This is my adaptation of “Rebel With A Cause” by Kim Hansen.

The Rebel, Chapter 19

Brenda sat back from the table with a sigh. It was morning, and she and Jax were
in her office continuing where they’d left off the previous evening before her
father had interrupted them.

“Problem?” he asked and leaned back in his chair to study her. She was wearing
a light blue sundress today. The dress set off her brownish skin tone perfectly and
also showed her cool personality as well. He couldn’t wait to release the passion
just brewing underneath so that the ice would melt completely away.

“I’m not sure.”

He watched her shuffle some papers around.

“These accounts aren’t that complicated. There’s work to be done, yes, but I
don’t see why Sonny didn’t wrap these up a long time ago.”

“Purposeful delay?”

“Why?”

“Maybe he’s trying to impress your father with his work load,” Jax suggested,
wondering if it was true and relieved she had sensed what he had already
determined. “He’s worked on these files regularly.”

“Doing something but not enough.”

Jax tapped his pencil. “I looked over that new file he gave you before you got
here this morning.”

“And?”

“The same thing.”

Brenda pushed her chair back from the table with a sigh, and walked to one of the
glass windows. “I don’t know what it is, but something doesn’t seem right about
these accounts.”

“Why?” he encouraged, wanting her to find what he was beginning to suspect.

“It’s almost as if...”

“Something's missing?” he provided when she grappled for a word.

“Yes! That’s it exactly!”

He watched her smile immediately turn upside down.

“But what? And why?”

“I thought we determined that Sonny doesn’t want you to succeed,” Jax reminded
her.

“But we’re--”

“Part of the same team? I thought we addressed that, too.” Jax stood up to walk
over to her. “You’re competition, Brenda, and in business, competition...”

“Has to be eliminated,” she said remembering his words from the night at the
pool. Her eyes narrowed. “So what do I do?”

If he didn’t give you the entire file, you have to get what he didn’t give you.”

“How?”

“Who has access to Sonny’s files? Or who could gain access to Sonny’s files
without raising suspicion?”

“Lilly,” she murmured.

“She’s bound to know Sonny’s secretary, and Sonny is out of the office this
morning.”

Brenda smiled, but there was no humor in her eyes. “And if we get his files, by
tomorrow’s meeting with the board, we might find something out he doesn’t want
us to.”

Brenda stalked to the door and found no one outside or within earshot but her
secretary. “Lilly, come in here, please. We need you.”

And Lilly answered the call, disappearing from Brenda’s office only to return less
than twenty minutes later with some folders and a sunny disposition. “It was SO
easy. He has a temp filling in today. She didn’t even go with me to see what I
was taking from his desk.

Brenda took the folders but quickly shared them with Jax, who led the way to the
table. He was smiling at Lilly's successful raid, but what he read rapidly changed
his smile into a frown. Slowly, he looked from the papers he was holding to
Brenda who was staring at what was in her hand in disbelief. “Without this
information you would have closed these accounts at a loss and never known until
you were sitting in front of the board.

Brenda shook her head. “He set me up.”

“And would have watched you fall.”

“And then shown me the door.” Brenda slapped the folder shut, making Lilly
jump and Jax smile. The ice was beginning to thaw.

“What do you want us to do, boss?”

His drawl had Brenda smiling mischievously. “Blow him out of the water.”

Jax winked at Lilly. “Brace yourself. It’s going to be a long night.”

But the time was filled with energy as the three of them continued to work well
after everyone had gone home. Together they complied data, made phone calls
and plotted revenge. It was impossible to wrap up any of the accounts in a day,
but it was reasonable to make projections and predict settlement dates as well as
profit margins. And the bottom line was what Brenda needed.

Jax sat back with a sigh and tossed his pencil down. It was almost nine o’clock.
Lilly had just left for the night, and Brenda was just hanging up the phone.
“Done?”

“Done.”

He grinned. “I’m glad I’ll be there in the morning to see the look on Sonny’s face
when you take him down.”

“You don’t like him very much do you?”

“You do?”

She shrugged noncommittally and watched Jax rise to walk to her. His suit coat
and tie was off. His sleeves were rolled up and the top couple of buttons were
undone, giving her a glance of his tan neckline. His hair was in disarray from
repeatably running his hands through it. But, to her he’d never looked better, and
she didn’t resist when he pulled her out of her chair and into his arms. “Can I
take the fifth? He is an officer in the company.”

“I like loyalty.”

“I’m very loyal.” And she proved it by pressing herself up against him and
pulling his head down to hers. Their lips met in a draining kiss. “See?” she asked
breathlessly after releasing him, and he wasn’t prepared to argue.

“I hope you don’t kiss anyone else like that,” he observed with a sigh.

“Why?”

“Because I’d break their necks.”

His growl brought her back against him again, and she had to breathe deeply to
catch her breath when he let her go. Nevertheless, she kept her arms around him
and her body against his. “I definitely like slow.”

“We aim to please,” he said, nuzzling her neck, inhaling her perfume and holding
her close while she relaxed and stood pliantly in his grasp.

“The office isn’t exactly the place to have a romantic rendezvous, though.”

He combed his fingers through her hair, oblivious to their surroundings. “I can
adapt.”

“Helpful too.” Their gazes met. “I could never have done all this without you.”

He shook his head. “You knew Sonny was up to something way before I said
anything.”

“But what would I have done about it without you?”

He shrugged. “You would have thought of something. Whether you would have
confronted him or been knocked down, you would have gotten back up again.
“You’re a tough lady.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he agreed, and bent to taste her mouth again. It was wonderful. Just like
her. Reluctantly he lifted his lips from hers. “Makes me think you don’t need me
anymore.”

She stiffened immediately. “Don’t say that!”

“Why not? It’s the truth.”

She pulled out of his arms to step away from him. “Are you saying you’re leaving
now?”

He reached out to pull her back into the circle of his arms. “I’m saying I’ve done
what you hired me to do.”

Her eyes searched his. “But...”

“I’ll stick around for a while.” His finger traced along her check. “You’re not
getting rid of me yet.”

“But how long will I have?”

He smiled and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose. “How long do you want?”

But he wasn’t talking about the office. She lifted her hands to frame his face with
her hands, but the doubts and questions were in her eyes.

He caught her fingers to cup them in his and press them to his lips. “Don’t worry.
You’ll have the answers soon.”

She shook her head at the determined gleam in his crystal eyes. “I don’t know if I
want to hear them. You make me afraid.”

“No, its you who makes me afraid.” He kissed her fingers again. “You’re going
to sell me off to the highest bidder.”

She had to laugh, but she also held on tight. To him. She didn’t want to let him
go. “You won’t go to the auction block for a couple of weeks yet. You still have
some time to prepare.”

“So do you.” He kissed her quickly and pulled away. “You have quite a view of
the fires from here.”

Brenda accepted the change of subject, but it was hard. She wanted to ask more,
know more, but at the same time she wasn’t sure it really mattered. Still holding
on to his hand, she followed his gaze out the windows behind her desk to the red
glow in the sky beyond the city and nodded. To the West where the canyons ran
and the winds blew, smoke layered the mountains and the red reflection of flames
danced across the moonlight. The annual LA fires were burning brightly. “The
fires are really bad this year.”

“Yes, but at least not near Malibu. You’re safe there.”

She sighed. “And the project, too. We should go out there tomorrow to check on
things.”

Jax smiled. “We’ll go. After you smoke out Sonny at the board meeting.”

***

The next day, Jax watched as Brenda took her place at the conference table. She
was nervous. He could tell. A smile curved his lips. But no one else would
notice. Not her father, Harlan Barrett wouldn’t recognize any feelings in his
daughter because he didn’t even know her well enough. Jax’s smile grew. But he
did.

He was aware of the way her gaze darted around the room, the death-grip she had
on the papers in her hands. He saw past the cool reserve that kept her expression
neutral and her stance relaxed.

The ice was still in place, but it had started to melt. She’d become warmer inside
and out since he had met her on that dark street. The inner glow she’d been
hiding was beginning to show.

He wasn’t ashamed of the part he’d played in breaking down her self-control. He
had no fear that losing the tightening composure she’d been raised to constantly
exercise would leave her defenseless. To his way of thinking, he’d simply freed
her of an inhibition that stopped her from being who she really was. And he was
looking forward to finally being able to truly get to know the woman who’d been
hiding in a shell, because the crisis lying between them was almost over.

Sonny entered the room, and Jax couldn’t help but smile. Yes, his usefulness to
Brenda was just about past. Once he helped her see these last accounts she’d
been given settled and having finally convinced her that Sonny Corinthos was not
and would never be her teammate, Jax figured he could resign. And just in time.

A conversation with Jerry the night before had alerted him to a meeting. The
lunch with the KLM vice-president had worked. The board of directors was
opening the door to negotiations. The takeover effort had been interrupting the
company’s already faulty production and forced the board to recognize it’s
inability to cope with or correct the steady decline of a once-thriving business.

The KLM conglomerate was losing business, losing money and had no prestige.
The directors were ready to abandon the ship, and Jax was ready to take
over...once he eliminated the competition.

Jax watched Sonny take his seat. He was happy to let Brenda take her coworker
down a peg or two on the accounts she was handling, but Jax wanted Sonny all to
himself when it came down to a war across the conference table with KLM. He
was going to get enormous pleasure out of Sonny Corinthos falling flat on his
rear. The man was a chicken and a cheat. He had milked accounts to make himself
look good, dropped those that required too much work and offered little or no
profit, and made his own priorities instead of following the company’s. Sonny
Corinthos had no loyalty. Only greed.

Jax sat back with a smile as the conference room doors were closed. Without a
doubt, he was sure that eliminating the KLM competition was going to be
something that he thoroughly enjoyed.

The meeting was then called to order by Harlan Barrett.

To be continued...