A/N: Thank you, silverbellbaby!

"How prepared are you for your first meeting?"

Kristina stares at the office in Pozzulo's, which largely remains the same. The window between Brick's initial offer and the last-minute meeting didn't provide nearly enough time for her to redecorate, bringing only a photo of her, Dex, and Ciara together for the desk.

"Not at all," she admits, "especially since you sprung this on me."

"You got this, Kristina," Brick responds, "You're your father's daughter to a T. You'll know what to do."

"How? All you told me at lunch was that I had to keep a cool head."

"I also filled you in on the ongoing arrangements, specifically with Selina Wu, who was gracious enough to agree to this."

"You're kind of throwing me into the deep end here, Brick!"

"Trial by fire; it's a solid method," he frowns at her glare, "Hey, at least I called your baby daddy about this."

"Oh yeah, you sure did. Once he finds adequate daycare, he'll drop by. And he's-"

"He's pissed off," Brick waves her off, "He'll get over it."

"...Are you sure about this?" Kristina approaches the desk, setting the picture down, "Like really sure?"

"Absolutely. I'll be in the meeting to back you up, and you know how to reach me otherwise. Plus, as much as I can't stand Dex, he's more than capable of playing your lieutenant like he did for your dad."

"Right..." Kristina takes a seat just as heel clicks echoes on the tile floor in the restaurant.

"I see you've taken the reins," Selina Wu offers a smirk to the duo in the office, leaning against the doorframe. The silk jade-and-yellow gown fits her tiny frame perfectly.

"News travels fast, doesn't it?" Kristina asks coolly, glancing between her and the framed photo she set down.

"It does when the interim heir moves to install a permanent replacement," Selina closes the door behind her, nodding to Brick, who stands a few feet away, before taking a seat.

"I'm sure the interim head scheduled this meeting as well...?" Kristina turns to the man.

"I did. It's better that we get ahead of any deals that need to be renewed or made."

"I couldn't agree more," Selina nods, "Is anyone else joining us?"

"Me," Dex slams the door shut behind him, flanking Kristina on her left.

"Ah, Mr. Heller, so nice of you to join us," Selina nods, "I presume Mr. Corinthos let you keep your position in his passing?"

"He did."

"And does this impact your involvement with Ms. Corinthos-Davis?"

"Actually, we were hoping to talk to you about that," Kristina cuts in, "Brick filled me in on the specifics of your agreement with my dad."

"Yes. As it stands, the Corinthos organization receives 30% of the revenue from the product of our shipments, and we receive the same from your end. Furthermore, we agree to loan our services when requested to deal with any encroaching threats to our business."

"And I'd like that to stand," Kristina nods, "but if possible, I'd like to add some provisions."

"Which are?"

"Well, first off, I'd like to add another business to the protected list: Corinthos-Davis House. The kids that live there have absolutely nothing to do with our dealings. I already have Brick upping security on our end, but I'd like your services to extend to the shelter as well."

"Understood. I have no issue with adding Corinthos-Davis House to the list," Selina nods, "Anything else?"

"Did you and Dad have any policies on family?"

"Nothing explicit, but there was a mutual understanding that family is off-limits...unless otherwise necessary."

"Unless otherwise necessary?"

"Unless provoked."

"...Oh," Kristina clamps her mouth shut, "well, I don't plan on going after your family. The ceasefire and alliance between us is very important."

"Yes, it is, so why are you asking about family?"

"I'm just making sure that nothing happens to my family."

"Rest assured, nothing will happen to your daughter," Selina smirks, "You have my word."

"Do we also have your word that Sonny's death wasn't at your hands?"

"...Excuse me?" Selina scowls at Dex, who stands firm with his arms crossed.

"Stand down, Heller," Brick snaps.

"I know you and Sonny have your differences, and I also know that you aren't above using underhanded tactics to advance your work-"

"Dex, hey," Kristina grabs his hand, "stop."

"I may have my ways, Mr. Heller, but I wouldn't dare orchestrate an assassination attempt like this, certainly not against an ally."

"We know that, Selina, and we apologize for the accusation," Brick shoots daggers at the young man.

"I can't fault Mr. Heller for going on the offensive, not fully, but I won't tolerate another outburst like that again," Selina stands up, "We'll uphold the current agreement and the two new addendums. If we need to meet again, contact me."

"Thank you," Kristina nods her head, "...Selina."

The group of four disbands without a word, Selina exiting the office. Brick walks over to take her place, his face growing red.

"What the hell was that?!" he growls.

"Come on, Brick. You were thinking it too."

"Even if I was, I certainly wouldn't get in her face about it with no evidence! You could've tanked everything!"

"Yeah, Dex, what was that even about?" Kristina asks, "Did you find proof Selina Wu was behind my dad's death?"

"I'm...looking into it."

"Let the PCPD handle the investigation," Brick crossed his arms, "We need to focus on moving forward."

"That'll drag on for years and years, and we deserve closure."

"...What did you do?"

"I asked Damian Spinelli to look into the shooting."

"Oh God, why?!"

"I wanted to get answers! We all deserve to know who shot Sonny and why they did it!"

"That's not up to us! I'd love more than anyone to figure it out, but there was nothing left behind! So we need to move on!"

"Okay, stop," Kristina stands up, getting between them, "just...stop. We barely made it through that meeting, and that's not a good look for the business."

"You're right," Brick nods, "and thinking like your dad already."

"Okay, so, how do we improve things?"

"Well, for one, we don't accuse our allies of murder."

"Uh huh, anything else?"

"We need to present a united front. Sonny's ran the business for so long that him operating alone was a given. For you, though, no one's gonna buy it."

"So...what, Dex and I co-run the business?"

"Yes and no. You still have final say, and he plays your right-hand, but...your union needs to be more permanent."

"...What are you suggesting?" Dex scowls.

"I'm suggesting that you two get married."

Dex and Kristina look at each other, speechless. While the young man casts his eyes at the floor, Kristina turns back to Brick.

"We..." she stammers, "W-We just got back together. Now we have to rush getting married?"

"If you want the business to stay upright, yes."

"We can't rush things, Brick, not after what happened with Ciara-"

"Then think of it as an in-house business deal."

"We can't do it," Dex replies curtly.

"Oh, you can, and you will," a buzz emits from his pants pocket, and he lets out a sigh, "...I'll be in touch."

"Brick, wait!" Kristina calls out, "Please!"

Her words go unanswered as the front door to Pozzulo's slams shut. She looks back at Dex, a glimmer in her eyes.

"Marriage," he says, "That's a...big deal."

"Yeah, and if I had it my way, we wouldn't rush it," she responds, processing her words, "...if that's what we want to do."

"Right, right, yeah," his cheeks turn pink, "of course."

"I mean, you agree with me, right? Getting married so soon is a bad idea?"

"I do, and Brick calling it a business deal is…tacky."

"Very tacky," Kristina steps closer to him, "but we don't have much of a choice, do we?"

"We do not," Dex lets out a sigh, flopping onto the navy sofa. Kristina drops down next to him, barely an inch away. They sit in silence, and she subtly grabs his fingers.

His mutter fully catches her attention: "This wasn't how I wanted it to go."

"Hm?" she hums.

"It's just..." he clears his throat, grabbing her hand back, "When I thought about marriage and proposing, I never wanted it to be forced."

"I know you've thought about it once-"

"More than once."

"...Really," Kristina's heart flutters. Dex gives her a knowing smirk, and she rests her chin on his shoulder, "Well, I feel all special."

"You should; I love you."

"I love you too," she plants a kiss on his lips, a hand on the other side of his head. She then returns to her resting position, wrapping her arms around his, basking in the more-comfortable silence for a beat, "...What did you want it to be?"

"Why would I tell you that?" he smirks at her.

"Oh, I see," she moves off of him, "Message received."

"Oh come on, Kristina, what's the fun in telling you?"

"Because you're not able to do it?"

"Who said I couldn't do it?"

She doesn't respond, slowly blinking as she processes his response. Her cheeks turn red, and he offers her a genuine grin when he sees the sparkle in her eyes.

"I was hoping that I could do it, or could've done it, when there was some peace for us, when enough time had passed, but…"

"Wow…" she sighs.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just…processing what you said. I'm just not used to someone saying-"

"Saying that they'd want to spend the rest of their life with you and mean it?"

"Yeah."

"You're not the only one."

Kristina doesn't reply, resting her head on his shoulder. They soak in the silence once more before she breaks the ice: "At least I'll get a real one this time."

"A real one?"

"I eloped in Vegas to piss my parents off. It wasn't anything romantic or special, definitely not my dream proposal."

"What would be your dream proposal?"

"Hm," Kristina scans his face, smirking at his question, "It would have a lot of light."

"A lot of light?"

"Yeah. It would be nighttime, and fairy lights would be hung up everywhere, maybe in a backyard or a park or somewhere outside. It would show off this...path of my favorite flowers leading up to a guy dressed in the best suit he could afford, or a girl in the most beautiful dress she has, waiting to drop to one knee and ask me to be their wife."

"I like your vision a lot."

"So much so that it's your plan?"

"We'll see."

"Mhm," she hums, "You're so full of secrets, aren't you?"

"A couple."

"Are they too big to share?"

The flash of the card and Spinelli's preliminary research gnaws at the back of his mind, "Some of them."

"We shouldn't go into this with any secrets, you know."

"I know," Dex takes a deep breath, "and I might as well tell you one. Do you remember when I said that my mom gave me some news?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"My dad…isn't my dad."

"What?" Kristina blinks, "Seriously?"

"Yeah. She's kept this from me my whole life, and fessed up once he died."

"Did she tell you who your biological dad was?" she noted his nod, "Who is he?"

"...AJ Quartermaine."

The name hits her like a truck, her heart dropping to her stomach. Her blood runs cold as she takes in the revelation: "You're…You're a Quartermaine?!"

"I am."

"How? How the hell are you a Q?!"

"My mom met AJ when she was trying to scam the family out of money. They fell in love, got engaged, and then she dumped him because my…grandfather," he forces the word out, "threatened to cut him off. He followed her to Malibu, tried to win her back-"

"And that's how you..." Dex gives her a meek expression when she trails off, "Why didn't you say anything to me?"

"Sonny just died when I found out; all I focused on was making sure you were okay. Whatever I was dealing with didn't matter as much."

"That's not fair, Dex."

"But it's the truth. I was still processing what my mom said, and honestly, I didn't want to think about it. All I care about is my family, and that's you and Ciara."

"Well, you have more family than us now!" her face gets slightly heated, "You do know that we share a brother, right?"

"I'm not thrilled about being related to Michael either."

"That's not the point-" Kristina takes a sudden, deep breath, "It's fine: you're related by blood, I'm related by law. It's fine."

"Krissy-"

"Ciara's daycare," she pivots, "You dropped her off at the mansion, didn't you?"

"I did. I figured she'd enjoy being around her cousins…who are on both sides of her family…"

"Oh God...!" Kristina buries her hands deep in her hair. Dex scoots closer, causing her to move away.

"Kristina, please," he frowns, "I'm sorry."

"No," she gets to her feet, turning to face him, "no, don't."

"I didn't mean to upset you. I wanted to let you mourn Sonny, and I had to work through all of this on my own time."

"Do the Qs know about you?"

"Yes. My mom told them."

"And is this the first time you've left Ciara with them?"

Dex doesn't respond, sheepishly looking away. Kristina runs her hands down her face, trying to compose herself.

"Okay," she says, "I get that we were broken up when you found out, and I'm not entitled to know in the first place, but I don't love that you didn't say anything to me. What if something happened to Ciara while she was under their care?"

"First of all, she's part of the family. Second of all, she's a baby. I seriously doubt they'd let a baby get hurt. If they did, they'd have to answer to me."

"Hm," she hums, "They do not want to see you in Papa Bear mode."

"That's my only mode when it comes to my daughter."

Kristina lets out a sigh, taking Dex's hands in hers and squeezing them, "I'm sorry for going on the offensive. This news is just a lot to take in."

"I get that, but I promise you, I wouldn't ever leave Ciara with people I didn't trust to take care of her. Yeah, she's at the mansion, but she's with her cousins," Dex lets go of Kristina, crossing his arms, "and maybe I should've said something sooner, but with everything going on, the last thing I wanted to do was add another burden onto your shoulders."

"It wouldn't have been a burden," Kristina frowns, "You're not a burden, and you never will be. I don't want you to wall yourself off to make everyone else feel better," she rests a hand on his forearm, "and I don't want you to keep anything important from me. We can't go into this marriage with any more secrets and lies, okay?"

He forces the answer out as best he can: "Okay."

"I love you," she wraps her arms around his waist, pulling him in for a kiss. He reciprocates her affection.

"I love you too," he pulls away, "Now, I think there's a little girl waiting for me."

"You should go get her," Kristina gestures out, looping her arm with Dex's. They exit Pozzulo's, splitting off to their respective vehicles. He watches her pull out of the parking spot and drive off in the direction of Alexis's cabin, taking a deep breath once she disappears from his line of sight. He exhales roughly, running his hands down his face before reversing his SUV. The car ride to the Quartermaine mansion is quiet, his thoughts and the loathing laced within them creating more than enough noise to occupy his time.