AN:

I've been having this scenario in my head for the last few days and just had to get it out.

As usual I don't own the show The Bold and the Beautiful or any of the characters in this one shot except maybe those I've come up with on my own. This is totally an AU-story.

There are a few stories on fanfic that has this as their premises, but this is all mine content wise. The premise was also given to me by one of the people reviewing, and said person has since posted it's own story based on the idea.

Chapter seven

Steffy never went to Italy?

Steffy had just walked through the doors of her office when her mind traveled around the world for the first time that day.

Today was the day that Liam would marry the girl so many people in her life were so sure he was supposed to be with, Hope Logan. All they saw was this little fairytale love that Steffy had interfered with and she had interfered, testing the love they had between each other and she believed that because she had, they should be stronger than ever, the fact that they were getting married now should prove it. But if he really believed in the love he and Hope shares, why would he seem so miserable when ever Steffy was around, looking like there was nothing else he wanted to do but touch her hand or the small of her back and kiss her senseless?

She hoped that her fears for him once he married the blonde wasn't anything to really worry about, that he would be happy and in love with Hope for the rest of his life, but she could feel it in her gut that there was something missing between the two newly weds to be. It pained her to no end, but she also knew that they had to figure it out on their own, which is why she hadn't accepted Hope´s offer to come with them to Puglia in Italy, even though she really wanted to go to Italy.

She wanted to visit Rome and see Fontana Di Trevi, throw a coin in the fountain and look at herself in the water, she wanted to visit Tuscany and eat grapes, drink wine and just enjoy the sun. She wanted to swim in the Mediterranean and eat pizza straight from a stone ovens fiery dark. Learn the language while eating a big bowl of pasta, visit Pompeii and feel the winds of history flow around her.

What she didn't want to do is go to Italy and watch Liam marry her. Sure, it's been seven months since they split up and their divorce was final four weeks ago, but she hadn't wanted to end their marriage, even though it had only lasted a month, she believed that they would have had the marriage that lasted a lifetime.

There's a knock on the door.

"Come in!" The person on the other side of the door peaks his head through.

"Uhm. Hi. Are you Steffy Forrester?" He's got dark brown hair and the same color in his eyes, a dense pair of eyebrows and a slight smile with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Hello, are you my 9 am?" The smile doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"Yes, I think so. I'm Wyatt Fuller and I'm here on behalf of my mothers jewelry company." He opens the door and walks through it when he gets the confirmation that this is where he's supposed to be. He goes to shake her hand and then sits down in the chair in front of her desk.

"So, how may I help you?" Steffy takes out a pad of paper to write down what he says in case she needs to talk to her father and grandfather about it.

"My mother and I would like to know if maybe we could maybe cooperate on a campaign that we're going to start next month. It's called Complete and it would demonstrate how you put together a look based on our designs. What I mean is that the ad in the paper would start with a picture of the jewelry the first week, then it pans out to a picture of the model in one of your gowns or a set of your lingerie." He places images of their designs in front of her and some sketches with their designs as well as gowns that Forrester Creations had made to show what he meant.

"So what you're saying is that you want us to work with your company to help with your campaign?" Steffy looks up at him from the stack of papers in her hand to get confirmation.

"What we want is a joint campaign giving both companies excellent advertisement and a continued relationship between companies giving you access to our designs for your runway shows whenever you need them. A symbiotic relationship where both of us get something out of it. I mean, there are customers of ours that has come to us with gowns from your collections asking us to create jewelry that match the gown." Steffy can see that this is a good idea.

"I need to speak to my father and grandfather about this, but I can't see why they would turn you down, I can't promise anything though. At the moment my father is in Italy so I'll have to get back to you by next week as I don't want to disturb him right now. But I'll be in touch."

She gets out of her chair and reaches her hand out for him to shake once again.

"I'll talk to you soon then?"

"Yes! By next Friday at the latest!" Steffy gives him a smile.

What if...

Meanwhile in Italy...

He could feel his heart racing as he stood on the cliff waiting for his bride to make her appearance. He could feel the panic starting to encase him and put pressure on his heart constricting it. He knew it would be okay once he saw her though.

He's looking out on the ocean and then he feels someone watching him so he turns around and sees her. The panic went away instantly because she was as beautiful as he thought she would be. But the reaction his body gave him wasn't even close to when Steffy had walked around the corner on that mountaintop in Aspen. His heart rate slowed down and he felt slightly numb.

She reaches the end of the aisle and they hold hands. She's so happy that they've finally reached this moment, when they were going to become husband and wife at last, and for that she was ecstatic.

The ceremony goes by quickly as does the celebration after, when they go to bed that night they make love for the first time as husband and wife. They fall asleep next to each other with her curled up next to him with her head on his shoulder.

The next day they leave for their honeymoon in Bali.

What if...

One week later in LA.

Ridge and Brooke had come home from Italy two days ago and right now Ridge was on his way to his daughters office, that used to be Brooke´s who had taken it over from Stephanie when she left the company, then when Stephanie came back, she and Steffy decided to share the office when Stephanie came to work, which was about twice a week for a few hours because she didn't need to be there since Steffy had taken over her duties.

He knocks on the door and hears Steffy calling out that he's to come inside.

"Hi daddy!" Steffy smiles and goes around her desk to give her father a hug. "How was the wedding?"

"Hello Steffy. The wedding was nice. I proposed to Brooke while over there." Steffy groans at this. "Look, I know how you feel about Brooke, but you just need to remember that she makes me happy."

"That's not why I wanted to see you so lets get to business shall we?" Steffy starts walking to her desk to sit down again.

"Yes, let's do that." Ridge agrees.

"Anyway, a week ago I had a meeting with the PR-person and son of the owner of Quinn Artisan Jewelry and he asked if we wanted to cooperate with them for their new campaign called Complete. What it means is that we'll get an extra platform to show our designs as well as jewelry to use while we do runway shows, printed ads for the lingerie part and they get to show their pieces in the right setting. Right now they show their pieces on pillows made to showcase jewelry, but they feel like it would make a bigger impact if they were shown with the clothes they were made for and like I said, we would benefit from the cooperation as well. I told him I'd call no later then Friday and that is the day after tomorrow. What do you think?" Steffy hands over all the papers she'd received during the meeting for her father to look at.

"I think it sounds like a great idea, what does Dad think about this?" Ridge raises his eyebrows.

"He thought it sounded like something we could at least try once and if it doesn't work out, we'd just part ways."

"Yeah, let's do that, we've got that new Couture-line debuting in August so the promotions would begin later this month? We should get going on some of the gowns then. Are you up for one more round of Intimates?"

"Yes, I am. So I'll call them and let them know we're on board for a trial run with our next two collections? One Couture and one Intimates? Should we try the next round of Hope for the Future too?" Steffy looks up at her father from the pad of papers where her notes regarding Complete had been written.

"Yes, one for all three lines because it might not work with one but the other two it'll work with. You never know!" Ridge smiles.

"I'll make the call then, you want to stay and hear them out or do you have other things you need to deal with?" Ridge could feel that Steffy wanted him to leave for her to make the phone call.

"I've got some papers I need to drop of at dads office so I'm gonna go, let me know what they say!" Ridge stands up from the chair and goes to give his daughter a hug.

"Sure will!" Steffy leans her head into the kiss her father places on her head. "See you soon!"

As soon as he walks through the door, she picks up the phone and calls Quinn Artisan Jewelry.

"Quinn Artisan, how may I help you?" The voice on the other side said.

"Hi! I'm Steffy Forrester, can I please talk to Wyatt or Quinn Fuller!" Steffy starts drawing a picture on a new page within the note pad.

"I'll send you through! Just wait on the line and one of them will be with you soon." The receptionist put her through.

It takes a few rings on the other end, but eventually a frazzled voice answers the phone.

"Hello! Who am I talking to?" The voice on the other end says.

"Hi! This is Stephanie Forrester with Forrester Creations, I had a meeting with your son I believe, last week and promised him I would call with our decision in regards to Complete by today at the latest. Do you have time to talk to me right now? You seem a little stressed?" Steffy frowns.

"Oh, I completely forgot about that. We are trying to get together the designs for our next collection and some of them are giving me grief. You know how it is. But I do have time to talk to you right now, so, what did you decide?" The voice on the other end calms down as time goes by.

"Well, I talked to my father just a few minutes ago and he thought it would be a good idea and I talked to my grandfather on Monday and he thought we should do it and I have been given the authority to give you a proposition. We were wondering if we could to a trial run for the next seasons runway shows. For Intimates, Couture and Hope for the Future. You know, to see if it works for both parties. Would that be okay for you?" Steffy is absentmindedly drawing on a piece of paper as she's talking, not paying any attention on the paper at all.

"Absolutely, I wouldn't want to tie us up in a contract if it doesn't work out the way either of us want to. Which of the lines is the first one to show?"

"Well, we pushed Intimates to the back burner just before we should have released the second round of the line and I think all those designs are still in storage somewhere, so Intimates probably. But we are going to have to talk about that. I think we should set up a meeting." Steffy starts looking for a piece of paper to write on and her calender to find a time that fits with both parties. "Do you have time during the end of next week?"

She can hear papers turning on the other side of the phone.

"I don't think I can, but Wyatt has time, he already knows everything that needs to be taken care of and you've already met him, so there shouldn't be a problem. But I'll see what I can do about me coming too!" Quinn scratches her head absentmindedly while looking at the calender.

"That sounds great! How about Thursday at five PM?"

Quinn confirms that that would be okay.

"Will he be bringing any pieces with him? I think we'll be able to round up some designs by next week so that we could see how they work together."

"Yes, I have some from a previous line that he can take with him, as a preview of sorts." She writes a post it note about having to find those pieces she has in mind. "What line are we talking about now? Just so that I don't send jewels made for couture gowns and you're trying it out with designs from Hope for the Future."

"I was thinking we start with some designs from Intimates and Couture. We'll take pictures and send them over to you so that you get to see them as well if you can't be here. Sound good?"

"Yes, sound excellent! I'll talk to you later then. I got to start wrestling the pieces that won't play nice again." Quinn laughs a little.

Steffy laughs back.

"I know the feeling. Or, maybe not know the feeling, but I have seen it. Over and over and over. I hope they work themselves out! We'll be in touch! Have a nice weekend!"

"You too!"

Then they hang up.

What if...

One week later.

Steffy is currently in fitting trying on a dark purple and lilac corset with a matching pair of underwear. When Hope walks through the door.

"Well well, if it isn't the former bride." Steffy places a fake smile on her lips.

"Well, at least my marriage to Liam lasted through the honeymoon." Hope retaliates.

"Filed the papers yet? Cause if you don't, your not married yet!" The smile turns into a smirk.

"We're married in our hearts and that's what matters, we'll file those papers soon." Hope´s eyes sparkles.

"You mean like you were when you had sex with him while him and I were going through our divorce? You know when you had to resort to pills because taking away my 'power' was much more important then your beliefs?" Steffy points out. "Anyway, I believe you came here for another reason?"

"Yes, actually. I want to sit in on the meeting this afternoon." Hope places her hands on her hips.

"Why is that?" Hope seems surprised by the question.

"What do you mean? You're going to be discussing my line. I have every reason to be there."

"Are you a designer of that line? Head of PR? CEO of this company? President even?" Steffy raises her eyebrows.

"No, but I represent Hope for the Future and I need to be there."

"No, you don't actually, we're discussing Couture and Intimates today. We don't need you there during this meeting. Hence the fitting I'm in right now. If that was all I need to get back to work and I'm pretty sure you have a new 'husband' at home that you can focus on. Maybe go file those papers?"

Steffy watches Hope walk out of her office sulking.

"Well, that was intense!" Wyatt pokes his head through the opening left by Hope on her way out.

"Yeah, we grate each others nerves and piss each other off just by looking at each other. Ex-husbands new wife and previous fiance." Steffy steps down from the podium the seamstress used to elevate Steffy to do the alterations for the piece to get a robe. "Anyway. You're here early. Meetings not until a couple of hours."

"Yeah, mom sent me over and told me to bring 'linner'? Kind of a late version of brunch? Don't really know why, but linner with you in that outfit I for one think is a good idea!" His eyes are sparkling.

"Oh, if you're not careful you might get caught in my web of deception, seduction and manipulations and trust me, people around here would not want you to end up there." Steffy smirks.

"Well, what if I do want to get caught up in that web though? Seduction is a big favorite of mine. Deception and manipulations on the other hand I get enough of through unrelated issues."

She can tell he's talking about a girl he once knew.

"Well then, welcome to it. Now, there was food promised. Did you bring the pieces with you now? Is your mom coming too?" Steffy starts looking around for boxes and bags.

"Yes, that is part of a linner right? That you actually eat food. I do have some pieces with me and mom is coming. She just has some stuff that needed to be finished. Anyway, I have a piece with me that would look gorgeous with that corset set you're wearing." He walks out through the door and brings in a jewelry case and some bags with food in them.

Steffy can tell by the smell that he's brought some of her favorite foods.

"Well, let me see then?"

He opens up the case and takes out a gorgeous statement necklace with sparkling, what looks to be, diamonds and dark purple stones in a silver setting. Steffy turns around and lets him put it on her and when she turns back around and sees herself in the mirror, she's stunned.

"Yeah, you're right, it is gorgeous." Then she turns to the seamstress. "Can you bring granddads sixties inspired cocktail dress? The purple one. I want to see what it looks like. Don't worry, I won't start eating until after we've seen what it looks like. I'm going to send a message to my father so he can come see as well." Steffy walks over to her desk and finds her phone.

Steffy: Hi dad! Wyatt is here and be brought some pieces,

I have one on right now, it's gorgeous! Come see!

Ridge: Hi honey! I thought the meeting was in two hours?

He's here already?I'll come right over.

Steffy: Yeah, I was in a fitting and he walks through the door and he brought food.

Ridge: I'll be right over!

"Dad is coming in a little bit. Now we'll just wait for the dress." Steffy looks into his eyes and sees the mischief in them. "What?"

"Well, I always wanted to dance with a woman in lingerie, specifically something that looks like what you're wearing now. So, can I have this dance?" He hold his hand out.

Steffy just laughs.

"But we don't have any music?" And with a couple of swipes with his finger, a beautiful classical piece streams out of his phone.

"How about now then?" He once again holds his hand out. This time though, she takes it and then they waltz around her office.

Until they hear someone clearing their throat. As they turn towards the door, four people are standing there. The seamstress with the dress, her father, her grandfather and her brother.

"Well well, what's going on here?" Ridge chuckles a little.

"I am fulfilling a dream. His dream actually." Steffy points to the man beside her who still has his hand on her waist.

"And what dream might that be?" She can see that the strict facade her father is trying to maintain is crumbling.

"He wanted to know what it was like to dance with a woman wearing a corset and since I'm wearing a corset, I obliged." Her fathers facade crumbles completely.

"Well, that is what it looked like. Now, you wanted to show me something."

"Now, remember dad that I am not your daughter right now, I'm just a model." And with those last words she drops the robe she's wearing and reveals what's underneath.

All four mouths of the people who hadn't seen it before drops completely.

"Yeah, you're right. That is gorgeous!" Thomas chimes in. "But I really don't need to see anymore of my baby sister in lingerie."

"It's a good thing you won't have to then, big brother, because I've sent for a dress I think would look good with all of it." She turns to the seamstress and motions her over to help her put it on.

Once the dress is on, jaw drops once again.

"Yeah, so I think that Couture is a go right?" Eric says. "Do we really need to think about Intimates as well?"

All of them, even the seamstress shakes her head.

"No, Intimates and Couture is a go." Ridge agrees.

"Do you have anything with you that could go with a look from Hope for the Future?" Steffy asks.

"I thought we weren't going to discuss that line today?" Wyatt seems curious.

"Well, we weren't, but what we wanted to discuss didn't take as long as I thought it would." Steffy answers.

"I'll call my mother and you tell that girl about the change of plans then." Wyatt points towards Steffy. "I don't have any pieces with me for Hope for the Future, but mom can bring them with her."

Steffy agrees and five minutes later both Hope and Quinn have been informed of the change of plans.

Thirty minutes later Hope walks through the door just after Quinn has arrived and is awestruck.

"Well, I'd give you a compliment because that ensemble is gorgeous, but I really don't like you that much so I won't." Hope´s venom seeps through not knowing that Ridge, Eric and Thomas are there.

Thomas clears his throat and all the color drains from Hope´s face.

"Well, since I'm only wearing granddad and dads as well as Quinn´s designs, direct the compliment to them. No need to compliment me when I'm only wearing the clothes. So, filed the papers yet?" There's a twinkle in Steffy´s eye.

"Yes, we did actually." And Steffy gives her an applause.

"Good on you! Live well and prosper!" Steffy gives her fake smile once again and then turns back to Quinn. "As you can see, this piece works really well with the dress my grandfather designed as well as the lingerie set my father designed. Do you want to see?"

Quinn nods her head and just as Steffy is taking the dress off, Liam walks through the door and he is floored, as usual Hope notices and glares at her new husband.

"Can you not do that?" She whispers.

"Do what?" Liam whispers back.

"Drool over her like you want to have sex with her right now."

"Well, the Intimates line is supposed to make men drool and want to have sex with the woman wearing the designs and the woman wearing them feel sexy. If you can't handle your man looking at another woman, maybe you shouldn't have married him?" Thomas points out. "Trust is a huge part of a marriage you know. Now, I can't handle that anymore Steffy so could you put something on?"

Steffy walks over to the chair where she put the robe before and put it on and tied it together.

"Anyway, I guess introductions are in order? This is Hope and Liam Spencer, my future stepsister and her husband. Hope and Liam, meet Quinn and Wyatt Fuller, they are the owners of the company that did this gorgeous necklace, Quinn Artisan Jewelry. We'll be working with them during runways and photo shoots to enhance our designs and give them another platform to show off their jewelry. We're going to be looking at pieces they think would go well with Hope for the Future now, which is why Hope is here as she's the face of the line." Steffy was really in charge of this meeting and it made both her brother and dad proud.

It was rubbing Hope the wrong way though. She never liked it when Steffy was handling stuff.

Steffy however noticed something that made her a little worried. Wyatt and Liam had the same nose and eyes, their build was nowhere near the same, but it still reminded her of Bill. Then she saw the sword and she gasps. Everyone turns to her just to see her cover her mouth with one of her hands.

"I need to talk to you about something." She directs the statement to Quinn. Quinn nods and walks out the door with Steffy following behind. Both Wyatt and Liam stares at her while she leaves.

They walk across the hall into the CEO´s office and close the door.

She whispers to Quinn because if she's wrong, she doesn't want anyone to hear what she suspects.

"So, I've just spent some time studying your son as well as my ex-husband and there are some things that have me confused. The color of their eyes are almost identical, only difference is that Liam has a little more green in his, which I guess comes from his mother. But they are his fathers eyes. Is Wyatt Bill Spencer´s son?" Quinn looks so guilty it's confirmation of her suspicions.

"But not the one you think. $Bill Spencer is Wyatt´s brother, so Wyatt is Liam´s uncle. What gave it away?"

"The sword. Does Bill and Karen know they have a brother?" Quinn nods her head. "Does Wyatt know? Because we will be dealing with each other a lot during the next few months, at some point someone is going to blurt something out."

"Yeah, he knows too. I should have done my homework and realized that we'd be working with people tied to the Spencer´s. I guess I need to talk to him." Steffy nods her head.

"Yeah, and I need to talk to Liam about this. Hope is not going to be happy."

They walk back over to Steffy´s office once again.

"Liam, I need to talk to you about something."

"Wyatt, I need to talk to you about something."

Wyatt´s eyes finds his mother instantly, as does Liam´s eyes with Steffy. Liam get´s right up and walks over to her.

"Anything you need to talk to my husband about, you can say in front of me." Hope objects.

"Fine, come with me both of you then."

They walk across the hall.

"Yeah, so I've been studying the people in that office for a while and I noticed something. You and Wyatt have the same nose and almost identical eyes. So I asked Quinn if Wyatt was Bill´s son." She hears Liam and Hope gasp. "He's not, but he is his brother. Liam, he's your uncle. Your family just keeps on growing."

What Liam does next does not surprise Steffy one bit, but it angers Hope to no end.

Liam walks over to Steffy and places his hands on her cheeks. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, the Spencer sword gave it away even more."

Then he gives her a hug, a hug that was a little to long for a man who has his wife in the same room he's talking to his ex-wife in while she's wearing lingerie and practically nothing else.

"Liam. Liam! Liam!"

Steffy taps Liam on the shoulder.

"Liam, you can let go now." Steffy whispers into his ear. "Your wife is upset!"

Liam had completely forgotten Hope was even there after getting the news.

"Right." Liam is so confused.

What if...

Yeah, so I decided to cut it off here because as Chapter 5 is getting a follow up story, I felt like this one deserves one too!

Too much juicy stuff to fit in one chapter. So this is the prologue of sorts for that story.