I do not own Once Upon a Time.

Ok, so like the show, this story has flashbacks. They will all be in Italics.

Sorry this is sad Jones kids time to start the flashbacks.

Tara looked around the room and was happy with the result of the Christmas party. She was still getting used to party planning and had to ask a million questions. It was held on the top floor of their office building.

The annual Christmas party was for family members and employees of the Jewel of the World. But by this point in time, most of the employees were family.

She saw Sophia playing with Kathleen. Tara's daughter adored her older cousin. Well, technically, Kathleen was Tara's cousin, so Sophia's first cousin once removed. But no one had time for that.

Someone began to play "Silent Night" on the grand piano and suddenly Tara knew she wasn't alone. Liam stood next to her. "They are looking for more singers." He remarked casually.

"Liam, you know I can't." She had made a promise to herself years ago.

"Can't or won't?"

"It still hurts too much. Since he died…"

"I know, and you know, he wouldn't want you to dwell on the past. He wouldn't want you to be still be sad three years later."

"Liam," Tara turned to him. "I'll make a deal with you, before you die, you will hear me sing again."

"Deal." They shook on it. "So where's Killian's date?"

Tara looked around the room. "I don't know; I haven't even seen him yet. What's her name again?"

"Mia, I think. I'm not sure."

They scanned the room and finally spotted Killian and he was not alone.

"She's a bit older than him…" Tara commented.

"Be nice. Look, they are walking this way."

"Merry Christmas." Killian warmly greeted his siblings. "Liam, Tara, this is Milah. Milah, my brother Liam and my sister Tara."

Milah, not Mia. The woman shook hands with both Liam and Tara. "It's so nice to meet the both of you. Killian talks about you two constantly." She sounded nice.

Tara tried not to make it obvious she was sizing up her brother's date. She was definably older than him, black curly hair, dark brown eyes and there was something about her Tara did not like. But she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"All good things I hope." Liam joked.

"Knowing us, probably not." Tara said, half- jokingly.

That comment went unheard. "Milah, two other people I want you to meet. My brother in law, Neal and my soon to be sister in law Roxanne." Both Neal and Roxanne noticed the new comer and didn't want to be left out.

"So this is the rest of the family? It's so nice to meet all of you." Milah said.

Killian looked across the room and saw a former classmate. He kissed Milah's cheek and went to talk to him.

Milah now looked slightly uncomfortable. The Jones had that effect on people. "Killian said you planned the whole party Tara. You did an amazing job."

"Thank you." Tara smiled.

Then Milah's cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and frowned when she looked at the screen. "I need to take this, it's my husband." She walked off outside, leaving the family members stunned.

Roxanne and Neal were stunned into silence. Liam and Tara were fuming.

"Did she just say husband?" Tara asked.

"Yes."

"So I wasn't hearing things?"

"Where is he? I'm going to kill him." Liam took off with Tara following close behind. "Killian, a word now." Liam roughly grabbed his brother by the arm. He and Tara led Killian into a small side room.

Liam was just about shaking in rage. At least Tara had a grip on her emotions. "Killian, so Milah…" She started.

"Yeah, isn't she great?" He actually had a silly love sick look on his face.

"I'm sure she is, but there's one problem…"

Liam cut her off. "She's married! Milah is a married woman! What the bloody hell were you thinking?" He usually wasn't the one to get mad but he did have that famous Jones tempter.

"I knew she was married." Killian answered sheepishly.

"You knew?" Tara was astonished and appalled.

"She's stuck in a loveless marriage." Killian tried to keep the whine out of his voice. Why didn't they understand? "I make her happy."

"That's all well and good…" Tara was trying to be reasonable.

"Break it off." Liam told him forcefully

"What? Not a bloody chance." Killian was taken back.

"Killian, we are the real heads of this company, members of the board. We can't afford to make the family or the company look bad. We moved on since those days." Tara was trying to be gentle. Maybe marriage and motherhood calmed her down a lot.

"No, I am not going to break it off with Milah." Killian stormed out of the room.

This left Tara and Liam alone. Liam heaved a sigh and went to the bar. He was a bit heavy handed with the whiskey.

"Make it two." Tara told him, leaning on the edge of the couch.

"Wasn't even going to ask." He handed her the glass. They clicked glasses and drained them. "What is he thinking? A married woman." Liam was bewildered.

"He's not thinking with that head." Tara commented. Then she thought about the current situation. "So we need Milah gone?" Liam nodded. "I know a person."

He looked up at her hopeful. "Who?" But her reaction to his question set him up in arms. "No, absolutely not. You are not taking her out. We are better than that."

"Then what's our limit?" She tried another course of action. Liam caught her meaning and sighed. "Liam, we have dealt with the board long enough to know how to make people disappear."

"Two. Your limit is two." Liam answered her.

"Alright, I'll get it done."

A week later, Tara sat in her favorite coffee shop, waiting for Milah. The woman had accepted Tara's offer for coffee.

Milah walled in and spotted Tara instantly. She walked over to the table and sat down. "Hello, I'm so glad you called me. I didn't see you much at the party. Thank you for giving me a chance." She said.

"Yeah, I am giving you a chance…" Tara cut right to the chase. She never been one to beat around the bush. Liam was usually a bit more diplomatic. "I'm giving you a chance to walk away." Tara slid a check across the table. "Two million dollars. You stay away from my brother."

Milah stared at the check then at Tara. "Are you bribing me?"

"Yes, I am."

"I'm not taking it. I am not walking away from Killian." At least she didn't cause a scene. Which was more than could be said for Killian later.

"So she didn't take it? We are royally screwed." Liam said. Tara was sitting on the edge of his desk.

"Nope, didn't even touch the check…"

Then the door was flung open and there stood a mad as all hell Killian. "Never trust a smiling crocodile. That's what I told Milah. Inviting her to coffee and then bribing her? I thought I only had to worry about the two faced board members. But no, it's my own family that stabbed me in the back!" He yelled.

"We are just looking out for you brother." Liam tried to stay calm though Tara could see his hand shaking.

"This is looking out for me? Ruining my life?"

"She's bad news, Killian. A lonely woman stuck in a loveless marriage who hooks up with a young handsome rich single man…" Tara started to say.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Killian yelled and actually threw a bottle of whiskey. It shattered against the wall.

Tara silenced her scream with her hand over her mouth.

"Are you seriously throwing a fit, little brother? You think that you're a child and will just get what you want?" Liam asked. That might have been a bit below the belt. Killian fist came out and almost made contact with Liam's jaw.

Tara jumped in between her brothers. "No! Stop it, both of you! You're acting like children! Killian, walk it off!" She screamed.

The men stared at each other. There was an eerie silence in the room. Tara had not moved her hands from either brother's chest. Her eyes went from Killian to Liam and back.

Killian spoke first. "Neither of you are using good form. You're as bad as the board. All you care about is how this family and how this company looks…"

"Dad would be disappointed in how you are conducting yourself, Killian…' Liam said.

"Any other dearly departed relations you want to bring into this? There's a circle of Hell reserved for traitors. Maybe I'll see the both of you there." Killian said before storming out of the room.

Liam slumped into the couch, his head in his head. He heard the distinct click of ice. "Tara, now is not the time…"

"Our little brother told us to go to Hell. It calls for a drink." She handed him a half full glass of whiskey.

He did accept it. "What are we going to do now?"

"Drink, then sleep. And tomorrow, we fix this somehow with Killian." Tara informed him.

Silence filled the room as they drank.

Tara entered the building, still fighting a slight hangover. She had barely slept last night, not that she really was surprised. She walked down the hall to her office. Then she froze in her tracks. Was Killian's office…? No, it couldn't be…

She back pedaled and her worse fears were realized. Killian's office was empty. Every personal item was gone. Tara bolted down the hall into Liam's office. "Where the hell is he? His office is empty!" She yelled.

"Shhh… can you not yell?" Liam begged, apparently he was also dealing with a hangover.

"Where is Killian, Liam?" She didn't bother lowering her voice.

Liam looked up, confused. Then he ran down to Killian's office and just stared. Then he turned to the secretary. "Noelle, call Killian now!" Liam never yelled at the staff, but his brother was missing.

"I saw him very early this morning. He came in here and packed up everything. He seemed very mad and didn't even say good bye." Noelle informed him. "The cell number is going to voice mail."

"Try the land line for his apartment." Tara had calmed down.

"Disconnected." Noelle said after she tried calling.

Liam turned to his sister almost helplessly. She understood. "I'll pull some strings at the police station. I will find him."

Ouch. That's pretty much all I can say.

Reviews?