billie is getting ready to hit the beach with the others...after updating claudia on last night's events.

she put her phone away and started looking through her suitcase for something to wear, feeling better now that she has talked to someone.

"ana, what do you think of my new swimsuit? pretty cute, right?" billie heard victoria ask from the halls.

billie glances out the window and spots victoria in the courtyard showing off her one piece.

billie turns away before she can hear anastasia's response.

'whatever. I can look better' billie thought to herself.

billie changed into a two-piece and took one last look at herself in the mirror before heading out to meet the others.

soon, all of them are driving through a quaint town towards the coast.

"I'm glad you were able to join us in Italy carter. the past few days just haven't been the same without you."

"it's my pleasure, ms.o'connell."

billies eyes shift toward victoria, who's been quiet throughout the car ride, she took a peek at her phone.

╭───────────────╮

now's not a good time,
on my way to the beach with her.

╰───────────────╯

"who you talking to victoria?" billie asked smiling.

"huh? oh. just a friend. no one important." victoria smirked and looked at billie. "what about you? dressing up for someone important under that cover-up?"

"what?"

"oh? are we being coy now? good to know"

victoria sinks back into her seat, billie sighs, knowing she can't argue with victoria when others are in the car.

finally, they all arrived at the beach, happy to get out of the car.

"boys! please don't forget to put on sunscreen!" billie yelled as jason and jacob started running towards the water.

victorias phone started ringing, making her pull back from the group.

"oh. it's the office, go on without me sunshine." victoria told ana before leaving.

ana nodded and looked at billie, signaling her to follow her.

they both lay down some towels in a secluded part of the beach, before slipping out of their coverups.

anastasia smooths sunscreen over her body, making billie smile. ana turns around, her eyes locking with billies, she lets her gaze wander around her body, making billies heart flutter.

"you look very beautiful." ana says smiling.

"thank you. you too." billie says blushing.

victoria had made it back from her phone call some time ago, she now laid down while the kids, billie, and ana played in the water, all of sudden ana's phone started ringing.

"sunshine! its for you!" she said making ana get out of the water.

"why are you sad jacob?" billie asked concerned.

"mom is going to go work..."

"but it's saturday, and our first day in Italy. I'm sure she won't leave."

10 minutes later anastasia waves to the three in the water, billie helps the boys make their way to the shore.

"uh, bad news. the execs need me to look at a new draft of the due diligence report before the end of the day."

"but it's the weekend ana." billie said.

"business deals like this don't run on the standard workweek. we've got to get this out of the way so our meeting runs smoothly. jade is already proofing it. hopefully, this will just be a quick read-through, and I can meet back up with yall for dinner."

"see billie. I called it." jacob said angrily and upset.

"I know it's tough boys, but look at it this way...your mom's business is one step closer to sever billion dollars in assets." victoria said as she got up from the towel on the floor.

"oh yeah, that definitely makes me feel better." jason says sarcastically.

anastasia takes a deep breath, zoning out.

"ana? we have to go." victoria says softly as she touches ana's shoulder.

"right...boys I really am sorry."

anastasia hugs the boys goodbye before leaving.

later that evening, after the boys are in bed, billie is in ana's room, sitting across from her, trying to read her own book, but can't help but focus on her and all those documents.

billie clears her throat to try to make anastasia look up but fails.

"hey, I've been meaning to ask... where's victoria?" billie asked.

"hmm? oh, I'm not sure. she left the office before I did. I figured she'd be here." anastasia said still looking at the documents in front of her.

"and that doesn't bother you? she could be anywhere, with anyone."

ana shrugs, her eyes still focused on her paperwork. "she gets pretty touchy any time I ask what she's up to. but no need to worry. victoria can fend for herself."

about an hour later, billie heads to her own room to rest.

around 2 am billie heads down to the kitchen to get some water, she opens the cabinet but slowly closes it when she hears a scratching sound at the back door.

"hello?" she said as she tiptoed towards the door. the door swung open and victoria slipped inside. she immediately froze when she saw billie.

"oh! hi, billie."

billies gaze wanders across victoria, taking note of her messy hair, disheveled clothes, and smeared makeup.

"victoria? where have you been? It's almost 3 am, there's no way you were working this late." all billie wanted was to make victoria admit she was cheating on anastasia.

"you don't know that! maybe I was."

"oh come on. smeared lipstick? sneaking through the back door this late? just admit you're cheating on ana."

victoria grimaces for a moment...then smirks. "look at you, so self-righteous, pretending you have the moral high ground. a bit hypocritical don't you think?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"billie please." victoria said laughing. "we've been through this before, you're not as innocent as you pretend to be. you might think I'm oblivious, but it just made you careless."

"how long have you known?"

"does it matter? I'm not here to fight over ana, I'm a businesswoman. so... let's make a deal." victoria took a deep breath. "here are my terms, you don't reveal my secret to anyone, and I won't have you fired and sent back to the states without a single job prospect."

"is that supposed to scare me? you know I'm not trying to be a nanny forever, right? so what if you somehow give me a scathing reference despite not being my boss."

"oh sweetie, you misunderstood. you can nanny however long your heart desires, I don't care about that. but. I will have you blackballed from any businesses owned by or affiliated with mine. which as you know, is a lot."

"anastasia won't let you do that, especially if I tell her about your little...indiscretion."

"let me be more clear ms.o'connell. if you don't take this deal, anastasia will have to deal with a huge scandal, not to mention the fact that it'll ruin the merger, and ana will have to watch jade seize the throne, leaving jason and jacob with absolutely nothing."

"so you see, you really don't have much of a choice. not if you care about anastasia and her kids as much as you claim to. I'll give you a chance to think about it. yeah?"

without waiting for a response, victoria walks to her room leaving billie standing there stupidly.