"Jon? Jon…"

Mox sleepily reached his arm out to touch the person next to him then realized no one was there. Startled, he suddenly sat up. 'Did I dream…'

"Jon?"

Mox looked up at the woman standing next to him with a concerned look on her face.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Alexa quietly apologized.

"S'kay," Mox muttered, rubbing his hands over his face. "Thought I'd dreamed you."

Alexa grinned and used her knee to nudge him to move over. When he did, she sat on the side of the bed. "I just wanted you to know that I have to leave. I've got Court at 10:30 this morning. Mr. Reigns is taking his wife to the airport and offered to drop me off on the way."

"What time is it?" Mox asked.

Alexa glanced at her watch. "Almost seven." She hesitated then leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "I've got a lot of work to catch up on after Court." She impishly grinned. "I sorta played hooky yesterday. I'll probably be late leaving the office, but…would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow night…and we can talk?"

Mox met her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I would. Can I bring anything?"

Alexa shrugged. "Whatever you'd like to drink. I've got some lite beer. If you don't want that, just bring whatever." She put on her heels and stood. "I'll call you when I get home."

"Call me when you leave the office. I'll stay on the line until you get into the car."

Alexa smiled. "I will," she promised. As she turned to go, Mox took her hand.

"Thank you," Mox quietly said. "For…" He took a deep breath. "For staying."

"You're welcome." Alexa leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I'll call you later."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Two more minutes, and I'm knocking on his door," Roman grumbled.

Galina slapped his arm. "You will not," she warned, then looked up as they heard Alexa coming down the stairs.

"Sorry I'm late," Alexa apologized.

"Nonsense," Galina smiled. "You're right on time." She glanced at her husband. "Roman is one of those people who thinks you're late if you're not early."

Roman gave a comical long-suffering sigh. "There's nothing wrong with being punctual," he pointed out as he opened the front door.

"Which we are," Galina smirked as she took Alexa's arm.

"Anyway, thank you for dropping me off," Alexa said as they approached the SUV. "I really appreciate it."

Roman smiled. "It's the least we can do. And thank you for what you did for Mox. That means more to us that we can ever say."

Alexa slightly blushed as she got into the SUV. As they drove away, Galina squeezed her hand. "I hope you and Jon can work things out. But either way, we consider you to be our friend."

"We're going to have dinner tomorrow night. And talk," Alexa softly spoke. "I want to work things out and…and I think Mox does as well."

Roman turned around from the front seat and smiled. "I know he does."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Michael Cole curiously looked from Dana's stern expression to the guard leaving the conference room.

Dana waited until the door closed then sat down. "Who's Mandy Rose?" she demanded.

"Mandy? Just the clerk in my office," Michael answered. "She was there when I transferred to Ft. Madison. She opened the mail, sent out the mail, updated records, all that clerical stuff. She's nobody."

"Well, that nobody has been added to Angle's witness list," Dana coldly replied. "So, she must know something."

"I can't imagine what," Michael snorted. "She handled the mail. Made coffee…although not very well. Kept track of when reports were due, and forwarded them to the proper people."

"Kept track of appointments and whoever visited your office?" Dana probed.

Michael nodded. "But she was never in my office during those times so she knows nothing."

Dana nodded and opened her briefcase. 'Nothing, my ass. She wouldn't be on that witness list if she didn't know something. Cole's an arrogant jackass.' She pulled out a notepad and pen. "I'm questioning her in a deposition in a few hours. Tell me everything about her."

It wasn't a surprise to Dana that Michael knew practically nothing about Angle's new witness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Boss? We didn't expect you in today." Nikki stared at Mox, concern written all over her face.

Mox tiredly smiled. "Surprised, huh? I'm just here for a little while. Got some paperwork to go over to get some supplies ordered…make sure we have enough but not so much that we're falling over materials stacked in the back. Then I'm going back home."

"Good. You look tired."

Mox shrugged. "Haven't slept well in a while," he admitted. "Anybody calls for me, I'm not in…just take a message," he said over his shoulder as he walked towards his office. "Unless it's Roman or Seth…or Alexa."

Nikki waited until Mox closed his office door, then did a 'happy dance' in her chair.

After Mox had met with Kendrick and Ryder to confirm the list of materials for the upcoming projects, he put the paperwork together and shoved it in a folder to give to Nikki. He grinned, knowing she would give him a long-suffering look and sort it out. As he stood, he grabbed his phone, noticing he had a voice message. He opened the app, figuring it was either Roman or Seth checking up on him or Alexa just leaving a message.

It wasn't. It was from Leah.

Mox was surprised the phone didn't break in his grip. He stared at it for several minutes then entered his password and raised the phone to his ear.

'Jon…it's…me. I…uh…was wondering if you could stop by after work today…so we could talk…about…we could talk. I know you must be awfully busy so it's okay if you can't do it today. But…please, Jon? Soon? I…I…um…'bye.'

Mox felt his body turn cold. He slowly and deliberately closed the message…then blocked Leah's number. He stood and grabbed the folder on his desk.

Nikki looked up as Mox entered the lobby. She took one look at his face, then silently took the folder he reached out to her.

"You're keeping the door locked, right?" Mox asked.

Nikki nodded.

"Good. If Leah Moxley shows up, do not let her in," Mox ordered.

"No problem," Nikki quickly agreed.

"If she calls, I'm not here. Then block her number if you can."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It doesn't look like we're losing much to the Diamond Casino," Jericho reported as Roman studied the spreadsheet in front of him. "The vast majority of their business is coming from out-of-towners staying at the hotel for conferences. I'd say the Authority has flexed some muscles to book those conferences. They also have some concerts scheduled in their ballroom which is bringing in people. My recommendation is that we open our own hotel and casino." He smiled. "But with a slight twist."

Roman raised his eyebrows.

"Rumor has it that the Authority is looking for property for another hotel close to the casino," Jericho explained. "One that is more economically oriented, leaving their current hotel focusing on the high-rollers."

"Make sense," Roman admitted. "Which means we're behind the eight-ball."

Jericho handed over another folder. "My suggestion is that our hotel offer resort style amenities but at a lower cost. We can make deals with some of the tourist attractions here and in Moline, such as the riverboat cruises to offer discount tickets to those staying at the hotel. And provide transportation. We'll also have a casino and a dinner theater. We'll have traveling off-Broadway troupes in for say, two weeks, three or four shows a week. A mix of musicals, comedy, and drama. We can also work with local theater groups as well. Perhaps they could do a mystery dinner theater option."

Roman managed not to smile at the enthusiasm in Jericho's voice.

"And here's the twist," Jericho continued, his blue eyes twinkling. "We'll offer the casino, at various times, for fund-raisers. If a charity wants to raise money, they can use our place for Casino Night. We'll offer them a contract where they won't pay a rental fee and get 100% of the money we take in."

"A multi-year contract?" Roman smiled.

"Of course," Jericho nodded. "Conservatively speaking, we won't see a profit for two, maybe three years, but we'll be filling a niche that the Authority doesn't."

"I like it," Roman admitted. "Let me look it over. I'll get back to you in a few days. In the meantime, start looking for available properties."

Jericho nodded and left the office. He'd almost reached his office when Mox entered through the back. Jericho took a look at his face and hesitated.

"Roman available?" Mox curtly asked.

"Yeah, I just left him," Jericho answered. "Something wrong?"

"Just tired of somebody's bullshit," Mox roughly answered as he walked past Jericho.

Jericho studied his retreating form for a few seconds then chuckled. "Sounds like business is about to pick up," he muttered.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Roman looked up as Mox stalked into his office and shut the door a little harder than necessary.

"I'm done with her. Absolutely fucking done!" Mox ranted as he paced back and forth.

"Done with who?" Roman cautiously asked, mentally crossing his fingers that Mox wasn't talking about Alexa.

"Her. Leah. Done, done, and done!"

"What happened?" Roman asked, closing the folder on his desk.

Mox reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. Unlocking it, he pulled up the voice message app and handed the phone to Roman. "Listen to that bullshit."

'Jon…it's…me. I…uh…was wondering if you could stop by after work today…so we could talk…about…we could talk. I know you must be awfully busy so it's okay if you can't do it today. But…please, Jon? Soon? I…I…um…'bye.'

Roman handed the phone back to Mox and heavily sighed. "I guess we both know what she wants to 'talk' about."

"I swear to God, Roman, I won't be held responsible if I ever lay eyes on that lying bitch again," Mox seethed. "She's not going to stop either. She's going to keep coming at me and coming at me! I'll never have a minute's peace the rest of my entire fucking life! She just needs to go and never come back! Permanently!"

Roman allowed Mox's words to hang in the air for several seconds. "You know I can arrange that," he softly spoke. Then he watched as Mox slowly turned to look at him.

The two men stared at each other in silence.

"I don't want her hurt," Mox carefully spoke. "God knows why, but I don't. I just want her to go away and never come back…never contact me again. Nothing more."

Roman silently nodded.

Mox slowly walked to the door, then stopped with his hand on the door handle. "Roman, does this make me a bad man?" he quietly asked.

"No. It doesn't. Nobody deserves to have someone as toxic as Leah in their lives," Roman firmly answered. "There's more we found out about Jack and Leah, but I'd rather not tell you until the trial's over. Can you trust me for that?"

"Dammit, Roman, you know I trust you!" Mox exclaimed. He shook his head. "If I want to know, I'll ask. But…I really don't give a damn right now."

"Fair enough," Roman nodded. He waited until Mox left, and he heard him go upstairs to his room. He reached for his phone and quickly sent a text.

'Alexa, if you can, call Mox this evening. Today's been a little rough. I owe you a debt, Roman.'

After thinking for a few minutes, he dialed a familiar number.

"Hey, Roman! Just checked on Galina's plane. They should be landing in about 90 minutes," Dwayne cheerfully answered. "And the Princess is sleeping…thank God. I'm not sure I could take another viewing of Aladdin."

Despite himself, Roman snickered. "Thanks, but that wasn't why I was calling. How soon can you get another plane up here?"

"By tonight," Dwayne answered. "Something up?"

"Yeah, and I need you to come with the plane." Roman leaned back in his chair. "I'm gonna need your help."