“Hmm…” Sharlene tilted her head to the side and tapped her cheek. “I might have. But I need more to go on than that. What else can you tell me about her?”
“Not much,” Sydney admitted. “But we have her photo. Would that help?”
“Certainly.” Sharlene smiled broadly.
Sydney pulled the folder out of her bag and handed it to Sharlene, but at that moment, Sharlene’s assistant came in to offer drinks, and Sharlene didn’t even look in the folder until the assistant had left. Then she made a great show of flipping through the pages within it.
“Is that photo supposed to be in here?” she asked.
“Yes,” Sydney said. “It should be on top.” She took the folder back from Sharlene, riffling through it herself before admitting, “I’m sorry, the photo must have fallen out in the car. I’ll go get it.”
Sharlene grabbed her arm. “Nonsense. Griffin was raised better than that. He’ll go.” A feline smile spread across her face. “Besides, this will give us a chance to talk.”
Griffin’s gaze narrowed. “Be nice.”
Sharlene blinked innocently. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“She’s my assistant. Be nice.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sydney assured him.
As soon as the door closed behind Griffin, Sharlene tilted her head coyly and said, “So. His assistant?”
“Just his assistant,” Sydney bit out.
“Oh, my dear.” Sharlene laughed. “I know exactly what that means. Don’t forget I was just Hollister’s assistant for nearly a decade.”
“I am truly just his assistant.”
“Yes. I’m sure you are.” Sharlene’s voice dripped with condescension, but there was a knowing gleam in her gaze.
Strangely, it wasn’t the condescension that bothered Sydney. It was that look. That look implied a kinship between them. That look implied they were one in the same, both part of the sisterhood of assistant-mistresses.
It was exactly that sisterhood that Sydney had never wanted to belong to. She’d never wanted the kinship or the glimpse into a future filled with bitter resentments.
That look made her all the more determined to convince Sharlene that the relationship she thought she saw was a figment of her imagination.
Needing to convince Sharlene—even if she couldn’t convince herself—Sydney gave the other woman the truth. “I’ve only worked for Griffin for a few weeks. Before that I worked for Dalton. Griffin sort of inherited me. I came with the office.”
“I see.” Sharlene’s eyes narrowed slightly as she studied Sydney.
It took every ounce of self-control she had not to fidget and squirm. Years of being interviewed by CPS officers served her well here. She was used to faking it.
“Well, then,” Sharlene said after a moment. “If you know both brothers, all the better.”
“All the… Excuse me?”
“You claim you’re not involved with Griffin. Despite his obvious interest in you, I might add. Very well. That is your own business. But if you’ve worked with both Dalton and Griffin, then you suit my needs perfectly.”
“Suit your needs?” Syndey sprang to her feet. “Whatever you’re—”
“Calm down, calm down,” Sharlene cooed, with a dismissive flutter of her hand. “All I need is a little information.”
“Information? I will not betray Cain Enterprises!”
“Betray Cain Enterprises? Oh, goodness no.” Sharlene gave a trilling laugh. “I have more information on Cain Enterprises than I know what to do with. Corporate secrets are the last thing I need. No, I need information about the boys. Personal information.”
“And you think I’m going to give it to you?” The woman was crazy. Stark-raving mad. And quite clever. Sydney could clearly see that Sharlene had gotten Sydney alone exactly for this purpose.
“Calm down,” Sharlene said again in that soothing tone. “My interest is not malicious, I assure you.”
“Then what is your interest?” Sydney demanded.
“Is it really so hard to believe that I might be curious about them? Concerned even? Are they happy? Is either of them in a well-adjusted, long-term relationship? Is either of them doing what he really wants to do in life?”
Honestly, Sydney didn’t know if Griffin was happy. If he was “doing what he really wanted to do in life.” So she gave a noncommittal shrug. “Well, who does get to do that?”
“But it’s a shame, isn’t it? That Griffin’s stuck at Cain Enterprises, when that’s not what he really wants to do.”
“And I suppose you know all about what he really wants to do.”
Sharlene gave a self-effacing shrug. “I wouldn’t say that I know all about it. I contribute enough to get the monthly newsletters but not so generously as to attract anyone’s attention. And I can tell he’s not spending as much time as he wishes he could down in Africa.”
“What?” Okay, maybe she was just really tired, but the conversation seemed to have gone off road into the realm of very bizarre. “Newsletters? Africa?”
“For Hope2O.”
“What?” Sydney said blankly.
“Hope. 2. O,” Sharlene repeated slowly. “The international aid organization Griffin runs.”
Twelve
“The what?”
Sharlene recoiled slightly. For the first time since Sydney had walked in, she got the feeling that Sharlene wasn’t putting on a show. Her surprise was as real as Sydney’s shock. “He didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what? That he apparently runs an international aid organization in his spare time? No. He didn’t mention it.” Sydney could hear her voice getting all shrill and squeaky. “I’m sorry. Can we backtrack a bit? Start at the beginning maybe?”
Sharlene blinked rapidly. “Yes. Of course.” Then she stood and crossed to her desk and began to rummage around in her file folders in one of her drawers. “A few years ago…or more than a few now, I guess, Griffin got involved in an organization called Hope2O. They provide assistance to impoverished villages that are trying to start up water districts in Africa and Central America. They help with organization and arrange financial backing.”
“And Griffin is involved in this?” Again her voice sounded squeaky.
Sharlene looked up. “I’m sorry. This has come as a shock to you.”
“I just…I had no idea.”
Sharlene must have found what she wanted because she straightened and walked back around the desk. She held out a glossy, tri-fold pamphlet. “Griffin is not just involved. As of four years ago, he’s their major financial backer. In addition to being on their executive board.”
“Of a charitable organization.”
“Yes.”
“In Africa.”
“Yes.”
“And he came to you asking you to donate?”
Sharlene gave a trilling laugh. “Oh, goodness no. As far as I know his involvement in Hope2O is his most closely guarded secret. I doubt any of the Cains know about it. Certainly no one at Cain Enterprises knows, but I just assumed you’d have to know about Hope2O, being as close to him as you are. It appears I really was wrong about your relationship with Griffin.”
Sydney gritted her teeth, but didn’t comment. She refused to confirm or deny Sharlene’s suspicions.
“Then how do you know?” she asked instead. Was Griffin really so close to Sharlene? He’d given Sydney the impression that he hadn’t seen Sharlene in years.
“I found out about it purely by accident. A few years ago I was having lunch with some of the women I’d worked with at Cain Enterprises. Griffin’s assistant happened to be there and she complained about how difficult it was to manage his schedule. How secretive he was. How he appeared to spend far more time vacationing than actually working. This description of him seemed very unlike the boy I’d known. So I looked into the matter.”
Sydney didn’t know what to say. She was all too familiar with complaints made by Griffin’s former assistant. He was difficult to work with. He did have a reputation for playing more than he worked. But she had just assumed that was who he was.
“You looked into the matter?” Sydney repeated dumbly.
Sharlene sighed, a sound full of guilt and regret. “I know I shouldn’t have. I should have trusted that the Griffin I knew as a boy would grow into a decent man. More than decent, in fact. Extraordinary. But I didn’t trust what I knew of him. I nosed around in his business and uncovered just how generous and selfless he is. Believe me when I tell you that I’m not proud of myself for doubting him.”
Sydney tried to squelch the sick feeling in her stomach. Sharlene felt badly? That was nothing compared to how Sydney felt. Sydney hadn’t just doubted that Griffin might be generous and extraordinary. She’d fully believed he was a self-absorbed playboy. She’d slept with him—for months—without ever knowing the person he truly was.
Finally, Sydney willed herself to take the pamphlet that Sharlene was holding. She glanced down. There was a logo at the top of the page, with the word Hope and the letter O written in nice big letters and the 2 done in subscript, the way you’d write the chemical name for water. Beneath was a picture of a beautiful young African girl carrying a jug on her head along with the statement “Women spend 200 million hours a day collecting water.” She flipped open the pamphlet, not reading it, just letting it soak in. Not really believing that Griffin would have anything to do with this organization.
It was too noble a cause for her charming playboy to be involved in. Too far outside the realm of their lives. She could picture him attending charity galas at the country club dressed in a tux, but not drilling water wells in Africa.
Then on the back, she saw it. A picture of a ribbon-cutting ceremony somewhere. In the background, standing just behind the man cutting the ribbon, was Griffin. The picture was small and cluttered with people. If she didn’t know every line of his face, she wouldn’t have even recognized him. But she did.