Chapter 16

Abe drove his car through a gate to some overpriced apartment buildings. Driving into the space, I could hardly believe it was the same squished city, with four buildings, each with four floors, a parking lot and a lot of space to comfortable move around. He parked the car and we both stepped out, and I followed his lead.

We went to the nearest building to us. There were steps that led all the way to the top, but we only climbed up to the third floor. Abe pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door.

“Every floor goes to a single person,” Abe explained, letting us into the apartment. “There are several rooms and bedrooms, and Maria actually has this floor and the one above it. Sometimes, I come here even when she isn’t around when I can't be bothered to go all the way home.”

“And is she home today?” I asked cautiously, looking around.

“Well, she’s been out of town the past few days. Actually, I think she went somewhere on Saturday, before I even called you up, and she hasn’t said a thing to me yet, so she might not be back yet.”

I scowled at him, but he didn’t see it. I moved farther into the apartment, anyway. Neither of us got very far, because we heard the sound of someone coming toward us. I froze in panic, but felt an arm around me before I could give into my need to run.

“It’s just my sister,” he murmured comfortingly. “My parents never come here, very few people don’t come here, and you’ve met Maria before.”

“Sure,” I muttered, “Over eight years ago when she was still a kid. She was barely twelve when we first met, in case you’ve forgotten.”

I waited as she came into view. I remembered Maria, and how much she’d looked like Abe when she was younger. She had the same dark hair and hazel eyes. She should be a young woman now, but in my mind I had the image of an awkward pre-teen girl. She’s just been coming into herself when I last saw her, but it had been a while—six years to be exact, before I had seen her and vice versa.

So, imagine my shock when she came into view in a baggy crop top and yoga pants, with bare feet, that showed off her very grown up body. Her thick hair fell around her with a bit of a curl at the ends, and she was running her fingers through the strands as she came toward us, only to freeze with one hand in her hair as she stared at me, her jaw dropping.

“Maria, hey,” Abe said slowly, looking between the two of us. “Sorry for intruding, but I expected you to be gone for a while.”

“What are you doing here?” Maria acted like she hadn't heard him, pointing a finger at me. “It’s definitely you, right? The woman from the event. What the hell are you doing here?”

The expression on her face was complicated, and I wondered if she would thank me for unmasking Paul in front of her, or curse me out for it. After a long moment where I couldn’t figure out what to say to her, Abe cut in.

“What are you talking about? What event? And how could you not recognize Brooklyn? I know it’s been six years, but your memory is usually a lot better than that.”

“The wine tasting even out in California,” she said, glancing over at me. “Remember? You received an invite and you told me about it, but you said you weren’t going. I looked into it, and I had to be in Cali at the time, so I went.”

Abe frowned. “Why did you go to California? And why not tell me?”

“It was something to do with the wedding, so I didn’t think you needed to know,” she said impatiently. Then she froze and stared at me with wide eyes and her jaw dropped. “Wait, she’s Brooklyn?”

Abe rolled his eyes. “Is that only registering to you now? Yes, she’s Brooklyn, and we went to the wine tasting event. How the hell did I not see you?” He turned to me with confused eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you saw her there?”

“I had no idea it was her,” I said awkwardly, shrugging my shoulder. “I told you already, there was no way I could have recognized her.”

He turned his gaze to his sister. “Fine, then, you. How did you not recognize her when you’ve definitely met her plenty of times before? I know she’s changed, but it’s not that much. Or is it just that you haven’t seen her for so long?”

“Well, it could be that,” Maria said defensively, puffing her cheeks up a bit. At Abe’s frown, though, she wilted. “All right. I was out there with my fiancé, and I might have been a little intoxicated from the wine. I was all over him until this woman came over and started spewing some stuff, I just…didn’t look at her closely.”

I watched the siblings chat, still caught up in the cluster fuck this whole mess was growing into. So, not only was Paul two-timing Nora, but he was even using Abe’s little sister.

“What exactly happened and how come I don’t know a thing about it?”

“Uh, you might have actually sent them, you just don’t remember,” I cut in. “Remember that man, and the woman that was closer to him? I think you might have seen at least their backs before—”

Abe frowned, and we both waited for him to figure it out. I knew when he did, because his eyes went wide open and he turned to look at me.

“Wait a minute. Don’t tell me...Paul? And my sister. He was with her at the wine tasting event?”

I nodded slowly, and he cursed.

“Who the hell is Paul?” Maria asked, frowning. She still hadn't caught up, and she had her hands fisted on her hips as she faced the two of us. “What the fuck is going on here? And who the hell is Paul, anyway, his name is Chris.”

Abe and I both looked over at her, surprised as if the penny was slowly, but surely falling and we were all seeing that something was wrong and it ended and started with the man that his sister and my best friend were supposed to be marrying soon.