The weeks seemed to fly by as summer picked up its usual pace after the 4th of July. As it did Ned did the best he could to delegate meetings with Jillian to other leadership within ELQ. However the more he avoided her, the more it seemed to antagonize her. He had to start to wonder whether she would ever go back to London and needed to start strategizing how he would handle this moving forward. He set a meeting with Jax for the following day, he knew he was going to need outside interference with her company's operations to even stand a chance. He looked at the photo he had of him and Alexis on his desk. The two of them, in Rome, back when they had been faking marriages to other people. It seemed so simple then and now he was lying to her. They had come so far since she had told him about Sonny and in a matter of a few months he had destroyed that progress and tension was starting to build between them again. He knew she doubted Jillian's intentions, but he also worried about what facing what happened would do to them, especially when he was convinced he never slept with her. If only he could prove she set him up somehow.

"Don't you check your messages?" She barged into his office and he was brought back from his train of thought.

"What are you talking about?" He replied exasperated.

"You haven't returned any of my calls."

"That's because there is nothing to discuss."

"Well, time certainly brings about change. Doesn't it?"

"I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. I've been very clear."

"Well when we were in London, you would have been insistent on handling the issue with the suppliers. And now, now that we're keeping this affair of ours a secret–"

"We are not having an affair." He was adamant. Standing up and walking over towards her.

"Ok our one night stand, better? And I think I'm being pretty damn good about this. I haven't blabbed to your wife and I'm not making unreasonable demands on your time. All I'm asking is that you give me and my company the time it deserves from the CEO of the company that holds a controlling interest. I don't think that's too much to ask."

"You should be in London. The fact that you came here and stayed says all I need to know."

"There's more between us, London proved that or it wouldn't have happened." She tried to take his hand but he pulled away and as he did she eyed his keys on the corner of his desk.

"I'm not interested in playing this sick twisted game with you." He said walking towards his desk. "Now we're–" He was interrupted when Alexis arrived unexpectedly. He worried about how much she heard.

"Hey, you ready to get out of here?" She asked, knocking lightly on the door to his office, taken a bit off guard that Jillian was in there.

"I thought we were meeting at the hospital?" he said walking over and kissing her hello and as he did Jillian grabbed his keys and slid them into her blazer pocket.

"Well we were, but the judge adjourned for the day and I thought I'd surprise you here and we'd go over together. It's a beautiful day and we can walk along the water."

"I'm glad you did." he said ignoring Jillian as he took his wife's hand and headed towards the door.

"Wait, wait, wait. We weren't through. "

"Trust me, we were. Come on, let's go."

"Oh Alexis," she said, stopping them and she turned annoyed. "I have a question. Did Ned ever tell you, yet what we did while he was in London?" She needed to be bold if she was going to get his attention.

Alexis looked at Ned, who grew tense. "No." She was tentative, and growing tired of the innuendo.

"I can't believe that Ned hasn't given you a play by play. It was awe inspiring."

"You know what, Alexis really doesn't need to hear all the gory details." He moved his hand to the small of her back, trying to get Jillian to stop down this line of conversation.

"But those are my favorite kind and we have a few minutes. Go ahead. What did you do with my husband while he was away?" She could play this game and she wanted Jillian to know she didn't threaten her.

"Well it seemed like we were never going to come to an agreement. The negotiations were tough and well, I wasn't so bad myself if I do say so. And Ned, he was very complimentary but in all honesty there was only one brilliant strategist in that boardroom. Ned was relentless. He was determined to save the longstanding relationship between our two companies. It was quite the feat to witness. Isn't that right?"

"I did what was right for ELQ. That's all. AJ can deal with your supplier issue. Now, we have plans, excuse us," he said as he ushered he and Alexis out of his office and towards the elevator.

Jillian watched from his office door as they boarded the elevator and as soon as the doors closed she pulled his keys out of her pocket. He was so distracted with preventing her from telling Alexis what had happened, not that she had planned to, that he didn't even realize he didn't take them with him. She examined the key ring and pulled off what looked like a silver house key, then placed the rest back on his desk where he had left them. He'd be gone for a few hours and she had plenty of time to get it back on the key ring where he'd left it. Before she left ELQ she went back into his office. She saw the photo and knocked it off his desk, causing the glass to crack slightly. She saw that the calendar on his laptop was still open, so she perused it, making note of his meetings, appointments, and where he'd be over the course of the next week.

The elevator doors closed and she looked at him. She could play the game, but she was getting tired of having to. "What was that about?" She asked him about it, annoyed slightly.

He paused. He should tell her, he knew that, "Jillian. She's just–"

"You know what, nevermind. I don't want to know. She isn't worth our time." she interrupted, stopping him, grabbed his tie and captured his lips with hers, changing her mind. She didn't want to think about the message that Jillian was trying to send her. Instead she wanted to remind him what they had. The kiss started to intensify and then he pulled away slightly, regretfully, actually wanting to talk about Jillian, his conscious eating away at him.

"Alexis…"

She tried to kiss him again, but he didn't respond. "What is wrong with you?"

"You know I love you, right?" He whispered.

"I do." She kissed him again trying to distract them both and he was finding it harder to resist. "And I've missed the tie." She whispered, kissing his neck and wrapping his tie around her wrist and backing him against the elevator wall.

"Listen, I need to be sure you know how much I love you." He said as he responded to her advances.

"Why don't you show me how much?" She whispered, reaching behind her and stopping the elevator..

"And I don't want to be with anyone else, ever." He pulled back slightly, their faces inches apart.

She searched his eyes, sensing more to that last remark, but not wanting to turn it into something. "Well that works, because neither do I," she said, loosening his tie and then taking his face in her hands, pulling him into another kiss.

He stopped them, regretfully. "I want to, so much" He said as he leaned in and kissed her. "But I don't think we have time."

"This isn't like you." She said disappointed. "What's really going on here?"

"I just want to take my time with you, that's all." He flashed his dimples, being truthful, but covering slightly. In reality he didn't want them to react this way to Jillian because that's what it was, a reaction to the threat to their marriage. She knew it and so did he.

"Well when you put it that way…" She said, kissing him again and then turning the elevator back on. "Later it is." She knew there was something bothering him, but wasn't going to push. Her gut was starting to tell her that more happened in London than he let on, but she wanted to trust him, especially after everything that had happened with Sonny. And truthfully maybe that's why this was eating away at her, maybe deep down he hadn't truly moved past what happened.

Her appointment went well and after her amnio she was given orders to avoid stress and go home and rest for at least 24 hours. They walked out hand in hand and rounded the nurses station only to bump into Tracy who had been there for the hospital board meeting that was just adjourning. After the picnic she had decided to stick around and the more of the dynamic between Ned and Jillian she saw, the more she feared her play to get him to realize he wanted to be CEO again was about to backfire because Jillian couldn't let it end there.

"Ned–I'm glad I ran into you. Alexis."

"Mother." He said abruptly, still processing that she was back in Port Charles and not quite sure what she could be up to.

"I need to talk to you." She insisted, and looked at Alexis pointedly, waiting for her to take the hint and leave them alone.

"Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of Alexis."

"It's ok. Talk to your mother. I see Stefan and need to touch base with him anyway. Tracy." She touched Ned's arm and walked over to her brother who was standing on the other side of the nurses station and he watched her carefully, concerned she was getting herself entangled in yet another Cassadine war.

"So, are you finally going to tell me why you decided now to resurface?"

"Is it really too hard to believe I wanted to be here for my son?"

"Considering the last time you were in town you single handedly wrecked my marriage. Yes. yes it is."

"Oh, it was more complicated than that and you know that. Lois never loved all of you and you know that, too."

"This isn't about Lois. Why are you here mother?" Deep down he knew his mother was right. Lois always struggled to accept the Quartermaine in him and his role as family gatekeeper.

"Like I said, I just wanted to show my support. I knew daddy would eventually see the light. ELQ needs you right now."

"I wish I could believe that."

"Don't you get it, yet Ned? Everything I do is for my family."

"Speaking of family. Where is my brother, while you're doing whatever it is you're up to?"

"Dillon is doing a semester abroad this summer. Now, I want to know what's going on with Trainor Industries after your time in London."

He laughed caustically and grew suspicious. "Why? What did you do?"

"Nothing. Why do you assume the worst?"

"Because I know you too well, mother."

"Well, you're wrong. So, how did you manage it after the mess AJ made? How did you get them to agree to come back to ELQ?" She was digging. She needed to know just how much damage bringing Jillian into her son's life had done.

"Why would it matter?"

"I told you, I'm just proud of my son."

He sighed, sensing they weren't going to get anywhere and wanting to get this conversation over with so he could get Alexis home. "Here's what I can say. It wasn't going to happen, it had seemed like no concession would ever be enough to curtail the damage and then Alexis came up with some language that was mutually acceptable."

"Alexis?" She hadn't realized Alexis had been supportive of his choice to go back or that she had helped with the negotiation. She thought she had been behind his return to touring and L&B, especially after the ridiculous Eddie's Angel fiasco.

"Yes, Alexis. My wife. And if you're really here to show your support, then you'll do yourself a favor and get behind my marriage because unlike the others, Alexis isn't afraid of this family and she's not going anywhere."

As Ned finally faced his mother's return, Alexis dealt with Stefan's insistence that she convince Nikolas to move back to Wyndemere and start to transition into more day to day meetings about the Cassadine estate. Little did either of them know that lurking behind a corner was Helena, who had arrived back in Port Charles to monitor the situation with her grandson. "Alexis, did you talk to Nikolas?"

"I told you I would and I did. But Stefan, you aren't doing yourself any favors by pressuring him."

"Ms. Davis. I'm glad I caught you." They were interrupted by an approaching nurse. "You and your husband left before I was able to get you your sonogram photos."

"Oh. Thank you." She said taking the strip of black and white photos.

"You're expecting another child with Ashton?"

"I am." She said as she looked down briefly at the strip of photos in her hand and then smiled as she looked over at Ned, who was deep in conversation with his mother.

"I'm happy for you. You seemed to truly have found happiness and built a life for yourself outside of this family."

"That's all Nikolas is trying to do. And if you looked at yourself, you'd remember there was a time that's what you wanted, too."

"We're not kids trapped on that island anymore. There's more at stake." Stefan insisted, as she noticed that Tracy had left and Ned was watching them carefully. She knew he was worried about the looming threat her family posed.

"I understand that, but just think about what I said, Stefan. We'll talk soon." She wrapped up their conversation and walked back over to Ned. Stefan continued down the hall, while Helena shook her head, clearly plotting her next move as she filed away the fact that her husband's bastard was pregnant, again. At least Stefan was attempting to stop this mess with her grandson, but Alexis was clearly encouraging it.

"How'd it go with your mother?" She linked her arm through his and they walked over to the elevator.

"Do you remember when the London deal kept falling apart? I was certain there was a leak."

"I do. But there was no proof of that? Right?"

"Right, but think about the timing. I get named CEO again after scraping that deal back together, and now my mother surfaces? She's up to something and if I'm right. She's put ELQ at risk and is now trying to cover her tracks."

"I trust your instincts, but are you sure? Wouldn't going against ELQ go against Tracy's own interests?"

"That's what I need to figure out."

"Are you sure you want to pursue this?"

"Alexis, I have to. I know what kind of damage she can do, and not just to ELQ." He said vulnerable as he looked into her eyes.

She knew that he was reliving his past, everything his mother had done that had gotten in the way of previous relationships. "I'm not going anywhere. You believe that right?" She looked him in the eye and calmly reassured him.

He exhaled and took her hand, squeezing it slightly. "I do. Thank you for knowing what I needed." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Let's go home."