Elizabeth just didn't get it. She sat in what had been Matt's office inside the penthouse suite drinking from one of his bottles of Scotch.

It wasn't supposed to go this way. She wasn't even supposed to have taken control of Houston Enterprises. She was just supposed to threaten him with that if he didn't marry her. She'd just assumed that when she told him she wanted him back, he'd kneel before her and propose to her all over again, this time with a bigger bauble.

But no, he hadn't only refused to marry; he'd continued to rebuff her advance and that of course left her with no choice to take his company away from him. That and her partners in the shadows were getting impatient with her plan. After all, she was quite heavily in debt from running her charity foundation into the ground.

The elevator opened and she heard someone walk into the office.

"Who is that?"

"Oh it's just me…Delilah…I came here to drink some bubbly and sit in some bubbly," she said, "Does this Jacuzzi heat up?"

"I guess…"

She heard some fussing at the wet bar and then Delilah joined her in the office.

"Nice digs you have here," Delilah said, "Why don't we order some catered food and throw ourselves a party? He's got a really nice entertainment system and a great bar…maybe invite some guys over."

Elizabeth just looked at her in shock.

"Food…booze…guys?"

"Yeah…the mainstays of life," Delilah said, "and why let the hot tub go to waste?"

Elizabeth just shook her head.

"I can't waste a minute playing. I've got to get to work and come up with a plan. My partners…"

Delilah narrowed her eyes.

"Who are they anyway?"

Elizabeth had to stay mum on them as that was part of the deal.

"I can't tell you…"

"Oh why not…you can tell me anything…"

Elizabeth shook her head.

"No I don't want it to wind up in the front page of the Daily Mirror."

Delilah waved a hand.

"Oh I'd never do that," she said, "the next edition is going to be the Matt Houston sex scandal."

Elizabeth blanched.

"The what…"

Delilah looked at her as if she were daft.

"Oh come on…you know that sex sells and I want to turn this rag into a profit."

Elizabeth poured more Scotch into her glass.

"But Matlock doesn't…I mean he's had a lot of girlfriends but after he met me…"

Delilah rolled her eyes.

"Elizabeth, the man didn't go celibate after he met you."

Elizabeth ran a hand through her hair.

"I was the love of his life you know," she said, "Well at least the only one to actually survive until the wedding."

"But you never finished that wedding," Delilah said, "You never took your vows."

Elizabeth sighed.

"I know and that's the important part…"

"Well…yeah."

Elizabeth put the glass down and got out of her chair.

"That's just not fair," she said, "I mean all the money on the dress, the catering, the cake, the flowers…I didn't pay for any of it of course but still…"

Delilah reached for the phone. Elizabeth looked at her puzzled.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm calling out for some food from Perinos of course. Liven this place out and let's hire some musicians and just party down tonight."

Elizabeth just looked at her friend incredulously.

"We can't do that," she said, "Matlock's right. I have no idea what I'm doing and I could go bankrupt by the end of the week."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that…yes…is this Perinos? Okay, I want some entries for a dinner party tonight…yes the signature dishes…and some of that nice chocolate soufflé too."

Elizabeth just felt like panicking. She desperately needed some advising on what to do next with this conglomerate.

She had to call one of her partners…even though they forbid her from contacting her unless it was an absolute emergency.

But going bankrupt fell in that category didn't it?

Then she remembered the warning that else, she was supposed to wait for them to get in touch with them. But it's not like they'd left her a blueprint on how to run a Fortune 500 company. Delilah put down the phone and turned towards Elizabeth.

"Perinos delivers by helicopter did you know that…and since you know own a helipad…"

Elizabeth put a hand up.

"I am not hosting a party here," she said, "not until I figure out what to do or the stocks are going to plunge in the morning."

"You should have offered that Murray Chase guy a bigger salary," Delilah said, "Yeah he's a nerd but he could have ran it for you."

Elizabeth sighed.

"He quit…in protest and he took his brother Myron with him…oh what am I going to do?"

Delilah couldn't answer that but she thought maybe some food and drink, a hot tub soak might do Elizabeth a world of good so she waited for the sound of helicopter rotors.

Matt hosted a barbecue at his beach house and invited Chris, Murray, Myron and everyone else to drop by for steaks, chili, a fresh salad and some of Murray's Key Lime Pies. Even old timers like Pam showed up for the meeting. She'd gotten married and her husband owned a vineyard in Napa and Slim flew in from a surfing competition in Hawaii.

They all sat on the beach on blankets while eating the great food. Matt made sure C.J. had plenty to eat, the first servings of everything.

Chris chuckled as Uncle Roy and Will brought out the wine that Pamela had brought with her. The glasses were poured; well carbonated grape juice for C.J. and it went perfectly with dinner. Matt had plans for the new company he planned and he and Roy had signed the lease for the building overlooking some of the most beautiful coastline near Malibu.

"You have enough to eat C.J.?"

She smiled up at him.

"Enough for more than one Houston…"

He winked at her.

"That's the plan," he said, "and there'll be dessert."

She nodded good naturedly thinking how well Matt took care of her as he sat next to her with his own plate. Everyone knew that they'd gotten together but not about the baby. They'd decided to keep that to themselves a while longer. Matt was still trying to think of a way to get C.J. to agree to making it official but she didn't seem to want to do it until this crisis was over.

Roy settled next to them.

"The new building looks nice," he said, "It's turnkey so it won't take much work."

Matt nodded.

"That's good…what about the…"

Roy smiled.

"They're installing the Jacuzzi even as we're eating."

C.J. thought it funny that he had installed it in the first place and that he thought nothing of sitting in it buck naked except for his favorite hat. She, Slim and the secretaries had all grown familiar with his lack of inhibition when it came to his form of relaxation. Now the bubbles hid nearly everything but not all the time.

Not that she passed that information along to him. A girl had to keep some of her favorite pastimes to her chest. Still he had an awful lot to be proud of when it came to his…hmmm…body.

"So when do we start working?"

Chris sat down with Pam next to them. Matt looked over at them.

"Since you're our new vice president," he said, "You and Murray will show up tomorrow morning. There might be some construction going on but not for very long."

Chris smiled as she'd been thrilled when she got the news about her promotion.

"I'm so awestruck that you gave me the position."

C.J. smiled widely.

"You're the best candidate and you and Murray work so well already."

Chris bit her lip because she knew they'd guessed that she and Murray had started seeing each other…casually but she'd realized she loved spending time with him.

"C.J. will do the legal to get us all straight away," Matt said, "and Uncle Roy and Will will try to find out how to get some of those accounts back."

Chris arched her brows.

"Can you do that?"

C.J. nodded.

"We've got most of the old codes and passwords," she said, "These accounts are separate but we just have to get hold of them before Elizabeth and her partners do."

Chris shook her head.

"She sure didn't turn out the way I expected," she said, "I mean I never liked her but I always saw her as meek."

So had C.J. but she knew that Elizabeth had been hiding her true nature and perhaps her long-range goals…for all they know even her original acceptance of his marriage proposal could have been a scam.

"I think we can get them tomorrow," Roy said, "I used to do this type of intel all the time."

"I'll help dad," Will chimed in, "I know computer networks too…I've really made up for lost time."

Matt nodded.

"Okay that will be tomorrow," he said, "C.J. and I are very thankful that you're helping us."

"No problem," Chris said, "and besides we all want to make it a success."

Matt knew that he'd inspired friendship and loyalty in his company and that everyone would do whatever it took to help this company succeed. Elizabeth wouldn't be able to do anything but run Houston Enterprises into the ground…unless her partners stepped into help. This might be the time to find out who had pulled the strings to take his company.

He and C.J. knew how to make it even harder for Elizabeth to keep the company functioning and though it wasn't how he wanted Houston Enterprises to wind up, he wanted to know who really had come after them.

Tomorrow they'd be taking the next step before the stock market opened for business.