Midnight Sun-24
Prince Armand was on the rear balcony gazing out at the ocean when his Minister of State arrived.
"You sent for me, Sire?"
"Pack your bags, Pierre. You’re going to America," the prince said without turning around.
"Beg pardon, Sire?"
"I am sending you to New York on the first flight out this evening."
"May I inquire for what purpose?" Pierre asked.
"For the purpose of bringing my daughter back here where she belongs. Marco is going with you."
Pierre sighed. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, I am your Minister of State. I tend to matters of government for you. I don’t think you can afford to send me to America to fetch your missing child."
The prince turned to Pierre giving him a dark glance. "Yes, you are right, Pierre. You are my Minister of State. And, therefore, you will do as I wish, carry out my instructions as I wish, and go wherever it is that I wish to send you! Is that understood? Now, your flight leaves in three hours. I would pack if I were you."
"Your Majesty, how can you expect me to bring her back here? You and I both know that by this time she could very well be deeply entrenched in a new life. She may not desire anything we have to offer her here."
"Brenda has always wanted to come out from the shadows of her sister and be a true princess. Nothing would make her give up this golden opportunity I am about to hand her," the prince said with certainty.
"But what can we offer her that Jasper Jacks cannot?"
"Well a title for one thing. An entire kingdom to rule."
"An end to freedom as she knows it, and, of course, the glorious bonus of an arranged marriage to an Earl more than twice her age," Pierre muttered.
"I will not tolerate sarcasm from you, Pierre. Brenda is resilient. She will learn to cope with restricted freedoms. And she will also learn to make herself happy with the Earl."
"But what about Marco, sire? He believes she is his free and clear now. He’s certainly not going to help you bring her back here only to hand her over to another man."
"I cannot be held responsible for that boy’s gullibility," the prince dismissed. "He has proven to be very useful to me in ridding us all of Giselle, and if he can assist you in getting Brenda back here, I shall reward him most handsomely. A small castle in Monte Carlo, money, perhaps even a minor title. But he will not, under any circumstances, have Brenda. And if he finds that unacceptable he will find himself as exiled from Monaco as my dead brother’s worthless son."
"Well then, why can’t Marco go to the States alone, Sire? He can bring Brenda back – I'm sure he’ll make every effort known to man -- and I can stay here and do my *real* job."
"Pierre, your *real* job is whatever I tell you it is. And do you really think I would let that boy go after Brenda on his own? He confessed to nearly being in cahoots with Giselle to bring harm to Brenda. Just because he has seen to it that Giselle is locked away does not mean I trust him. I’m sending you so that if he should do anything to harm Brenda, you will be there to prevent it and end his life on the spot. Nothing must happen to the future princess, do you understand that, Pierre? Nothing."
Pierre sighed. "I understand. Where am I to find Brenda?"
"I have the address of Jax’s Manhattan penthouse, but the man has got homes the world over, and I’m just taking a chance that he isn’t using one of them now. So you shall go to the penthouse. However, it is my understanding that the building is very secure, and you may not be granted access. In that case, you and Marco will have to come up with some clever way to get to Brenda. And once you do, do not allow her to give you "no" for an answer as far as her returning here to me. Assure her that the danger of her sister is gone, and tell her *anything* you have to in order to get her to get on that plane with you and return here."
"I don’t think Mr. Jacks will make that so easy, Sire."
"Of course he won’t. But that is not my problem, Pierre, it is *yours.* I will say one last thing to you now. I want Brenda back here, Pierre. Or else, *you* had better not bother coming back," the Prince said, and then he returned to gazing out at the land he ruled, effectively dismissing his Minister of State.
+ + +
Jax and Brenda were in the limo on the way back from the airport playing gin rummy when Jax’s phone rang.
"I could really learn to hate that thing," Brenda said, staring at his phone.
He laughed. "Well it’s my saving grace. You are literally kicking my butt here."
"Yes, I know," she said, smiling. "That’s thirty kisses you owe me. Well . . thirty one now," she added as she won this game as well.
Jax laughed and answered his phone. "This is Jax."
"And this is Lois. Hiya, Mr. Jacks. Your pilot just phoned in so I know your plane landed on time, safe and sound. Welcome back!"
"Hello, Lois, thank you. How is Addy’s husband doing?"
"Sick as a dog with the runs, poor thing. The flu this year is really terrible , it’s an Australian flu, they say. Maybe that’s why you’re immune?"
Jax laughed because he knew she was serious. "Did you manage to look into that matter I spoke to you about? Eliot Grimaldi - Port Charles - The Quartermaines. Any connection?"
"Oh, yeah, I sure did. First off he’s using his mother’s maiden name, so he’s Eliot Quartermaine these days. He’s been living high on the hog with the Q family over in Port Charles for a little over two years. A first class mooch."
"So, I can locate him there then? In Port Charles?"
"Unfortunately, no. It appears that the young moocher is off in the rain forests near Bora Bora some place," Lois reported.
Jax laughed. "Doing what?"
"Nothing business related. It seems this guy has made leisure time some kind of a career or soemthin’ He has a real aversion to working for a living. Plus, his family kinda hates him, I hear -- he’s the black sheep. So his mother, Tracy Quartermaine, sent him on some bogus trip to Bora Bora to look for some bogus diamond mines. Everybody knows he’s just chillin’, tossing back cold pina coladas, taking dips in the pool, sipping champagne in the Jacuzzi and chasing women around in little grass skits. You know how these idle rich can be, Mr. Jacks. Well actually, you wouldn’t know, would ya? Cause you may be rich, but you’re sure not idle. Do you want me to hire a private detective to track down this Eliot character for ya?"
"Ummm . . .no. I’ll do that myself. Just get me a general location as to where he was last spotted if you can."
"Can do and will do. Anything else?"
"Not at the moment. I’m going to stop by Tea Delgado’s office, and then I’ll be at my penthouse if you need me. Call me there or on the cell phone. I won’t see you until tomorrow morning."
"Okay. I’ll just leave you messages at the mini-palace if anything urgent comes up. Later."
"Yeah, later," Jax said hanging up and laughing. Lois Cerullo was definitely one of a kind. The mini-palace? Addy must have mentioned to her that that was the nickname Brenda had given to the penthouse.
"So, you really want to find Eliot?" Brenda was saying as she stacked up the playing cards neatly, put them away, and climbed onto his lap.
"He could be the answer to our problems," Jax told her, sliding one arm around her waist.
"What problems, exactly?" she asked, blowing in his ear.
He grinned. "Ummm . . the problems of your father wanting you to be next to run his little country."
"We don’t even know if he wants me, Jax. I’m not interested in ruling Monaco. I don’t want to be a princess anymore. I don’t care about any of that stuff now, and I’m sure that will change his desire to have me follow him to the throne."
"Not necessarily. You do feel a sense of obligation and loyalty to your father, don’t you?"
"Well, of course I do. He’s my father.
"Well see, I think he will play on that, Brenda. I think he’ll play on your obligation and loyalties. My finding your cousin Eliot is just a preemptive strike on my part.
"So, where is he?"
"Well, it would appear he’s lounging somewhere off the coast of Bora Bora."
Brenda laughed. "Bora Bora? Well, so much for finding him."
"Oh, I’ll find him all right," Jax said with confidence, kissing the hollow of her throat.
"I? You mean *we* right?" Brenda corrected him.
"What?" he murmured, lifting her hair so that he could kiss the back of her neck.
"You mean *we* will find him," Brenda clarified.
"No. I mean I will find him."
"No, I really think you mean *we* will find him, because I’m going with you," Brenda stated.
Jax leaned back and looked at her. "No, you’re not, actually," he said, looking as if he meant it, although he was only teasing her. He had no intention of going without her.
"Yes, actually I am," she continued to insist. "Jax, you need me."
"Yes, generally speaking that is true. But relatively speaking, as in relative to Bora Bora, I don’t need you."
Brenda’s eyes widened. "How can you say that? Eliot is *my* cousin, remember? I’m the one who knows what he looks like."
"Yeah, and you haven’t seen him in seven years, Brenda." Jax pointed out.
"Which still beats the fact that you have never seen him at *all* and have *no* idea what he looks like. Plus, he knows me, Jax. Why would he even talk to you? Anyway, I would think you’d want me to go with you just because . . ."
Jax grinned. "Just because what?"
"Just because you’d want to *be* with me!" she said, upset that she had to point it out to him.
"Now *that* makes perfect sense," he sighed. "I can’t seem to find anything to counter that with."
Brenda laughed, suddenly realizing he had been teasing her about not going with him the entire time.
"You wanted me to go the whole time, didn't you?" she said, smiling.
"I wouldn't have had it any other way."
"So, when are we going?" she asked, planting a kiss on his lips.
"Well, not right away," Jax told her. "I’ve got some complicated, urgent corporate maneuvers to orchestrate first."
"I totally understand. I’ll let you loot and pillage whatever poor company you’ve set your sights on this time, and when you’re done, *then* we get to go to Bora Bora."
"No, first we celebrate your birthday this weekend," Jax said, as if he truly was looking forward to that.
"Oh right!" Brenda said excitedly. "What are we doing?"
"You’ll see," he said mysteriously.
She smiled in delight. She loved Jax’s surprises.
"Okay, I won’t ask anymore," she promised. "So I’ve never been to Bora Bora. It sounds exotic! How is it?" she asked, playing with his 'Jasper' ID bracelet.
"It’s not going to be any picnic, you know," Jax warned her. "It’s beautiful there, but some areas are kind of primitive."
"I can handle it," she boasted.
"Okay," Jax said, extending his hand to her to seal the deal.
Brenda laughed and took his hand to shake it, and he took her hand, gently flipped it over to expose her wrist, and placed a highly sensual kiss against her leaping pulse. Then he eased a laughing Brenda down on the limo seat as the driver gazed at them with amused eyes in the rear view mirror.
"That’s one," Jax said. "Thirty kisses to go." He rose his eyebrows suggestively as his wife dissolved into happy laughter in expectation of the creativity of his kisses that she had to look forward to for the rest of the limo ride.
+ + +
Alexis Davis rapped on her partner’s door and entered her office.
"Hey, Tea, did I leave the Trump papers in . . ." Alexis stopped mid-sentence as she saw what Tea was wearing. It was a red suit, but it was far better suited to picking up a flock of males in a dance club than seeing clients. "Now I wonder," Alexis drawled, tipping down the front of her chic glasses, "is there an occasion for this outfit? Like perhaps the fact that Jax is back from his honeymoon today and is due here in about five minutes?"
Tea laughed and put down the file she had been perusing. "Alexis, can I confess something to you?"
"Tea, do I look like a priest?" Alexis sighed.
"No, of course not, but I need to tell somebody! The day that Jax came here to tell me he was getting married, he told me something else too."
Alexis gazed at Tea curiously. "What?"
"He told me that if he hadn’t met Brenda, if he hadn’t gotten himself engaged to her, then he would probably have gotten involved with me. *Me*, Alexis."
Alexis shook her head, "Tea, Look . . ."
"I have been waiting *forever* to hear that man say that. You know all throughout college I lusted after him like crazy, and I had to watch him date all of these gorgeous women and never me. I was always the buddy, the pal, the one he talked to about his girlfriends and did his assignments with. So, to have him actually tell me that were it not for Brenda, he could actually see himself getting serious with me was *huge* to me!"
"But you seem to be forgetting the fact that he’s *in love.* And not with you," Alexis mentioned.
"I know, but you know Jax. How long do we *really* think Brenda will be able to hold his interest? I mean, sure she’s vibrant and fun and prettier than any woman has any right being, but . . . that has never been enough for Jax. Come on, Alexis, the girl is only eighteen."
"You forgot to add how smart she is. And so what if she’s only eighteen? Jax is only twenty-three. Besides, she’ll be nineteen this coming Saturday and, honestly, Tea, I had *no* idea you had it this bad for Jax. Look, I was there, okay? I was at the wedding. He is *so* in love with her that it isn’t even funny. Trust me. He is not going to lose interest."
"I know he loves her," Tea admitted. "I’ve seen how they are together too, and I was willing to just wish them well and move on, Alexis, I really was. But every time I try to forget about him, I just realize how much I really want him. How much I have *always* wanted him and never done a damn thing about it. I’ve always had to sit on the sidelines watching him go after other women, listening to him talk about other women. I want to be the one he goes after and talks about for a change."
Alexis sat on the edge of Tea’s desk. "But that isn’t going to *happen.* You realize that don’t you? I mean it’s fine to have fantasies. God knows Rebecca has enough fantasies about Jax to last a lifetime," Alexis said, nodding in the direction of their secretary’s desk. "Fantasies are fine. But Tea, Jax is your client. Your *married* client. If your feelings for him are going to interfere with your ability to represent him and his interests without bias, then I think you ought to hand him over to me. You can get Trump. Even trade."
"You call Trump for Jax an even trade? What are you smoking?" Tea laughed.
"Well, I certainly wasn’t talking looks-wise," Alexis said, laughing too.
"But even monetary wise, Alexis. Your Mr. Trump is a mere multimillionaire. My Mr. Jacks is a billionaire. Plus, he’s gorgeous. And most significantly, he’s my friend."
"So, this means you can control your desires to rip his clothes off and take out a contract on his wife?"
Tea nodded. "I will be good," she said.
The intercom on her desk buzzed, and Tea pressed the button.
"Yes, Rebecca?"
"Mr. Jacks is here," Rebecca announced.
Tea got up quickly and checked her appearance in her compact.
Alexis shook her head. "Tea, you really need to stop."
"Shush," Tea said as she smoothed her tiny skirt and walked out into the reception area to greet Jax and bring him back into her office to discuss pending business. "Welcome back!" she said enthusiastically, but her enthusiasm went down several notches when she noticed that Jax was not alone. The new Mrs. Jacks was with him, and, damn it, the girl looked absolutely incredible. Her sun-kissed complexion, the gorgeous highlights in her dark hair, and that outfit she had on was fabulous. Black suede pants with matching top and a trend-setting faux-diamond belt.
Jax had his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her head, as they talked to Rebecca about their honeymoon. Rebecca had never met Brenda before and was bug-eyed as she stared at her.
And Jax. As if the man didn’t look perfect enough, now his dark gold hair had these fetching streaks of lighter gold that made him look more Adonis-esque than usual. He wore a blue sweater that brought out the beauty of his eyes and looking at him, Tea realized just how much she truly wanted him. Tea was definitely not into unrequited love, however. She had no desire to go after a man who only had eyes for someone else. And yet . . why had Jax bothered to mention to her that he was attracted to her that day? Maybe it was a subtle hint ? Maybe he *wanted* her to make a play for him? Or maybe she was just completely deluding herself into thinking this, so she could somehow justify her growing desire to make a play for him . . .
"I’ll be right back," Jax said to Brenda as he followed Tea into her office.
"Welcome back," Alexis said, kissing Jax on the cheek.
"Thanks."
"You look fabulous, by the way. The both of you. Did you have fun?"
"Oh, yeah. Plenty of that," Jax assured her.
"Good. I’ll see you later." Alexis left the office.
"She’s right. You do look fabulous" Tea agreed, gazing at him provocatively, but she may as well have been looking at the ceiling for all the attention Jax seemed to be paying her.
"Thanks. What can I say, I had the best time. Hey, is everything set for Speilberg’s fund-raiser tomorrow? We really have to move on this ELQ thing *now*. The fact that Brenda is my wife is going to become public knowledge sooner than I anticipated."
"Paparazzi?" Tea guessed.
"No. Them I could always find ways to discredit. But Leeza Gibbons saw us, and she saw the rings, and she’s going to have verification very soon, I’m sure. She’s a credible source so everyone will know it’s true. I need to have the Casino seemingly out of my hands before anything about Brenda and me hits the press."
"Well, have you spoken to your inside guy?"
"Yes, I called Justus on the plane ride back here. He’s all set to go. Ned just has to give him the green light, and I’ll make sure to infuriate Ned into doing that tomorrow. Is everything set for the dummy corporation?"
"Almost, not quite," she said walking over to her files and swaying her hips, hoping to catch his eye. She looked back at him, but he was not even looking in her direction. He was reaching for the phone, calling his brother. All business.
"Not quite isn’t cool, Tea. I know you’ve been working your butt off on this, but I really need everything to be in place today," he said as he dialed. "My time table is critical now."
There was a rap on the door, and Brenda and Alexis came inside. The look in Jax’s eye at the sight of Brenda drove Tea crazy. The man was infuriatingly besotted.
"Jax, I’m going to go to lunch with Alexis," Brenda told him.
"In the building?" Jax asked, not wanting her to go out and about without Mulder.
"Yes, we’ll just be downstairs," Alexis said. "I want to look at all these honeymoon pictures and get all the dirt."
Jax smiled. "Okay." He got up from the chair, hung up the phone call he had never finished making, and took Brenda’s hand. "I just need a second," he said to Tea and Alexis, and he whisked Brenda out of the office.
"Everything okay?" Brenda asked.
"Yes," he said, kissing her. "Everything is perfect. I just want you to be careful."
"But Giselle isn’t a problem for us anymore, right?"
"Right. Still . . ."
"Okay, I’ll be careful. We’ll just be downstairs. You take care of your business with Tea and then come down and join us," she said.
She smiled at him, and he gazed at her while Rebecca peeked at them from over her pile of papers. She could not get over how beautiful Jax’s wife was.
"You have your cell phone with you?" Jax asked.
"Right here," Brenda said patting her coat pocket. "Jax, I’ll be fine. I’ll just be downstairs."
"I’m going to drive you crazy with my overprotectiveness, aren’t I?" Jax said semi-apologetically.
"Probably." She kissed him. "But it’s a small price to pay to be with you."
"Ready?" Alexis asked, coming up being them.
"Ready," Brenda said, waving at Jax as she and Alexis hit the elevator.
Jax watched them until the elevator doors closed, and Tea watched him.
"You act as if you expect her to disappear if you’re not watching her," Tea mentioned.
Jax walked past her back into her office and she followed him, shutting the door.
"I know," Jax confessed. "Most days I still think she’s only a dream, and she’s not going to be there one day when I wake up. This being in love is really complicated," he said playing with the lava lamp on Tea’s desk, which he always played with when he visited her. "But it’s also the best feeling in the world."
"Jax, your problem is that you’ve elevated this girl up into the clouds. Take her down a peg or two back here among us mortals, and your perspective might change," Tea suggested.
"In theory I totally see your point. But that isn’t how it works when you love somebody this way," he countered. "She’s not just another girl I dated who I happened to marry. She’s . . . I don’t know, she’s everything to me. You know, she’s got this song that she loves, a ridiculous song about being unable to live without someone. At least, I thought it was ridiculous until I became fully cognizant of my feelings for her. Now I understand every idiotic word in that song. I actually understand the concept of someone being the center of your universe, and it being all right for it to be that way. Can you believe that? She’s definitely the center of mine," he said quietly. "And you know something, even if I hated that fact, I couldn’t change it if I tried."
Tea rose an eyebrow. "Do you hate it? Do you hate the feeling that your happiness revolves around her now?"
"No," Jax said. "It’s scary, but I don’t hate it." And then he jumped out of personal, sharing mode and went into business mode. "I meant it when I said that I want everything to be in place for this phony ELQ transaction by tonight, Tea."
"Tonight? Originally you said we had until Wednesday. Jax this is insane. If you want everything in place *tonight* we won’t be able to sleep. We’ll have to work through the night."
"Fine, then lets do it. Get everything you need and meet me at the penthouse in an hour. I’ll go get my assistant and between the three of us we *will* have everything in order today. One way or another," he said, getting up.
"What about Brenda?" Tea asked. "I’m not sure she’ll like us invading your personal space until the wee hours of the night."
"Brenda understands. See you in an hour," he said, walking out of her office, passing by a nearly hyperventilating Rebecca, and pressing the elevator to go and get Brenda from the cafeteria.
"Brenda understands, huh?" Tea murmured. "We’ll see . . ."