Todd marries his lawyer, Téa Delgado, in 1997 to help him win custody of Starr, which he does. Téa originally marries Todd because of the money he has paid her, but the two become much closer, and eventually Todd admits that he is in love with Téa and proposes true marriage. Like Todd and Blair, Todd and Téa fall in love and marry "for real". Todd hires Blair to work for him again and tries to prove Bo guilty for the murder of Georgie Phillips to get revenge on the Buchanans. When the evidence starts making Todd look guilty, he kidnaps everyone involved with Georgie and holds them all at the Buchanan lodge, determined to make the real murderer confess and thereby clear himself. Rachel Gannon finally confesses to Georgie's murder, and Todd runs off, taking Téa with him. In a rage, after Téa angrily taunts him for kidnapping her, he hits her. She later turns the tables on him when she knocks him out with a shovel, calls the police and has him arrested.