The room hushed, an oddity for the Quartermaines to be sure. All eyes were on the petite brunette and her tall companion. Brenda loved the attention. She loved what she had to say even more.
"Sorry to interrupt folks, but you just can't have an ELQ board meeting without a member of the board." She smirked and leaned back against Luis. The confusion on their faces was amazing, and could only get better. Though, she had to admit that she was glad that this had happened after Lila passed. She wasn't sure she'd have been able to march into the house and take such demanding control if the matriarch had been sitting in her wheelchair, tossing Brenda what she knew would have been a disapproving glance.
"What is the meaning of this?" Edward Quartermaine seemed to be the only one capable of speaking. Tracy scowled. Ned gave great disappointment. Skye, Monica and Alan were suitably confused. And Jax could do nothing but stare at her. But, Edward… Leave it to Edward to know exactly what to say and when. "I just knew that Jax was lying when he said you were back in town with… with…"
"Luis Alcazar." Luis grinned. "Pleasure to see you all again. And, as I can see, I'm still unwelcome. Nice to know that some things don't change."
"Unwelcome." Monica shook herself out of her shock and stood up. "Get out of my house this instant!"
"Actually, Dr. Quartermaine, you can't throw me out because this is a board meeting and I have every right to be here, as I am a member of the board, now."
"You…" Monica sputtered and whirled to Edward. "What is he talking about?"
"How about you all shut up and let me tell it, huh?" Brenda felt bad that she had to be so rude to the Quartermaines, but business was business. They'd always been kind to her, but in the end… Had they really helped? They'd just been more people in a long line that pushed her towards the man who eventually broke her heart. Besides, she hadn't exactly heard anything from them since she left. No one had even bothered to let her know personally that Lila had died. That bit of information had come from Robin. Granted, they didn't exactly know where she was at the time, but that was beside the point. They could have at least tried.
Brenda sighed and shook her head. She pushed herself off of Luis and stalked forward on thin black heels. This was a business day, something she hadn't done in a while, which meant that she had to find clothes as suitable as possible. Something that matched Luis's perpetual business attire. She settled upon a simple black Armani suit, the skirt cut just above her knee. It wasn't the most comfortable, and it certainly wasn't something she'd wear on a daily basis, but for the occasion, it was suitable.
She rose her hand and waved a folded legal document. "Right now, you should be upset with Jax, not me. He's so busy trying to make a baby with the Karate Kid that he's not paid much attention to his business dealings." Brenda stepped forward, smirking at Jax as she walked. "I thought Lady Jane taught you never to scorn a woman, Jax. Oh, but wait. I guess that only counts if you think the woman is worth anything. Considering that you thought I was so easily bought off to never return to town, you obviously didn't think nearly enough of me."
"What have you done, Brenda?" Jax spoke to her, but his eyes were on Luis. Brenda didn't look behind her, but she knew that Luis must have been wearing a dark and mischevious smirk. It was the only thing that could have made Jax's scowl so intense. "What does any of this have to do with me?"
"It has everything to do with you, Jax. It has everything to do to you and what you did to me. You treated me like some tramp off the streets, as someone who didn't even deserve a chance to explain. You humiliated me and now it's time for your humiliation."
They stared at one another in silence. Ned started to walk forward, but Jax put an arm out, stopping him. He didn't say anything, but Brenda knew that Ned was angry. Honestly, though, she really didn't care. The great Ned Ashton, pretending that he was perfect. Well, he was just glad that she cared enough about him to leave him out of her revenge. He hadn't done anything to her personally, anyway. Though, it was kind of offensive that, after all that he'd done to her, Ned could still be friends with Jax. But, that was his problem. At the moment, she had problems a lot bigger than Ned Ashton.
"While I have absolutely no problem with people airing their dirty laundry in public, could we get to the point?" Apparently, Tracy had shaken off her shock, as well. "We have a meeting to get to and, as CEO, I'd like to get to business."
"Right to the point, huh, Mother?"
She looked at Ned and rolled her eyes. "Do you really expect anything else?" Tracy sighed and turned back to Brenda. "Now, tell me just how in the hell that supposedly dead criminal is a member of my ELQ board?"
"Ya know, Tracy, I could take offense at that but…" Brenda shrugged. "It's just you being you. Lila loved you for it, so I guess I can appreciate it." She shook her head and looked to Jax. She stopped short for a moment when her eyes fell on Skye Quartermaine. Now that was someone that she really had no plans for, and didn't know if she should have had plans for her.
To know that she had slept with Luis was one thing. To know that she had been there the night he died and had at one time been a suspect… Even that was managable. However, standing face-to-face with her was something different altogether. In hindsight, Brenda felt guilty that her previous arrival had destroyed her marriage, but she figured that she'd actually been doing her a favor. Here was a woman willing to do some of the most underhanded deeds to get him back and Jax didn't even care. He just divorced her for it. In that respect, she was just like Luis, and that fact was the reason that she didn't turn around to look behind her. She knew that Luis was probably staring at Skye just as hard she was staring at him. Brenda really didn't want to look at him and see memories in his eyes.
Brenda shook her head and coughed. "Okay, down to business. What this all amounts to is that Jax didn't take care of his responsibilities. So, I hope he's been very good to his mother, because he'll be living on her dime." She directed her attention squarely at Jax and said, "Anything that is in your name is now in my name. The only things that our lawyers were unable to touch were properties that were in Lady Jane's name. All properties and holdings of Jasper Jacks now belong to Brenda Barrett soon-to-be Alcazar."
She handed the paper over and Jax snatched it quickly. He searched the papers diligently, speed-reading through each section, flipping through the pages. He looked at the notations, then stopped, shocked. He leaned towards Ned, showing him something, then stared at Brenda with wide eyes. "Alexis Lansing?"
"But… She killed you." Skye shook her head and swallowed. "She… didn't kill you? She…" She shook her head again. "Oh, hell, I don't know. Why in the hell is Alexis helping you?"
"Because she doesn't want to get sued for assault and battery in civil court, since it's common knowledge that she shoved Luis over that balcony and damn near let too many people take the fall." Whether Luis was planning to answer or not, Brenda didn't know. She handled it pretty well herself. "Besides, when there's no one else around willing to help a woman get her child back…" She stared at Ned and Jax hard. "…she'll do absolutely anything she has to."
"So, you weasled your way onto this board." Edward stood and snatched the papers from Jax, looking over them carefully. "You know, if you were one of my own, I'd be proud."
"Hey!" Tracy glared at her father. "I weasled my way in and you damn near disowned me!"
Edward waved her away and Tracy threw a glass at him. It must have been standard in the Quartermaine household because Edward felt the glass coming and moved before it was anywhere near him. "But, what I don't understand," he continued, "is what in the hell he's doing here."
"Oh, now that…" Brenda giggled and bit her bottom lip. "That is the best part, Edward. See, I really don't care that much for business, but Luis… Now, he really enjoys it. And, since I figured you used to have one shady person on the board when Sonny was here, you can survive another one. Besides, you people play just as dirty as any Alcazar, so… I sold my shares of ELQ to Luis."
"You what!" Everyone in the room screamed at the same time. And then, they all started to scream and holler at the same time, arguing over who was going to call a lawyer to get them out of this mess. All of them, that is, except for Ned…
He grabbed Brenda's arm and pulled him to the side. She turned back to see Luis pushing his way through the Quartermaines to get to her and she waved him off. She could handle Ned. Now, if Lois were there, then she might have actually needed an escape. But with Ned…
"What are you doing!" She snatched her arm away as they reached the patio. "Don't you grab me like that! Ever!"
Ned slammed the doors behind them and turned angry eyes on her. "I understand that you're angry, and you know what? There were so many times that I wished you would stand up for yourself, but this… Brenda, that man made you think you were insane! He shot Jax! He tried to kidnap you! He…"
"He loves me!" She stalked up to Ned and glared at him. "That's the one thing that none of you ever seem to think about. He loves me and he means it! I've made a hell of a lot more mistakes with him than I ever made with Jax, but Luis has never turned his back on me and he never will."
"Brenda…" Ned sighed. "I know you want to get back at Jax for what he did to you, but this… This isn't you."
"You have no idea what or who I am, Ned. You haven't known for years. I've let you and Lois and everyone else tell me who I am, what I should be, and you know what? I'm sick of it. I'm sick of letting men walk all over me. I'm sick of pretending like they were right when they hurt me. I'm getting my revenge, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. But hey… that's your specialty, right?" She folded her arms and felt the smirk cross her face. She finally realized that Luis was right. She did actually smirk, and it was kind of fun. "You let women get their revenge, then use it against them? That's what you did with Alexis, isn't it? You let her get her revenge against Sonny and Luis, and then you used it all against her to gain custody of her daughter while you ignored your own little girl. Well, you can't use this against me. Everything I've done is perfectly legal, so you can leave me the hell alone."
Brenda stalked past Ned, leaving him to ruminate over the truth that she had just spat in his face. She opened the doors with both hands and strode into the living room. They were all still arguing with each other, and Luis just stood back and grinned. He looked at her, and he seemed to have been staring at the door the entire time. She was glad. Not just because it meant that he was preparing to come to her rescue if necessary, but because that meant he wasn't looking at Skye. She knew her jealousy was unfounded and unjust considering her own past actions, but she couldn't help it. Luis was hers, and she couldn't help but get jealous over the thought of him with another woman.
She shoved her way through the crowd of screaming Quartermaines and by the time she reached Luis, his arms were already out and waiting. Brenda folded herself against him and breathed in his scent. His hand rested on the back of her head, pushing her hair against her neck. She pulled back for a moment and looked up at him. "Ready for war?"
"Always," he said with a smirk.
"Okay," she told him. "I'm heading back to the penthouse. I'll make a stop by Alexis's and let her know that everything went, well… as best it could." Brenda snorted a laugh. She pressed herself up on her tip-toes and Luis bent down to kiss her. "Have fun."
"Oh, but I plan to."
She laughed, then tapped his cheek. Luis could handle himself, she knew that. The last time he'd been in the Quartermaine mansion… His unease and unpreparedness was because of her and the words she'd thrown at him. This time, she sent him only encouragement. He would handle the insanity of ELQ and she would handle the rest of their business. And it would all be done in time for her to still manage to have an end-of-the-summer wedding.