Emily McKay - A Bride for the Black Sheep Brother

But he was getting off track. Regardless of how he felt about Portia, it was hard to be too enthusiastic about helping out when her entire reason for asking for his help was because he didn’t fit into her world.

“I can’t tell Dalton where to find her,” Portia said. “He wouldn’t think twice about thrusting her into this completely unprepared. And I’m not saying that because I think he’s jerk. He just wouldn’t even think. He always put business first. He wouldn’t hesitate.”

“And you think I would?”

“Hesitate?” She shrugged. “I think you know better than anyone where this girl is coming from. She has a middle-class background at best. She won’t know what she’s getting into. She’ll be vulnerable and unprepared—”

“Yeah. I get it.” Cooper cut Portia off with a sharp wave of his hand. Jesus, was this how people had seen him when he’d first gone to live with the Cains? “It’s probably not as bad as you think. I’m sure she’ll at least be potty trained.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Portia glared at him, but she looked more exasperated than angry. “I’m trying to protect her.”

“Fine. So mentor her or whatever. Take her under your wing. This doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“If I’m right and she really is Hollister’s daughter, then she’s your sister. It has everything to do with you.” She tilted her head just a little and eyed him. “Besides, you can’t tell me that you aren’t at least a little bit interested in winning. In doing what neither Dalton nor Griffin has been able to do. It’s a lot of money.”

An ugly thread of disgust wound through his stomach. He got so damn sick of these games people played. If asking didn’t get what you want, why not manipulate and pit people against one another? That’s exactly what Hollister had been doing for years.

Cooper pushed himself to feet. “I don’t give a damn about Hollister’s money. I never have. If I had, then I’d been one of Cain Enterprises’ lackeys right now instead owning my own company.”

“Fine. You don’t want the money? Give the money away. Give the money to me.”

“You don’t need the money any more than I do.”

“Please, Cooper—”

“Why?” he demanded. “Why on earth do you care so much about this girl?”

She bumped up her chin again. “Because family is supposed to take care of each other, that’s why.”

“You’re not part of the family anymore.”

She went instantly still, and for a second, he would have sworn she’d even stopped breathing. Damn it. It was as if his words had skewered her.

Then resolve settled in her gaze. “You’re right. I’m not part of this family anymore. But I was for ten years and I know how hard the Cains can be. I had to fight tooth and nail to get Caro to accept me and treat me with respect. I never won over Hollister, and I’m embarrassed to say I stopped trying long after I should have. He is a hard man. Brutal. And even though I love Caro like she’s my own mother, I would be very surprised if she welcomes this girl with open arms. And why should she after the way Hollister treated her in the divorce?” She blew out a breath then, and he could tell she had to work to make it sound even. To make it sound like she wasn’t already emotionally invested. “This girl is your family. Don’t you want to help her?”

Did he want to help this girl? This stranger who might be his sister? Hell, he didn’t know.

Cain family politics didn’t interest him. At all.

He didn’t give a damn about what happened to the company or to Hollister. None of this was his problem. And frankly, he didn’t buy half of what Portia was telling him.

He leveled his gaze at her. “Okay, enough with the warm-fuzzy garbage. What aren’t you telling me?”

She pulled back and blinked rapidly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, you came here in person to beg me to do this and you expect me to believe your only motive is family loyalty to a girl you spent five minutes with?”

He half expected her to have some visible reaction, but Portia was a cool one, and even though he knew he’d hit on something, she didn’t so much as flinch. But he could see the calculations going on behind her eyes, so he didn’t trust her words when she calmly said, “Fine. You want a motive? How does this one work? I know you don’t want the money, so I’m hoping you’ll give it to me.”

For a second, all he could do was stare at her. There was a hard glint in her eyes, a stubborn tilt to her chin, that almost—almost—made her statement believable. But not quite.

“All right,” he said, wanting to see where she was going with this.

Her chin bumped up a little. “I...um...the divorce left me destitute. I need the money.”

“You’re destitute?”

“Totally broke.”

“Nice try. I don’t believe you’re broke. Not for a minute.”

She frowned, scrunching her mouth to the side adorably. “Really.”

“No. When you and Dalton got married, Hollister told me you had a trust from your paternal grandparents that was worth over fifteen million. I know Dalton didn’t touch it. So unless you expect me to believe that you’ve blown through fifteen million in two years...”

She sighed. “I could be really bad with money?”

“No.” He didn’t believe that, either. He cocked his head to the side. “But I do believe you want the money. Why?”

She frowned again, and he sensed that she was trying to decide exactly what to tell him. Finally, she said, “Have you talked to Caro lately?”

“Caro?” he asked, surprised by the sudden change in topic. “No. Why?”

“Because things haven’t gone well for her since the divorce. Personally. Socially. Financially. And I just thought...if you really don’t want the money, then we could give some of it to her.”

“She needs money?” But then he waved aside his own question. “Of course she needs money. Hollister’s such a bastard, he probably butchered her in the divorce. Jesus. Do Dalton and Griffin know?”

“I don’t think anyone knows. She and I haven’t always been close, but we are now. I see it, but she doesn’t even admit it to me. Besides, she’s not exactly their favorite person right now.”

“Yeah. I guess not,” he agreed. The mysterious letter about Hollister’s missing daughter had turned their lives upside down. Neither Dalton nor Griffin had been particularly thrilled to find out that the letter hadn’t been penned by some anonymous former lover of Hollister’s, but by his angry and bitter wife. “So Hollister eviscerated her in court and she’s too proud to tell her sons that she needs financial help. But you think she’ll take money from me?”

“I know she’s probably not your favorite person, either—”

“I have no problem with Caro,” he said quickly. “I never have.”

“Oh,” Portia said softly. “I just assumed.”

It was a fair assumption. Caro was easy to characterize as his wicked stepmother. But that didn’t mean they were enemies or that he wanted her out on the street.

“Caro and I get along fine,” he said. “But I don’t think she’d take money from me.”

“She might if it was Hollister’s money. He screwed her over. I think she’d enjoy screwing him back.” Portia’s face settled into resolve. “I could convince her.”

Which brought him back to square one: he didn’t have time for this.

“Look, it’s not about whether or not I want to help her. I don’t have the time. It’s not my problem.”

“But Caro—”

“Look, I can find a way to help Caro without finding this missing heiress.” And he would find a way to help her. Just not now. He glanced down at his watch. “And I’ve got a meeting I’m going to be late for. I’m sorry, Portia.”