CHAPTER 27 | double jeopardy

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📎A/N.  Hello my lovelies, remember me? The very slack person who hasn't updated in a while.  I have juggled a few things around which will allow me to spare some time to write. This will mean we can return to our regular get together ... YAY! :-)

If you are after some reading material, I can recommend 'The Soul Reaver' by @Dalleena , you will not be disappointed.

Enjoy the rest of your week, and don't forget to vote if you enjoy the chapter.

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Ethan hesitated before knocking. He glanced down at the bottle of Sangiovese and wondered not for the first time in the last two hours, why he just didn't cancel. How he was going to get through this was beyond him.

For reasons Ethan didn't wish to dwell on, he had been looking forward to this evening from the moment he had suggested it. In fact, up until mid-afternoon he had contemplated leaving work early and finding an excuse to turn up on Sydney's doorstep before the agreed time.

His good mood was destroyed the moment Janet had walked into his office.

"Hey Mac, I'm just heading out to Zeal & Thayne, I want to get a second opinion on the contract when I get back. I'll bring the Chinese."

"Sorry, I have a dinner engagement this evening. Perhaps in the morning?"

Janet's blinked twice and frowned. "There was nothing in your diary about a client meeting."

"It's not work related."

"I see," she said, more to herself than Ethan. There was a slight pause before she spoke again. "I was trying to get hold of you last week."

Ethan stopped attempting to concentrate on the paperwork in front of him and glanced at Janet. "I know, things were a little hectic. I even struggled to keep in touch with Latisha," he said, referring to his secretary.

She crossed her arms over her chest. Janet clearly wasn't thrilled with Latisha. "Yes, well she wasn't very helpful when I tried to find out when you'd be back to the hotel so I could call you."

Ethan sighed and made a mental note to buy his secretary some of the specialty chocolates she liked. His previous good mood was deteriorating with each word from Janet's mouth. Janet, at the best of times, wore his patience thin. She was the niece of the Chairman of the Board and, as such, used the connection to push her way into a prime position within the company and onto his team. It wasn't that she wasn't good; it was the ruthless way in which she carried out her job that disturbed his ethics.

"Janet," he said, trying not to come across agitated. "If it was important you would have found a way to contact me."

"I would have told Latisha, but I didn't think you'd appreciate everyone knowing you'd been conned."

An uneasy feeling swelled from the pit of his stomach. Janet was looking too smug and sure of herself. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Janet kept a neutral expression as she checked her nails. "It had bugged me since the night of the Future Finance Dinner. The name rang a bell, but the face didn't. It wasn't until I was chatting with mother and Rosa began serving us coffee that it struck me why."

Still none the wiser, Ethan's uneasy feeling rose a notch. This was no idle chitchat. Janet was building up to something. "Just get to the point," he said with barely concealed exasperation.

"Well, I remembered that Rosa's sister, Maria, cleans for Penelope Hutton. The Penelope Hutton," Janet said as her smile turned malicious.

Ethan's chest tightened at her words. He now understood where Janet was going with this.

"As I am sure you would remember, the Hutton's have two children, Jackson and Victoria. Jackson... well, we all know what happened to him, but Victoria just disappeared off the face of the earth. We all thought she had run off to hide in New Zealand with some of the money her father stole."

Now that she had his full attention Janet walked further into his office and perched herself on his desk. "However, according to Maria, she stayed right here in New York and has been living under another name since her father fled," she said as she picked up one of the pens on his desk and played with it as she spoke.

Janet's eyes narrowed to vindictive slits. She placed the pen back on the desk, looked directly at Ethan and said, "I knew there was something not right about that woman you were with, and I was right. How dare Hutton's daughter parade around as someone else. It's just as well I found out and warned you who she was before the press got wind of it. "

He should have known the moment she mentioned Zeal & Thayne she was up to something. Janet was borderline obsessive with the account and was reluctant to share information, let alone ask for a second opinion.

Janet, clearly confused by his lack of response, peered at Ethan and said, "We'll don't you see, Sydney Regas is Victoria Hutton."

It took everything he had not to snap at her. He was more than aware that what she would do next would depend on his reaction to her revelation. If he admitted he knew who she was, the board would be breathing down his neck within the hour. If he denied knowing the truth of who Sydney was, he would come across as been gullible and duped by another Hutton. This was a line that needed to be tread carefully.

Ethan leaned back in his chair and asked, "How can you be sure that this is not just idle gossip?"

"Why would Rosa make up something like that?"

"You are aware if this turns out to be inaccurate, and we've made allegations we could be facing a lawsuit, and the impact on the firm could be devastating."

Janet shrugged; she had no qualms about putting an innocent victim's name through the mud. "I can't see how."

"If you did your homework, you'll be aware of who she works for."

Janet closed her eyes and frowned. "Damn. He'll make sure we have the public against us," she said referring to one of the rare times DB Myers had tweeted his displeasure at an organisation and the backlash against them had been detrimental. His 6 million plus followers had made sure that the share price plummeted.

"Leave this with me," Ethan said, keeping his voice as even as possible. "I'll let you know what I find."

It was on the twelfth unsuccessful attempt to review the report he had been reading that Ethan gave up trying. All he could think of was that he had assured her Sydney she would be safe with him and that no one would recognise her. How was he going to tell her that he was responsible for whatever storm was about to hit? Especially in light of the fact he was trying to get her to be honest with him and to make sure there were not secrets between them.

***

Ethan continued to stare at Sydney's front door as if it held all the answers. Realising that none was forthcoming, he pressed the buzzer and drew in a deep breath. He still hadn't worked out how he was going to tell her about the conversation with Janet.

The moment she opened the door, he knew something was wrong. "You're bleeding," he said noticing she was nursing her hand.

Sydney stepped away from the door to let him in. "I cut myself on broken glass," she said, grimly.

Ethan closed the door behind him and placed the wine bottle on a nearby table. "Here, let me see," he said as he reached for her hand. Ethan was astounded at the volume of blood that was angrily seeping from the open wound. "Where's your kitchen, we need to run this under water to make sure there's no glass stuck in it."

She attempted to pull her injured hand away saying, "I'm quite capable of doing my own first aid you know."

Ethan ignored her protests and continued to guide her to the kitchen, saying with a wink, "I know. I just need to make sure you're okay so you can't have any excuses on why your meatballs and spaghetti aren't as advertised."

Sydney laughed, the strain that had been etched on her face was gone, and in its place was a mischievous one. "You're just lucky that I didn't cut myself over the pasta sauce."

After he was satisfied that the area was clean, he glanced around the kitchen and reached for the paper towels. "Hold this on the cut. Where's your first-aid kit?"

"Bottom drawer," Sydney said, nodding towards the kitchen.

While the cut was deep, it didn't warrant a hospital visit to have it stitched. After finding what he was after, Ethan dressed the wound which had already begun to clot. He then started to clear away the broken glass while Sydney insisted she was quite capable of finishing the dinner. They chatted about his recent trip to China as well as snippets from her week while she cooked the fresh pasta that would go with their meal. As he poured them both a glass of wine, Ethan smiled. It felt nice to talk about something other than finance or work. He felt... happy. For him, it was a strange but welcome feeling that he wanted to hold onto. Ethan's mind slammed back to his conversation with Janet. Until that moment, he had blocked out the fact that he was about to destroy whatever they had resurrected from the aftermath of the beach.

"How's Walter?" Sydney asked as she placed the steaming bowl of pasta on the table.

Ethan mentally shook himself. It wouldn't be too terrible if he waited until the end of their meal to deliver the bad news. Would it? After all, she had gone to all the trouble to cook him dinner. Why spoil it before he had a chance to enjoy it?

He plastered a smile on his face and said, "Great. He's still not letting up on the day trip."

Sydney chuckled and indicated for Ethan to take a seat. "I know. He's a little obsessed."

Instead of sitting, Ethan rushed around to Sydney's side of the table and pulled her chair out. He held back a smile as she became flustered, but quickly recovered. She had clearly not expected this move.

"I hate to admit it," he said after he had taken a few bites. "But it's not half bad."

Sydney raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as she glared across the table.

"Alright," he said, throwing her a full-blown smile. "It's everything you promised and more. I just hope you cooked enough because I'm famished."

As they continued, every now and then, Ethan detected a hint of panic emerge from Sydney. However, as soon as it did, it disappeared just as quickly. Dismissing it as nonsense, he focused back on their conversation.

Without knowing where the time went, they had polished off dinner, desert and were on a bottle of particularly sweet ice wine when Ethan detected Sydney's mind was elsewhere. His earlier suspicions had been building throughout the evening to the point that he was now sure something was distracting her.

They had long ago left the dinner table and were relaxing on her couch. Ethan sat forward, placed his glass on the table and turned back to her. "Okay, out with it. What's the matter?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sydney responded a little too quickly.

Ethan reached for her hand and trapped it within his own. "Something's been on your mind and whatever it looks like it's eating you up."

Sydney blinked rapidly as if something was caught in her eye, and let out a deep sigh. Without meeting his gaze, she focused her attention on their joined hands. "I got some bad news just before you arrived."

"Oh?" he said, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Her eyes swung up to meet his. He was startled at her face which had drained of colour and he could see the strain it took to not break down in front of him. "The authorities have managed to track down my father and he's been returned stateside."

Ethan froze. Taking more than a few heartbeats to respond, he cleared his throat and asked, "When? How?"

With a halting voice, Sydney briefed him on the little information she had. "I'm more concerned about how this is going to affect Jackson. My parents knew exactly what they were doing and deserve what they get. Jackson, at the end of the day, was an innocent pawn that broke under the pressure. He's spent years trying to climb out from the rock he crawled under and I'm not sure he'll survive a second time."

"You managed to keep out of it, why didn't he?" Ethan asked. There was no hint of accusation in his tone. It was more out of curiosity he posed the question.

"I had Aunt Ivy and Uncle Victor. They were the role models I looked up to, not my parents. Without their support, I could have easily have ended up the same way. Jackson didn't have that advantage. He was indoctrinated into mom and dad's lifestyle and knew no better." Sydney's voice broke. "I've just gotten him back only to lose him again."

She breathed in a ragged breath before continuing. "Tomorrow, I imagine all hell's going to break loose. Odds are, as soon as the press get a wind of what's happened, they'll head straight to Jackson. I've told him he can stay with me or go up to the vineyard. My only consolation is that they don't know how to find me so he'll be safe here."

Ethan's grip of Sydney tightened and a heavyweight clutched at his chest. Come tomorrow, if Janet had her way, Sydney's assumptions were about to be obliterated and she too was to be fed to the sharks. "Perhaps you should think of going up to the house at the vineyard anyway?"

She shook her head. "I can't it's Tuesday and Walter will be expecting me."

Ethan let her hand go, leaned forward and rested his elbow on his knees while he placed his head in his hands. This couldn't get any worse. How would it look if they tracked her down to the hospital and worked out who she was there to see?

His entire career he had handled high-pressure deals and situations. Nothing, however, had prepared him for the feeling of walls closing in on him. It was as if the air had been suddenly sucked out of the room.

Ethan needed to do some damage control. No one would survive the storm that was about to hit. The decision now made, he stood and glanced towards the door as he mentally filtered through the list of things he needed to do. "I shouldn't keep you, you probably want to speak to your brother," he began, turning his attention back to Sydney. "Perhaps you should give Walter's visit a miss. You've more than enough to deal with."

Sydney rose from the couch. If he didn't know better, she looked more upset now than before telling him.

"If you think that's best," she mumbled, "I understand."

Ethan headed towards the exit and turned back as he opened it. "I really enjoyed dinner. It's been a while since I've had a decent home cooked meal."

With that, he was out the door, and racing downstairs to catch a cab. He was dreading telling Walter it may be a while before he saw Sydney again

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📎A/N. I knew Janet was no good!!!! Looks like things are going to get a little tricky.

.. wonder why Sydney looked a bit upset when he left??

Take care and don't forget to vote.

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