“Thank you, I’d appreciate it.” I smile back at him. He is very pleasant. Hopefully, he’ll unshackle me and I can go home.
“You’re in luck, I brought you some water.” His grin grows even larger, making his hazel eyes crinkle in the outer corners. He opens the bottle and throws a straw in it and places the straw to my lips.
“Um, can you undo my hands so I can get my drink myself?” I give him a pointed look. Normally, that has people jumping to do what I ask them to.
“I’m sorry, but no.” He walks to the cabinets and pulls things from them, arranging them on a tray.
“No? You’re going to just simply tell me no?” I hear my voice rise at the audacity of this man.
“No, I won’t unbind your wrists. It doesn’t matter what else I add to that statement; the result is still no.” His words carry over his shoulder as he continues to find items in the cabinet and set on the tray.
“I don’t believe you understand who I am.” I can hear my voice getting shrill. This is not how my mama would have dealt with it. She would have poise and gentleness and a calmness that caused people to bow down to her. I take a deep, calming breath, trying to channel her.
“I’m well aware of who you are, Miss Hauer. Your name is Maya Evangeline Hauer. Daughter of Timo Sebastian Hauer and Nicola Giulia Scarelli. Your father’s front business is investments and philanthropy, but it covers his underboss duties in the Scarelli family.”
I freeze. No one’s ever confronted me about the family business. No one’s ever told me no, for that matter either. I don’t know how to respond to him. Sure, everyone knows about the Scarelli family, but we don’t advertise and no one is ballsy enough to say anything. Because knowingly talking about family business when you’re not family results in death. Hell, talking about family business to someone not family is a death sentence, too.
“So, you can see, Miss Hauer, I do know who you are, but what your family does has no bearing on what goes on in this room. In here”–he turns and his expression is closed and harsh–“I’m in charge.”
He walks over to me, tray in hand. There are several tubes and a spray nozzle, along with a glass bottle and a jug of distilled water. He sets the tray on the table near the bed and starts pouring the liquids into the jugs on the floor and attaching hoses to them. Then he plugs in a little box that’s attached to everything.
“What are you doing?” I demand of him.
He glances up and pushes his glasses up his nose. “Getting everything prepared. That way I don’t have to stop what I’m doing to do all this.” He returns to what he was doing as if I never said anything at all. This man is infuriating!
I decide then to ignore him. If he can ignore me, I can do the same to him. I stare at the ceiling and start making my lists. The first list is my appointments and items needed for the Fireman’s Gala. My papa is supposed to be given an award at this event, so I need to have everything perfect.
The man moves, and he walks over to me with a pair of medical shears. The kind they use to remove someone’s clothes. “What do you think you’re going to do with those, sir?” I use my most scathing tone.
“I’m going to cut your clothes off, Miss Hauer. Trust me, you’ll prefer it this way.”
“I don’t know who you are! You aren’t going to do anything of the sort to me.”
“Forgive my bad manners. I neglected to introduce myself when I walked in. My name is Dr. Jack Miller and I will need to ask you some questions. Some will be easy, others…not so much. Just be honest with me and everything will go much smoother. Oh, and believe me when I tell you, you won’t want clothes on.” He pulls my shoes off my feet, then starts cutting up one pants leg then the other.
I decide to go back to ignoring him. I’m tied down, so I can’t stop him from doing whatever it is he’s going to do. He obviously knows my family, and this is somehow related to them. The best course of action is cooperation and silence. Besides, it’s just nudity. It’s better than being dead.
He’s very methodical and precise. Oddly enough, I don’t feel as though his intentions are to rape me. After he tugs my pants out from underneath me, he cuts off my panties, shirt, and bra. I’m sitting completely nude when he starts tugging off my jewelry.
Once I’m divested of everything, he takes the seat Meghan was sitting in earlier.
“I’m sorry about all that. You look like a woman who appreciates doing things thoroughly and precisely.”
“I do. So, what is all of this about? Why am I here and why do you require me to be naked?” I ask him calmly, as though I was asking about the weather.
“We’ll get to all of that. But first, we established that you’re Maya Hauer and that your parents are Timo and Nicola Hauer. Your mom died when you were approximately one year old, and under suspicious circumstances. You’re also dating Edward Champlain and have been for the past few years. Your personal guard, Phillip Allen James, was recently murdered and you’ve never met Mary James nor her daughter Angela Fawkes. Is this correct, Miss Hauer?”
“Yes, that’s the gist of the questions that Meghan—I mean, Dr. Staples—asked.”
“That’s not all of the truth, is it?”
“Pardon?” I look at him quizzically because what else is there?
“Your relationship with Mr. Champlain. It isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. As a matter of fact, we have it on very good authority that he’s been having multiple affairs while he’s been with you. Actually, one of his mistresses is pregnant right now. The child may or may not be his, but we’ll find out when she delivers, won’t we?” His eyes pierce me like his words do. Edward has been cheating on me?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Dr. Miller, but I do not appreciate you talking about my boyfriend like that. Especially when he isn’t here to defend himself.”
“Hmmm, interesting. I would have figured that if anyone knew of his philandering ways, it would be you. Since you’re so meticulous and exacting. But he told me all of this in our interview yesterday. Well, he never told me about the baby. That I found out from other sources.”
“I don’t believe you. I’ll have to see what Edward has to say about all of this when I talk to him later. You’re not good enough to get under my skin, Dr. Miller. You’ll have to do something else.”
He smiles coldly. “I wasn’t trying to get under your skin, Maya. Trust me, if I wanted to do that, I can do it easily enough. I won’t have to go fishing. But don’t be too upset with Mr. Champlain; from my understanding, this is common practice among those he associates with.
“But let us start somewhere else, shall we? We know what your father does for a living. We also know Mr. James’s role in your father’s organization. We’re also quite aware that Mr. Hauer only lets you in on some of the details, preferring for you to remain innocent of the harsher side of his reality. But, we’ve come to some information that Mr. James had started taking you under his wing. And that this had been going on since you were around eighteen or so. That is what…almost eight years now? Tell me about the first time you saw him take out someone. Was he a soldier then or a capo already?”
He leans forward with his elbows on his knees, looking boredly interested in what I have to say.
“We can’t discuss any of this, Dr. Miller. You do understand that to discuss anything will result in both of us dying, right?”
“You worried about what your Uncle Silvestro will do?”
I snort. I know it isn’t very ladylike, but Uncle Si will personally see to my death while sending a soldier to kill the good doctor and his family.
“Do you have a family, Dr. Miller?”
“Yes. I have a wife and two children.”
“Then for their safety, we cannot talk about this.”
He leans back, an easy smile on his face. “Oh, Maya. I’m not worried about my family. Neither your Uncle Si nor your father can touch anyone that I care about. And I can assure you, they won’t be able to touch you either.”
Dr. Miller sits back, almost slouches in his chair. “I understand why you’re reticent. Your cousin is one important man and he has a far reach. But I can assure you that what you tell me goes no further in here. And he will not touch you. That’s one of the few guarantees I can give you in life.”
I continue to look at him. There’s nothing he can do that will get me to talk about my family. I’ve been taught since birth to not say anything.
“Okay. I see that you won’t do this the nice way. How about I start talking and you join in when you’re ready?”
He crosses one ankle onto his knee and produces a bottle of water from his pocket, twists the cap, and takes a sip. “Okay, let’s talk about your mother. Your grandfather, Aberto Scarelli, only had the one child. No matter the mistresses he had, your grandmother was only ever able to conceive his daughter, Nicola. Strange, don’t you think. All those women and never a child? That’s enough to make any modern man question the parentage of that daughter, but back then, her lack of other children was on her.”
“Are you implying that my mama wasn’t a Scarelli?” My rage is instant at his insinuation.
“Not at all. I’m simply saying that she wasn’t Aberto’s. Silvestro Scarelli had already become the Boss by the time your grandfather married your grandmother. He was really young for a Boss, but it was actually a good change for the family business. He killed his father, Arturo, to gain the position. Arturo was running the family into the ground and losing his holdings. But what does all that have to do with your mother, right?”
“I have heard these stories before. Uncle Arturo liked to gamble and drink too much, and he was a weak CEO. Uncle Si had a better head on his shoulders, and he was able to convince the board to give him the position. So, yeah, what does this have to do with my mother?” I move to cross my arms across my chest, but the restraints stop me. Fucker.
“Right… I’m getting to that. Silvestro is your grandfather’s cousin twice removed and your grandmother was beautiful. She was a young woman when she met your grandfather and her parents felt that the match was a good move, politically speaking. And so the marriage was arranged between Aberto’s and Lenora’s parents. They get married, and then she meets Silvestro. Your grandparents were married a few years and she never even got pregnant. This was a problem for them, because without an heir who was going to inherit your grandfather’s business? So, Lenora went before Silvestro because it was her fault she wasn’t having children.”
This man knows too much. Because she knew that her nonno and her nonna had issues conceiving early in their marriage. She also knew that her grandmother was brought before Uncle Si for not doing her duty to the family. And not long after that, she was pregnant with my mama.
“Your grandmother was there for three months with Silvestro. And during her imprisonment with him, he raped her every day, sometimes several times a day, until he made certain she was pregnant. When she showed signs of being pregnant, he let her go.”
I burst out laughing. “That’s really funny. Yes, my grandmother spent a few months with Silvestro, but then so did my grandfather. I can assure you that no man touched her. He would have killed them himself.”
“Well, yes, your grandfather was there. He wasn’t aware of what was going on, or if he did, he never breathed a word to anyone.”
“And how would you know anything about this? This isn’t anything that I’ve heard in my family.”
“Sources say she told a friend about the raping and when your grandfather was an older man, he was having issues and they found out that his sperm count was almost non-existent. Therefore, he’s not your mother’s father, but rather Silvestro is. We’ll have to draw blood from you in a little bit. We can test it against Silvestro’s son, Antonio, and see if you are close enough to be uncle/niece.”
“You’re certifiably insane. Aberto is my grandfather. Besides, what does this have to do with my mother, other than your hypothesis that she’s Uncle Si’s daughter?”
“I’m getting to that. Your grandfather had no more children and you just can’t pass the family business down to a daughter, so your father, one of his best capos convinced him that it was better to let him marry Nicola and run the business the way Si and Aberto wanted it ran. That, too, was unheard of; letting a non-Italian run the family business. But your father was a good capo, so it was allowed.”
I yawn on purpose. I hope he gets the hint that I was bored with his stories that he knows nothing about. Though everything he says is very plausible, it’s just not how it happened. I wouldn’t put it past Uncle Si to rape someone, sometimes things just needed to be done, but not my nonna. He was always so kind to her.
“Don’t check out just yet. We’re getting to the good part. I just needed to give you the background information before moving to the point of it all.”
I turn my head and look at him, obviously bored and disbelieving.
“Your father was possessive of your mother. And he didn’t take it well when he discovered her having an affair with Antonio not too long after you were born. He was so incensed that he choked her to death with her own scarf and then dumped her body into the lake at your house.”
“That’s not true. My mother loved my father and he loved her. I have heard all the stories. And there’s never been a hint of that.”
“Of course not. Why would they admit that half brother and sister were having an affair with one another? Granted, it wasn’t like Antonio or Nicola knew that they were brother and sister, but your grandmother and Silvestro knew. Why do you think your grandmother stayed in your father’s house after he killed her daughter?”
“That’s not TRUE!” I shout at him.
“Silvestro is the one who told him of the affair. Antonio came to him about what he’d done and with plans of removing your father, so he could marry Nicola. He fancied himself in love with her. That is when Silvestro contacted your father. Timo confronted your mother, they fought, and he killed her. Not long after, Antonio married Amelia and started his own family. But have you noticed the rift between your father and Antonio?”
Now that I think about it, Papa never talks about Antonio or sees him. He’s never invited to our family affairs. I always thought because Uncle Si came, therefore Antonio didn’t have to. I think back to the last time I saw the two of them together. I was sixteen and in boarding school and I walked into the house to hear Papa and Antonio yelling at each other, Antonio yelling to Father that he’d killed her and that he’d never be accepted into the family after Uncle Si died. It didn’t make sense at the time because I didn’t know anyone that they knew in common, but it was near the anniversary of my mother’s death. And when Antonio left, it was obvious that he’d been drinking.
My expression must show the realization that Dr. Miller is most likely right, because he says, “I see you’re starting to piece everything together.”
“Even if this is true, why are you telling me all of this?”
“Edward knew and he was holding it over your father’s head.”
“There’s no way Ed would do that. He couldn’t have known, he loves me.”
“He knew because the senator knows and the senator is good at keeping records of everything and everyone, and as his most trusted intern, I can assure you that Ed knew long before he met you.”
He stands and starts toward the door. “I’m going to get the stuff for your blood draw now. The medicine should be out of your system.”
He walks out of the door and leaves me alone with all this information he’s bee
n force-feeding me. He can’t be telling the truth, but everything about him says that he’s not lying. What reason does he have for lying anyway? What does he have to gain by it?
The meeting with Ed seemed like it was coincidental, but what if it wasn’t? I take a deep, calming breath. I refuse to believe something a stranger tells me, over my family and someone I’ve known for over three years.
I think on how my father talks of my mother, with reverence as though she could do no wrong. But I remember an argument he had with my nonna not long before she died. He wasn’t talking nicely of her then. It didn’t make sense, why she’d stay with him, unless she either didn’t know about what he did, or he didn’t do it. But then she always talked with suspicion about what happened that night.
I remember her saying something like that before she’d died of cancer. She was so high on the pain relievers and she kept talking about Uncle Si signing his daughter’s death warrant. I always attributed that as the conversation of a woman lost to pain medicine and talking out of her mind.
If everything Dr. Miller says is true, then I can’t trust anything anyone has ever told me. How can I be expected to run the family if I don’t know all the facts? That’s when it hits me. My father never intends on giving me reins. He is either going to pass it off to someone else or he is going to let Edward take over.
No, he will never let Ed have control…
I think back over everything. He doesn’t allow me to be there for his meetings with the capos. He doesn’t inform me of anything other than the superficial cover-up business. Everything else, the shipments, the protection money, none of that stuff does he allow me to know anything about.
That motherfucker. He is going to cut me out altogether. He is setting me up with Edward so I’ll be well-connected and still help the family, but from the outside. I’m going to kill him personally. I won’t let him and the senator have a war and give someone else the satisfaction of watching the life drain out of his eyes.
Drs. Miller and Staples walk back through the door. This time Meghan hooks me to an IV and does my blood withdrawal from it. Dr. Miller is at his tanks, checking the gauges and levels.
The Bee Keeper Page 15