His loyal chauffeur is there, and the drive to his penthouse is quiet.I struggle to find something to talk about.“I thought you were staying away longer.”
He shrugs.“Plans change.”
“They usually don’t for you.”
There’s a pause in which I feel like he’s about to say something, so I wait.A pause.
“You’re with …Maya?” he asks finally.It feels like he struggled to say her name.
“Yes.”
“It must be serious,” he remarks, testing the waters.
I stay silent, preferring him to show his cards, because I don’t know what angle he’s taking.
Finally, he says it, “Serious enough for you to acquire a majority stake in the company she works for.”He sighs long, and with disappointment.“And I thought you were finally making a smart business move.”
“It is a smart business move.I saw that it had potential.I knew I could turn things around.I am turning things around.”
“And the girl?”
It annoys the hell out of me to hear him refer to her like that.“Maya,” I correct sharply.“Her name is Maya.”
He hums, noncommittal.“You’re letting sentiment cloud your judgment.”
“No,” I snap.“I’m letting competence guide it.She has nothing to do with the decision.”
“If you say so.”
My thoughts drift back to the past and I have a question which has been burrowing a hole inside me for a long time.“Why did Maya and her mom suddenly leave the Knight Estate?”I ask, watching him carefully, but his calm expression doesn’t give anything away.
“Her mother found a job somewhere, as I remember it.”
I push deeper.“They left in a hurry.”
“Must have been a good job.”
That’s all he gives me.No specifics.No detail.I feel like there’s more to it.
The car stops outside his penthouse building.
“Happy Birthday,” he says, getting out.“Drive him home, will you?”he orders the chauffeur.
It’s a cold, clipped exchange.Not how a father and son would say goodbye on what should have been a momentous celebration.
I almost head back to my apartment but know that Dex will probably come hunting for me if I don’t show up.Also, there’s no point in returning to an empty place.No Maya to end the night with.
I’d imagined her here.Kicking off her shoes, us talking about the party, making love all night, then falling asleep tangled in each other.
Instead, I take the stairs to Jett’s penthouse, but standing outside his door, hearing the laughter, the music, the sheer joy, I feel alone and empty and so not in the mood.I go back to my place and pour myself a drink I don’t want.Standing at my window, I stare at the lit-up network of lights in a city that now feels indifferent.
I feel the change, in my bones and in the air.Nothing matters to me in this moment, and it’s because the woman I’m in love with rushed away without an explanation.
Something scared Maya tonight.Something made her retreat into herself and away from me so completely.
And something in my gut tells me it had nothing to do with the party.
Chapter 33
