being disciplined with the assignment of baby-sitting her and Eve, he and Jax would soon be back to blowing things up again and living on the edge, she thought with a grin.

Her gaze then went to Mr. Duplicity himself, Trey Fielding, who sat down at the far end, his mother doting on him while Jerry mercilessly teased him about being the apple of his mother’s eye, and accusing Trey of traveling all over the word in an attempt to escape his mother’s doting. That set off a gamut of childhood stories that had the family roaring with reminiscent laughter and once again gave Brenda the opportunity to see how close-knit the extended Jacks clan was and how adored Trey was amongst them. Why couldn’t he have been some despised relation, she wondered with a sigh. This would all be so much easier then.

Jax sat down next to Brenda, kissed her cheek lingeringly and affectionately, and got right into the family childhood reminiscing. Brenda watched him as he laughingly contradicted something Jerry was claiming. She smiled, gazing at Jax’s beautiful profile, his blonde hair, still somewhat damp from his earlier shower, a few loose curly locks falling into his eyes. Her heart surged with the love she felt for him. If she could help it nothing would ever hurt him. Ever. And that included his cousin, she decided, glancing over at Trey who was gazing at her as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Brenda made up her mind to find a way to make Jerry scarce once Jax was gone on this mission. She was going to be alone with "Bastian Reese" and she was going to get him to tell her every single solitary thing she wanted to know.

Trey observed the set determination in the velvet brown of Brenda’s eyes and something told him that things were not going to go quite as smoothly as he had anticipated.

Three days later Jax left for his assignment before the sun was even up. Brenda remembered his sweet, warm kisses and his whispered words of love as well as his promise to see her in no later than two days, and his playful teasing about that secret wish he'd made on Christmas night which he still refused to share with her just yet, despite her relentless efforts to get him to tell her what it was. She also remembered the phenomenally passionate love they had made the night before that had left her so deliciously exhausted this morning. Her eyes opened as the sun rose in the clear winter sky and she was hit by the lack of Jax’s presence and how much she missed him already. Ah, but she had things to do to occupy her time while Jax was away, she reminded herself, getting out of the bed. She had to register at Georgetown for one thing, she had to get back to her friend and neighbor, Lois Ashton, about her offer for Brenda to be a part of the management team for a new record label Eddie Maine was starting up on his own, and most of all she had to get Trey alone and make him tell her the things she needed to know. And in order to do that she had to think of a way to get Jerry to disappear for a few hours.

Brenda got dressed and went downstairs and was fortunate enough to find Jerry alone playing in the living room with the Playstation.

"Hi, Jerry, I’m glad you’re up," she said, sitting down next to him on the carpet.

"Hello sister-in-law," he said. "What’s wrong, you missing my little brother already?" he asked her, shooting her a handsome crooked smile.

Brenda returned his smile. "Yeah, I am, actually. A lot, to be honest."

Jerry’s smile turned very tender as he saw the truth of her words. "He’ll be all right you know. He always is."

Brenda nodded. "I know."

Jerry put the game controller down and took her hand. "I never did get to thank you," he said.

Brenda looked at him in surprise. "‘For what?" she asked.

"For making Jax happy. He loves you very much."

Brenda felt a lump in her throat. "I love him very much too."

"Well let’s keep it that way, shall we?" Jerry said softly, a gentle warning to her never to hurt his beloved little brother.

Brenda nodded. "So where is your cousin?" he asked.

"I think he was playing with the cat," Jerry grinned. "Trey’s got an affinity for wild animals. Him and Jax share that strange personality trait." Jerry went back to the game. "But I see you’ve taken quite a liking to the little tiger as well. My own mother is terrified of him."

"Aww, he’s just a big pussy cat," Brenda said. Then she laughed. "Although he does seem to really hate Ariel."

Jerry laughed too and nodded in agreement.

Brenda glanced around to make sure that Trey was not nearby and then she said to Jerry: "Jerry, do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Sure luv, what do you need?" he asked as he sent his corvette screaming around a very life-like track in the game Gran Turizmo.

"Well I got my transcripts from PCU and I wanted to take them over to the admissions office at Georgetown today, but I’m expecting a really important phone call from . . ."

"Say no more," Jerry said rising to his feet. "Go get your transcripts. I’ll run them over for you."

She beamed at him. "Thanks, Jerry! Are you sure you don’t mind?"

"Not at all," he said, heading for the entry hall where his coat hung in the huge closet. Brenda raced upstairs to get the transcripts, calculating that it would take Jerry at least two hours to drive to the university, find the admissions office, drop off her transcripts to the right person and then drive back to the house.

She handed the thick envelope to Jerry who was just zipping up his coat.

"Here you go," she said, also handing him the keys to one of Jax’s SUV’s.

"All right. Now you stay put and stay close to Trey while I’m gone," Jerry said seriously. "Jax says this Bastian Reese guy really needs to find you and eventually he will. Let’s not make today the day, all right?"

"Oh, don’t worry," Brenda said. "I intend to stick to my cousin-in-law like glue," she promised him, as she waved to him as he walked outside. "Like crazy glue as a matter of fact," she murmured, as she locked the door and leaned against it for a moment.

She glanced up as she heard noise at the top of the stairs and saw Trey making his way down while pulling a black T-shirt over his bare chest, obviously unaware that she was there. "Okay Jer, are you ready to get whipped?" he said in a playful voice as he bounded down the stairs, obviously thinking to meet up with Jerry in the living room for a game of Gran Turizmo.

"Jerry’s not here right now," Brenda said sweetly.

Trey stopped cold in his tracks at the sound of her voice. He glanced up and saw her leaning against the door. He continued slowly down the stairs and glanced into the empty living room, raking one hand through his deep, auburn curls.

"Like I said, not here," Brenda repeated.

Trey nodded. "Where is he?"

"I sent him on an errand for me that’s going to take a little while," she said, crossing her arms. "And I hope you know why I did that," she added, moving towards him.

"Great!" Trey said, shocking her by grabbing her hand. "Now you can help me look for the bank account numbers," he said, dragging the stammering Brenda up the stairs with him to the library.

"W.w.what?!" she said. "Are you insane?! I sent Jerry away so that you could finally tell me what the hell is going on, Trey! And you.. you. . you have the nerve to ask me to help you find those Swiss bank account numbers? You actually want me to aid and abet you, you criminal?! It’s not bad enough that you are who you are, but now you want me to be your accomplice?!" she yelled at him.

He seemed to be ignoring her tirade of insults. "Did you ever see where Jax put it?" he asked her matter of factly, as he walked into the library, headed for a series of filing cabinets.

Brenda was furious enough to tackle the man! "Stop it!" she said, hurling a book at him. Trey ducked, and narrowly missed having his head taken off by a thick volume of Shakespeare.

"What?" he asked her as if he could not understand what was bothering her.

"You madman. You absolute madman!" she said. And then she took a deep breath. "Trey, you had better sit down and answer every single question I ask of you or I swear to god, I will tell Jerry everything I know about you the minute he gets back here," she said.

"Brenda, fine," Trey said. "Ask me whatever you want to, all right? But I need to be looking for that piece of paper I gave you in the meantime," he said as he began pulling out draws.

Brenda gave up and just began firing questions at him. "Are you Bastian Reese?" she asked him.

"Don't you already know that?"

"Yes or no," she said.

"Yes."

"Then why did Jerry say you’ve been around for fifteen years?"

"Well I have . . sort of. The name has anway. My father is the original Bastian Reese, actually," he explained. "He’s somewhat retired now."

Brenda gasped. "Your father?"

"Yes."

"The man who cheated on your mom all the time and ran out on you guys when you were only seven? The man your entire family was trashing at dinner last night?"

"Yes my father and that particular slime would be one and the same."

"And you work for him?" Brenda asked incredulously.

"That's correct."

"Why?" she demanded. "Why would you want anything to do with a man who hurt your mother like that and left you without a father?"

Trey glanced over at her. "He did me a favor, actually. My Uncle John helped raise me and I consider that a blessing. Besides, none of this is exactly what you think it is."

"Really?" she asked skeptically. "Well, fine. Then tell me what it is."

He shrugged. "I can’t do that."

Brenda took a deep breath. "Fine, you can’t tell me. At least tell Jax," she said.

Trey shook his head. "I definitely can’t do that."

"Well then we have a bigggg problem, because I won’t keep any secrets from him....I can’t . . ."

"Understand this, please -- Jax and I are very similar, Brenda. If he were to tell me what you are asking me to tell him, I would interfere. I don’t care if Jax told me not to, I still would. And I know he will too. I can’t have Jax involved in any of this at this time. That is not negotiable."

"Have him involved in any of what? Trey, you have to tell me what is going on here or I will have to tell Jax. Are you trying to protect your father?"

Trey gave her a cool gray-eyed glance. "You don’t know what you’re saying," he said coolly.

"Well what else am I supposed to think?" she asked of him. "You tell me that your father is the original Bastian Reese and here you are proudly following in daddy’s footsteps in his life of crime. You have your own cousin chasing you down, totally unaware that you are the very mastermind criminal he wants to catch so badly. What if he would have shot you that day at the safe house? How could he ever live with himself after that? And how could you knowingly ever put him in a position like that? You’re risking your relationship with him, with Scott, with your own mom -- all for your father, right? So what else am I supposed to think but that this man means everything to you and you’re willing to do anything and hurt everyone just to protect him?"

There was deadly silence in the library for a moment and then Brenda heard Trey quietly state: "Make no mistake, I despise my father." He turned around and faced her, leaning against the desk, his gray eyes silver and glittery. "He means nothing to me. No, correction -- less than nothing," he said, still in that calm, quiet voice. "And I have no desire to protect that man from anything."

And Brenda knew that at last she had hit the nerve that would open the floodgates of the truth she was seeking.

"Then why don’t you turn him in? Put him in jail for the rest of his life? I mean, it sure seems like you’re trying to protect someone," she said in exasperation.

Trey looked at her for a long time. His cousin’s wife. The woman Jax had told him in private this morning that to love her was like breathing -- that natural, that vital, that life-giving. Trey had never imagined Jax would say such a thing about any woman -- but he’d said it about this one. The woman Trey knew would be relentless in her desire to unearth the truth and protect Jax in any way.

"I walk a fine line, Brenda," he said to her, "between destroying someone I hate, and protecting someone that I love."

"Well the person you want to destroy is obviously your father," she said. "But who is it that you’re protecting?" she asked.

He was silent for a moment. Then he gazed at her and said: "My sister."