by Laura Pavlov
So here I was. Dateless and working crazy hours for a hot man who despised me. I had no prospects because I refused to get on dating sites anymore.
But maybe my new Facebook friend would have a sexy neighbor.
One could hope.
The next few days were oddly enjoyable. Crew was inviting me to have dinner in his office every night. We rarely talked about work. There’d been stolen glances, and even a little flirtatious banter, unless I was imagining it. He’d even opened up a bit and talked about his family. I’d say that Crew and I were actually becoming friends, even if he’d never admit it. He teased me about my mystery friend all week, coming up with ridiculous conspiracy theories.
She was a front for a drug cartel, and they were going to approach me about being their mule.
She was interested in me sexually and using the friend of a friend as a front.
She needed a kidney.
She was looking for a partner to rob a bank.
She was opening a brothel and looking for a madam.
She wanted to have a baby and needed a hot surrogate to carry the child.
Yes, Crew Carlisle inadvertently called me hot. I didn’t mind it one bit.
The man was texting me when I wasn’t at the office with ridiculous questions. I was scared about how much I liked it. How much I looked forward to seeing him each day. To getting his text messages. I tried to focus on work the rest of the morning.
The Magic Willows had been blowing up my phone for the past hour because they were so curious about me meeting Piper. Gigi and Addy had done all the digging they could, but she seriously just appeared to be a normal college girl living her best life. She was two years younger than me, she attended art school in the city, and she had a hipster boyfriend. There really weren’t any red flags. I’m sure the whole thing was a mix-up, but I was a little eager myself to find out why she wanted to meet so badly.
I finished up sending a few emails and glanced at my phone to see a text from Piper saying she’d arrived early. I sent an email to Crew that I was meeting with Piper for coffee and would be back in thirty minutes. I didn’t wait for a response because I didn’t need the distraction right now.
My stomach dipped when I stepped into the elevator. I don’t know why I was nervous. All the girls were dying to hear what this was about, and I was at the point where I was actually curious as well. I didn’t mention it to my parents because I knew that they wouldn’t want me to meet her. My mother would think someone might kidnap me and I didn’t want to worry her when the whole thing was probably something silly. Dad would assume it was someone trying to get money out of me. Money was always at the forefront of every thought with my father, so no sense mentioning it to him. If Piper was here to cry poor and hit me up for money, I’d end the meeting immediately. I wasn’t stupid.
But I was curious.
I stepped off the elevators and recognized her from her profile picture and saw her standing a few feet away. She was pretty. Dressed in jeans and a sweater, and when she looked up, she waved at me.
Nothing about her seemed questionable. Her smile was genuine. Her eyes were similar in color to mine, and her cheeks pinked when I approached.
“Piper?” I asked.
“Yes. Maura, thank you so much for meeting me. You’re even prettier in person.” Her voice wobbled a bit, letting me know she was nervous. “I’m sure this seems really strange, but I just really wanted to meet you.”
“Well, you’ve definitely got me curious. Let’s grab a coffee.” I led her toward Cup of Joe, the cute coffee shop on the main level in the lobby. I noticed two security guards watching me as I walked by, and I swiped at my cheek to make sure nothing was on my face.
“Are those guys watching us?” Piper whispered as she leaned into me, and I pulled the door open.
“I don’t know. I mean, I see them every day, but they’ve never honed in on me like that. My boss is a bit of a ball-breaker. He probably has them trained to tell him when someone leaves the office for a break during the workday.” I chuckled, trying to relax her. We both placed our orders and found a table in the back corner.
We made small talk while we waited for someone to bring our drinks to the table. She told me that she’d grown up in Dallas and had two younger brothers. Nothing about Piper was alarming. I actually hoped that we had a friend in common because I liked her right away.
“So, tell me what’s going on.” I just decided to get the ball rolling. I only had twenty minutes left at this point before I needed to be back at my desk. Crew didn’t set a time for our lunch breaks, but I was still in the stage of trying to impress him, and I was determined to prove I could handle Layla’s job. I’d never considered working here after graduation because well, the Carlisles were the enemy. But I didn’t feel that way anymore and I really enjoyed my job. I wanted to keep all my options open. Not that I thought he’d offer me a position after graduation. I highly doubted that would happen, but I also never would have thought he’d allow me to intern here. At the very least, getting a good reference from the Carlisle Ad Agency would be very helpful.
“This is super awkward.” She clasped her hands together nervously and shifted in her seat. “This started out as a project I did for my history class. We were researching our family trees and I bought a 23andMe test to dig a little deeper.”
“I just did one of those recently too.” I nodded and chuckled. “But what does that have to do with having a mutual friend?”
“I’m sorry, Maura. I was afraid if I told you the real reason I wanted to meet, you wouldn’t come. The truth is… you came up on my test results.”
“Came up on your test results? In what way?” My back went straight.
“You and I share a whole lot of DNA and according to my results, we’re actually half-sisters.” She sat back in her chair and gave me time to process what she’d said.
“Half-sisters? That’s impossible. I’m sure errors happen on those tests all the time.” I leaned forward and cleared my throat. My hands were sweating now, so I moved them to my lap.
“It’s science. They use the same type of DNA to solve murder cases. It’s not a mistake, Maura. We’re related.” She let out a long sigh and studied me.
I shook my head. “It has to be a mistake. My parents are happily married. I think I’d know if my mother carried another child or if my father had another child.”
I struggled to process what she was saying to me. This couldn’t be right. This had to be a mistake.
“I confronted my mother. It’s not a mistake,” she whispered.
“What did she say?” My voice cracked and I cringed at how nervous I sounded.
“She started to cry. She told me they’d wanted to tell me for years. Apparently, my father, well, the man that I thought was my father, had adopted me when I was just a year old. They’d meant to tell me the truth… but they just never thought it was the right time.” She swiped at her cheeks as two tears traveled down her pretty face. My chest squeezed. Whether this was a mistake or not, she believed it and she was hurting. And I felt that deeply.
I sat back in my chair, completely at a loss for words.
“Who is your father?” I racked my brain and pushed away my nagging thoughts. There’d been rumors about my dad in town over the years, but he’d always adamantly shut them down. He wasn’t that man. Thoughts of my Uncle Carl flooded my brain. Maybe Piper was a cousin and we just happened to share a lot of DNA. That could happen, right? My thoughts raced. Aunt Justine would lose her mind if Uncle Carl fathered a child, and I just couldn’t imagine him straying.
“My father is Arthur Benson,” she whispered, and the blood rushed to my head. She continued to speak but I couldn’t hear her anymore.
My father couldn’t be her father.
That wasn’t possible.
A lump formed deep in my throat, and I couldn’t
get the words out. I put my hand to my chest and forced myself to speak. “Could there be two Arthur Bensons?”
“My mom admitted everything to me, Maura. She told me that my biological father is an oil tycoon from Willow Springs. They had a fling for a short time. He told my mom that he was going to leave his wife, and when he didn’t, she ended it. She told him that she was pregnant a few months later and he…” She paused and looked away. Staring out the window as if the sun coming through could provide the warmth that she needed to say her next words. “He insisted she terminate the pregnancy. She never spoke to him again. She had me all on her own.”
“What do you want? Why are you trying to hurt my family?” My voice shook and my hands gripped the table. She looked wounded.
“I don’t want anything. This isn’t about revenge or money. My parents are wealthy in their own right. I just wanted…” She paused, and a tear ran down her cheek.
“What? What do you want?” I asked, and I looked up to see one of the security guards standing inside the coffee shop now watching us. What the hell was going on? I turned my attention back to Piper.
“I just wanted to meet you. You’re my sister.” Her voice cracked and she covered her face. “This was a mistake.”
I couldn’t speak. She pushed to her feet and ran out of the coffee shop, and I didn’t stop her. I couldn’t think at the moment. I was fighting back the tears that threatened to break free and the lump in my throat was making it difficult to breathe. I pushed to my feet and hurried out to the lobby and ran toward the elevator when I saw the doors open. I tried to calm my breathing as I yanked my phone out of my purse and searched my emails for my 23andMe results.
Chapter Eight
Crew
This day always left me gutted. I’d been in my office all morning, because I was in a foul mood. It was my baby sister’s birthday—another birthday that she would miss. I knew she was celebrating up in heaven because I’d never known a sweeter soul than Belle Cecilia Carlisle. I remembered the day my parents brought her and Knox home. He’d been a complete pill. He’d cried nonstop and was colicky as hell. But Belle, she’d just taken it all in as she lay in her little car seat wearing a pink hat and coat. The girl had been wrapped in pink from the day she came home. When you have four boys and one girl—it’s inevitable. Mom and Dad were busy trying to calm Knox down and tend to their two rambunctious toddlers, Blade and Dax, and I’d been put in charge of baby Belle. Mom asked me just to sit with her. That had become our thing. When I’d get home from school, I’d go lie on the blanket and watch her while everyone else fussed over her high-maintenance twin. And as she grew, I’d take her to the barn, out to see the horses. I’d push her on her swing set and let her boss me around. I’d adored her every single day of her life. I shook off the feeling and focused on work. I’d submerged myself in meetings this morning, and I’d be home tonight with my family to celebrate Belle and Knox’s birthday. I felt for my baby brother. His birthday would forever be shared with the girl whose life was taken too soon. He never complained about it, hell, I think it made him feel closer to her. Knowing they’d share that forever.
I wrapped up my final meeting when I saw a text from Cam, one of the security guards downstairs. I had asked him to keep an eye on Maura. I didn’t know what she was walking into today, and I wanted to make sure she was okay. I mean, she worked for me after all. I’d do that for anyone.
Cam ~ Ms. Benson just hurried to the elevator and the girl she met with ran out of the building. It didn’t look like it went well.
Me ~ Thank you. I’ll handle it.
I made my way out to Maura’s desk to wait for her. After ten minutes passed and she didn’t come back to her desk, I walked up front to see if Gwen had seen her. Of course, that pesky twirp Sam was there acting like a fool singing some rap song that sounded terrible. I glared at him, and he clapped me on the shoulder like we were old friends.
We weren’t.
“Mr. Carlisle, what brings you up to these parts?” His head fell back in laughter, and to my surprise, Gwen did the same thing. What the fuck was this? That wasn’t even funny. These parts? It was the front fucking desk of my company.
“Have you seen Maura Benson?” I asked, pushing Sam’s hand from my shoulder. “Go back to work.”
He winked at Gwen and walked away. She quickly pushed to stand.
“Um, yes. She stepped off the elevator a few minutes ago and she hurried toward the bathroom. I asked if she was okay, but she didn’t answer. I was going to go check on her now.”
Really? When was she going to do that? She appeared to be deep in conversation with Sam the freaking social chair. I’d have to remember to ask Maura about that. The girl had the pulse on the entire office. She filled me in on little tiffs going on around the office, and I imagined she’d know if people were dating as well.
I followed her to the restroom. “Go see if she’s in there and ask if she’s all right.”
“Okay.” She pushed the door open and came back out shortly after. “She’s in a stall. She said she’s okay, but it sounds like she’s crying.”
“Is anyone else in there?”
“No. Just Maura. I feel bad. Should I go back in there and try to talk to her?” she asked.
“No. I’ve got it from here. Head back to your desk and cancel my one o’clock call, and tell Roger that I need to reschedule. It’s on Maura’s, I mean Layla’s calendar.”
“You’ve got it.” She seemed almost giddy that I’d tasked her with more responsibility than usual. I pushed the door open and locked it behind me. I didn’t need anyone coming in and finding me in here.
“Benson,” I said, standing outside the stall.
“Oh my god, are you seriously in the women’s restroom right now?” she said, and her words broke on a sob.
My chest squeezed. Why the fuck was my chest doing anything? I didn’t care if Maura Benson was upset. Why the fuck was I even in here?
“Come out of the stall.” I kept my voice calm but made sure my words were direct.
“No. I’m fine. I’ll be back at my desk in ten minutes, and I’ll stay late tonight. I just need a minute.” Her words were barely audible through her sobs.
Before I could stop myself, I sat down on the bathroom floor and leaned back so I could slide beneath the door. “I sure as shit hope you’re decent.”
“Oh my god. What are you doing in here?” She laughed, but it was a mixture of sadness and humor, and I pushed to my feet. She was standing in the corner leaning against the wall. Her eyes were puffy, and her tear-streaked cheeks were pink.
“What happened?” I asked, pulling her against my chest and wrapping my arms around her. I couldn’t help myself. Her lavender scent was something I’d always noticed before, but right now, it was all-engulfing. And I didn’t mind it at all.
“Piper isn’t a bad person. She isn’t lying.”
I’d worried that this would turn out to be something real. Arthur Benson had a reputation, and nothing would surprise me with that piece of shit. The thought did cross my mind that this might have something to do with him. Maybe a mistress who was reaching out to his daughter? I’d hoped this would be a joke or just someone on a wild goose chase, but in the back of my mind, I’d wondered if it would be something real. Something that would devastate her. Which was why I had Cam and Patrick looking out for her.
“Who is she?” I asked as she took in long slow breaths to try to calm herself. She didn’t try to pull away from me, and I leaned against the wall of the stall and held her close.
Breathing in all that goodness.
Because Maura Benson was nothing like her father. She was honest and warm and good.
“She says she’s my half-sister. She took a genetic test, and I’d taken it a while back too, and it showed us as a match. I never logged on to check my results until now.” She handed me her phone. Sure enoug
h, Piper Rose shared 48.9% DNA with Maura Benson, making it likely they were half-siblings.
“Could it be a mistake?” I wanted to make her feel better. I knew in my gut that this was all very likely, but for whatever reason I wanted to comfort this girl.
She pulled away and looked up at me, and the pain in her eyes was so raw it nearly brought me to my knees. “She’s not lying, Crew. I could tell. She doesn’t want anything from me, other than to know me. To know her other family.”
Her voice trembled, and I pushed the hair away from her face. She had such a pretty face. Maura Benson was quite possibly the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Even with her puffy eyes and trembling lips—she took my breath away. And somehow over the past few weeks, we’d become friends. I cared about her. I worried about her. I thought about her all the fucking time.
“So you believe her?” I asked.
“I know she isn’t lying. She has nothing to gain. She showed me her results and I have the same results. And my father…” She turned away as if she needed a minute to gather her thoughts. She filled me in on all the gory details. The affair. The fact that he promised to leave his wife. And the worst part, that he insisted she terminate the pregnancy.
I let out a long breath and pulled her against me again. Maura was distraught about the news. I wished I could say I was surprised, but I wasn’t. There were rumors that he’d had numerous affairs over the years, and I’d seen him down at the club flirting with girls half his age with no regard for his wife. He was truly an appalling man in more ways than I could begin to count.
“How did you leave it with her?”
“Terrible,” she croaked and gripped my dress shirt in her fingers. “I asked her why she was trying to ruin my family. I don’t know why I said it. I couldn’t process what she was telling me. She ran out of the coffee shop. I hurt her feelings and she’s really nice. And she’s my freaking sister. A sister I didn’t even know I had.”