All He Really Needs (12 page)

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 Hope
2
O.”

“What?” Sydney said blankly.

“Hope. 2. O,” Sharlene repeated slowly. “The international aid
organization Griffin runs.”

Twelve

“T
he 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 Hope
2
O. 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 Hope
2
O 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 Hope
2
O, 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.

Sydney flipped through the pamphlet again, her eyes scanning
all the words without really reading them. She looked for any reference to
Griffin at all. Any mention of Cain Enterprises. She wasn’t particularly
surprised when she found none.

Still, when she looked up, she couldn’t help voicing her
question. “Why would he keep this such a secret?”

Sharlene sighed. “Why does anyone keep anything a secret? I
suspect he’s ashamed of it.”

“Of doing charitable work? It’s not like he’s a drug addict.
He’s not laundering money or hosting dog fights.”

“Yes, yes, for someone like you or me, charity is a virtue.”
Sharlene shook her head. “But in Griffin’s world, wanting to help others is a
sign of weakness. One that Caro and Hollister worked hard to stamp out of her
boys from a very young age. Griffin especially.”

“Why Griffin especially?”

“He was always much more sensitive than Dalton. He cared about
other people. I remember once, in the mid-eighties when the famine in Africa was
getting a lot of coverage in the news, Griffin had the nanny bring him up to the
office so he could talk to his father. He asked Hollister why they couldn’t just
give all their money to the people in Africa. I never heard Hollister’s full
answer because he shut his office door, but by the time Griffin left, he was in
tears. Caro was furious. She fired the nanny the very next day.”

“That’s awful.”

“It was. And whatever Hollister said to Griffin, it must have
made an impact because I never heard him talk about helping other people again
until I found out about Hope
2
O.”

Sydney tried to imagine what Hollister must have said, but she
couldn’t. Griffin had only been a child. In the mid-eighties, he would have been
six or seven. Eight or nine at the oldest. That was awfully young to have human
compassion stamped out of you.

She glanced up to find Sharlene watching her. “Why show me
this?” She waved the pamphlet between them. “Why tell me this at all? What do
you want from me?”

“I would think that’s rather obvious.”

“Well, it isn’t. Either you’re still hiding something or you’ve
gone to a lot of trouble to satisfy your curiosity.”

“Fine,” Sharlene said, staring across the office to look out
the window. “When I was with Hollister, Griffin was like a son to me. So was
Dalton, for that matter. I genuinely care about both of those boys, but when
things ended with Hollister, he cut me out of all their lives. I’ve tried to
keep tabs on them, but they’re both very private men.” Sharlene turned her gaze
back to Sydney. “Is it so hard to believe that I simply want to know whether or
not Griffin is happy?”

For the first time since walking into the office, Sydney felt
as though Sharlene was truly being honest. As though she was seeing the real
woman beneath the facade.

“No,” she answered honestly, sitting back in her seat. “No,
it’s not so hard to believe. So why not just ask him?”

Sharlene laughed bitterly. “It’s been nearly twenty years since
I’ve seen Griffin. Do you honestly think he’d just talk to me? That he wouldn’t
be as suspicious and guarded as you’ve been? More so, even.”

Sydney didn’t know how to respond to that. Two weeks ago, she
would have said that Griffin was an open book. That there were no hidden depths,
no deep secrets. The perfect wild-oats guy.

Now she knew differently. She’d never met a book more tightly
closed or carefully locked. Now she knew the truth. She’d never known the real
Griffin. He’d never once showed her the man he really was.

Well, she could hardly blame him for that. She’d kept her share
of secrets herself. The problem was, his secrets concealed the man he truly
was.

Four months ago, she’d gotten involved with a jet-setting
playboy. A man who delighted in physical and sensual pleasures but seemed to
care about little beyond his own amusement.

In the days since becoming his assistant, she’d realized that
man was an illusion. The illusion had tempted her body. The real man beneath
tempted her heart, her mind. Her very soul. She could fall in love with a man
like Griffin Cain.

“I’m sorry.”

Sydney looked up to see that Sharlene had come to sit beside
her. Sharlene placed a gentle hand on Sydney’s arm. Her lovely face was creased
with lines and revealed a concern that was almost motherly.

“Pardon?” Sydney asked, not sure what exactly Sharlene was
apologizing for.

“I didn’t mean to drop this bomb on you. Honestly. I assumed
he’d told you about Hope
2
O. He seemed so protective of you. You seemed so close.
I just thought…” Sharlene’s voice trailed off, and for a second she seemed
near tears herself. “Well, I know what it’s like to love a man who doesn’t let
you in.”

“I—” But Sydney cut herself off. Maybe it was easier to let
Sharlene believe she was hurt by Griffin’s inability to trust her with the
truth. It was an explanation that Sharlene would understand, whereas the
truth—her fear of loving Griffin—was something she barely understood herself.
Finally, she said simply, “Yes. It is hard.”

And it wasn’t even an outright lie because nothing about this
situation was easy.

Fortunately, she was saved from having to say more because
Griffin walked back in. She wanted to curl up inside herself and hide. Instead,
she had to sit there and sift through Sharlene’s conversation for clues to the
identity of this girl. She
so
didn’t want to be here
anymore.

“Did you find the photos?” Sydney asked to hide how
disconcerted she felt.

“No. I didn’t. I searched the entire car. We either lost them
or accidently left them with my mother.”

“Oh, look.” Sharlene pulled some papers out from between the
cushions of the love seat and held them out toward Griffin. “Is this them?”

He glanced at the photos as he took them from her. “Yes.
Surprisingly, this is them,” he said wryly.

“Well, then,” she said as she took them back. “Let me have a
look.”

Sharlene held both photos, looking from one to the other. After
a few moments, she crossed to her desk and put on a pair of discreet reading
glass, then flicked on a desk lamp and studied the pictures under the light.
After a moment, she nodded, flicked off the light and returned to the seat,
handing the photos back across to Griffin.

“So?” he asked, obviously choosing to ignore her blatant
manipulation. “Do you recognize the woman? Or the girl?”

“Of course I do. The woman is Vivian Beck. She was Dalton’s
nanny and yours, too, after you were born.”

“Are you sure Beck was her last name?” Sydney asked.

Sharlene’s smile cooled as she returned Sydney’s gaze.
“Quite.”

“What else can you tell us about her?”

Sharlene thought for a moment and then shook her head, either
feigning regret beautifully or perhaps truly sorry that she couldn’t help more.
“Nothing. But you should talk to your mother about this. Surely she knows
more.”

“She said she didn’t remember the woman at all.”

Sharlene arched an eyebrow in apparent surprise. “Really? I
find that hard to believe.”

“Why’s that? She was pregnant with me and claimed she barely
had contact with her. She thought Vivian might be the woman’s first name, but
she seemed to know nothing else about her.”

Sharlene’s mouth curved into an unpleasant smile. “Well, isn’t
this just like old times, what with your mother’s selective memory and her
transparent attempts to control everyone?”

“Sharlene, if you know something, just tell me now.” Griffin’s
voice was terse, his impatience obvious.

“Well, it’s interesting, isn’t it? That your mother claims to
barely remember her.”

“Why is it interesting?”

“Well, because she simply
must
remember her. She came to the office to see Hollister after she fired the girl.
She was furious. Practically hysterical.”

If Caro was really that upset about it, then wouldn’t Hollister
remember the event, too?

Griffin must have been thinking the same thing because he
leaned forward and asked, “Did she actually see my father? What did he have to
say?”

“She never saw him. He had meetings all that day, but I
mentioned it to him.” Sharlene smiled mischievously. “But perhaps I downplayed
it a bit.”

“So he never even knew what happened?” Sydney asked.

“Oh, of course he knew. Everyone at the company knew. People
gossiped about it for months. The police were called. There’s no hiding
something like that.”

“The police?” Griffin asked. “Was she violent?”

Sharlene waved a hand. “Oh, no. Nothing like that.” She cocked
her head to the side, her expression a mixture of curiosity and sorrow. “Your
mother really never told you about this?”

Wincing, Sydney glanced at Griffin. Not surprisingly,
Sharlene’s sympathy—faked or real—only made this worse for Griffin.

“Can you just tell us what happened?” Sydney asked.