"Then what happened?" Cole pressed as he walked his fingers up from Caitlin's stomach to the valley between her naked breasts. "What did your father do when the box came?"

Caitlin smiled, remembering the yelling, the sound of smashing ceramic. "He lost it. Smashed up the living room, couldn't even look at mom for hours. Alex had to take her to bed." Burying her fingers in his wavy dark hair, she lifted the sheet to let him run his fingers back down her side, unobstructed. "I heard them fighting when he finally went upstairs. He wouldn't tell mom what was going on. I sat outside the door until she told him to get out. I think dad might have spent the night in the guest room."

Grinning at his victory, Cole nibbled at her neck, pleased at how quickly she was learning to bend to his way of thinking. "Excellent. The more space we can drive between them, the closer we get to my rightful inheritance."

"How?" Caitlin wondered as she stroked the muscles of his chest. "Why does breaking them up get us the jewels?"

Cole kissed her shoulder, running his lips down to her collarbone. "Two ways. Your parent's implode like they seem to have a history of doing. Without your father, taking the jewels will be a walk in the park."

She turned to him, enjoying the thought of her mother alone and helpless at Cole's hands. "Or, they manage to stay together and we move to the next step."

Propping herself up on her elbow, Caitlin pulled the sheet up. "The next step?"

Cole rolled away for a second, pulling the plane tickets from the top of the table by their hotel room bed. "Monte Carlo."

Taking the tickets, she started to laugh. "What are we going to do in Monte Carlo?"

"I'm going to call in a few favors." Gregory was tougher to break then he had given him credit for. Cole was going to need some extra equipment. "You are going to learn the trade, just like you've been asking."

Squealing in delight, Caitlin attacked him. Cole returned her clumsy kisses, thinking of her trust fund as he rolled her over to continue his deflowering. As far as virginal heiresses went, she was neither the richest or the most beautiful, but she was certainly the easiest to turn. There was a fascinating instability in her that was going to prove essential to his goals.

"Mom, I'm not working for Gregory Richards! I'd rather be a lifeguard, at least then I'm out there saving people's lives, not being some kind of secretary." Casey continued protesting as he followed her into the elevator.

Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I'm not asking you to be a secretary. I'm asking you to be an assistant. All you have to do is learn about the business so you can manage your own stock someday. I didn't keep my quarter of Liberty just to pass it off to some accountant."

She hit the button for the fifth floor. "I don't see what it is between you and Gregory anyway. He's my oldest friend, you could be a little nicer to him. He's not a bad person."

Casey shrugged, trying to decide how to explain his feelings. "I guess he reminds me too much of dad. Too controlling-"

Alex squeezed his elbow. "There's another man I wish you got along better with."

Shaking his head he gestured for her to leave the elevator first. "What is it with you lately? Did you have some sort of spirtual cleansing in Nambia you didn't tell me about?"

Alex managed a small smile. "I just worry about you having trouble with male role models."

"Gregory Richards is a role model?" Incredulous, Casey stopped her in the hallway. "You want me to be more like him?"

"He has a family and a sucessful career, he donates a huge amount of money to charity. He's still madly in love with his wife."

Laughing, Casey continued to head down the hallway. "That's it, you're just a hopeless romantic."

Alex blushed a little. "He makes Olivia happy. And you can't not like her." She hit him on the arm playfully. "She's a sweetheart."

"Olivia Richards seems like a classy lady." Casey admitted with a smile. "She did a lovely job playing hostess at the charity ball."

"Good. Go talk to her while I catch up with Gregory." Alex pushed him towards the closed door of Olivia's office. "We need a minute to talk like grownups."

Casey put up his hands in confusion. "All right. What do I say to her?"

"Tell her about Heather." Alex winked as her son started to blush. "She's a bit of a hopeless romantic too." He looked at her piteously, not quite ready to have everyone hear about his new love. "Five minutes. Give me five minutes with Gregory. I'm sure you can make conversation with her for that long. Please?"

He reached for the door obidiently. "What do you need to talk to Gregory about anyway?"

"If you must know, your mother needs to talk about her love life." Laughing as he started blushing again, Alex retreated towards Gregory's office.

"This isn't about that Englishman, is it?" Casey called after her. "The one with the antlers?"

"I'm not listening to you anymore!" Alex retorted, still chuckling as she entered Gregory's office.

"You've got Liv working kind of late Esquire." She teased as she tapped her watch. "Shouldn't you be getting home for dinner?"

Gregory looked up from his paperwork with a tired smile. "I just need to finish this up for Legal Aid."

"Doing some Pro Bono work?" Alex remarked with mild amusement as she sifted through the mess.

"We rotate around the firm. My turn came up." He reached for the casefile, adding more notes to his scribbled legal pad. "I thought you were bringing Casey by with you?"

"He's in with Olivia. I told him to talk to her for a bit, so I could get you alone."

Gregory chuckled softly. "Pretty one-sided conversation. She's been asleep for the last hour." He indicated the small video monitor on the floor by his feet. "See?"

Alex crossed to stand behind him and smiled down at the black and white image of her son standing in the door of Olivia's office, watching her sleep. "When did you get this done?" She teased as she pointed at the monitor with her foot. "And has she killed you for being overprotective yet?"

"This morning, and no, she doesn't know about it." He started stacking up his papers. "I needed to be able to keep an eye on her."

Alex rubbed his shoulder, smiling as she realized his missing suitcoat was draped over Olivia in the other room. "Bastard shook you up a bit, didn't he?"

Gregory sighed heavily and reached for the hand on his shoulder. "When I went to bed I attacked her. Nearly shook her until she passed out."

"Gregory!" She reprimanded with a gentle slap on the back of his head. "You can't keep doing that. Especially not-"

He finished for her. "If we're going to have a baby." Gregory stacked his papers in his briefcase. "I was just so angry."

"Hey, if this Cole bastard showed up now, I'd probably help you kill him." Alex shrugged honestly. "You have to keep that part away from Olivia. Find something to pour it into. Golf, polo, racquetball, something- that lets it out."

"Otherwise Cole is going to win." Gregory finished her thought as he stared down at the video monitor, watching as Olivia stirred slightly in her sleep. "Why can't she just be safe?"

Alex took the briefcase from his hand and hugged him earnestly. "I don't know, but I've got a lot of faith that you can keep her that way."

Olivia moved again, the gray suit jacket Gregory had over her as a blanket slipped slightly, and as they both watch, Casey stepped forward to rearrange it over her shoulder. "Got him."

Gregory studied Alex's impish smile and shook his head in admiration. "You knew Olivia was asleep."

"Emily told me." She explained lightly.

"You knew Casey would never agree to work for me-"

"But seeing how vulnerable Olivia could be would appeal to that knight-in-shining armor complex he has." Alex finished with a proud wink. "And he fell for it. A Franklin says he walks in that door, shakes your hand and agrees to take the job."

As the knock came at the door of his office, Gregory flashed her the bill before he tucked it into his breast pocket. "Come in."

"Hello honey." Alex welcomed. "We were just talking about you."

Casey raised his eyebrows innocently. "Nothing bad I hope."

"Oh no." Gregory baited with a knowing look at Alex. "Just that your mother doesn't think you'll be joining us at Liberty-"

Casey's eyes widened and he smiled. Gregory noting just how honest that smile was. "Actually, I wanted to talk to both of you about that."

"Really?" Alex asked with great amusement.

Casey extended his hand towards Gregory- "I'd be honored to work with your wife."

Gregory paid up as Alex and Casey left him by Olivia's office. Both promising to meet them at Grenadine's. The fabled Dr. Heather Jensen, the new woman in Casey's life was going to make an appearance. From the way Alex teased her son, it was obvious she too was infatuated with the young woman.

Looking forward to dinner, he sat on the small cound next to Olivia's knees, resting his hand on her shoulder as he watched the sleep take the years from her face. "Liv-"

She moaned softly, pulling his jacket up to her chin. "It can't be morning yet."

Gregory chuckled as he tickled her chin. "It's nearly night kiddo. We're going to dinner with Alex, Casey and his new girlfriend. Remember?"

Olivia opened her eyes tentatively. "I am hungry."

He sat her up, kissing her cheek as he straightened her hair. "It's Wednesday, they always have that salmon you like."

She kissed his nose playfully as they left the couch. "Maybe I'd rather have steak."

"Steak?" Surprised, Gregory wrapped an arm around her back as he led her to the elevator. "I can never get you to eat steak."

"It sounds divine right now." She leaned her head against his shoulder and let him plant kisses in her hair. "Actually, anything hot and steaming sounds pretty amazing."

"It's a nice surprise to see your appetite came back." He noted with quiet relief.

She turned around in his arms, pulling him down by his tie. "Maybe there will be some more surprises for you tonight." Olivia's tongue flicked out to touch the corner of his mouth, inviting him playfully.

He returned her kiss with more reserve. "Only if you're up to it. You've been a little tired lately."

Disappointed, but touched by his concern, Olivia wove her fingers into his as they headed for the parking lot. "You're certainly being considerate." She mentioned as he opened her door for her before crossing to his own.

"That 'flu' bug took a lot out of you." He squeezed her fingers for a second before letting go to use his hands to drive the car. "I don't want to rush you."

"What if I promise I'm not contagious?" Olivia hid a yawn behind her hand and decided to save Gregory from the uncomfortable silence that followed her question. "You are so sweet when you're worried about me."

He nearly popped the clutch at a stoplight, and she gave him a look. He cast a glance at her as she licked her lips thoughtfully. "I'm a basket-case. All right?"

She was still laughing when they pulled up and Grenadines. He handed the keys off to the valet and led her inside. "I think you're adorable." She whispered just as they passed the host, making him blush slightly. As he pulled out her chair at the table, she caught his hand just long enough to whisper one more thing.

"I love you."