📎A/N.  Hello my lovelies.  Have I told you all lately how much I appreciate and love you all to bits?  Your continued support has astounded me and I am thankful for each and every one of you.  Many of you are reading both CiNY and Buried and it puts a smile on my face when I read your feedback.  It makes the effort to keep up the momentum that much more worthwhile.  This chapter is dedicated to all my readers - both vocal and silent.  None of us can get by without help from our friends...

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The moment Sydney confessed to Grace what she had done she regretted it.

"You did what?"

Sydney grimaced at Grace's reaction. Her cousin never raised her voice in anger. Perhaps telling her wasn't a good idea after all. She had to admit, she'd gotten off easy. After Ethan's unexpected arrival, she had anticipated the worst. His thunderous expression had been enough to warn her to brace for impact.

She wasn't prepared however, for the uneasy alliance they had agreed to and had spent the entire drive back to the city regurgitating their conversation. Her mind, wracked with guilt, had no regrets over her actions, but she had been asking herself why she hadn't come clean in the first place. The fact that she had kept Grace and Stephen in the dark had also haunted her. It was at this point she realized she would need to tell Grace, and quickly before her cousin heard about it through Mason.

***

"How could you?" The disapproving look from Grace was enough to have Sydney squirming in her chair and taking another sip from her glass of wine so that she didn't have to make eye contact with her cousin.

Grace topped her glass up, sunk back into the couch and continued to frown at Sydney. "I think you had better start from the beginning. I can't imagine this decision of yours just came out of the blue."

"Where do I start?" Sydney sighed.

"How about you start back at the gala. I suspect that there are a lot of things you've conveniently omitted to tell me." Grace reached for her phone. "But first, I'll cancel my plans with Mason."

Sydney rose to leave. "No don't. I don't want to ruin your evening."

"Sit your butt back down on that couch missy," Grace commanded. "One night will not kill him."

Sydney sat back down. Her cousin, when in this frame of mind, wasn't to be argued with. It was very rare to see this side of Grace, and she knew she was responsible for taking her cousin out of her normal even-tempered disposition.

"Okay," Grace said, once she had gotten off the phone. "Start from the beginning."

By the time Sydney had brought Grace up to date they had gone through a bottle of wine, two cups of coffee and were now cradling tubs of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream.

"I suspected something had happened up at the vineyard," Grace said, waving a spoon in Sydney's direction. "Mac came back from the beach that night in a right mood. But both of you were civil to each other at mom and dad's 4th of July party, so I thought nothing further of it. I thought there was some sordid little secret you both shared."

"Yes, well what we almost got up to is not the only thing we share," Sydney mumbled.

Grace raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"We both share the same quick temper," Sydney admitted. "We've both said things we regret - at least I know I have."

Grace let out a laugh. "Well, we were surprised when you dyed your hair dark. We were expecting you to go red to match that famous temper of yours."

"Funny," Sydney's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"So what does Stephen have to say about all this?"

Sydney avoided eye contact with her cousin and instead, took great interest in her peanut butter fudge ice-cream.

"You haven't told him," Grace accused.

Sydney's silence was confirmation enough for Grace. "You are aware he's not going to be happy when he hears it. Not only does the man have to be part of every piece of gossip, but he spends half his life making sure no one joins the dots between you and your supposed employer."

"I figured that he had his hands full with his new relationship with Jackson." Sydney shrugged, attempting to make light of the situation.

Grace laughed. "He has been a little hard to get hold of lately."

"I just hope he knows what he's getting into," Sydney said, shaking her head.

"He's a big boy," said Grace, "he's fully aware of your brother's history, not to mention the fact that your brother has been known to 'experiment' with girls from time to time, and he knows about David. They both went into the relationship with no secrets."

The rational side of Sydney understood that Stephen was more than capable of making his own decisions. However, she couldn't help the feeling that her friend was taking a risk with Jackson. Perhaps, this time, he had changed. Sydney had to admit, she had been getting calls and text messages from her brother. In fact, they had had more contact over the past few weeks than her entire adult life.

But will it last? And will he be able to handle the pressure when they finally catch our father?

Sydney let out a groan and threw herself back into the large pillow on the chair. "I've made a complete mess of things haven't I?"

"I have to admit," Grace began, "It wasn't one of your better decisions. The question is, what are you going to do about it? You're not going to abandon Mac's brother are you?"

Sydney shot up in her chair. "Good God, no! I would never do that."

"So what's this Walter like?" Grace asked, placing her empty container on the table. "And what exactly have you been doing at this rehab hospital you've been sneaking off to?"

Sydney checked her watch and balked in surprise; it was near midnight. "It's getting late, and I probably should be going."

Grace grinned at her tactic. "You're not getting out of it that easily. Spill. Ever other time you go off and do research you fill me in on the details. Why should this time be any different?"

"This time, I'm not researching for a book I am writing," Sydney argued.

"Why not? My foundation does a lot of work raising money for research into spinal cord repair. There are nearly twelve thousand people each year with this type of injury, and there are at least three hundred and fifty thousand people who are living with permanent damage to their spinal cords."

"Is there anything you don't know?" Sydney asked in surprise.

Grace crinkled her nose for a moment as she pretended to contemplate the question. "No, just call me Google," she grinned and winked. "I have requests across my desk each day from charities looking for patrons. It's my job to be aware of the problems and numbers."

Sydney considered Grace's suggestion. "I don't think it will work," she paused, "It's not the kind of story I would typically write. There's not much of a political thriller I could get out of a main character with both SCI and TBI."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something. Now stop with the delaying tactic. I want details. And I want you to tell me about Walter."

By the time Sydney finished, it was nearly dawn. Grace had managed to elicit every detail from the past two weeks in agonizing detail. Her cousin now knew as much as she did.

As she headed to Grace's spare room, her cousin halted outside her bedroom door and turned back to Sydney. "So, that kiss on the beach," she said, "would you do it again?"

***

Sydney lay staring at the ceiling mulling over Grace's question. Would she? She closed her eyes and brought her fingers to her lips. It was like he had branded her. She could still feel the hot searing kiss and the feel of his hands as they danced across her body.

Sighing she turned over, no amount of over analyzing was going to change matters. She had been dishonest with him that night. Something she had continued to repeat ever since. If she was honest with herself, it had been her that had destroyed whatever had started to develop between them. She had been hiding behind the veil of her father's crimes for so long that she no longer knew who she really was ‑ Victoria, Sydney or DB?

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The sound of his phone ringing brought Ethan out of his revere. He had been staring out the window of his high-rise apartment mulling over his unexpected discovery. Seeing Sydney again had not only been a shock to his senses, but had raised some feelings he had quashed with his return to New York.

He glanced at the display and seeing it was his friend, quickly answered it. "Hey, Mason."

"What do you think of a boy's night in?" Mason began, "Pizza and beer."

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "I'm not sure I'll be great company tonight," he sighed. "I've had a long day."

"All the more reason to eat in," replied Mason, not budging.

"I thought you had something on with Grace this evening?"

"Yeah, well she ditched me at the last moment and I didn't want to go to the fundraiser alone."

"Trouble in paradise?" Ethan teased.

Mason laughed. "You wish. No, somethings up with Sydney and she wanted to get to the bottom of it."

Ethan stilled. Was there no part of his day that wasn't going to be affected by her?

"So, you up for it?" Mason prompted.

"Okay," sighed Ethan. "Your place or mine."

"Well, considering I'm standing outside your building with a couple of pizzas, it had better be yours," he remarked dryly.

Ethan chuckled and buzzed Mason in. It didn't take too long for his friend to appear at his front door with two steaming pizza boxes, beer and a huge smile.

"There's no game tonight," Mason said as he placed the food on Ethan's countertop. "But I'm sure we can find something."

Ethan reached for a beer, opened it, and drowned the contents in record time. As he placed the empty bottle on the counter, he noticed Mason staring at him wide eyed.

"What?"

"Well, it can't be Pauline getting on your nerves, as she's in LA. So what's up?"

"Nothing," Ethan growled, "what makes you think something's up?"

"Just who do you think you're lying to?" Mason said. "I know you well enough to realise when something's wrong."

Ethan loosened his tie, reached for another bottle and handed it to Mason before grabbing another one for himself. "I went up to St Pats today."

Mason stilled a look of panic washing over his face. "Is Walter okay? Nothing's happened to him has it?"

"No, he's fine," Ethan assured his friend. "In fact, there's been a slight improvement."

Masons face lit up. "That's great new!" Then seeing Ethan's sombre expression his turned more serious. "That is great new, isn't it?" he clarified.

Ethan shrugged and threw the bottle top into the bin. "Depends on your point of view I suspect."

The room became silent. Ethan's internal struggle with his discovery was unresolved. He was unsure of what to think or how to react. The numbness that had settled on him at seeing Sydney at the hospital had not yet lifted.

Mason cleared his throat, grabbed the pizza and headed to the couch. "Bring the beer," he threw over his shoulder, "And some chasers, something tells me I'm going to need it."

***

It had taken a while to pry it out of him, but Ethan finally gave in and enlightened Mason on his visit to the hospital. The explanation took a lot longer than expected and they had almost consumed both pizzas by the time they were through.

Mason let out a whistle once Ethan was finished and leaned back into his chair. "So my argument with my board of directors was nothing compared to your day," he paused before continuing. "And you had no idea it was her working with Walter?"

Ethan leant forward and placed his arms on his knees as he held a beer in his hands. He stared at the label on the bottle and shook his head. "None."

"What I don't understand, is how she knew about him in the first place," Mason observed.

Ethan cleared his throat. "From me," he said.

Mason leant forward and looked directly at him. "I suspect you haven't told me the entire story."

After unloading on Mason, Ethan felt a weight shift. He had been festering in his own jumbled thoughts trying to make sense of Sydney. Not only her rash actions but her. She wasn't a vindictive or shallow person. What he couldn't understand was her going behind his back and the secrecy of it all. What did she hope to accomplish? After their not so stellar parting at the Vineyard, he had not expected to see her again unless it was for something related to Grace and Mason.

"Bloody hell!" were the only words Mason uttered after Ethan had finished. He must have repeated the phrase at least twenty times before changing it up to, "Holy shit!"

"So what are you going to do?"

"There's not much choice," Ethan confessed, "If there is any chance of Walter's improvement I have to take it."

"Your concern for Walter is all good and well, but he's never going to walk again and his brain damage is too far gone for him to return to how he was. You could have said no to her."

Mason quickly backed off at Ethan's glare.

"I know how it all must look to you," Mason said, "but I don't think she meant any harm. She's not like her father."

Ethan sighed and leaned back into the couch. "I know. She's as much a victim in all of this as the rest of us. It's the secrecy that gets to me. She should have been honest – about a lot of things."

"I understand you're pissed, but why are you so upset about it? At the end of the day, there was no harm done. In fact, quite the opposite," Mason asked curiously. "Was there more to that kiss than your letting on?"

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📎A/N. Well what are friends for it not to listen to our mistakes... wonder if Grace and Mason will compare notes when they get together ;-)

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