Chapter 5
ZACH
The drive back is quiet, not awkward exactly, but not easy, and that speaks volumes to me.
I pull up outside the Stella offices and kill the engine. “I can take you home,” I offer, even though I’m certain of her answer.
She turns to me quickly. “No. Please—this is fine. I’ll get an Uber back.”
But it’s no trouble. I can wait. Or—”
“No.” She shakes her head, firm now. “You’ve done enough for me. I don’t want to ruin your evening more.”
I turn to her. “Maya,” I say gently. “You could never ruin my evening. This has been—”
“It’s been a long day, Zach. I need to go.” I can’t miss the pleading in her voice. She wants to get away from me.
What the hell happened to us? I have so many questions, but I can tell already that this isn’t going to be as easy, or as wonderful as I first thought.
“You’ve done enough. Thank you for helping me out of this mess.”
She doesn’t want me sticking around. Doesn’t want me taking her back to her place. Doesn’t want to owe me.
She doesn’t want me.
“Okay,” I say quietly. “I hear you.” Loud and clear.
I watch her climb out of the car and I hold back, fighting the urge to help her as she carefully balances an assortment of bags, a box and Cecil’s precious laptop.
Watching her walk away, I’m confused and bewildered by how she’s being. She seems colder and more indifferent. She doesn’t smile as easily. Her eyes are sad and her body taut with tension.
And yet I feel it. The touch of nostalgia, the harking back to the old days, when we were starting to fall in love. Now she has me doubting my memories, and my feelings, but I know what I felt back then. I know what she meant to me.
On my way home I consider whether to pass by the penthouse to see Dad or just go home.
He’s still recovering. Three months on from when he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease, he looks better.
He’s back in suits, and back at his desk in the office most days.
But everything around him is more controlled than ever.
I don’t mean his mannerisms. My father has always been restrained, not one to show emotion, but his life has been curtailed somewhat, and I know he hates that.
He’s on lots of medication, and his diet is strict.
The doctors call it management, but my father calls it temporary.
I’m not so sure. I wouldn’t put it past him to ignore the doctors’ advice and do his own thing.
He has been, and always will be, his own master.
Nobody else matters. He doesn’t care for the opinions of others.
I decide that it’s late, and I don’t want to disturb him, so I return to the apartment block I share with my brothers.
I knock on Dex’s door, because I expect my brothers are all still there and the dinner party is probably still in full swing.
Dex opens the door. “What time do you call this, brother?” His mischievous smile widens as he opens the door to let me in.
“Thought I’d show my face,” I mumble, walking it to find that everyone’s here, except for Matteo. Surprisingly, Enzo is here as well.
“We’re honored that you came, dude.” Rio lifts a lazy brow.
Raquel is curled up beside him on the couch.
They look so perfect together. I feel a twinge low in my chest. It’s not envy, exactly, I’m happy for Dex, but I’m more aware of the void in my life.
A void that’s been bigger, because first it was Jett, who found love, then Dex, and now Rio.
I’ve just left Maya standing outside her office building.
We were polite and distant, and that contrast hits hard, especially when I’m here, in Dex’s apartment, surrounded by domestic bliss.
“We’re about to leave,” Cari says, disappointment heavy in her voice.
“I wish you’d come earlier, Zach. We missed you.
” I like Cari. She’s always so caring and thoughtful.
It’s been a tough time for her, and I’m aware that she’s a single child, and I sense she quite likes these get-togethers with everyone.
“He was probably busy looking for trust fund babes,” Jett mutters.
My older brother, unfortunately, is still as grumpy as ever when it comes to me. But he’s a complete softie when it comes to Brooke and Cari.
“Give the guy a break,” Enzo retorts, making everyone turn his way. The guy barely speaks much. Maybe he’s more talkative when he’s with his brothers, Rio and Matteo, but usually, he’s just one of the silent ones.
Dex hovers around expectantly. “Dinner’s over, bro, but I’m sure we have some leftovers for you.”
“We have plenty of leftovers.” Dani’s voice carries over and then she appears, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. “Hey, Zach. You’re so late!”
“Sorry. I was busy.”
I hear snickering from behind me and ignore it.
“Would you like to eat something?” Dani asks.
I hold up my hand. “I’m fine, thank you.”
“Maybe turn up on time next time,” Jett says. I make a face, wondering why this guy is always so uptight.
“Jett.” Cari puts her hand on his arm, as if to curb his mood. She gives me an apologetic look. “He hasn’t slept much.”
“I was working on a business proposal, before your mind falls into the gutter,” Jett clarifies.
Dex rubs his hands together. “Let’s hear it all, then. Which heiress are you taking out for dinner next?”
“Stop picking on the guy, Dexter,” Dani admonishes.
“I wasn’t picking on him. I’m curious!”
She gives him a stern look, which quiets him in an instant.
“Don’t worry about it. My brothers are a pain in the ass, too.” Enzo stands up, hands in the pockets of his tailored suit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this guy look anything short of debonair.
“Seriously, dude, there’s food if you want. Want me to plate something up for you?” It amuses me how quickly Dex deflects and tries to get on Dani’s good side.
“No thanks, man. I don’t want to eat. I was just passing by. Thought I’d stick my head in.”
“Where did you go again?” Rio asks, brows pushed together.
“He was at the Stella VIP event at the Plaza ballroom,” Dex announces.
“Ooooh!” Raquel and Dani exclaim in unison.
“Who was there?” Dani asks excitedly. Raquel isn’t interested in celebrities or the rich and famous.
“Maya,” I say, then pause, thinking of her. A warm glow settles through me again. It’s not lust; more like the quiet, steady comfort of having her in my life again. I like that we have suddenly and unexpectedly reconnected. I choose to ignore that she doesn’t seem to like it as much as I do.
“Who?” Rio squawks. Enzo looks puzzled.
Jett and Cari are still at the door about to leave. Jett turns around. “Maya?” And in that instant, I know that he knows exactly who I’m referring to. I’m surprised he remembers so quickly, because she was my friend, not his.
I nod.
“The housekeeper’s daughter?” Jett asks.
“What?” Dex cries. “You met her?”
“Yes, her,” I reply, calmly, quietly, even though my insides flip every time I think of her.
I remember seeing her hovering just inside the doorway of the library, hesitating.
She knew she shouldn’t be there. The house staff didn’t wander into rooms except to clean them, but she wasn’t one of the house staff.
She was the housekeepers daughter. I needed to get a history book.
I can’t remember what it was now. I walked towards her and she looked ready to bolt.
I saw the yearning in her eyes. Knew she wanted to step inside.
So I told her she could. And, just like that, she did.
“She was at the VIP event?” Dex asks.
“Who the hell is this Maya?” Rio looks at my brothers for an explanation. The Italian Knights never met her.
“Dude, you won’t know,” Dex answers. “You never met her.”
Rio, Matteo and Enzo, the Italian Knights, didn’t live with us.
They were in Italy living with their mom before we even knew of their existence, and then Dad had them all move to the U.S.
soon after Mom passed away. They didn’t live at the estate with us in Westchester, even though they could have so easily.
Dad put them up in a house nearby, I later learned.
By then we knew of their existence, but we never met.
At times, I’ve wondered why he would do that. I’m not sure I want to think about that too much.
“Who is this Maya?” Rio echoes. “A past romance?”
Dex gives me a sympathetic look. “She was a friend of Zach’s. The pair of them would always be sneaking off somewhere together.”
“Is that right?” Raquel asks, eyes widening.
“We were teenagers,” I explain.
“Teenagers who liked one another, a lot, as I remember,” Jett says.
“She was the housekeeper’s daughter?” Enzo asks. “You had a housekeeper?”
“We had many housekeepers,” Dex replies, casually.
“We grew up on a sprawling estate, but it felt more like a home then, when Mom was around. Once she passed away, it was nothing like that, and we were left with just the old man.” He stops short and looks at me because he always refers to Dad as the old man. He knows I don’t like it.
“He’s not well. Try and be nice when you talk about him,” I push back.
“Hot damn,” Rio gasps, after a while. “We never had any housekeepers or help. Mama took care of us all.”
“Then you had something priceless. You were lucky,” I say, swallowing the knot that forms in my throat. Everyone falls silent then.
“We had a good life,” Enzo says, quietly. “We were happy, we still are.”
Rio scratches his beard. “Yeah. That’s true.” Raquel looks up at him and pouts, and he drops a kiss on her lips. “Mamá’s happy, and so are we. At least, I am.”
“I’d give anything to have what you have,” I tell them. “I’d give anything to have Mom with us here now.”
More silence. I don’t want to leave this evening on a heavy, sinking note. Talking about mom not being here always leaves me feeling adrift. And right now, I feel the void in my life more painfully than ever.
“You and the housekeeper’s daughter became friends?” Enzo prompts.
“They lived on the estate, in the staff annex.”
“Dude. You had an annex?” Rio cries.
“Meu Deus!” Raquel moans. She hates all this rich guy poor guy divide. I imagine it must cut deep, what with her growing up in a favela and seeing all that poverty and injustice. She’s talked about it a few times.
“It was called the Knight Estate,” Jett says, joining in the reverie.
“We had a lot of staff to help with the running of the place,” Dex says, oblivious to how this is being perceived by others. “And Zach here struck up a friendship with the Maya who was the daughter of one of the housekeepers.”
“One of the housekeepers? Caraca,” Raquel mumbles, shaking her head. Dani is quiet. She grew up in wealth.
“How did that work out?” Enzo asks. “How did that work out?” This dude has never shown this much interest, or spoken this much before.
I’m not sure if it’s my story that interests him so much, or whether he’s starting to chill a bit more now that the two sets of brothers are mingling more and getting to know one another better.
It’s all so different to the years of Knight family dinners Dad’s been holding at his penthouse.
There, the Italian Knights and us would eye one another suspiciously.
There was no brotherly love, because there were no familial feelings.
Though Dex and Rio seemed to have forged a friendship, but this has only happened recently.
I see now that we’re not so different after all, and there is more that binds us together than divides us.
“But then one day Maya and her mom disappeared, without warning,” Dex says.
I shove my hands deeper into my pockets and stare at the floor, because my interaction with Maya hasn’t brought me any closer to finding out what happened that day. When I look up all eyes are on me.
I shrug. “That’s what happened. They just upped and left.”
“But why?” Cari asks, intrigued.
I shrug again, because what’s to say? I tried to ask Maya, but I haven’t come away any wiser. “I don’t know why.”
“Did you get her number?” Dex asks.
It didn’t even occur to me. I intended to, but she disappeared, just like she did all those years ago. “I didn’t get the opportunity.”
“Is she married?” Dex’s curiosity is driving me mad.
“I don’t know.” I looked, but I didn’t see a ring. And I made sure to look.
“Filthy rich in her own right?” he continues digging. “Those handbags cost a fortune.”
“Women don’t need a man to buy them an expensive bag.” Raquel deadpans.
I sigh, wishing I’d never walked in here. “She was working. She works for Stella.”
“Oh!” Cari seems excited by this piece of news.
I let out a groan. “She’s working for a witch.”
“A what?” The women shriek in unison.
“A witch. Her boss is high up, and Maya is her assistant, but she doesn’t seem to be valued over there. She’s smart. There was a technical glitch while the COO was giving the presentation, and she walked out on the stage, fixed it and calmly walked away.”
“Impressive,” says Raquel.
“Smart.” Dex eyes me, as if wanting me to elaborate. “Definitely not a trust fund babe, then.”
I swallow. “No.”