to Hollister, then Cain Enterprises is going to be in serious trouble. If Hollister’s shares of the company go to the state, they’ll probably be auctioned off, most likely to Cain’s competitors. The company will be in ruins. Even though Dalton doesn’t work for Cain Enterprises anymore, he doesn’t want that to happen. He’s worked his ass off for Cain all his life. A new job doesn’t change that. He still loves the company. He’s always going to pick what’s best for Cain Enterprises. He’s not going to think twice about his sister.”
“So you’re telling me you haven’t gone to Dalton with this information because you’re worried about the heiress?”
“Exactly. Someone needs to think about what’s best for this poor girl.”
Cooper raised an eyebrow. “This poor girl? If you’re right, this poor girl is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Probably more money than she’s ever dreamed of. No one would call this girl poor.”
Portia seemed to hesitate, then smiled faintly. “Perhaps poor isn’t quite the word I meant, but I’m sure you’ll agree, if Dalton and Griffin do find her, she’s going to have a rough time of it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that the Cains live in a world of wealth and power that most people can’t even imagine. You and I both know that if you’re unprepared for that world, it will gobble you and devour you whole. This girl, she didn’t grow up with money.”
“How exactly do you know she’s poor?” he asked with a bit of a sneer. “Are you guessing based merely on the way she was dressed or is this something she told you while you were gazing into her Cain-blue eyes?”
“Very funny. But trust me, I know. She’s a waitress, with dyed red hair and one of those little studs in her nose.”
“You think rich kids don’t rebel? Because I’ve got to tell you, I’ve made a lot of money in an industry that’s all about rich kids rebelling.”
“Exactly. When rich kids rebel, they go snowboarding in Utah. Kids working jobs as waitresses at a hotel? Those kids don’t have time to rebel.”
Well, she had a point there. And he might even be willing to help her; her heart was in the right place, even if it wasn’t really her business anymore. After all, he’d always liked Portia—hell, he’d always more than liked Portia. That was part of the problem, though, wasn’t it? It wasn’t appropriate to more-than-like your sister-in-law. Not that she was his sister-in-law anymore. Was there some sort of statute of limitations on that?
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.