📎A/N. Hello my lovelies... Hope your weekend is going well :) Take care and thanks for your continued support!

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Before Grace reached the front door, Sydney's flight instinct took over. She quickly murmured her excuses to Henry and escaped towards the dinner table in an attempt to appear busy. The table was only half set, which gave her a pretext for something to do.

From her vantage point, the front door was just out of her line of sight. She was a wreck, torn between erratic emotions that were making no sense. One moment she was looking forward to seeing him, the next dreading it.

So what if he knows about Samoa? Why should I care? It will just prove I was right about him.

The little voice at the back of her head began to laugh at her. The problem was, this was one of the rare times in her life she wanted to be wrong.

As she placed the last napkin in its place, she heard the sound of voices from a short way off. Not able to resist the urge she glanced up, she could now see Mason trailing behind Grace as she led her new guests further into the house and within Sydney's line of vision.

Grace's pleasure at the bunch of roses in her arms was evident by the blush in her cheeks and glow as she began the introductions. Despite the fact they were close enough for her to hear the conversation, Sydney failed to register any of the words spoken. She was solely focused on the man who had occupied far too much of her thoughts lately.

Ethan, two bottles of wine tucked in the crook of his arm, was shaking hands with Henry. Unlike the t-shirts and shorts that had been the norm over the past few days he, as well as the others, were attired a little less casually. The black and grey Abercrombie and Fitch polo shirt moulded perfectly to his upper body and was offset by a more formal black single pleat dress pants which hung from him perfectly. She felt like she was in a candy store eyeing up forbidden sweets. Remembering her previous resolve, Sydney turned back to the table, adamant that she was not going to let her hormones control her that evening.

She was startled a moment later when the object of her turmoil placed the wine bottles he had been holding on the dinner table. Caught unaware, her breath hitched as her eyes locked with his.

"Is here okay?" he smiled.

"Pardon?"

"The wine," he said, pointing to the bottles. "Is it okay to leave them here?"

Sydney cleared her parched throat, her frayed nerves now at breaking point. "Um, yes... there is fine."

A small glimmer of hope pushed through. Maybe he hasn't heard?

She stumbled with the cutlery when he didn't move and instead, continued to watch her set the table. "Did you manage to get a lot of work done today?" he asked conversationally.

Nodding her head she smiled weakly, unable to look directly at him. "Yes, a bit," she lied. Not one word had been written since the conversation with her uncle.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," he said, as he reached a hand into his pocket. "This is for you."

Sydney glanced up to discover Ethan had an arm stretched out towards her, his hand curled around something small. She darted her eyes from his hand to his face and back again, unable to see what he was holding. Her resolved disintegrated the moment she took in his boyish grin. His face was devoid of any censure that would indicate he was aware of the news of her father.

Her curiosity piqued, she made her way towards him. "What is it?"

"Open it," he prompted as he held up his hand, palm face down so that she couldn't make out what he was holding.

She tentatively reached out and twisted his hand so that his palm was facing upward. The contact with his skin sent a warm feeling up her arm. As she looked down, she was startled at the perfectly intact Channelled Welk shell balanced on his hand. The stunning burnt orange colour of its surface was perfectly offset by the alternating light and dark brown in its spirals. It had been a while since she had seen such a perfect Welk without his passenger.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

"I spotted it on the beach this morning," he explained, "and I thought you might like to add it to your collection."

She took the offered shell and inspected its contours in awe. "How did you know I collected them?" she asked, the confusion clear in her voice.

Ethan shrugged his shoulders and smiled apologetically as if caught out doing something he shouldn't have. "I noticed you had a reasonable amount under the glass lid of your coffee table."

Sydney beamed at him. "This one is perfect," she said as she reached out and squeezed his hand. "Thank you."

The initial awkwardness now over, Sydney relaxed and asked, "So what did you all get up to today?"

❧

Dinner had been a success, Grace having outdone herself yet again had, much to Sydney's surprise even managed to keep Pauline from coming out with anything offensive throughout the duration of the meal. She had even managed to have a reasonable conversation with Mason's sister without having the desire to hit her over the head with a baseball bat or find rat poison to spike her drink.

Pauline's reasonableness, however, had not extended to assist with the dinner dishes. Both Mason and Ethan had offered to help, but Grace had insisted that they would be more helpful if they kept the others occupied and allow both Sydney and Grace to get the job done quickly.

"So what's going on with you and Mac?" asked Grace as she started to stack dishes in the dishwasher.

"Nothing," Sydney choked, "why would you think there's anything going on?"

Grace threw Sydney a disbelieving look. "You both were quite chatty over dinner - with each other. And I saw the way you were looking at him," Grace said slyly, "not to mention he was looking quite hungry, and not only about the food."

Instead of replying, Sydney turned back to the sink and continued to rinse. She was having difficulty understanding the range of emotions that were ricocheting through her body and mind.

❧

By the time the dessert course was over, they were all full, ready to burst. After they had poured after dinner drinks, they had wandered out to the back deck and relaxed in the cool night air. Mason and Ethan, adamant that Victor had cigars hidden somewhere, disappeared into the house only to reappear jubilant a few moments later. After putting their feet up and attempting to outdo each other with their cigar smoke rings the conversation quickly turned to comical trips down memory lane. Both Mason and Ethan recounted stories from their university days where their attempts at besting each other had begun. Their captive audience were nearly in tears with each new escapade. Not to be outdone, Henry and Grace regaled the group with snippets from their own exploits from college that they'd rather their parents not know. Each story was funnier than the previous. Sydney was enjoying the friendly banter between Mason and Ethan. It was obvious they had a deep friendship that had stood the test of time. Even Henry was growing on her. Under his snobby exterior, he appeared to have some redeeming qualities.

As she studied the small group, she had to hide a smile at Pauline's slowly simmering mood. It was obvious that she wasn't pleased that Henry's attention was no longer solely on her. And, despite only having recently graduated from Oxford, wasn't able to contribute to the growing list of dubious activities the others had undergone in their day. She wasn't surprised. Pauline would have thought it beneath her to get involved in the number of stupid activities that university students generally pushed the boundaries on.

Sydney knew the moment things turned south. Had she realised just how South she would have made her excuses and left.

Pauline, unable contribute to the conversation, nor controlling it, was obviously reaching for something that would swing attention back on her. As she glanced around the room, her eyes landed on Sydney, who had remained quiet throughout the conversation, choosing instead, to find enjoyment in listening to the others.

The moment a lull occurred, Pauline made her move. "Sydney dear, you needn't be embarrassed to share your experiences," Mason's sister said, as she looked pointedly towards her, "I'm sure that whatever community college you attended did their best." Pauline then frowned and waved her hand dismissively, "I'm sorry, maybe that's too presumptuous of me. You're just an assistant, I don't suppose you need much of an education for that." Mason's sister then turned back to the others, "We have been so inconsiderate," she gushed, "We should be more mindful to make sure that no one feels they are being left out."

Sydney was speechless. She had seen it coming. She had seen the venom in Pauline's expression the moment she decided to move the focus back to her. Sydney glanced towards Grace, who was looking as uncomfortable and shocked as she felt.

Memories kept buried deep came rushing to the surface. She felt like the walls were closing in on her and her chest tightened as though it was squeezing every organ and muscle in her upper body.

It was at this point that Mason had recovered from his sister's sudden 'concern' and veiled slight at Sydney. Both he and Grace quickly changed the subject. Sydney couldn't help but notice a while later as Mason leaned across to his sister and whispered heatedly to her.

Throughout this ordeal, Sydney heard nothing. She became dizzy as the room began to spin. Around her, the others moved the conversation to safer topics. From the corner of her eye, she could see Graces concerned and apologetic glances that were thrown in her direction. Almost too scared to look, she went against her better judgement and glance up at Ethan. The concern edged with pity was too much for her to bare.

Once the world stopped spinning, she took a deep breath and stood up, a fake smile plastered on her face. "If you'll excuse me," she began with a voice stronger than she was feeling. "I had so much for dinner, I think I'll take a stroll along the beach to burn some of the calories off."

Sydney then looked directly at Pauline with an icy glare, "Do feel free to discuss any topic people of your 'breeding' so desires while I'm away. I'm sure my Summa Cum Laude from Harvard could not possibly be able to keep up your riveting conversation."

With that, she spun on her heels and took the stairs from the back deck to the beach. Her head held high the entire way. As her feet hit the sand, she tore her shoes off and continued down the dark deserted beach, drawing deep and calming breaths until she was out of sight of the house.

When she was far enough away, her legs gave way and she crumbled to the sand, her emotions giving way to heart-wrenching sobs as they violently shook her body.

At this moment, she hated her father more than ever. What should have been happy memories of her years at university, it was instead marred by the events from her final year. Up until that point, she had been free. Free to enjoy life, free to dream and free to plan how she wanted to spend her life. Her father's actions put an end to that. Her choices were taken away the moment he had made the decision to take off with the billions belonging to others.

Sydney stiffened as she realised someone had sat down on the sand beside her. She lifted her head from her knees and turned to discover Ethan had followed her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly.

She sniffed as she shook her head and then wrapped her arms around her knees more tightly.

Ethan adjusted his body so that his legs were now straight, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cloth and handed it to her. "I would like to think I know you better by now," he began, "to realise that this is not about Pauline's runaway mouth."

Sydney took the offered handkerchief, blew her nose then continued to gaze towards the water. It's gentle waves lapping up on the shore provided a calming effect as she struggled to bring her emotions down a notch.

They sat in relative silence, just staring at the lake, light from the half-moon provided a silvery glow to its otherwise dark vista. They were sitting so close to each other that Sydney could feel the warmth from his body as he continued to provide much-needed support.

"I suppose it won't come as a shock to you that I know you studied law and graduated top of your class," he said, his smooth voice oddly relaxing.

Instead of replying, she blew her nose and waited for him to continue.

She was startled a moment later when he reached out and grabbed one of her hands and pulled it towards him. He held hers with both of his and gently circled the back of it with his thumbs. The feeling hypnotic and calming.

"I'm a good listener," he prompted, continuing with the small circling motions.

Sydney was torn. Some part of her wanted to let it out. Wanted to vent at the injustice that was all-consuming that she could no longer draw breath. Another part, the part of her that was more cautious was mindful of the man beside her. The part that didn't trust him still was telling her that he would get a thrill from her pain.

The need to release her past won out. "When I was little," she began quietly, "I remember watching a program on a small town Louisiana. It was a typical American small farming town. They worked hard for very little gain."

Sydney glanced across at him, seeing he was listening she continued. "The story was about the town's children who had developed a range of cancers. The kid's parents and the townsfolk were blaming the oil company who had taken over their farms for hydraulic fracking. They were adamant that the chemicals had seeped into the town's water supply and were now poisoning their children. I couldn't help but wonder why the company and the government didn't stop it. If it was causing these children's' death, why wasn't anyone stopping it?"

Sydney took a deep breath before finishing in a rush, "I couldn't understand why no one was standing up for them. That's when I decided that I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to speak for those that couldn't because they were too young, or too poor to have a voice. Everyone has a right to live in a safe environment, rich or poor."

Ethan's reassuring squeeze let her know he was still listening. She turned her head and glanced at him. His expression was unreadable but unwavering. He was not judging her at least.

"Everything was going according to plan. I was going to graduate, cut my teeth at a prestigious law firm while doing pro-bono for legal aid and, once the time was right I was going to set up my own firm to help out families like those in Louisiana." She let out a self-deprecating laugh, "Even had the top two law firms in New York trying to outdo each other to convince me to join them after I graduated."

Sydney then became silent, remembering those painful years.

"So what happened?" Ethan prompted gently.

"My father," Sydney said bitterly, "my father, that's what happened. As soon as it came to light that I was the daughter of David Hutton, the offers were dropped. And the others that were interested seemed to vanish overnight as if I had a contagious disease. I graduated from Harvard Law with top marks without an offer on the table. Do you know how many times that's happened? None that's how many times it had happened," the anguish in her voice reached fervour pitch.

Sydney shook her head in defeat, before drawing in a shaky breath. "After that, word got around and I couldn't even get an interview with any law firm. Even as far away as Seattle and LA, I was persona non gratia. The doors were closed, and as far as the legal profession was concerned, I was marked for life. I had just wasted years of my life for nothing."

Ethan placed a comforting arm around her as she spoke. The warmth of his closeness floated gently over her and settled over her body like a caress. Relaxed, she rested her head on him as she continued to let her pent up anguish out. As each painful memory was excised, the bitterness and resentment that had been a slab around her neck appeared to weigh less. The heaviness that was a constant, seemed to give way to something more palatable, something she craved for - a peace that had eluded her the majority of her adult life.

Her distress and anger finally spent, they sat side by just staring at the lapping waves. Each deep in their own thoughts.

"I didn't mean to dump all that on you," she apologised as she stared at the hand that still held hers. She was surprised to discover that at some point, their fingers had entwined and his thumb had not ceased its gentle massage of the back of her hand. Watching the gentle hypnotic movement further centred her - to the point she was almost unbalanced from the sensation.

"That's okay, anytime," he crooned, his voice coming out low and sensual.

She could feel Ethan's gentle breath as he continued to stroke her hair with his other hand, as she lay against his chest. The strong and even dull thumping of his heartbeat she could feel through their proximity, only further added to her repose and she sighed contentedly.

"We should probably go back," Sydney murmured with reluctance, "Grace will be worried."

She lifted her head and severed the physical connection. As she did, the warmth from his touch evaporated and she was aware that a slight chill had set into the night air. Sydney looked up at Ethan as she righted herself and was startled at his intense gaze as their eyes met. In the light of the moon, she could clearly make out his striking features.

She gulped nervously as she stared into the abyss. Unable to look away, she was trapped, nearly undone by his unwavering gaze. Sydney was thankful she was sitting. She knew if she were standing, it wouldn't be for long - her knees would give way to the giddy feeling that was surging through her body and running rampant in her mind.

Dear God in heaven, how can he do that with a single look?

Ethan brought a hand up to gently rest on the side of her face. She instinctively leaned into his touch, half closing her eyes as she did. The moment their skin connected, it sent a wave of goose bumps down the length of her neck and erupted across her body. Sydney's mouth went dry, requiring her to run the tip of her tongue across her lips in an attempt to moisten them. Ethan's eyes snapped to watch the movement. She heard the slight hitch in his breath and returned her gaze to his, only to discover his eyes narrowed to half-mast, his expression now one of full blown hunger - raw and primal.

She felt a surge of heat as he ran his thumb over her open lip, tracing the path that her tongue had. Sydney's breath was now coming out ragged and erratic as her heart began thumping in her chest. She hauled in a breath and tensed as his head bent down with agonising slowness, pausing a fraction from her lips which were now eager to taste him. Their eyes locked, his unspoken words clear. He was seeking permission. Heat and power radiated off him as their breaths intertwined and she shivered with desire. The fragrance of brandy and tobacco intermingled with Bayley's. The combination was provocative. He needed no further prompting as his lips claimed hers, their mouths