📎A/N.  Hello my lovelies.  I hope you are enjoying the story so far.  Thanks to your support, I just noticed that Chameleon in New York is #101 in ChickLit... You are all absolute legends :)

With out further ado, the second half of the previous chapter.  Don't forget to vote :)

Take Care.

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P.S. had great difficulty posting this chapter.  Wattpad did not want to seem to play nice.  If you spot any issues please leave a comment. Thanks :)

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The moment Sydney returned to the safety of the suite, she stormed over to Grace, counting to ten the entire way. She was adamant that she was not going to let MacMasters get to her.

"We were wondering where you'd gotten to," Grace said with a look of concern.

Sydney flashed her a weak smile. "I just went up to take a look at the stadium."

"And I see you found Mac," Mason remarked, nodding to a point over her shoulder. "And you managed to tear him away from his phone and join us."

Sydney grimaced. She had hoped that his threat would be carried out from a distance. However, it appeared that he took his promises seriously. She had only just managed to bring her erratic thoughts under control. She didn't need him to escalate it again so quickly. There was no way she was going to let him see how he had affected her.

"Well, Ms. Regas looked a little disorientated, so I thought I'd make sure she didn't get lost or stumble onto the wrong people." The smile on his face didn't reach his eyes. "We didn't interrupt anything did we?" Ethan said as he looked at Grace and Mason.

Mason shook his head with a smile. "No. In fact, we had just been discussing some of the charity work Grace does. I had no idea the level of involvement and commitment required. The foundation from last nights is only one of the few that she works with."

Grace had graduated from Columbia University with a Marketing Degree. After taking up a position within an advertising firm, she had eventually left after becoming disillusioned with the fact she was having to convince people to buy stuff they didn't need, didn't want or couldn't afford.

The reality was, she didn't need the money. Her trust fund more than supported her lifestyle. Grace's passion had always been to help those less fortunate than herself. In light of this, it wasn't a surprise to anyone when she made the decision to throw herself into charity work. This was something she excelled in, and, over the years she had raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the foundations she supported.

Grace, in her usual fashion, was underplaying her role in what she did. Not having a bar of it, Sydney gave them a rundown on some of the achievements that Grace would not have divulged on her own.

"They are lucky to have her," finished Sydney proudly. "I certainly couldn't do it."

"Yes, I suspect you're focus is in a complete different direction," murmured Ethan. His real meaning not lost on Sydney.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," Grace broke in, misunderstanding Ethan's comment. "If it weren't for Sydney, the Children with Cancer Foundation wouldn't have been able to‑" Grace stopped short with the frantic glare that Sydney threw at her.

"Wouldn't have been able to what?" questioned Ethan, picking up on the shared look between the cousins.

"Find a children's balloon artist at the last moment," Sydney piped in, seeing Grace was unsure of how to proceed. She knew if Grace divulged her involvement in that particular incident, he would assume she had taken advantage of her employer's position and money.

Grace threw her a silent apology, knowing Sydney rarely discussed her association to DB Myers in public.

Sydney breathed a sigh of relief when Mason was approached by one of the guests, and he and Ethan were drawn into a conversation distracting them both.

"I'm so sorry," Grace whispered once she was sure no one was listening.

"That's alright. No harm. No foul." Sydney replied.

"Not about my slip-up," clarified Grace, "for forcing you to come with me."

Grace halted, her eyes darting around the room to make sure they were not overheard. "Why didn't you tell me they know you're a Hutton?" she whispered.

Sydney's head snapped around to look her cousin in the eye. "How do you know?"

"Mason asked me if it was true and that Mac had recognised you. That's what got you so upset last night wasn't it?"

Sydney's lack of response and pensive expression was enough to let her know that her assumption had been correct. "Had I known that Mason and Mac knew who you were I wouldn't have dreamed of asking you to come with me tonight. I feel so terrible," she confessed.

"It's not your fault," Sydney assured her as she placed a reassuring hand on Grace's arm. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Well if it's any consolation, you're identity is safe with Mason; and, it looks like Mac has warmed up to you, he's been quite attentive. The complete opposite of last night."

At hearing this, Sydney nearly choked and let out a disgusted snort at the same time. Holding herself back, she kept her thoughts to herself.

With the freely available alcohol, many of those gathered had become more relaxed, and conversations easily sprung up around them. True to his word, Ethan was never far from Sydney's side, listening to every word she spoke - even if he was involved in a separate conversation.

After a while, Sydney became irritated at having him monitor her every movement. In the end, she just allowed Grace to carry the conversations while she remained silent.

"She certainly has a gift," remarked Ethan after watching Grace charm another of the Van der Brink's guests.

Ethan glanced down at Sydney with an inscrutable expression she could not quite make out. "I wonder," he began absently, "how charming and receptive they would be if they found out who she'd brought with her tonight."

He noticed her strained expression. "Don't worry," he assured her. "Provided you keep away from their hard earned money, we won't have a problem, and they won't need to know."

"You know what, I don't really care," she hissed under her breath, having finally snapped.

They remained glaring at each other for what seemed like minutes, but in reality was only seconds. To Sydney's satisfaction, Ethan was the first to break eye contact.

He raked his fingers through his hair. "I need a drink," he muttered in frustration.

Sydney watched as Ethan made his way to the bar. A sense of achievement at her small victory. She couldn't hide the smirk when the female bartender bent over backwards to start up a conversation as she took his order.

I bet that's not all you want to serve him.

It irked her how he could exude such sensuality without even trying. Had she not known the true nature of the man, she too would have been more than happy to admire his very masculine and attractive form all evening.

A hesitant voice broke into her musing. "Excuse me, but don't you work for that author, DB Myers?"

Sydney looked up at the man who had approached her. "Oh my goodness," she exclaimed with a smile and held out her hand, "I think we have met before. You're Ray Adams, Inner City Couriers if I'm not mistaken."

He took her hand and shook it, "I thought it was you. How's your boss, still as difficult and demanding as ever?"

By the time Ethan had managed to extract himself from the chatty bartender, Ray had moved on. His eyebrow raised as he handed her a glass of wine and glanced in Ray's direction.

"You needn't worry about him, he's not my type," she said indicating the middle-aged businessman she had just been speaking to. Sydney then shrugged. "Besides, he's only the CIO of a third rate company. Not nearly enough money to make me waste my time," she said, as her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"So what is your type?" he asked, after taking a sip of his beer.

Keeping her voice even, she forced a fake smile as she noticed Grace look across towards her. "Certainly not arrogant, egotistical, bastards that think they know everything," she said with saccharine sweetness, belying the underlying fury that was ready to burst.

Ethan's head bent down closer to her so that she could feel the warm breath on the shell of her ear. Goosebumps exploded across her skin as her breath caught at his sudden nearness. "Well then we are both safe," he replied in a low voice that screamed danger, "Because money hungry thieves, aren't mine."

The flippant retort, ready to spring from her lips was halted as the thirty-minute warning bell rang.

An air of excitement ran through the room like and electric current. The game was about to start. Some of those gathered quickly downed their drinks and headed out to their seats. Others, who were going to watch the game on the TV from the sanctity of the suite were refilling theirs.

Sydney, fully expecting to lose her plus one, caught Grace's eye and made her way to head to her seat with her cousin. The stadium was now filled to capacity. The crowd combined with the music was deafening. They could see cheerleaders and team mascots shooting T-shirts into the audience. The JumboTron screen, suspended above the court was flashing images of the crowd, mixed with close-ups on the cheerleaders who were going through their paces on the court.

She was dismayed when Ethan took the vacant seat to her left. "You didn't think you would lose me that quickly?" he shouted with a grin, into her ear.

"A girl can dream can't she?" she quipped sarcastically.

Sydney was saved from hearing any more of his thoughts when a horn blared to signal the beginning of the start of the show. The lights went out, followed by strobe lights flashing into the crowd. As per standard practice, they stood for the national anthem which, that evening, was sung by Catherine Russell.

Pandemonium set in after that, as each team was brought on to the court and players ran on one by one. The crowd going wild as their favourite players were introduced.

Finally, after working up the crowd into a frenzy, the game began. Sydney, unlike her cousin, followed the game and was an ardent Knicks fan. She was on her feet screaming with the rest of the crowd the moment her team put the first score on the board.

As she sat back down, she noticed Ethan looking at her, an unreadable expression on his face. "What?"

"Nothing," he shrugged. "I just didn't peg you for a sports nut."

"That's not the only thing you got wrong," she threw back at him and then promptly screamed at the ref for his lack of eyesight.

The game and capacity crowd were infectious. The Knicks had no chance of winning. But that didn't stop their fans from providing the loudest and most ferocious support. Surprisingly Ethan, also a NY Knicks supporter became as vocal as Sydney. Their animosity suspended as they were caught up in the adrenaline and excitement of the atmosphere.

More than once, they both found themselves in an awkward situation as they accidently bumped each other in their rush to stand and cheer, after a particularly hard-won score or steal.

Sydney had been so caught up in the game that she forgot Grace hadn't the first idea about the sport. Glancing across to her right, she noticed her cousin nodding at something Mason had just said as he pointed to the court. A moment later she was chanting out 'defence, defence' with the rest of the crowd.

Grace, seeing Sydney staring at her with a shocked expression leaned towards her. "Having fun?" Sydney called out.

"Lots, Mason is explaining the rules. I don't know why I didn't do this years ago," she smiled.

Satisfied that her cousin was okay left to her own devices Sydney focused back on the game.

***

"Are you sure?" Grace implored, once again pressing Sydney to join them for a late meal.

Sydney shook her head apologetically. Adamant she wanted to escape the disapproving glare of her guard. "I can't," she begged off. "I have work in the morning."

"Well make sure you take a cab," Grace implored, "I don't feel safe with you travelling on the subway at this time of night."

Sydney rolled her eyes. "I'm not twelve."

"I'll drop her home if you're concerned," said Ethan as he broke in to their conversation and glanced down at his watch.

Relief spread across Grace's face as she turned to him. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all, I'm leaving anyway. I've got early morning meetings."

Sydney stamped her foot. "You all do realise I am standing right here?"

***

"I can catch my own cab," Sydney proclaimed as they emerged out onto the busy New York street a short while later.

Sydney had been overruled despite her objections and reluctantly trailed behind Ethan as he led them from the building.

Ignoring her outburst, he stepped up to the curb and hailed a passing yellow taxi. "I promised your cousin I would see you home. And that's exactly what's going to happen," he said.

Sydney crossed her arms across her chest in defiance. "And just who the hell do you think I am going to fleece between here and my home, the God damn taxi driver?"

She huffed as he glared at her, not once breaking eye contact as he held the door open. This time, it was her turn to be the first to look away.

With reluctance, she threw herself into the cab, wishing she were already home and safe — away from this overpowering and arrogant man who had taken it upon himself to protect all mankind from her.

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A/N. Ethan is taking his self imposed protection duty to the extreme, don't you think??

... But it's nice to see Sydney hasn't put up with his remarks and is fighting back ;-)

... And it looks like Sydney and Ethan may have some things in common. Who'd a thought ;-)

Next chapter up in two days... See you then.

Take care and don't forget to vote.

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