45 Days Later

Emma didn't know how but almost two months had past in a whirlwind. So much work had to be done when they returned from California that neither girl had a moment to think about what they had left behind there. Let alone share what they uncovered with their father.

Or maybe they had been avoiding the whole conversation… That was pretty simple though since both executives were spending the majority of their time at the New York office.

Emma's iPhone vibrated for the hundredth time that morning. It was a meeting invitation from her father's assistant Leroy. She quickly accepted the date and time and added it to her own calendar.

Next Tuesday, 9:00am
New York

A few moments later she got another notification saying that Regina had also accepted the invite. This would be the first time the girls were sitting down with their fathers. They already had much to discuss. But if the opportunity presented itself…

Emma's heart quickened. Just like it did every time she thought about sharing the information with her family. It didn't feel right. But she assumed corporate sabotage never did.

51 Days Later

Lower Manhattan was a lot more beautiful from the outside looking in. The skyline was unlike anything in the world and if you could watch the sunset over it from Brooklyn or Jersey City, it was really something else.

But actually being in the city…Emma never cared for it. Too many people, too many cars, all going nowhere fast. There was just too much going on. And somehow, even though the city was jam packed already, there was always construction.

Needless to say, going to the New York office was not one of Emma's favorites things. The building itself wasn't so bad. A little sterile for her taste but that's Corporate America for you.

Emma really only spent her time on the top floor of the building. Where her and the business executives did their work. Because her home office was in Boston, she was not a huge fan of her make shift space here. She was never in the mood to decorate it so it was fairly plain.

Feeling her phone buzz from her maroon cardigan pocket, Emma retrieved it and saw that Regina was heading to the conference room now. And she wanted Emma to meet her there. Standing, Emma soothed her navy ankle slacks and retucked her crisp white dress shirt.

The conference room seemed dimmer than usual today. Had her father had the windows tinted? Or had the weather really changed that quickly?

Regina was already sitting in one of the large, black, leather chairs when Emma entered. She was preoccupied by typing something into her phone and did not look up when Emma closed the large door behind her.

Walking towards her, Emma nervously asked, "Are you sure we want to show them this?"

Now Regina looked up from her phone, clearly flustered. "Emma, you were the one convincing me we had to do this this morning!"

"I know…it's just—"

The large mahogany door Emma had just walked through creaked open. It was an old door and Henry refused to let anyone fix the annoying sound. He thought it gave the door character.

Emma was surprised that her father and uncle were here already. Their meeting was not scheduled to start for another twenty minutes.

Pausing her conversation with her cousin, Emma looked to great the two. But as she registered the sight in front of her she was all of the sudden on fire. She continued to stare even though her vision blurred momentarily and, for an few seconds, she feared she would pass out altogether.

Beside her father and uncle Henry was Brennan Jones.

And his son and nephew.

Heat burned through Emma's body with a large pit settling on her chest. This could not be happening. Why were they here?

"Oh! Girls, you are already here, good. Gentlemen, this is my daughter Regina and my niece Emma. Ladies, this is Brennan Jones, his son Killian and nephew Robin Locksley." Henry's voice sounded as if it were underwater. The edges of Emma's vision were still blurry as she tried to blink it away. She was frozen in her seat.

Regina standing from her chair was what snapped her back to reality. "Pleasure to meet you." Regina stood, her feet planted in their position. She refused to move around the long table shake Brennan's hand. She couldn't even bring herself to look at the younger men behind him. Emma followed suit and stood.

But apparently she was a masochist and she met the brazened glare of the younger Jones man. She didn't know what she expected to find. His mind was probably traveling faster than hers. Seven weeks ago she had been an innocent bar tender who didn't put up with his flirtatious advances, now she was the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the Western Hemisphere?

His face was stone cold, jaw clenched, eyes tight and unwavering. The normal blue was now icy as they focused on her. Heat flashed through his eyes as his cheek twitched slightly. But it wasn't the heat she had become accustomed to back in California. This heat wretched her gut and stabbed her right through the heart. It was the look of raging fury.

Unable to swallow her own guilt, Emma had to break his gaze. Instead she turned back to her plush chair and returned to her seat next to Regina. Both girls' skin was vibrating in absolute turmoil. With their hands hidden under the long conference table, Regina grabbed onto Emma's hand. Emma in turn squeezed hers back in solidarity.

"Well bullocks, where have you been hiding these two lasses? I never would have guessed you lot had daughters, especially ones as lovely as this!" Brennan's voice was low and rough with a lilt of sophistication to it. His dictation had a familiar ring to it as she connected the Jones men.

From the knowledge Emma had on Brennan Jones he was 49-years-old and never remarried. Although both of those facts seemed hard to believe with him standing in front of her.

He was dressed in a perfectly fitting gray suit and a navy dress shirt. His collar was absent of any tie and the top two buttons were undone boyishly. His wavy ink black hair was long, brushing past his ears and over his neck softly. His face was handsome and strong but had a youthful hint to it from the soft dimples in his cheeks. She could see an older version of Killian in his face. But she couldn't help but notice Brennan did not share Killian's brilliant eye color, his being a warm hazel.

"They take after their lovely mothers. Now please sit and let us discuss this joint venture."

Joint venture?

"Of course! Killian and our lawyers has been preparing the contract for weeks now. You should find everything we agreed upon," Brennan slid a thick stack of papers across the table towards David and Henry.

Emma's mind flashed back to one specific document she had downloaded from Killian's hard drive. A new partnership contract. She didn't even pay the file second mind as she breezed over it looking for the real dirt.

The older men continued to talk, about what, Emma would never know. The sound of her father's commanding voice brought her back to the situation at hand.

"Why don't the three of us take this to our lawyers downstairs to have it finalized. We'll leave the youngins to get to know each other."

Three older men's voices quickly faded as the large door creaked close. Leaving the four remaining at the table, alone.

"Fuck." Emma whispered under her breath. She leaned her elbows forward onto the desk and covered her face.

"Is this a bloody joke?" Killian's voice grew louder with each passing word.

Emma flinched, "It's a long story," she mumbled into her hands.

"Well we've got time Swan. Hah, oh right that isn't even your real fucking name now is it?" Killian's voice was cutting.

"Listen. You two were never apart of the agreement. We were supposed to do our time this summer, get some bullshit 'real world' experience and come back home to run our company." Emma was aware she was rambling but couldn't stop herself. "What were you two even doing in our hotel this summer? Aren't we supposed to be competitors?" When in doubt, go on the offensive.

"Clearly you have been left out of the loop of your own company. Daddy must not be ready to hand over the reigns just yet." Malice filled his tone.

Ok, that stung.

"We were preparing the partnership contract. And we wanted to see first hand how our new associates did business." Killian was standing now, unable to sit still behind the large table.

Shit that made total sense. Emma did not respond.

As awkward silence filled the air between them, Emma was completely aware that Robin and Regina had not budged through this entire exchange.

"You obviously knew who we were. Why the hell did you continue to lead us on?"

Emma looked away from Killian's accusatory look.

"Because we wanted to get this." Regina threw a manila folder across the table, its contents spilling out in front of them men.

Killian moved forward to look at the documents. He shuffled through them quickly. After what felt like an eternity he realized exactly what they were.

"You stole these from our fucking room?!" His fists crumpled the documents that were under his hands. If Emma thought he was angery before, this was a whole new level.

"Yes." Emma paused to stand. She had regained control of her voice and continued, "But by the end of the day, that contract will be signed and none of this will matter."

"Unless we tell Brennan." Killian said, trying to regain the upperhand.

"That would only be to our benefit. Remember, we are the ones with proof of your company's fraud and tax evasion." Regina said softly as she stared down at her folded hands on the table.

Just then, Robin bolted out of the room. Regina quickly stood out of reflex. But made no move to stop him. Emma turned towards her cousin. Her beautiful face was stone cold. Without making eye contact, Regina walked towards the room's back door.

Emma's heart stabbed at the pain in Regina's eyes. Why did they do this? Why did they get involved with these men? Why did they think it would be smart to steal these documents?

"Well that's it then. You got everything you wanted." Emma could tell Killian wasn't just referring to the documents on the table.

The blonde woman laughed sourly, "You think I wanted this? I never wanted to go near you two! I told Regina to stay the hell away from Robin. I knew he would be the one to get his heart broken, not her. Even after we discovered all this shit, why do you think we haven't done anything with it?"

"So I should be thanking you now?" Killian's arms bulged against his suit jacket as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, you idiot, but you're lucky we're not bringing this shit to the FBI. You're going to get caught sooner or later if you don't reconcile all this." She waved her arm, motioning to the mess of papers in front of them.

Killian's harsh demeanor broke as he signed and returned to his previous seat. "Don't you think I know that?" Now it was Killian who had his face in his hands. "Brennan and Malcolm have been doing all this behind our backs. That's why the board is forcing them to sign the company over to Robin and me. The partnership with you was just a lucky development to rebuild our integrity."

Emma took that information in. There was a long pause between the two.

"I'm sorry. For everything." She said finally.

"You were doing what you thought was a good move for your business. I would have done the same thing." His voice sounded exhausted now.

"That doesn't make it right." She admitted regretfully.

"No."

There was another long pause between them.

"I should go check on Regina." Emma stood to leave.

"You know this conversation is far from over," Killian remained in his seat but stared deep into her eyes. She wanted so badly to look away. To pretend the look of utter betrayal wasn't boring into her soul. But she just took it. She deserved it.

"Yes, but it looks like we'll have plenty of time for that now, partner."