*Just a little backstory*

-Bill, Steffy, and Justin are 26

-Liam IS NOT Bill's son here. He actually does not have children

-Hope is Brooke's only child

-Taylor hates all things Ridge and Brooke

-Hope is 23

-Bill Spencer Sr. is alive and he and Bill are on semi-good terms

Thank You For Reading!

"If you love us at all you will overturn this decision. She's being a spiteful little—"

"That's my granddaughter you're speaking of," Eric cut Brooke off in mid-rant to Ridge. "And she happens to be your boss. You would do well to remember that."

Steffy could hear the conversation going on in her office that they thought she wasn't aware of. She'd come in to work early after Liam had spent most of the night away and poured himself into bed around midnight. She'd been thankful for the alone time. She was still reeling about seeing Bill again.

"Stephanie is doing this to get back at Hope for God knows what," Brooke scoffed. "She's always had it in for Hope."

"Actually," Eric spoke up while Ridge sat silent. "She's making rational decisions not based on emotion. You should know, Ridge. You built her that way. You've dehumanized the heart of this company when you let business dictate the way you groomed her. She's a shark, but she's sinking in her personal life because you think you know what's best."

"I know what's best for my daughter," Ridge roared. "Not you," he looked at Eric, "and damn sure not you," he narrowed his eyes on Brooke. "Liam is a sound choice and will make her a good husband, and there is nothing wrong with her being a mature adult, dad."

"She's more mature than the whole lot of you."

Eric never let his distaste for Ridge's heavy-handed approach with Steffy be a secret. He hated how cold Ridge forced her to be. Secretly, she loved the way he advocated for her.

"If she says the line won't work, then believe her. She's the one with the MBA, and she's the one in charge. You either shut up or get out."

Eric had placed Steffy in charge over her father, and she was glad. Brooke had this unspeakable power over her father. He had pushed her and her brother, Thomas, aside for years in favor of Brooke and her golden child, Hope.

Hope, in her latest attempt to insinuate herself further into the Forrester family, approached the idea of a clothing line that Steffy torpedoed upon further research. Hope's ideas were like those of a child and not suitable for a powerhouse like Forrester. Given their history, one would assume Steffy had made the decision based on feelings, but the logistics didn't work. Ridge knew this, but did he stand up for her? No. He never did.

"She says it doesn't work because she's jealous of Hope. Hope is graceful and lives her life the right way, and Stephanie is nothing but—"

"Nothing but what, Brooke?" Steffy swallowed hard when she saw a purse get slung on the desk in her office. She wasn't expecting her until next week. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Taylor," Brooke seethed. "What are you doing here?"

"You can steal my husband, but I still own twenty-five percent of this company. I'll pop in anytime I please."

"You don't get to waltz in here—"

Taylor swung, and Steffy pushed the door open. "Mom, what's going on?"

"Baby," Taylor smiled, although she had just slapped Brooke senseless. "What on earth are you wearing?"

Steffy looked down at her pinstripe pantsuit and waved her arms out. "It's business casual."

"Yeah, that's not going to work. You look like your grandmother in that. God rest her soul, but no. You're twenty-six."

Taylor ignored the rest of the room as she poured over Steffy's appearance and then snapped her head back at Ridge. "You're as horrible a father as you were a husband. You let this bitch dictate to you about our daughter."

"Taylor," Ridge stood, jumping in front of Brooke while Taylor glared at her. "Don't come in here with the dramatics. Our daughter is fine. She's happy. Tell her, Stephanie."

"Her name is Steffy, and she's not fine, Ridge. I let you run me out of town as a result of the embarrassment you put me through with Brooke, but when my child calls me sounding as distraught as she did nights ago, I come running."

Ridge looked at Steffy, and she lowered her head. She thought she had done a good job of masking her pain, but she forgot her mother could always pick up on it. She was one of the few people who knew her inside and out.

Steffy was home alone, fretting over her mess of a life and called her mother for some kind words. She didn't say much at all about her lack of faith in her relationship with Liam, but maybe it was what she didn't say that alerted her mother. She was very perceptive that way.

"If she's unhappy, she knows how to open her mouth. Stephanie and me don't hide things from each other." Ridge tried to argue his point, but Taylor was having none of it.

"Are you sure or did your whore whisper it in your ear when she was telling you what to do and think? The one thing I will never do is take my children for granted. When Phoebe died, I swore I would never let any harm come to my two living children."

"Taylor—"

"Shut up, Ridge. Just shut up. Actually, all out you get out. I'd like a moment alone with my daughter."

"Taylor you can't just—"

"Who wants to challenge me?" Taylor cut Brooke off. "If It were up to me, you would all be jobless. You're lucky I raised such a fair child. She could use her twenty-five percent to slap you in the face, but she's kind. She looks for your approval no matter how little it means to the rest of the world," she targeted her last comment at Ridge. "I don't know when and where you stopped being the man I fell in love with, but he's definitely dead."

Ridge didn't respond, he actually looked hurt by her words. Steffy felt as if a part of her father still loved her mother, but they'd all fell apart after her sister, Phoebe, died. Steffy acted out for attention, and got it, Thomas became despondent, and Ridge sought comfort in Brooke. That was the end of their happy little family. Ridge asked for forgiveness and Taylor couldn't offer it. Steffy had never seen her so broken. She ended up moving to Paris when Steffy went off to college. Taylor only popped in mostly to see Steffy and Thomas.

"Dad," Steffy pleaded. "Please just go. I'll call you later."

"Taylor," Ridge pretty much ignored Steffy. "I'm sorry."

Ridge pulled Brooke out of the office and Steffy could hear her asking why he apologized to Taylor, but Steffy knew. She knew her father hated seeing a woman he was once deeply in love with despise him.

Steffy waited for them to leave and grabbed her mother's hand. "What is going on with you?"

"No, the question is what is going on with you." Taylor crossed her arms. "What the hell are you wearing and what have you let your father do to you?"

"Dad is just looking out for me," Steffy argued. "He's helped me step into my own here, and he's taught me everything he knows. He introduced me to Liam, and—"

"Liam," Taylor seethed. "You know I never liked him."

"You don't know him." Steffy took a seat at her desk. "Every time he wants to spend time with both of us, you make up somewhere to be. You don't give him a chance."

"Do you know why?" Steffy shook her head and waited for the answer. "He doesn't love you. At least not the way you should be loved. He's not there for the low points, only the high, and I know all about that. Your dad was that way. I see him in Liam. I also don't think you love him, Steffy."

"Steffy," she smiled. "I haven't been called that here in so long."

"Why did you let them start calling you Stephanie? That was your grandmother, and I love her, but you're not her. You have your own life to lead and your own legacy to build."

"I got into too much trouble being Steffy," she admitted. "Stephanie is an adult and would never make those mistakes again, Besides, as far as legacies, I'm doing that here. With Liam."

"You had a wild streak, but if your father was any kind of man, he would have asked you why instead of shoving his opinions of what you should be on you. He can't build himself the perfect daughter when you were already that. And I don't want to hear about Liam. You don't love him."

"Dad says love will come."

"If after three years if it hasn't come, I'm afraid it won't arrive, dear." Taylor touched her cheek and sighed. "I wanted so much more for you. Your professional triumphs are more than I could ever dream, but I want you to have everything. You deserve love and devotion."

"Mom—" Steffy had tears emerging in her eyes. "I want to love him, I really do, but there is something inside me that won't let it happen. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I'm not wired for love. Maybe I'm only wired for success at a time."

"You're going to succeed in anything you do that's meant for you. If you can't love him, it means he's not for you to love. When you love someone, you can pick up on their pain even thousands of miles away. I heard your voice and knew I needed to come. I dropped everything for you. Liam sleeps next to you every night and is none the wiser that you're not happy."

"He knows we're not happy," Steffy admitted. "Neither one of us is brave enough to say it out loud, so we go to bed with unspoken words. We mute arguments that probably should happen. You know we used to shower together and make love endlessly, and now it's been almost a month since he's touched me. There is someone else."

"You think he's cheating on you?"

"I know there is someone. Being with someone every day for three years gives you a certain insight into the way they do things. Where he used to reach for me because he couldn't sleep without touching my skin, his back is turned to me. I shower alone now." Steffy offered a sad smile. "I haven't told anyone else this."

"I'm never going to judge you, but why are you with this man if all he does is hurt you?"

"No one took me seriously when I took over here except him and granddad. Even dad tried to talk granddad out of his choice to break ranks and choose me as his successor. Liam stood behind me when it counted, and maybe I feel as if I owe him. I have feelings for him, it's just not love."

"So you're going to allow him to bed another woman while sharing yours?"

"No. I'm going to sit down with him and decide where this is going and let the chips fall. It will just have to wait until after my meeting. I'm talking with a guy about our advertising account. We're no longer happy with the previous group we used."

"You might have to do that sooner than you'd hoped, sweetheart. Here he comes," Taylor looked up, and Steffy followed her eyes.

Shocked would have been an understatement to explain the thoughts running through Steffy's mind as she watched Liam enter with an unexpected guest.

"Stephanie," Liam kissed the side of her head. "I'd like for you to meet someone."

"I—" Steffy tried to speak and was cut off by Liam speaking again.

"Your meeting has been pushed up. William has some other business to attend to. He's closing on a house near ours. Isn't that crazy?"

The man extended his hand, and Steffy wanted to bite hers off. "William," she nodded.

"Bill," he offered. "William is my father, and my friends call me Bill. William Bill Spencer the second."

This had to be a joke. The man she'd thought about since their impromptu encounter was now her new advertising contact. She'd have to work with him, and now she was wondering if their "chance" meeting wasn't a setup all along.

Liam looked at Taylor and offered a smile. "Welcome home, Taylor."

"Liam," Taylor greeted, dryly.

"I suppose you wouldn't mind joining us for dinner tonight," Liam offered. "By the way, Bill, I'm sorry I missed our dinner the other night. I thought I said Providence, but I really said The Water Grill. I must have mixed up my plans with Stephanie with our meeting. I was wondering why our text correspondence seemed so off. Did you guys run into each other? I know I missed you both."

"No," Bill answered quickly. "I'd remember seeing her before." He eyed Steffy, and she caught a gesture no one else did, him biting his lip and the quick smile he flashed her. Liam hadn't crossed anything up, Bill had jumbled all their plans just to be the one to share a meal with her.

Now Liam's frustration made sense. He came home and took a shower and went to sleep without saying much. If Steffy was completely honest, she saw Bill messing with his phone a lot during their dinner and felt a sense of jealousy. She now knew it was Liam he was contacting the entire time. She'd been played.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you to it," Liam bowed out of the office. "Call me once you're done. I love you, sweetheart."

"Love you," Steffy mused, wishing she felt weight behind her empty declaration.

While Bill stared at Steffy, Taylor cleared her throat. "I'm going to leave too, but don't for a second think I missed any of that, young man. You're up to something with my daughter, and I fully intend to find out what. Hurt her, and I'll kill you."

Taylor stomped out, and Steffy sighed loudly. "William Bill Spencer. How did I not know it was you?"

"I told you we would see more of each other, Steffy. Now, shall we get to work, or would you like for me to pick you up and run over everything?"

"Excuse me?" Steffy was taken aback by his nerves of steel.

"Pick you up for dinner. Liam has invited me as a redo from the other night. What did you think I meant?"

Steffy blushed, not wanting to admit that when he said "pick her up" the first thing that flashed into her mind was him lifting her into his arms and laying her over the desk. The thought flittered through her brain before she could shut it down.

"Nothing," she lied. "I just wasn't aware he'd invited you. We can get into things here, and it will be just you and Liam tonight. My mother and I will dine alone. It's her first night back in town."

"I was looking forward to eating you," Bill smirked.

"What?" Steffy hissed, making sure she heard him correctly.

"I was looking forward to eating with you," he repeated, and she realized she was creating her own sexual undertones to every word he spoke. Why did he have her so flustered?

"Oh, well, maybe another time when Liam and I have schedules that are more compatible."

"Or not." Steffy wasn't anticipating his advancement on her. She didn't even suspect he would grab her the way he did, but here she was, now pressed against her office wall with his tongue in her mouth.

It was hot, unexpected, and so damn delicious, she was panting for air. His kiss was a masterful combination of lust and pure skill. The way his hand found the small of her neck, the delicate way his other hand curled around her waist, and the game of hide and seek his tongue did with hers was magnetic. She'd never felt anything like it before. When he let her go, her lips ached for his swift return. Taking a deep breath, she stepped away.

"Don't do that again," she warned. "Don't ever touch me that way again."

"I won't," Bill wiped his lips and smiled at her. "There are far too many other ways to touch you for me to repeat one. Enjoy the rest of your day, Steffy."

Bill left her office before she could respond again, and she just held her lips. Taylor entered soon afterward and studied the look on Steffy's face.

"Did I just hear that young man call you Steffy?"

"Yes, mom."

"And you know him how?"

"Remember that guy I told you about right before grandma died?"

"Mr. one night, once in a lifetime connection?"

"Yeah, you called him that, but Bill Spencer was—is that guy."

"And he's crazy about you," Taylor pointed out. "The way he looked at you in front of me and Liam, I'd have to be blind to miss it."

"He seems to like the chase. He knows I'm committed to someone else."

"Do me a favor, honey."

"What?"

"Retire your track shoes and let this man catch you."

"After one encounter you see this much potential?"

"I saw it the minute he opened his gorgeous mouth. I have a feeling about this one. Make yourself available, baby."

Taylor's words sent Steffy reeling. She hardly knew this man, but that kiss was amazing, no matter what she said afterward. He'd already gotten to her again, but she couldn't afford this. She'd have to shut the part of her that wanted to know more about him off. She couldn't risk her safely planned life for him.