"You have to be kidding me. Becks!?" Dante was muttering as he paced the kitchen in the beach house.

Lexi and Dani were sitting on the couch across from a fuming Rocco in the recliner.

"I can't believe she'd stoop this low," Rocco muttered. "What was I thinking? Dante, I knew I should have been the one to drop Gavin off."

"That's what she was hoping for. Then the confrontation would have been with you." Dante pointed out.

Rocco nodded slowly. "She was hoping for a big fight witnessed by her new nanny."

"Becks is meant to distract me," Dante said. "I won't let her. I'm over that gold digger. We have to remember what a great actress she is, though."

"Between those two, they can twist anything," Lexi agreed.

"I don't trust that Eddy guy either. He's creepy. Is... something going on with him and Alyssa?" Dani asked.

"He's Rebecca's brother, and I never trusted him," Dante confirmed. "But he's gay, so no, nothing going on there, but he's probably involved in the scheming."

"He is?" Dani crinkled an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Rocco said. "I met his ex at a New Year's party; why?"

"I mean... at the hospital, he kind of seemed like he was hitting on me," Dani admitted, and Rocco's eyes darkened a bit.

"He was probably trying to recruit you; he needs a new model that hasn't ruined her reputation," Dante said. "Don't worry about Eddy or Becks; we need to figure out what Alyssa is trying to pull."

"Since a child is involved, custody arrangements need to come first. The courts like to see the parents trying to work it out as amicably as possible. They'll see stuff like this as Alyssa playing games and won't like it." Dante continued.

"So why would she do it?" Dani asked.

"Either she's just an idiot and hasn't talked to an attorney yet. Or she has some other plan," Rocco concluded.

"She's not an idiot," Dante said.

"So, she has a plan," Lexi said. "And she has Beck's help."

"So, if it's not Gavin she wants what is it then?" Dani asked.

"Money, obviously," Lexi said.

"Then again, I say, can we just offer her money?" Rocco sighed.

Dani wanted so badly to comfort him. She, for a second, pictured herself on the arm of his recliner, her arm around him in support.

"She doesn't want what we'll offer her, Rocco. She wants it all. She wants to ruin you." Dante said, "And we own dad's firm together both our fortunes are tied into that firm, as well as dad's entire life's work."

Shit, Dani realized with horror it wasn't just Rocco's fortune at stake. It was so much more.

"Why would she want that? She's greedy but doesn't despise me," Rocco disagreed.

"She targeted you the same way as Becks targeted me. I always suspected it, and now I'm sure of it," Dante said.

"So, if she married me for money. I'll give her money to leave me alone. It seems simple, Dante. She'll settle on something."

"I don't think so, Rocco. These women are con-women, and Alyssa's marriage to you was very long. Over the years, she probably resented you more and more even though you're her victim... so to speak." He added quickly when Rocco shot him a dark look.

"I think you're taking this a little far, Dante. Yeah, she married me cause I was rich, and I got her pregnant. But she didn't marry me in some big scheme to take it all from me." He laughed slightly, and Dani did have to admit it sounded crazy. But - Alyssa was something else, and Katherine did indeed leave Dani's dad for one with money.

"Rocco, Becks admitted she was only marrying me for the money. She had her change of heart and left, right? So why is she back now?"

"We're missing something," Rocco said quietly. "There's another piece to this puzzle somewhere."

"Let's focus on what she did tonight," Lexi suggested. "She used Becks as a shock factor. She was hoping for a fight. We all agree on that?"

"She was hoping for a fight about you," Dante said, looking at Dani.

"What are you talking about?" Rocco looked defensive, and she felt her heart speed up slightly.

"She didn't have your stuff packed, Rocco, just Dani's. She had work documents of Dani's out. She had Becks on standby to listen in to it all."

"If she's able to prove infidelity, she can void the prenup, and we're screwed. Literally ruined," Dante said bluntly.

Dani felt her body tense up. Rocco's face had flushed, and his fists were clenched.

"We are just friends; she is Gavin's aunt and nanny," he said quietly but firmly.

Even though she knew he had to say it. It still hurt to hear it.

"She won't be able to make a case on some employment forms and one fight. She's playing a long game, just like I warned you earlier. She was probably hoping to evoke emotion from you regarding Dani to start whatever narrative she's planning."

"So, in a way, we did squash her plan for tonight anyway." Lexi glanced over at Dani, giving her a comforting look.

"I need you two to be completely honest with me," Dante said as he looked from Rocco to Dani. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time to be tactful here. Has anything happened between you two?"

Dani froze, certain her entire face was probably beet red. She couldn't bare to look at Rocco but could feel the heat coming off him from across the room.

"Dante, how dare you embarrass her like that!" Rocco sounded angrier than she'd ever heard before.

"I told you I was going to have to be blunt. I can see there's something there, and if I can others will too. I have to know where it stands." Dante said.

How he said it made it something real, and she knew it couldn't be. She had to protect Rocco and Gavin. She couldn't let her sister ruin them; it was her fault.

"Nothing has ever happened. We're just good friends." As Dani said each word they all felt like a knife to her heart.

"We have a mutual love for Gavin. That's all you're seeing," Rocco agreed.

She stole a glance at him, but he avoided eye contact with her. A fact that was not lost on Dante.

"I believe nothing happened. But the tension between the two of you is obvious. You have to try and--"

"We get it, Dante. Your opinion has been noted. Now back off his ridiculous idea," Rocco practically grumbled the words out. Dani started to wish she could just crawl into a hole and die.

"We have to figure out where you're going, Dani," Dante said after a long, awkward silence.

"Why don't I just get her a nice room for now until we have a better plan?" Rocco asked.

"Hotel charges on your credit card cannot happen right now," Dante said.

"You rent it then." Rocco had never looked so defeated when she had known him. She caught his eyes for a second and tried to convey whatever comfort she could through her gaze, but his eyes flashed with pain before he averted them.

"I'm your lawyer; that looks just as bad. Lexi, can you? -"

"I'm totally capable of renting my own hotel room." She realized she sounded sort of crabby, but honestly, she was. This whole night felt like a nightmare, and she was anxious for it to be over.

"I'll help you find one." Lexi was up in an instant, and Dani was happy to get up and follow her. "I'll even stay with you tonight."

"Thanks, Lex," Dani was trying hard not to cry, and she noticed Rocco stiffen at her voice. He hated that she was hurting as much as she hated that he was. She wished she could rewind time to twenty-four hours ago on that mountain and keep them there.

"Alright, just call once she's settled in." Dante looked relieved to have this handled.

"Okay," Lexi said as she and Dani stood up to leave.

Rocco opened the door to the deck and left the room wordlessly. He didn't say goodbye, and Dani was glad because she'd have sobbed and Dante would, well, who knows what he'd do then.

Still, she felt like her heart was shattering into a million pieces as the door slowly closed behind him.

**

"It's going to be okay, Dani. Maybe not right away, but someday. Everything will work out."

Lexi was sitting on top of the fluffy white comforter of the queen-sized bed. At the same time, Dani was lounging on the little loveseat across from her. She'd helped Dani find a comfortable and modern-looking room outside the city, only about ten minutes from the beach house.

"I didn't realize how much was at stake," Dani whispered shakily.

"This is all Dante's fault! He was bringing up conspiracy theories and getting you both all paranoid. He doesn't know when to shut his big mouth!" Lexi popped up to pour them each a fresh glass. 

"It's not a conspiracy theory that something is going on, Lexi," Dani admitted shamefully. "Dante was right to ask that."

Let me keep being mad at him." Lexi pouted.

"Why are you mad at him?" Dani asked, "because he doesn't like Bobby?"

"Because he doesn't like anyone I date!"

"Did you ever ask yourself why that is?" Dani asked carefully.

"Yeah a big brother complex," Lexi sulked.

"Or..."

"He doesn't have feelings for me don't even go there! Just because he called you out on your feelings doesn't mean you get to!"

"I do have feelings," Dani sighed painfully. "Big ones."

"I know." Lexi said gently. "But feelings you've hidden and stifled, are not a crime. And no one can prove them anyway."

"If Dante could sense it, Alyssa probably did too."

"You know you have to find a way to get over him, right?" Lexi said in a soft voice.

"That's not possible," Dani said, her eyes brimming with tears. 

"Oh, Dani." Lexi hugged her tightly and let her cry for a while.

"I can wait it out for as long as it takes." Dani said, wiping her tears as Lexi shook her head. "It won't be easy but it's the only choice."

"No, Dani, sweetie, you can't do that to yourself."

"I just have to make sure I do a better job of keeping my feelings hidden. I know I can," Dani argued stubbornly.

"But can he?" Lexi asked knowingly.

"He's doing a better job than I am," Dani said sadly, recalling the sight of his back walking silently away from her.

"Something did happen," Lexi deduced. "I'm not judging, but is there any way that whatever it was could come out?"

"No," Dani promised.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. We were alone on the top of a mountain."

Lexi's eyes widened at the admission, and she slowly nodded. "Okay, well at least you were alone..."

"I wouldn't take it back," Dani whispered. "That moment... it was everything."

She just hoped it wasn't the only one they'd get.