in his warm gaze for just a moment before turning back to the group.
"The tournament will be starting shortly," Sylvia said. "Is there anything else you wanted to say, Maya?"
"No, that was it."
"I need to take care of a few things," Alexander said, getting to his feet, along with his wife. He looked at Constantine. "Do you need anything, Uncle?"
"I think I'll also get some air," Constantine said, reaching for his cane.
"I'll walk out with you," Edward told him.
"Dad, do you want to go home?" Lindsay asked Daniel.
"No, I'm playing chess."
"After what you just heard? You don't want to go home?"
"Like Wallace said, I'd rather think about chess than poor Julia. The last thing I want to do is go home and be alone with my thoughts."
"All right. Let me just go tell my friends I'm going to skip drinks. I'll stay here with you."
"No, you go with your friends. I'll be fine here."
Maya was a little surprised that some of the men were just going to continue on with the chess tournament, but then, it had been a long time since most of them had seen Julia. Or maybe they just didn't want to appear as if they were too bothered by her death.
As Daniel and his daughter left, Sylvia moved to her side. "Have you told your father, Maya?"
"Yes," she said.
"He must have been shocked."
"He was. He always thought his mother killed herself."
"I'm not sure which is better to believe," Sylvia murmured, shadows in her eyes. "I'm a little surprised you've decided against making your film, though. You have the ending now."
"I do, but it doesn't feel right. I don't really know what was between Julia and Natasha. You don't know, do you?"
"No. They were much older than me. I knew who they were, but we didn't talk to each other. Did your dad have any thoughts about their relationship?" Sylvia asked.
"No. He said that Natasha considered Julia to be a little sister. And he couldn't imagine what his mother could have done to enrage Julia to such a point that she would kill her. I guess we'll never know. That's why I won't make the movie. I can't make it make sense. There's still a big piece missing."
"Well, I'm sure your father would prefer that there not be a movie."
"He would definitely prefer that, and I think he's had enough heartache when it comes to his mother."
"I would agree with that, having seen some of his early heartache. Tell him…I hope he's well," Sylvia said. "He was a good kid with a bad mother. I hope he's happy now. He always deserved that."
"I think he's happy," she told her, feeling like Sylvia seemed the most kind when she was talking about her dad. She wondered again what kind of relationship they'd had. The spray-painting incident still lingered in her mind. Had there been more between them that night than just a conversation?
"I'm glad he found someone to love," Sylvia said. "And he built the kind of family he wanted, not the one he was born into. At any rate, I need to get to work. You're welcome to stay and watch the chess matches if you like. We waive the membership rules for the final round of the tournament."
"I'll probably just head out. It has been a long day."
"I'm sure it has."
As Sylvia left, Maya looked around the room, wondering if she could get a few words with Jax, but he wasn't at the bar yet. Instead, he was sitting down at a chess table across from Daniel Bragin. Surprise ran through her.
Why did it look like Jax was going to play chess with Bragin?
Maybe she would stay for a while.
"I'm starting my shift in less than a half hour," Jax told Daniel. He'd been surprised when the older man had called him over, especially since Daniel had just left Maya's little gathering at the other end of the room, looking fairly shell-shocked. "I'm not sure I have time to warm you up," he added.
"You can leave whenever you need to," Daniel told him. "But I hope you'll take pity on an old man and help me get my game sharp before my first match."
He didn't know why Bragin wanted to play with him, but all his instincts were screaming caution. And then things got worse... Sylvia came over, giving him a sharp look.
"What's going on here?" she asked.
"Your bartender is going to warm me up," Bragin told her.