Pacing around his office, face contorted with worry and anxiety, Wilbur Stanforth almost appeared as though he was going to cry at any given moment. The news he had just received from Izzy and Victoria wasn't the kind that was going to send him into a whirlpool of euphoric bliss. For Wilbur, it felt as though the event he had been waiting months for, the defining moment in his time at the museum was about to be turned into some kind of circus. He should have known when Izzy had first approached him about her father that he should have stood firm, that he shouldn't have agreed to her using the gala as an oppurtunity to expose the man who was graciously donating a sum of money that Wilbur could only have ever dreamed of.

And now his somewhat over-active imagination was filled with all kinds of horrors as to just how the evening was going to pan out. Police, arrests, fights, the media having a field day. It was all adding up to one very big headache that Wilbur could quite honestly do without.

"Izzy, have you any idea what this could do to us?" he asked, somewhat exasperated. "Your father is being very generous, and now I'm not so sure that bringing your personal battles with him into tomorrow nights proceedings is such a wonderful idea, I mean...."

"Wilbur, would you just for one bloody minute take your head out of your own arse and listen to what we're telling you, please!"

Izzy stared at Victoria, grinning at her sudden interuption, not quite sure where this side to her sister had come from. She watched as Victoria produced the check from her purse.

"This is the remainder of what the museum should have received," Victoria informed him.

Wilbur took the check from her somewhat cautiously, taking his sweet time to cast his eye over just what he held in his hands. Slowly, he raised his gaze to meet the eyes of the two young women who stood in front of him.

"This is for another $1.5 million, that can't be right," he stated in a hushed tone.

"Believe us Wilbur, it really is. This is what we've been attempting to explain to you. Charles is a lying, cheating bastard, and every charity and institution that he's donated to has been robbed blind by him, the very man that they all believe to have been so wonderful and generous," Izzy explained.

"So there really is nothing I can do to stop the police turning up tomorrow night is there? This is more serious than I first thought," Wilbur murmured.

Izzy couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him then.

"There really isn't Wilbur, and if there was any way of stopping it from happening, then we would try our hardest, but they need to see him in action tomorrow night, handing over that big old cardboard check thinking he's gotten away with it yet again."

Slowly nodding his understanding of the situation, Wilbur gave a weak smile.

"Are all the details confirmed and finalised for tomorrow?" he asked hoarsely.

"Absolutely. I have one final call to make to the caterer after I leave here in a minute, and then both Vicky and I will be here early tomorrow morning to ensure that all the preparations go according to plan. Trust me Wilbur, it's going to be just fine," Izzy assured him.

Sinking slowly into his chair, Wilbur simply nodded.

"I'll see you in the morning," he whispered, sounding as though his world was about to come crashing down around his ears.

Making a hasty exit, both Izzy and Victoria breathed heavy sighs of relief as they shut the door behind them. They strolled side by side, Victoria in silence whilst Izzy placed one last call to the caterer to confirm final numbers. Unable to not help but listen in on the conversation, Victoria's interest was sparked as Izzy informed the caterer of exactly how many people would be attending. She had been fairly sure that when she and Izzy had been going over everything the night before there had been 228, and yet, she had quite plainly heard Izzy say 229. Stepping out into the warm Los Angeles sunshine, Victoria looked at her sister.

"229? I thought there was 228 when you showed me everything last night," she stated.

"Oh, that text I received whilst we were in there talking to Wilbur, it was a last minute acceptance, " Izzy replied, "Oh look, Brian's here already," she added, changing the subject quickly, waving over to where Brian stood leaning against the hood of his SUV.

Victoria didn't fail to notice that Brian wasn't alone. He stood chatting with a young man whom he obviously knew well by the way he was imitating Brian's stance of leaning against the vehicle. Victoria grabbed Izzy's arm and stopped her halfway down the steps.

"Who's that with Brian?" she questioned suspiciously.

"That would be Matt Berry, he's a friend and works with the guys on the road," Izzy answered, seeming a little uncomfortable. "He's joining us for lunch."

"Izzy...what's going on?" Victoria demanded.

Shuffling her feet uncomfortably, Izzy looked down at her shoes whilst she spoke.

"Look, it was all Brian's idea. He just thought that seeings as we're all going as couples tomorrow that it might be an idea to find you someone, and Matt's really sweet and..."

"And you did nothing to stop this?" Victoria asked as Izzy began dragging her back down the steps towards the car. "Maybe I don't want a date, maybe I'm perfectly ha...oh hello! He's cute!" she declared as they approached them.

Izzy laughed and shook her head.

"I thought that might persuade you!"
***********

Walking into Izzy's lounge later that evening with a handful of beers for all those gathered in the room, Brian noticed that Izzy had disappeared from the crowd. Everyone else was deep in conversation, especially Victoria and Matt, who appeared to be totally oblivious to the fact that they were even in the midst of company. Placing the bottles down on the coffee table, Brian headed out into the hallway and up the stairs in search of her. Movement coming from her room was enough to tell Brian just where Izzy was. Leaning against the door frame, Brian watched as Izzy smoothed down the off-white silk of a dress that hung from the closet door.

"Wow," he murmured.

Startled by his sudden appearance, Izzy turned quickly, throwing him a stern look.

"You weren't supposed to see this until tomorrow, I wanted it to be a surprise," she scolded.

"It'll still be a surprise, because hanging up like that..sure it looks amazing, but actually seeing you in it....that's gonna be out of this world," he stated with a grin, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You're so cheesy," Izzy declared, rolling her eyes.

With a chuckle, Brian sat forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Out with it Iz," he stated, very aware that Izzy was troubled by something. Hiding her emotions was not something she did well.

Taking the dress from the closet door and carefully hanging it back in it's place on the rail inside, Izzy acted as though she hadn't heard him. Closing the door of the closet quietly, she appeared to be contemplating one of two things. Either turning to talk to him, or making a run for it. Suspecting the second was at the forefront of her mind, Brian quickly stood and made for the bedroom door, closing and locking it with purpose before leaning against it, placing himself between Izzy and her one means of escape.

"Brian,"Izzy sighed.

"Yes baby?"

Izzy shook her head, somewhat agitated by Brian's manner.

"Iz, for some reason whenever there's something troubling you, you feel the need to keep it to yourself. Unfortunately for you, I'm a stubborn bastard and will continue to harass you until you cave and tell me just what it is. So, the choice is yours beautiful. You can either make this very easy on both of us and just open up right now, or we can stay here like this until eventually you realise you're never going to win this battle and give up and tell me anyways," Brian informed her clearly, his brown eyes sparkling playfully the entire time.

"And you may not have noticed, but I'm not exactly a busy man these days. I need a way to kill some time, so this little stand-off makes no odds to me," he added, that all too familiar smirk threatening to emerge at any moment.

"I hate you," Izzy mumbled, her face softening slightly as her gaze met his.

"Oh baby, you're not the first to say that to me. Unfortunately it has to be said with a little more venom and disgust to actually make it sound convincing."

Stepping away from the door, Brian reached out and took Izzy's hands in his.

"One of these days, you might finally come to realise just how fucking much I love you, and that seeing you like this tears me up inside," he told her softly. "I'm not dumb Izzy, I can see just how much having to face Charles tomorrow night is eating away at you, even though you know that once you have, this ugly mess will be over, that he will finally get what he deserves."

Placing his fingers lightly under her chin, Brian raised Izzy's head a little, giving her no choice but to look at him.

"He's never going to hurt you again, all of us, me more than anyone, are going to make sure of that," he whispered before his lips met hers.

Her hands falling from his grasp, Izzy's arms found their way around Brian's neck as she stood on tiptoe to relish the feel of his lips against hers. Brian groaned as she ground herself against him.

"That's more like it," he murmured. "Now, this top has been driving me crazy all day, " he added, slowly untying the bow of the cropped plaid shirt Izzy wore, "so it clearly has to go."

"We have company," Izzy reminded him, finding herself being guided backwards.

"Iz, they have each other and a fridge full of beer, they probably haven't even noticed we've gone," he pointed out, his fingers running along her exposed stomach as they fell onto the bed.

"I guess we can leave them for five more minutes," Izzy teased.

"Yeah, I ...hey!"

Laughing lightly, Izzy pulled him for another kiss, knowing that with Brian by her side, she really could get through anything life had to throw at her.