“So, I found Maya,” my sister said, leaning forward onto her elbows. “But I’m sure Knox already told you that.”
Hazel nodded while squeezing the shit out of my hand. Somehow, in the short span of two minutes, she’d paled significantly and it was just now that I was realizing it, prompting me to squeeze her hand in a silent show of support. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why she was so nervous. If I put extensive thought into it, I guess it was almost like being adopted and finally receiving information that would allow you to meet your birth parents. Only in this case, Maya was the long-lost sister Hazel never thought she’d meet. Though Bernie hadn’t been her blood father, he’d loved her and treated her as one, making this whole situation with Maya more significant than just carrying out his final wishes.
“She's been in New York,” my sister added, to which Hazel’s eyes slightly bugged out, Karley’s attention quickly turning on me thereafter.
“How much did you tell her?”
I shrugged. “Just that you got in touch with Maya.”
Her face fell and she scoffed. “Gee, thanks, lil’ bro.”
“What? I figured it’d be better for you tell her, seeing as you spoke to the woman,” I countered, flashing her the finger and an exaggerated smile.
“You knew more, and all you told me was that she got in contact with Maya?” Hazel asked incredulously, her question hastily melting away said shit-eating grin.
Fuck.
I didn't know how to respond. I hadn’t kept the little I did know from her on purpose. I’d simply thought it was better for Karley to go through all this shit with her, rather than having to put her through it twice, but clearly that wasn't the brightest idea. Snapping my gaze to where my sister sat, I motioned towards Hazel and flashed her a pleading look for help.
Karley rolled her eyes and shot up out of her seat, coming around her desk to lean against it as she delivered the rest of the information.
“Did Bernie know Maya married a Dimitri Petrova?”
“I believe so,” Hazel said quietly, instantly forgetting my offense.
Thanks, sis.
“I remember him saying she'd gotten engaged right when she turned eighteen, even after he'd been clear he didn't approve. I'm assuming he’s the same man, unless she’s gotten divorced and remarried.”
“No, that's him. I did a little research on Maya’s background, and she's been married to Mr. Petrova since 2011. It's no wonder Bernie didn't approve of him. There's quite a large age gap between the two.”
“How much?” I couldn't help but ask because all of this was news to me. Hazel hadn’t shared any of this prior.
“Fifteen years.”
“What the fuck? So, he's a cradle robber?”
My sister tipped her head and puckered her lips. “Seems that way. Age is just a number to some people in society, as long as it's legal, and while that's okay, you can’t ignore the fact that Dimitri was already thirty-three when Maya turned the big one-eight.”
“How soon after did they get engaged?” Hazel asked curiously.
“There is no after. He proposed on her eighteenth birthday.”
“You're kidding, right?”
“Honest to God, it’s part of the information Maya volunteered.”
Hazel blinked several times, staring at Karley with a stunned yet enlightened expression. “So, they must’ve been an item before she was even legal.”
“Oh, one-hundred percent, which only makes Bernie’s lack of approval all the more valid. I mean, she gets engaged before she's even blown out the last candle on her birthday cake. Coincidence much? I don't think so. Makes you wonder what a wealthy man in his thirties would want with a teenager.”
“He’s wealthy?”
“Very,” my sister explained. “He owns the Diamante hotel chain.”
Woah.
He's mega-wealthy.
“Did Bernie know that?” I peered at my girl and she shook her head.
“He never mentioned it, but then again, he didn’t mention much of anything where Maya was concerned. Either Dimitri hid his empire from her until they left California, or Maya knew and kept it from Bernie all along.”
“Or maybe Bernie did know.”
Two sets of eyes swung to where I sat. Hazel’s brow arched high in question while my sister’s stare was dubiously intrigued.
“Think about it,” I went on. “If Maya and Dimitri were some sort of an item before she was even legal, that’s grounds enough for Bernie withholding his blessing. Hell, I’m surprised he didn’t have him arrested, or worse yet, kill him with his own two hands.”
“Maybe Maya faked a break-up,” my sister added.
“I’m thinking something along those lines too.”
“But then she gets engaged out of the blue,” Hazel said, realization flashing across her face. “And he does some research, leading him to find out that Petrova has money; lots of it, too.”
I nodded. “Fatherly instincts would have kicked in like never before because as you said, dear sister… What could a man in his thirties want with a teenager, especially a wealthy man like that.”
Both women, who were essential to my life in starkly different ways, sat around me in silence as they processed what we’d just likely pieced together. Obviously, it wasn’t anything we could confirm as the solid truth, but it made so much sense...
“That's actually a very fair observation,” Karley murmured after a minute or two. Pushing off the polished wood, she sauntered back around her desk and plopped into her chair, rolling toward us with a look I knew too well. The wheels in her head were spinning. “Hazel, did Bernie tell you why Maya left?”
“Not really. All he said was that she and her fiancé had come over for dinner one night, shortly after the engagement, and while they were at the table, the three of them got into a heated discussion that turned nasty within minutes. They stormed out and were gone days later, with no goodbye on Maya’s end.”
“I see,” my sister said thoughtfully, tapping her pen against a pile of papers. “I think he was hiding something.”
“Who, Bernie?”
“No, Petrova. With an age gap like that, the odds are already against you. Wouldn’t you be putting double the effort into winning over your future father-in-law rather than upsetting him further? Unless, of course, you have no interest in family whatsoever, which would explain how easy it was for him to eradicate them from their life in L.A., drag his love-drunk, naive wife across the nation, and forbid her from contacting him ever again.”
Hazel’s jaw nearly tumbled to the floor. “He forbade her from speaking to her own father?”
Karley nodded. “Those were Maya’s exact words.”
“What else did she share,” I interjected, scooting to the edge of my seat with interest.
“Not much, really.”
“And what did she say about her father’s death?”
“Nothing, to be honest. She cried, but seemed very detached about the whole thing. Everything she shared was so scatterbrained and all over the place, too; as though she'd been wanting to vent about it for years, and it was all gushing out in no specific order. The one thing she mentioned several times, and was clear as day, is that she wants to talk to Hazel.”
Silence.
Dead silence.
Hazel glanced between Karley and myself for several moments, a semi-disturbed expression etched on her face. “There’s no way in hell I’m calling her. That would be awkward times a million. Yes, I wanted to know where she was because of the Will. That’s it. If she wants to collect her belongings, I'm more than happy to meet her here and take her to Bernie’s so she can go through it all herself. What she wants to do with his place after that is up to her.”
“From the way in which she voiced wanting to speak with you, I highly doubt she cares about her inheritance or the house. Aside from detached, she sounded very panicked throughout the entire conversation.”
The last thing I heard before zoning out was panicked. Considering all we’d learned, that one little word shot up red flags and shrilling sirens in my mind. Something was wrong here. Very, very wrong. What unsettled me most was her desire to speak to Hazel. Why? They'd never met, had never even spoken a word to each other. I understood, on some level, her desire to meet the woman who'd essentially taken care of her father, but I don't know…something was off, and I didn’t like it. Little did we know just how off the next several months were going to be...