Jess wanted to speak the truth, tell Reginald he sounded like he was doing this more for himself than his son, but her earlier suspicion had been right. If she fought back, so would he, and Roxy would get hurt in the process. It was obvious he was making the two of them look like the unreasonable ones, relations souring before they even worked with the men. Clear as this was, though, Jess couldn't deny he had a way of getting to people.

"I can try," she finally answered, fists clenched in her lap. As much as she hated herself for going along with it, she didn't have to tell the truth... did she? Lying wasn't exactly her strong point, and she was painfully aware of her tendency to let the wrong things slip. That same tendency, after all, had landed her and Roxy in this newest predicament. And even if she did successfully lie to protect Roxy, would the anchor's brother end up paying the price?

The rest of the meal is quiet. Reginald had gotten what he wanted. He had access to an empath. He planned to use the woman as much as possible but he knew better than to push too much. The empath was already thinking of ways to get out of this. He could see it in her face. He couldn't really blame her. No one liked to be used but the fact was that everyone was used in some way. He should get something out raising Roxanna when he didn't have to.

"Let's move to the study." Reginald said as he stood up. He lead the way to the study knowing that the others would follow. The study was a man's roo. The carpet was a dark brown color. The walls were a light tan color. There were two guest chairs on one side of the desk. The right wall had a book shelf. The left had a couch. Reginald went to the desk and sat in the chair behind it. "Sit so that we can get started. Jessamyn what is the best way to proceed in order for you to get what we want?"

All throughout breakfast, Jess didn't want to look at the men. She ate in silence, trying to think of ways around the demand, but all too soon the time came to move along and negotiate. She stood, shuffling behind Roxy as Reginald led the group to the study, everything about which said "business" with its neutral tones and utilitarian furnishings.

At Reginald's command, Jess sat in one of the guest chairs, her posture stiff. She pressed her lips tight, mulling over the question. It seemed he was giving her an illusion of choice, trying to get her on his side. With a deep breath, she replied, "The best way... If you could, please involve Roxy as little as possible. I know she's your daughter, and matched to me, but it's an empath's help you want most, isn't it?" She fidgeted in her seat, knowing all too well Reginald would keep trying to control Roxy through her. If either was going to break free, they'd both have to.

"Anyway, I'll sit across from the business team," she offered, "and try to pick up on anything off."

"Roxanne has to be here to keep you from getting overwhelmed by emotions." Reginald told her. There was no way to leave his unwanted daughter. He needed her to gain access to the empath. Having an empath under his control would help him secure his empire. It was important to make sure that it was as secure as possible. He would do what he had to do make sure that his son had a solid foundation to succeed.

"We know that someone is leaking information." Maxwell stated as he moved to stand behind Reginald. The two guests looked confused but there fear shot through both of them. "We have traced the leak and narrowed it down to one of you two."The older of the two men straightened. He hadn't broken the rules but he had bent them. He didn't think he had done it enough to compromise them. There shouldn't be a leak. At least not from the things he had done. If the leak was from his section it had to be someone beneath him. He wasn't stupid enough to risk his life by doing something that would endanger his family. He would go over his people if he was allowed to leave just to be sure.

"I know Roxy has to be here," Jess replied. "But please, she doesn't have to be involved with the business. I'm the one you want for that." It wouldn't work, but she had to say something, just so Roxy would know she had someone on her side.

When Maxwell spoke, his words hit harder than they should have. Leaked information. Of course, that sudden cold surge wasn't her own fear, but that of the two men. On reflex, her eyes flicked to the main source of it, the man who straightened his back. If confidential information was getting out, didn't she have a duty to say? What if it was personal customer or employee data? Then again, what if it was about shady goings on, and this man was in the right? And she had a duty to protect Roxy.

In any case, she'd made it obvious. With her lips pressed together, her shoulders raised, and her eyes on the man, Reginald and Maxwell would put two and two together. Through her tight throat, she spoke up. "Ok, what happened? What kind of information was it?" she asked. Through the panic, she'd picked up on something else - confusion. A hint that the man wasn't entirely at fault.

"In order for you to be involved Roxanne must be involved." Reginald knew how to keep people in line. Jessamyn would simple do what he wanted. He would use the leverage that he had. It was important that people had knewthere were consequences for their actions. The empath seemed to care about his daughter. At least her emotions. Which made sense since she could pick up on them. So he would use that concern to accomplish his goal.

"Information on a new project was leaked to a competitor. This jeopardize not only this project but the company that is in charge of the project. People will lose their jobs because one of these two decided to be greedy." Reginald explained trying to her. Maybe if she knew the consequences of the men's actions. It was important that she take this seriously. He wanted her to know he wasn't just being controlling.

Jess fought back a sigh. She wasn't going to win against Reginald, but wouldn't give him the satisfaction of confirming he had the upper hand. She and Roxy would have to get through it for now, but maybe once the bond grew stronger, once it worked over longer distances, the anchor wouldn't have to be so involved.

Then again, that left two issues. One, Reginald would do his utmost to keep his daughter involved. Two, Roxy would keep trying to protect her. No matter what her father said, the anchor was anything but selfish.

Resigned to the task at hand, Jess listened. So the leak was a legitimate concern that did need to be dealt with, and she had a pretty good idea which of the men was behind it. Judging by the confusion, though, there had to be more to the story. She wasn't about to go condemning people on limited evidence. With a deep breath, she looked directly at the older man. Reginald and Maxwell would already know he was the culprit, because of how her attention had shifted to him a moment ago, but she had another question.

"How exactly did it happen?"

"If we knew how it happened we would need you." Maxwell answered. They had gone over everything several times trying to figure out how was responding. They would have preferred to find the culprit on their own but since they hadn't been able to figure it out it seemed like the perfect opportunity to use the empath and see if she could be beneficial. Research indicated that Jessamyn would be very beneficial. Most empaths worked in the justice industry. Lawyers, judges, investigators, counselors, etc. There was no reason why the less law-abiding people could make use of the abilities too. Unfortunately empaths weren't easy to get ahold of.

"Everything leads back to an account that both men had access to. Nothing we have found tell us whose responsibility. Only that it had to be one of these two. None of their underlings had access to the account." Reginald explained. Unless one of the two men had been carelessly and someone who shouldn't have had access had some how gotten access. They were the only two who could have released the information to their competitor.

Wincing, Jess closed her eyes. This case was likely legitimate, yet she could pick up on sinister intentions behind the mens' concern, like a faint whiff of rot. Her ribs clenched at the reminder that Reginald almost certainly needed her help not for these kinds of issues, but rather less lawful purposes. And, by extension, Roxy would be dragged back into it all.

Not that she could back out. Trying to hadn't helped anyone so far. Not Roxy, not her. Instead of a pitiful attempt at lying, she looked at the men again and gave another half truth.

"It's... It's not very clear." It was unclear - because of what she had sensed, not because of what she hadn't. "The question, it was meant for you..." She kept her eyes on the employees, in particular the one who'd panicked. "Because it's difficult to tell. Like you're confused about it too, or..." She shrugged and shook her head as if puzzled herself.

"I don't know!" The older man lied as crossed his arms. He didn't like the way the empath was looking at him. He had been careful not to give anything away. She shouldn't have known. He refused to admit he was the one with the problem. They had no proof. It was important that he act like he was innocent. They couldn't act without proof. At least that was how he saw it.

"Oh for Pete's sake." Roxy growled as she glared at the two men. She was frustrated that they were wasting their time with this. Yes it was important and it would probably affect the business but it was something that she knew that her father could handle. There was no way something like this hadn't happened in the past. "One of you grow a pair and own up." They were supposed to be leaders. They needed to act like men and take responsibility for failing to safe guard their secrets.

Jess flinched from the telltale squirming sensation that accompanied the lie. There was no way Reginald hadn't seen her reaction, but she kept her guard up the best she could. "You heard her," she said, an irritable edge slipping into her tone from Roxy's annoyance. The room buzzed with frayed nerves, particularly from the older man and his cowardice.

"That reaction..." she continued. "I have to say, that makes it obvious to anyone you know more than you let on." That level of defensiveness, the crossed arms, the raised voice, surely had to ring alarm bells even to non-empaths. There, she'd tried to help solve the issue without outright stating she'd picked up on his lies. Much like him, though, for all her reluctance to admit the truth, she'd probably made it clear.

Reginald could see what Jessamyn was doing and he wasn't going to allow it. This wasn't about her showing her detective skills. She was doing her best not to show how much emotion she was experiencing. He refused to allow it. He needed to know how useful she was going to be. The more useful she could be the more he wanted her. If she couldn't than he would have pull Roxanne in. They needed to secure the future and this leak proved to him that it wasn't as secure as he wanted it to be for his son.

"You're supposed to tell me who the failure is. If your not useful now you sure as hell aren't going to be useful when Roxanne figures out the stupid bubble. You're both dismissed." Reginald growled clear not happy with her lack of ability. As much as much as he hated the idea of a woman being involved in the business but he saw no way around it. She knew the business and could do what had to be done. "You two are dismissed. Roxanne I will be calling on Monday to set up a new arrangement."

"Fine. Let's go." Roxy stood up. Part of her was relieved the other part of her was pissed. Still she had known they wouldn't win any battles her. She never had and never would.

Jess sighed as she stood up. Ok, that had been dumb, to even consider the possibility of that ploy working. The guilt weighing in the pit of her stomach was her own - would the culprit's greed or negligence go without consequences, or was it obvious by now he was responsible? As she trailed alongside Roxy, she looked over her shoulder, considering blurting out the truth. The anchor's relief made her reconsider. Jess wasn't going to ruin that glimmer of respite for her, not after she'd ruined so much else yesterday.

Calm down, she reminded herself. She knew full well this wasn't just about securing the business through legitimate means.

"There was no way that could have ended well, was there?" she muttered once out of Reginald's earshot. They'd gotten away for now, but there was no getting away for good. At least, not right now. Lowering her voice further, she continued. "He saw right through that. I could tell how suspicious he was."

"Not really." Roxy answered. There was no winning with her father. His only goal was to secure the company for Drake and future generations. He didn't care what he had to do to make sure his legacy continued. She accepted that when he kicked her out of the business. She understood, in a way, that as a daughter she couldn't carry on the family name. Technically she could be she no longer wanted to.

"There's nothing wrong with not being able hide things." Roxy assured the other woman. Sometimes she wished she wasn't at good at hiding thing but she was who she was. She couldn't change who she was. She was happy. It had taken a long time to get to a point wear she could be happy. She wasn't giving that up just because her father decided to re-enter her life. She would find a way to adapt. It was what she had always done.

"It's just..." Jess chewed her lip. In some situations, making things obvious may not be a problem, but cases like this were surely exceptions. Not for the first time, she wished she could be as good at hiding things as Roxy was - if that were the case, the anchor may be in a better position right now. "I know. Most of the time, yeah," she whispered, looking out for anyone who might overhear. "But I take it he's not going to react well." That was an understatement, if Roxy's fear of her father was anything to go by.

Of course, the fact that Roxy wasn't mad at her made it clear there truly was no good outcome. Reginald had his ways of figuring out the truth. All they could do now was get through the rest of the day, and try to think of a way out before he set them their next task, whatever that would be. Jess didn't want to think about it, or about how Reginald would take out his anger on both of them.

"Don't worry about Jess. As long as my father gets what he wants it won't be an issue." The question was how could she secure the future of a company she no longer cared about. She couldn't exactly intimidate people with Jess beside her. She couldn't even spy with the empath around. But that wasn't Jess' fault. The empath hadn't chosen to be assigned to her. She would figure something out.

"I'll figure something out. I know what he wants I can figure out a way to accomplish it." Adapting was something she was good at. She couldn't predict the future but she could make sure that the company couldn't be destroyed from the inside. It wasn't much but she wasn't a miracle worker. She would help because it would benefit her brother and Jess. Neither of them needed their lives messed up by her father's goals.

Jess nodded. "I'll try to help." Her ability, inconvenient as it was, could be useful for figuring out people's desires and motives. As she'd already inadvertently proved, she could separate truth from lies. She'd avoid working directly for Reginald if at all possible, but was there a way to help Roxy secure the business without going to the extremes her father did? All she could do was try.

The rest of the day passed too slowly for comfort, but without further incident. After another fraught car journey, stepping back into the familiar garage brought some measure of relief, tainted only by the thought of the inevitable conversations tomorrow.

"Heh... Back to normal, for a while," Jess said, managing a smile. The smell of oil and sight of old toolkits were far more comforting than the grandiosity of Reginald's house. More genuine. Even if not for feeling her emotions, she'd be able to see why Roxy liked it. Best to relax while they could, not that doing so would be at all easy.

"Sorry about the weekend." She apologized for the stress of the weekend. She knew met her father wouldn't go well but she hadn't thought it would be as intense as it had been. She knew her father would test Jess. Just not how. It was frustrating to know that the only reason he wanted anything to do with her was because he felt she could be useful. She wasn't a toy or a child. She had a life and she was going to keep it one way or another.

"Let's try to relax." Roxy told Jess. Being back at the garage helped relax she felt a little bit more in control. Even if it was only an illusion. For now. She would have time to figure out how defend it from the outside, after that was their job. That's what he paid for after all. She refused to be used for the rest of her and Jes' life. The empath deserved better than that.

This time, Jess gave a genuine smile. "Hey... Nothing to apologise for." It hadn't been Roxy's fault, far from it. Roxy had been doing her utmost to keep her out of it, but there had been no getting around what Reginald wanted.

She wanted to apologise again herself, for the information she'd let slip that had made the situation worse, but she bit back the urge. "I just wanted to say, thank you," she said instead. "For helping. For caring, even with everything you were dealing with yourself... You were going through so much more. If there's anything I can do to help you..." She paused. Sounding doubtful certainly wasn't a way to help. "I mean, I know we can. We can help each other. We'll figure out a way."

At Roxy's suggestion of relaxing, she nodded, dragging her suitcase upstairs. Relaxing wouldn't be easy, but at least they had a short while before they'd have to deal with this again.

...

As slowly as the hours had dragged by at Reginald's place, they passed too quickly now. Evening gave way to night, then to morning.

Jess hadn't slept well, but was up bright and early for work as usual. Slouched over the dining table, she stared blankly at her phone before sighing and typing the message to her mother. Such an innocent sounding one, even if Reginald's ploy to gain her trust was anything but.

"That's that done with..." she muttered, gripping the phone and trying not to think of the inevitable family meetings.

Roxy spent the next few days trying to get back into the groove of things. They settled into a routine of sorts. She relaxed a little. She tried to think of a way to help Jess. It wasnt that her world was a bad place. There were worse. Her father would do anything to make sure that his business and legacy survived. An empath would be a good way to know who he could trust and who he couldn't.

After some thought, Roxy decided that teaching Jess some self defense might give the other woman some confidence. Maybe that confidence would strengthen the bubble. She didn't know but she didn't think it would hurt. Plus Jess had expressed an interest in learning. She decided to ask the empath if she wanted to learn. Hopefully Jess would be open to the idea. "Hey Jess were you serious when you said you were interested in learning some of my routine?"