The past several days had been very busy for both Jax and Brenda. In fact, they had both been so exhausted when they finally got to bed each night that they had just snuggled together and fallen asleep. Since they had been married this was the longest they had gone without making love and it was obvious to both of them that this was a situation that could not continue.

Jax had several meetings with financial backers for several J&J Jacks projects that both he and his brother had pending. He also met with the representatives of the Richland Corporation to sign the final sales agreement for the company. He was even forced to schedule two meeting on Saturday to prevent one of the largest deals he had pending from collapsing. The only day he was able to keep free to spend with Brenda was Sunday and then only by stopping at the front desk on the way up to the suite and instructing them that the switchboard was to hold all of their calls and faxes until the start of business on Monday.

Not wanting to interfere with Jax's business and having not yet notified Lucy of her decision to sign with Jacks Cosmetics so they could begin planning their first campaign, Brenda decided to finally start making the penthouse feel like a home. She rearranged everything in the walk-in closets as well as the dressing area. She also reorganized their clothes in both the dresser and the chest of drawers. With the help of one of the guards who volunteered his time, she rearranged some of the furniture in their bedroom, as well as the living room and the media center, where she moved the overstuffed lounger closer to the wall of windows. It took her until late Saturday afternoon to get everything in the penthouse exactly the way she wanted it.

When Jax finally got back from his last meeting on Saturday he was surprised to see the changes that Brenda had made in the apartment. After walking over to the desk to put down his briefcase, he slowly looked around the room. The longer he looked the more he liked the changes she had made. He suddenly realized that the place really felt like a home now. He wasn't sure if it was because of the changes she had made or just because Brenda was part of his life now. Whatever the reason he liked the idea of finally feeling at home somewhere again.

As his eyes continued to drift across the room he finally looked over toward the wall of windows and smiled. Brenda had set up their dinner on a small table by the window. While he was admiring the table he realized that the lights in the room had dimmed. He walked over to the stairs and looked up. His smile broadened at what he saw. Brenda was standing behind the table holding a lighted taper. She had just finished lighting the candles she had spread around the media area and was ready to light those on the table.

Jax was mesmerized by the sight before him. He watched silently as Brenda crossed the short distance to the table and leaned forward to light the two tall candles on it. He could not believe how beautiful she looked. She was wearing the ivory satin lounging outfit he had bought for her in Paris when he had bought her wedding gown. Since this was the first time that she had worn it, he couldn't help staring at her. With her hair hanging loosely on her shoulders she looked even more beautiful than he had imagined she would in it. She was not wearing the belt so the coat hung open, revealing the middy top and hip hugger pants she wore beneath.

"My goodness you've been busy," Jax said as he slowly walked up the stairs without bothering to remove his jacket or even loosen his tie. He slowly walked over to Brenda. When he was close enough he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned down to give her a short but passionate kiss.

With her hands linked behind his neck Brenda looked up at Jax with a 'little girl' smile. "You noticed," she said with a soft chuckle. "I wasn't sure you would," she said with a glint in her eye.

Jax slid his hands down over her bottom and pulled her close. "Oh I noticed all kinds of things," he said seductively as he leaned down to softly kiss the tip of her nose. "Nice outfit by the way," he said with a big smile as he ran his finger across her collarbone, covered in satin.

"Do you like it? It was a gift from my husband." Brenda said with her own innocent smile as she rested her hands flat on his chest.

"I have to tell you that I've never seen anything as beautiful as you are tonight," Jax said in a husky voice as he leaned down to kiss her again, this time much more intimately as his hands pulled her even tighter against him.

Realizing that things were moving much faster than she had planned, Brenda forced herself to break their kiss. She leaned back from him with her hands resting on his chest. "Whew! Ah, I think maybe we should eat our dinner. We have the rest of the night for…"

Jax arched one eyebrow as he looked down at her with a sexy smile. "Oh I like the sound of that." Brenda returned his smile as Jax leaned down to give her one more kiss before releasing her. He pulled out the chair he was standing next to for her before sitting down himself. They then spent the next hour enjoying their dinner, at times feeding each other from their plates.

When they were finished, Jax refilled both of their champagne glasses as they looked at each other. Brenda finally broke the silence. "Are you ready for some dessert?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

"I guess that depends on what you've got in mind," he said with the same mischievous grin.

Brenda slowly stood up and extended her hand to him. "Why don't you come with me and find out?" she asked with a quick arch of her eyebrow as she wiggled the fingers of her extended hand and picked up her champagne glass.

"Are you daring me Mrs. Jacks?" Jax asked as he took her extended hand in his and slowly stood up. When he picked up his glass Brenda smiled at him triumphantly and started leading him down the hall toward their bedroom.

Brenda set her glass down on the table outside their bedroom door. "Absolutely Mr. Jacks," she said as she leaned up to kiss his lips. Without breaking their kiss she reached up to finally push his jacket off of his shoulders and down his arms. After pulling the jacket completely off and dropping it on the floor, she finally ended the kiss and looked into his eyes. Without taking her eyes off of him, she reached up to untie his tie and pull it from around his neck. As she began to unbutton his shirt Jax reached past her to put his glass next to hers on the table.

"Is this your way of telling me that I'm dessert?" he asked softly as he rested his forehead against hers and gently pulled the satin coat off of her and let it fall to the floor. "Because if you are I have to warn you that I have every intention of returning the favor." He leaned further down to kiss her passionately.

When the kiss finally ended Brenda reached up to cup the side of his face. "I'm counting on that," she said softly with a seductive smile. Without turning her eyes away from his, Brenda reached behind herself to open the bedroom door. "Care to join me?" she asked as she stepped backward into the bedroom.

Jax stood unmoving in the doorway as Brenda continued to step backward into the room. As he watched her back away from him, Jax began to unbutton his shirt. When Brenda finally stopped moving it was Jax's turn. Since he had finished unbuttoning his shirt as he had been watching her, he slowly pulled it out of his pants as he started toward her, never breaking eye contact with her. By the time he was again standing in front of her not only had he removed his shirt but he had also stepped out of his shoes.

Brenda rested her hands gently on his bare chest as she leaned forward to place a soft kiss above his heart. With her hands still resting on Jax's chest she looked up at him. "Ready for dessert?" she asked in a voice so soft that he could barely hear her.

When he finally realized what she had said he nodded his head slowly. "Oh yes," he said with a big smile as he bent down and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up to look into her eyes as he straightened up. As soon as she was facing him, he began to kiss her passionately. When their lips met Brenda wrapped her arms around his neck. As their kisses continued and intensified Jax tightened his arms around her as she brought her legs up around his waist.

Finally ending their kisses, Brenda looked into his eyes. She brought her hand forward to brush a lock of hair off of his forehead. As she looked into his eyes she could see the passion and desire that she was feeling reflected back at her. "Take me to bed Jax," she said huskily as she leaned forward to kiss him again.

Holding her close and never breaking their kiss Jax walked slowly to the side of the bed. He rested one knee on the bed and leaned forward to gently lay her down. He finally ended their kiss and pulled out of her arms to stand up and remove his pants and socks. He stood silently looking down at her for a moment, wearing only his blue silk boxers. As he looked at her, her dark hair spread out on the cream colored comforter and her eyes clouded with desire he had to force himself to breathe. The sight of Brenda had taken his breath away. When she reached her arms up to him he immediately lay down next to her, his head propped up on one hand as the other gently caressed the side of her arm.

As soon as Jax had laid down Brenda rolled onto her side to face him, propping her head up and her hand resting on his arm. She reached up to stroke the backs of her fingers gently across his cheek. "You are the most beautiful man I have ever known. Did you know that?" she said softly.

Jax could feel the color rising in his cheeks as he looked away from her for a moment before looking deep in her eyes. "Ah, I think that's suppose to be my line luv. Besides, men aren't beautiful," he said as he ran his fingers up and down her arm.

"Well you are." When she saw him start to say something she put her finger on his lips to stop him. "I don't just mean your physical appearance Jax. Though God knows that is more than beautiful. I mean everything about you is beautiful. The respect and trust that you show me is something I've never known in my life before. The way you protect me from my past…"

Before she could finish Jax leaned forward and kissed her passionately. When he finally leaned back to end the kiss he could see how flustered she was. He smiled seductively as he ran his fingers across her cheek. "Now where were we before you got sidetracked?" He paused for a moment. "Oh yes, I remember. We were doing this… and this…" he said as he gently kissed her lips and then the tip of her nose.

"Ah, I think it was more like this," Brenda said with a smile as she realized that Jax was not going to let her finish what she was saying. She reached her hand behind his head and gently pulled his face to her. As she began to kiss him with increasing passion she slowly pushed him onto his back and rolled over on top of him. As their kisses continued she brought both of her hands up and began to run them through his hair.

When Brenda had rolled on top of him Jax had opened his legs enough to allow her to settle firmly against him. As she continued to kiss him he began to gently caress her back with both of his hands. Finally breaking their kisses to look up into Brenda eyes, he saw the desire and need he was feeling mirrored back at him. He brought both hands up her back to slowly open each of the buttons on her top. After opening the last button he took the open sides in his fingers and slowly began to pull the top off of her shoulders. Brenda leaned up from him just enough so that he could slide it down first one arm and then they other before dropping it on the floor. He moaned softly as she leaned down just enough to brush her breasts against his chest before kissing him again.

Unable to control himself any longer, Jax rolled them over so that she was now beneath him. He began trailing kisses across her cheek and down her neck as he caressed both of her breasts with his hands. Brenda moaned and ran her fingers into his hair as he lowered his mouth to her left breast, running his tongue across her nipple. She gently pulled his mouth deeper onto her breast.

When she felt her self control completely slipping away Brenda pulled his mouth from her breast and turned his face up to her. "Please Jax! No more! Make love to me - now" she pleaded.

Jax kissed her lips once gently before sliding next to her and rolling onto his side to face her. He slowly slid his hand across her breasts before reaching behind her to roll her onto her side facing him. Once he did, he gently stroked his hand across her bare back several times before moving it down to caress her bottom. He felt Brenda arch herself against him as he continued to caress her. When he finally began to lower the zipper on the back of her pants Brenda once again moaned.

As soon as the zipper was all the way down Jax once again rolled her onto her back. He had begun to pull her pants down her hips when he startled her by getting up from the bed. When she opened her eyes and was able to focus them on him she saw that he was standing directly in front of her. He leaned down with one hand on each side of her and placed a kiss on each of her breasts, lingering long enough on each to draw his tongue back and forth across the hardened nipples. With his tongue still on one of her nipples he looked up at her and saw that even though her eyes were open they were completely clouded over with passion. He gently kissed her breast one more time before standing back and hooking his fingers under the waist of her pants slowly pulling them down. Without even realizing she was doing, it Brenda lifted her hips slightly to allow him to pull them down.

After removing the last of Brenda's clothes Jax pulled off his boxers. Even though he was quickly loosing control himself, he stood looking down at her for a moment. He could not take his eyes off of her. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and she was his - his wife, his lover, but most of all, his best friend! As he was admiring her she reached up her arms to him. Inviting him to join with her. Jax smiled slightly as he leaned forward to lie on top of her.

As he lay down on top of her Brenda opened her legs wide enough to allow him to settle between them. She immediately linked her hands behind his head and pulled his face to hers. As their kisses began again and grew in passion and intensity Jax joined them together. He remained joined with her like that, unmoving for several moments, before he began to move slowly within her. He slowly increased the intensity of their lovemaking until they reached their climax at the same moment, leaving them both totally spent and unable to move.

Jax finally found the strength to roll off of her, causing Brenda to moan softly at the loss of so intimate a contact between them. Jax reached over to push a lock of hair off of her face and then gently stroked her hair. "That was amazing, " he said softly as he lay on his side next to her and continued to stroke her hair.

Brenda rolled over to face him, gently running her fingers across his chest as she looked at him with a very satisfied smile. "You always make it amazing," she said softly as she leaned forward to give kiss his chest and run her tongue across one of his nipples before snuggling close to him.

When Jax wrapped his arms around her he felt her shivering slightly. "Are you cold?" he asked as he rested his cheek on top of her head and tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.

"A little," she said softly as she snuggled to get even closer to him.

"I think I can fix that, " Jax said with a slight smile. He pulled his arms from around her and got up from the bed. Before she even realized what he was doing he lifted her off the bed. He held her naked body close to him for a moment, his face snuggled against the side of her neck before reaching down to pull the covers back and gently lay her down. He immediately lay down next to her and pulled the covers up over both of them.

As soon as she felt him next to her, Brenda wrapped herself tightly around him. "This is perfect," she said softly as she rested her head on Jax's chest to listen to his heartbeat.

"I think I know a way to make it even better," Jax said as he tilted her face up to him.

When Brenda recognized the look in his eyes her mouth opened in amazement. "You can't be serious?" she asked. When he pulled her on top of him she knew immediately that he was very serious and smiled seductively at him. "Who am I to argue with you," she said softly, as she reached up to run her fingers through Jax's hair and bring his face to hers for a passionate kiss. They were soon making love for the second of what would prove to be innumerable times that night, before finally falling asleep, Brenda on top of him with her head on his chest above his heart and her lower body resting snuggly against him as his legs held her close.

It was late Sunday morning before they woke up. Brenda opened her eyes to see Jax watching her as he gently ran his fingers up and down her back. "I must look a sight," she said as she leaned her face down against his chest.

Jax lifted her face back up to him. "The most beautiful sight I've ever seen," he said with a slight smile before leaning down to give her a quick kiss on the lips. When Brenda snuggled back against his chest Jax rested his chin on top of her head. "Are you okay?" he asked with a suddenly serious tone in his voice. "I didn't hurt you did I? I mean I know I was a little 'intense' with you last night."

Brenda smiled against his chest for a moment before leaning forward to place a gentle kiss above his heart. Without lifting her head from his chest she looked up at him with a very satisfied smile. "I'm fine, you didn't hurt me at all," she said as she ran her fingers across his chest without looking away from his face. "What about you? Are you okay? As I recall, I was a little 'intense' myself last night," she said as she smiled seductively at him

Jax slowly ran his fingers through her hair as he smiled down at her. "I'm fine. In fact, I don't think I've ever felt this fine before," he said as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

"I wish we could stay here, like this, forever," Brenda said with a trace of sadness in her voice.

"Well, I can't promise you forever but will the rest of today and all night tonight do for a start?" Jax asked.

Brenda's head jerked up from his chest to look into his eyes. "Do you really mean that Jax? Can we actually spend the entire day in bed making love? You don't have any work you have to finish?"

Jax chuckled as he cupped the side of her face. "You bet I mean it! There is nothing I'd like better than to spend the entire day in this bed making love to you." Jax paused for a moment, looking at her with a very serious expression. "Brenda there is no business deal or crisis that can take me away from you today."

Jax was startled when Brenda flung her arms around his neck. "OH JAX! THANK YOU!" she said as she started kissing her way up the side of his neck and across his cheek to his mouth. Before either of them realized what was happening they were once again making love with total abandon, the same way they had each time they had made love all night long.

As Jax had promised they spent the entire day Sunday in bed making love, stopping only to eat - which they did in bed - until finally falling asleep for the night in each other's arms totally exhausted after making love one last time.

When he woke up on Monday morning Jax smiled as he looked down at Brenda, still sleeping soundly, her body spooned close against him. She was holding the arm he had wrapped around her very tightly with both of her hands as her head rested on the pillow next to him. With his head propped up on his hand Jax continued to silently watch her sleep, his body spooned tightly behind hers. It was almost an hour before he felt her begin to stir.

Brenda slowly opened her eyes. It took a few seconds for her to focus them and become aware of her surroundings. When she felt Jax start to slowly move his hand gently across her abdomen she couldn't resist smiling as she slowly rolled over to face him. She wrapped her arm around his waist as she looked up into his face. "Good morning," she said with a truly satisfied smile.

"Good morning luv," he answered as he leaned his forehead down against hers for a moment. "Did you sleep well?" he asked as he leaned back to look at her.

"Definitely," she said softly before leaning forward to kiss his chest. "How could I not sleep well? I spent the entire day and most of two nights making love with my husband until I fell asleep in his arms." She looked up at him again. "Thank you for yesterday. I will never forget it," she said, suddenly very serious.

Jax pushed back a lock of hair from across her cheek. "You don't have to thank me Brenda. Yesterday was one of the most amazing days I've ever had. I'm just sorry that I was so busy the past few days that I didn't have enough time to spend with you."

Brenda pushed lightly against his chest to get him to roll onto his back so that she could snuggle close to him, her head on his chest. "Jax don't apologize for doing your job. I understand - really." She leaned up to look at him. "I'm just glad that when each day was over I got to sleep in your arms each night." She smiled at him again before resting her head back on his chest.

Jax looked over at the clock on the bedside table and let out a sigh. "I'm glad you feel that way luv, because I have a conference call in about an hour, which means this wonderful time has to come to an end." Jax was surprised when instead of releasing her hold on him Brenda tightened her arms around his waist. "Brenda? What is it?"

"I know you have to get up. I just wanted to hold you - just a little bit longer," Brenda said as she held him tightly for another minute. She finally leaned up to give him a long passionate kiss. When she ended the kiss she smiled mischievously at him. "Just wanted to give you something to think about while you're working," she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Jax suddenly sat up against the headboard, pulling her part way up with him. "I have a better idea! Have you got anything planned for today?" he asked.

When Brenda looked into his eyes she could see the wheels in his brain turning. She had no idea what had just gotten into him. "Not really no. I'm just going to finish up a few things I want to do around the apartment. Why?"

"I was just thinking about how great it has been spending an entire day off with you. How would you like to spend an entire work day with me as well?" Jax asked as Brenda sat up and turned to face him.

"Really? You wouldn't mind me being involved in your business? For the whole day?" Brenda was stunned. She could not believe that he was actually asking her to be a part of his work. No one in her life had ever done that. Her father and sister always insisted that she wouldn't understand what was going on. Then when she was with Sonny he always insisted that his work was none of her business and made her leave the room when he had a meeting. Now here was Jax inviting her to be a part of his work - without any kind of proof that she would not betray him. "I'd love to!" she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, letting the sheet she had been holding around herself fall as she lunged at him.

Jax laughed as he wrapped his arms around her. "Hey wait a minute! If we keep this up neither one of us is going to be ready for that call!" He tucked his face against the side of her neck for a moment before giving her a quick kiss on the neck. "Come on," he said as he finally leaned back from her neck and looked into her face. "We need to get moving. Why don't you go take your shower and I'll order us some breakfast?"

"Okay!" Brenda said as she jumped out of bed without bothering to grab her robe. When she got to the bathroom door she stopped and turned back to Jax, totally oblivious of her nakedness. She looked right at him with a very serious expression. "Thank you Jax." She could see he was going to say something so she spoke up again. "I don't mean for yesterday. I mean for today - for wanting to include me in your business. You have no idea how much this means to me." She stood looking at Jax for a long time.

Realizing how important this was to Brenda, Jax smiled slightly at her. "You're welcome luv. Now get going! We've got work to do!" He waved his fingers toward the bathroom to get her moving. She smiled back at him and headed into the bathroom to shower and dress.

Brenda came out of the bathroom about twenty minutes later, completely dressed and ready for the day. She found Jax waiting for her in the living room. He had also showered and dressed. Their breakfast was waiting for them on the table in front of the couch. She walked directly up to him and gave him a quick kiss.

"Perfect timing, breakfast just got here," Jax said as he nodded toward the table. "Let's eat," he said as he held his arm out toward the couch. Once they were both sitting down he handed her a file that he had been holding behind his back. "I thought you might want to look this over when you finish eating."

"What is it?" Brenda asked as she took the file while sipping her orange juice.

"It's the prospectus for the deal we're going to be discussing during the conference call. I thought you would like some background on the deal so you could participate in the negotiations." When he looked at Brenda he couldn't figure out the expression on her face. "What?" he asked as he set his glass of juice down.

"You want me to participate in the negotiations? You mean that you aren't just letting me sit in at the meeting while you negotiate? You want me to participate?" Brenda asked in disbelief.

"Of course I want you to participate Brenda. I wouldn't have asked you to sit in if I didn't." Jax smiled at the disbelief on Brenda's face. "I value your opinions luv. The way you handled Katherine and Lucy that day showed me that you are a savvy negotiator, which is always an asset in a meeting of this type." He looked at her expectantly. "So what do you say Mrs. Jacks? Are you game?"

Brenda just stared at him for a minute before answering. "When you put it that way how can I refuse?" She smiled for a moment before growing serious again. "I want you to promise me that if I get in over my head you'll stop me before I do anything to endanger your deal."

Jax reached over and put his hand on her forearm. "That's not going to be necessary luv." When he saw the look on Brenda's face he reluctantly agreed. "Okay, I promise to let you know if I think things are going sour."

"Okay, then yes, I'm game," Brenda said as she lifted the cover off of her breakfast. "Let's eat, I've got some reading to do."

After finishing her breakfast Brenda thoroughly read the prospectus Jax had given her, asking several questions about the gray areas of the deal as she read. By the time they went into the den to take the conference call Brenda actually felt comfortable at the prospect of being involved.

It took a little over two hours for all of the details to be worked out and a tentative agreement reached. Jax was amazed at how quickly Brenda had become comfortable with the negotiations and had begun participating. At first she had written notes to Jax but at his insistence she started speaking up with her questions and suggestions. Jax couldn't help feeling proud of her when she had caught a mistake that could have cost him a great deal of money. He was so impressed by her ability to think quickly that he asked her to sit in on the rest of the meetings he had scheduled.

By the time they walked into the Grill to have dinner, Jax felt very proud not only of the contribution Brenda had made to the negotiations but also the self confidence he had seen her develop as the day progressed. He couldn't help feeling proud of her, not for her appearance, but for the way she had blossomed as a woman - as her own person. As they walked to their table he felt that there wasn't anything or anyone that she or they could not handle now.

Tuesday, June 27
6:45 P.M.
Quartermaine Mansion

The family had already started straggling into the living room for the ELQ board meeting. After pouring himself a drink Edward looked around the room. "Good, everyone is here. We can get started on time for once."

"Look again Edward. There are still several board members missing. Ned, Jason, Sonny and Lucy aren't here yet," Monica said as she sat down next to Alan on the sofa.

"Well I doubt Lucy will be here," he said uncomfortably. He had not yet told the other members of the family about selling Deception to Katherine and her subsequent firing of Lucy. He had planned to do that at tonight's meeting.

"Why's that grandfather? Could it be because you sold Deception to Katherine Bell who immediately fired her from the company that she had created?" Ned asked as he walked into the room. As he had expected the sale of Deception came as a surprise to everyone else in the room - an unpleasant surprise!

"Edward! How could you? Deception was thriving under Lucy's control! Why would you sell it to her mortal enemy?" Monica demanded as she glared at Edward. "God knows Lucy is not my favorite person," she said as she looked over at Alan for a moment before focusing back on Edward. "But she created that company. She nurtured it to the success it is. She built a client base that has continued to grow every quarter. Remember that she's the one who hired Brenda as the Face of Deception - probably the most successful advertising image of any company we've ever owned. That company has shown an increasing profit margin every year for the past three years. If you wanted to sell it why didn't you sell it to Lucy?" Monica stood facing Edward with her feet firmly planted in the carpet and her hands on her hips as she waited for his answer.

"Actually it's my understanding that Lucy did make an offer for the company several months ago - a substantially higher offer than Katherine's!" Ned said as he smiled knowingly at his grandfather.

"If Ned's right father why did you sell to Katherine? You've cost all of us money!" Alan said as he walked over to stand next to Monica and Ned.

"I had a very good reason for taking Katherine's offer and not Lucy's" Edward said as he quickly tried to figure out how to get out of this one.

"We're waiting Edward," Lila said angrily as she rolled her wheelchair over to the others.

"Ah, okay - right. I turned down Lucy's offer because I found out that her banker was none other than that thief Jasper Jacks! I had to protect ELQ from him!" Edward declared confidently.

Alan stared at him for a moment before shaking his head slowly in disbelief. "That doesn't make any sense father. Even if Lucy did get her money from Jax, she's the one who'd be in his debt - not ELQ! She's the one who would have had to worry about him trying to steal the company. ELQ would have been free and clear with a substantial cash influx!"

Everyone in the room realized that Alan was right. They all glared at Edward as they waited for a better explanation. Finishing his drink in one gulp Edward suddenly realized that Alan was right. He HAD cost ELQ a lot of money plus he had now probably alienated Lucy to the point that there was no way she was going to support anything he proposed to the board. Before he had a chance to say anything in his own defense they were all startled by the sound of the terrace door opening.

"It's about time you got here," Edward said as Sonny and Jason came through the door, grateful for the interruption. "Can we please get started?" Edward took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Before anyone could answer him they all heard the doorbell. "Good! That'll be Lucy. Now we can get this meeting started."

There was a quick knock on the door. Reginald opened the door and stepped into the room. "Mr. and Mrs. Jacks," he said with a deep sigh. "I sure hope you aren't expecting anyone else tonight. I have more important things to do than answer the door!" He walked back out the door and held it open wider for Brenda and Jax to walk into the living room. Once they were inside he closed the door behind them.

Brenda walked directly to Lila, leading Jax by the hand. Without letting go of Jax's hand she bent over to kiss Lila's cheek. "Hello Lila, I hope you aren't too angry with us for not telling you about our wedding," she said as she stood back up and wrapped both of her arms around Jax's left arm.

Lila smiled up at both Brenda and Jax. "Of course not my dear. I think it's wonderful and very romantic that you two ran off and got married. I wish you both only the best life has to offer." First Brenda and then Jax leaned over to give Lila a kiss.

"Oh please! Enough already!" Edward declared. "It's not that I'm not delighted to see you my dear but would you two get to the point of this 'touching' visit. We've got a board meeting to conduct."

"That's exactly why we're here Edward," Jax said with an innocent expression as he left Brenda with Lila and walked over to shake hands with Ned. "Hello mate. How's Lois?"

"Not too bad all things considered. Unfortunately morning sickness has started so she's a little shaky in the mornings." Ned's curiosity was getting the better of him. "Ah, what exactly did you mean that the board meeting was the reason you and Brenda are here? Do you have a proposal to bring before the board?"

"Absolutely not! Nothing against you my dear," Edward said as he looked over at Brenda for a moment. "If you've come here to propose a deal you can just turn around and go out the way you came in!"

"For once Edward I agree with you. Pretty boy and his…" Sonny looked at Brenda with a smirk. Expecting her to cringe at his glare, he was surprised to see no reaction from her as she stood next to Lila. "Have nothing to say that anyone on this board would be interested in hearing." He looked directly at Jax, his hatred and jealousy obvious on his face. "This meeting is for ELQ board members only pretty boy - LEAVE!" Sonny nodded his head to Jason to signal him to remove Jax from the room.

As Jason took his first step toward him Jax looked over at Brenda, who nodded slightly before walking over to stand next to him. Jax reached into his jacket pocket and took out a legal document folded in thirds and handed it to Ned. "I think this will explain everything," he said with a slight smile as he rested his arm on Brenda shoulders and waited for Ned to read the document.

Ned had no idea what Jax meant as he unfolded the paper. A big smile spread across his face when he finished reading. "This is perfect!" he said as he stuck out his hand to Jax. "Welcome."

"Thanks Ned," Jax said as he shook Ned's outstretched hand. "We figured you'd approve."

"What are you babbling about Ned?" Edward demanded. "What is that document? Give it here! Let me read it!" Edward walked over to Ned with his hand extended.

With a satisfied smile Ned looked at Jax for a moment before handing Edward the papers. "Of course grandfather," Ned said as the smile on his face grew.

Everyone watched Edward as he read the papers. "This is a forgery! It has to be! She wouldn't do this to us!"

"What is it grandfather? What does it say?" A.J. asked. When Edward didn't answer him he looked at Ned. "Well? What does it say?"

"It says that as of 5:00 p.m. today Jax has as much right to be at this meeting as any one of us." Ned shook his head slightly as he chuckled softly at what Jax had just done.

"Like hell he does!" Edward boomed. "There is no way this is legal. How did you manage this? Who did you pay off?" he demanded, as he stood right in front of Jax, trying to intimidate him. Suddenly turning to Brenda Edward changed his tone. "Do you know what this scoundrel has done my dear?" Edward said as he reached for Brenda's hand. "You can tell us the truth. We'll protect you from him."

Brenda couldn't help laughing out loud. "Of course I know what my husband has done Edward. I encouraged him to do it! Besides, we don't have any secrets from each other." Brenda looked up at Jax and winked.

"Will someone PLEASE tell the rest of us what you are talking about?" Alan demanded.

"Thanks to grandfather's 'deal' with Katherine to steal Deception from Lucy, ELQ has a new board member. It seems Lucy has sold all of her shares in ELQ to Jax." Ned took the papers out of Edward's hand. "This is the SEC transfer of ownership notice. Which means, that even if we wanted to contest the sale by making a counter offer, it's too late. The ownership transfer has been approved and recorded." Ned looked at Jax for a moment before looking back at the others. "You are now looking at the new owner of 10.3% of ELQ, Jasper Jacks!"

Everyone stood in stunned silence. Lila was the first to break the silence. "How marvelous!" she said. "This means we'll be seeing both of you on a regular basis. I'm sorry that Lucy is no longer with us but I am delighted that she sold her shares to you two."

"I agree Lila," Monica said with a slight smile as she walked up to Jax. "For the life of me, I can't imagine why any sane person would want to voluntarily join this group of lunatics, but welcome anyway." She extended to hand to him.

"Thanks Monica," Jax said as he gently shook her hand.

"Wait a minute! Let me see that Ashton!" Sonny demanded as he strode over to Ned and grabbed the papers out of his hand. "This doesn't make any sense. Why would Lucy sell her stock to him? She liked being on this board.

"I can answer that one," Ned said with a smirk on his face. "A couple of months ago, Lucy made an offer to buy Deception Fragrances from ELQ. Grandfather negotiated with her in good faith until she made a formal bid for the company." He stopped to look over at Edward for a moment. "When grandfather did some checking into her financing he found out that Jax was Lucy's money man. Apparently thinking it was a way to stick it to Jax in retaliation for a deal that he and Lois had worked on him a few months ago my grandfather sold Deception to Katherine Bell - at a substantially lower price."

Sonny looked at Edward with his contempt obvious on his face. "Why the hell would you do that old man?"

Before Edward was able to answer, Ned continued the story. "Well, as you can imagine, the first thing Katherine did when she took control of the company was fire Lucy. The rest, as they say, is history." Ned crossed his arms in front of himself and couldn't help gloating as he watched his grandfather squirm under Sonny and Jason's glares.

"You know as well as anyone that Katherine and Lucy hate each other. You should have known that the first thing Katherine would do is fire Lucy! This is all your fault!" Sonny couldn't believe how stupid Edward had been in allowing this to happen.

"Even if that was true, which I'm not saying it is, how could I have anticipated that Lucy would stab us in the back by selling her stock to this…swindler!" Edward said in an attempt to justify his actions.

"Why wouldn't she sell to him? He preys on vulnerable people. He probably used his wife to get close to Lucy so he could feed her all this garbage about being her friend and then when she trusts him he cons her out of her ELQ stock." Sonny looked directly at Jax with a confident smirk on his face. "That about how it went down pretty boy?" Sonny asked.

"If you get your jollies thinking that way who am I to argue with you Sonny." Jax looked at Brenda for a moment then back at Sonny. "You are way off on one thing though Corrinthos. I did not use Brenda to get close to Lucy. SHE used Brenda to get to me." He smiled at Brenda as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "The only people in this room who have ever taken advantage of Brenda are you and Edward." He turned to look at Edward with a steely coldness in his eyes, which shook Edward to the core. "Hear me well Edward. I know how you take advantage of people - especially women you claim to care about. I know how you and Sonny stole L&B away from Lois and Brenda. You just admitted you sold Deception for a loss because you thought it was a way of hurting me - but you ended up hurting Lucy instead." He could see that Edward was shaken by his words. "Now that I am a member of this board you can be sure that you will never have the chance to hurt anyone I care about ever again - especially not Brenda!"

Edward nervously put his hand on Brenda's arm. "You can't really think I would ever do anything to intentionally hurt you can you? After all, you're a part of this family."

Brenda lifted Edward's hand off of her arm - almost as if she couldn't stand his touch. "You already have hurt me Edward. With Sonny's help, you stole L&B from us for no reason other than you didn't want Ned spending time with his wife." Brenda paused for a moment to look up at Jax with a slight smile as she wrapped her arm around his waist. "Although... if you hadn't stolen L&B Jax never would have had to come to Port Charles." She tapped her finger on her chin for a moment. "You know, now that I think about it, if you hadn't swindled me I never would have met Jax." Finally turning back from Jax to Edward she smiled. "I guess instead of being angry I should actually thank you for making it possible for me to meet the most amazing man I have ever known." She squeezed her arm a little tighter around Jax's waist as she continued to look at Edward.

"Oh please!" Sonny said mockingly. "Spare us the Jax is my future speech! It ain't gonna fly here Brenda. Everyone in this room knows you too well to buy it!" The self-satisfied smirk on his face made Brenda shudder.

"Speak for yourself Corrinthos. I, for one, believe her," Alan said as he smiled at Brenda. "I'll admit I had my doubts about Jax when Lois first brought him here." He looked over at Sonny. "But after seeing everything he and Brenda had to put up with because of you I changed my mind. The fact that he has not only stayed but has loved and protected Brenda has me convinced."

Turning his attention to Jax, Alan extended his hand. "We consider Brenda as a part of this family which means, whether you're ready for it or not, so are you. Welcome to the Quartermaines Jax!" When Jax grasped his hand Alan held it motionless and looked him right in the eyes, a very serious expression on his face. "Hear me well Jax. You can do whatever you want when it comes to business in this town but be warned - you do ANYTHING to hurt Brenda and I'll come down on you like a ton of bricks!"

Jax smiled at Brenda for a moment before looking back at Alan. "You don't have to worry Alan. I swear to you I will never do anything to hurt Brenda. I love her too much."

"That's all well and good Jax but what about the rest of us? Hmm? Are you going to leave ELQ alone?" Edward demanded.

"That all depends on my wife Edward," Jax said as he wrapped his arm around Brenda's shoulders. "I may own the stock but Brenda will have final approval on all votes." He looked down at Brenda with a smile. "So I'd be careful. You don't want to pull any more stunts like stealing L&B or double crossing Lucy because my wife has some very keen business skills!"

"Oh please! She doesn't know a balance sheet from a bedsheet - which, by the way, is something she does know a great deal - about trust me!" Sonny said as he leered at Brenda.

Jax started to lunge at Sonny but Alan and Ned stopped him. "ENOUGH!" declared a voice from the other side of the room. Everyone turned and saw the absolute fury on Lila's face. "That is quite enough Mr. Corrinthos! I will NOT tolerate that kind of behavior in this house! Brenda is a member of this family and now so is Jax. If you wish to remain in this house you will apologize immediately!" As if they were all one person everyone in the room turned to look at Sonny.

Suddenly uncomfortable with everyone's attention, Sonny cleared his throat nervously and looked at his feet for a moment. Finally he looked up, glancing at Jason who nodded toward his grandmother to let Sonny know he had better apologize. Walking slowly over to Lila he was conscious of everyone watching what he would do next.

"I apologize Mrs. Quartermaine. It was not my intention to offend you." Sonny said, standing next to Lila's chair waiting for her to acknowledge his apology. He was surprised to see the fury still obvious on Lila's face when she looked up at him.

"You are not a stupid man Mr. Corrinthos, we both know that. You know that I was not asking for an apology for myself. If you do not wish to apologize to Brenda for your crude and insulting remarks I will have to insist that you leave this house immediately!" The angry tone in Lila's voice and the glare in her eyes seemed to reinforce her demand.

"No offense meant to you Mrs.Quartermaine but I am a voting member of the ELQ board. Which means, since all voting members must be present, that the board cannot function without me being here," Sonny said as he tried to placate Lila without apologizing to Brenda.

"That's not exactly correct Sonny," Ned said as he walked over to stand behind his grandmother. "While it's true that all voting members must be represented at a meeting there is no rule that says they have to physically be present. Which, I guess leaves you two choices. You can apologize to Brenda AND to Jax so we can finally get this meeting started - OR - you can give Jason your proxy and get out! It's your choice."

Sonny started to say something cocky to Ned when he looked around the room and saw the angry stares on everyone's faces. Even Jason seemed upset with him. In the face of such overwhelming disapproval Sonny let out a long slow breath. "Okay fine, I apologize Brenda," Sonny mumbled in Brenda's general direction before turning to Ned. "Can we get this meeting started now?"

"That's up to Jax. He's the board member whose wife has been insulted," Ned said as he and everyone else looked over at Jax. "If he and Brenda are agreeable we will begin the meeting. If not we will assume that you have given Jason your proxy and you will leave."

Jax looked down at Brenda. She looked up at him with a slight smile as she nodded once. "We begin the meeting." Jax leaned down and kissed the top of Brenda's head before looking back at Sonny. "One inappropriate remark from you and this meeting is over! I will not attend or proxy my vote for another one until you are off this board! Do you understand me?" Jax demanded as he glared at Sonny.

"You can't do that!" Sonny said with a sickening smirk on his face.

"True, he can't, but I can" Edward said calmly, finally taking a stand on this increasingly volatile issue. He turned to Brenda. "I am very sorry about all of this dear." He smiled when Brenda nodded her acceptance with a half smile. "As chairman of this board I have the authority to do exactly that, and I will, if you do anything inappropriate! Do I make myself clear?" he asked, looking directly at Sonny. "That applies to your puppet as well," Edward said as he looked at Jason with disgust.

Jason started to take a step toward Edward but Sonny put his hand up to stop him. "Okay, okay I get your point." He gave Jax a cold stare. "Can we get this meeting started now? I have other things to do."

"Fine, let's get started," Edward said calmly. "Everyone please take a seat." Edward waited until everyone was seated. "I hereby call this meeting of the ELQ Board of Directors to order. I move that we waive a reading of the minutes of the last meeting. Is there a second?"

"Personally, I don't think that's a very good idea. I'd like to know what you people have been up to," came a woman's voice from the doorway. Everyone looked over to see who it was standing there.

"Damn," Brenda said softly as she leaned her head against Jax's shoulder and closed her eyes. "This is all I need tonight."

Jax leaned his cheek on top of her head for a moment before lifting it to look around at her face. "What's wrong luv?" he asked softly so that only she could hear the question. When she didn't answer right away he reached over and clasped his hand over both of hers in her lap.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe somewhere," Alan said disgustedly as he got up and poured himself a drink.

Ignoring Alan's comment the woman walked up to Ned who had stood up as soon as she had come into the room. "Hello dear. Aren't you going to say hello?"

"Hello mother," he said coldly. He tensed noticeably when she kissed his cheek and seemed to pull away from her as quickly as possible, obviously uncomfortable at his mother's slightest touch.

Tracy looked sadly at Ned for a moment before taking a quick breath and looking around the room with a phony smile pasted on her face. She walked over to Jason and Sonny who like everyone else in the room except for Lila were now standing. "My, my Jason, I'm surprised to see you here." Acting suddenly as if Jason was not even in the room Tracy turned back to look at Edward. "Daddy do you really think it's a good idea to let him out without a keeper? In his condition?"

"TRACY!" Monica and Alan both yelled at the same moment from opposite sides of the room.

Tracy just shrugged and turned to gaze around the room again. Her eyes came to rest on Brenda, who was standing very close to Jax, her arm wrapped tightly around his waist. "I know you," she said, pointing to Brenda as she walked toward her. "You're Julia Barrett's little sister - the troublemaker. You're Barbara - no…"

"The name is Brenda, Brenda Jacks," she said coldly. "Hello Tracy. What'd you do, park your broomstick outside?" Brenda asked sarcastically, causing Jax to put his hand up to cover a chuckle.

"It's nice to see that SOME things haven't changed," Apparently not having heard Brenda's last name Tracy turned her gaze on Jax. "And who would this gorgeous creature be?" Tracy asked, licking her lips hungrily as she slowly looked Jax up and down like a piece of meat.

Suddenly feeling very protective of Jax Brenda brought her left hand up and rested it flat on Jax's chest to proudly show off her wedding rings. "This is my husband."

"YOUR HUSBAND! You've got to be kidding me!" Tracy said with a loud laugh. "You never struck me as being wife material." Tracy shook her head slightly as she smirked at Brenda. "Somehow I always figured you'd end up being some lowlife's mistress," she said as she laughed out loud again.

"See! I'm not the only one who…"

Before Sonny could finish what he was saying Jax wrapped his arm around Brenda's shoulders and without a word to anyone started leading her toward the door. He stopped when they got to the door and looked down at her. When she looked up at him and he saw the hurt in her eyes he turned back to look at the others, his eyes such a cold steely blue that even Sonny was shaken by the sight of them. "This meeting is over! Do NOT plan on scheduling a new one any time soon either Edward. I will not be available to attend nor will I authorize my proxy to anyone until YOU get rid of the garbage around here!" When he looked over at Lila his eyes immediately softened. "I apologize Lila. I meant no disrespect to you."

"None was taken dear," Lila said kindly. "You two go on home and try to forget about all of this cruelty." She pressed the lever on her wheelchair to come up to them. She reached up and took Brenda's hand, "I'm sorry about what happened here tonight my dear. My daughter can be very cruel when she's trying to be the center of attention!" Lila looked over at Tracy with the same fury she had shown earlier toward Sonny for his remarks.

Tracy started to protest but when she saw the expression on her mother's face she changed her mind. Instead, she turned her back to everyone and took a deep breath. Realizing that she had obviously gone too far and had alienated everyone in the room including her mother, she tried desperately to figure out a quick way to smooth this situation over. Unfortunately nothing was coming to her. She was beginning to feel very uncomfortable knowing that everyone in the room was glaring at her back.

"There's nothing for you to apologize for Lila. You are not responsible for Tracy's actions." Brenda glared at Tracy for a moment before looking up at Jax. "Can we go home now?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around him again.

"You bet," he said with a reassuring smile as he squeezed her shoulders and pulled her close against his side. They turned to leave but stopped when Edward called out to them.

"Wait a minute! You can't leave us hanging like this! We have important ELQ projects to vote on. If you leave we cannot conduct any business!" Edward said as he quickly walked over to them. He looked angrily back at Tracy for a moment before looking at Jax. "Look, I understand that you're angry at Tracy. To tell you the truth I'd like to strangle her myself right about now!" He looked back at Tracy, who seemed to realize her father was staring at her because she began to fidget. "But that's no reason to make ELQ and the rest of us suffer," Edward said as he looked back at Jax. "Tell you what, why don't you give me your proxy? That way we can handle what needs to be taken care of tonight. I'll make sure you get a full report of our decisions by messenger in the morning."

Jax laughed out loud. "Not a chance old man! You clean up your house before you come to me about ELQ." He leaned down to kiss Lila's cheek. "Good night Lila." Jax and Brenda glanced over at Ned, who nodded his understanding and held up his hand as if to wave goodbye, before walking out the door. A moment later everyone heard the front door slam behind them.

"Lady you're good, you know that," Sonny said with a disgusted chuckle. "You've been here what half an hour and you've managed to break up a board meeting AND insult two board members. That's more damage than I could have done in an entire evening!"

Tracy spun around angrily to look at Sonny. "Just who are you anyway? What gives you the right to speak to me that way in my own home?" she demanded sarcastically.

Sonny leered at her for a moment before looking at Jason and nodding toward the door. He started walking out but stopped when he got to Edward. "You fix this old man - FAST! I'm not going to watch my investment go down the toilet because your psycho daughter couldn't resist insulting pretty boy's wife!" Everyone looked at him when he said that. "What?" he asked as he looked around innocently before focusing back on Edward. "You fix this fast. I don't care what you have to do. You get pretty boy to agree to another meeting and SOON!" he said angrily as he poked Edward in the chest. He nodded to Jason and the two of them walked out of the room, slamming the front door behind them the same way that Jax and Brenda had.

An uneasy silence hung over the room as everyone glared silently at Tracy. Unable to stand the silence, Tracy walked over to the bar and poured herself a stiff drink. She took a long sip before taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly and turning to face her family. "Well! Now that they're gone isn't anyone going to welcome me home? Mother?" she said as she looked expectantly at Lila, who immediately turned her wheelchair and rolled out of the room without saying a word to her daughter. Everyone groaned loudly and rolled their eyes before quickly following Lila out of the room.

Sddenly finding herself alone Tracy shrugged and took another long sip of her drink. She couldn't resist the urge to smile as she looked over the rim of her glass at the now empty room. She walked slowly over to the fireplace and looked at her reflection in the mirror above the mantle. Raising her glass to her reflection as if toasting herself she smiled broadly. This was going to be even more fun than she had expected.