Page 11 of The Billionaire's Lost Family

Wesley waited for an intuitive warning to flicker in his gut, to give an indication that he was about to make a mistake. But his mom had always had a knack for reading people, and she said you can always read in the eyes what people left unsaid. This man’s unspoken words hinted at newfound keys to doors long since locked.

He wanted to be taken to Hazel. Wesley supposed there wasn’t much harm in that.

“Okay,” Wesley said.

The man’s kind, wrinkled face cracked into a gratified smile. He spoke again in his native language, but Wesley only signaled him to follow.

The hotel’s yellow, peeling exterior came into view. Wesley caught sight of a parting in the curtain to his and Hazel’s room. He quickened his pace, and the older man kept up easily, still gripping her mother’s hat.

The car that had nearly hit Wesley earlier was pulled off to the side of the road. Hazel stood on the sidewalk behind it, arms folded across her chest. She’d changed into her pajama shorts and tank top, and her dark hair was piled in a bun on her head.

“I’m sorry about your car,” Wesley heard her say.

“I’m sorry too. Sorry this unfortunate situation happened to you,” Franco said.

Franco was there? Wesley quickened his pace, wondering what had happened. What had detained their translator from coming earlier?

“Hazel!” Wesley called, raising a hand to get her attention.

Relief stole over her face, but then she noticed Ivan marching along beside Wesley, and her expression hardened once more. “I was beginning to worry about you,” she said. “Did everything go okay? Who’s this?”

“I’m fine,” Wesley assured her, trying to figure out where to start and how to explain the strange man he’d brought to her.

Hazel pressed her hands to Wesley’s waist, looking him over as if checking for injuries. “What happened?”

“I’m fine, I’ll explain in a minute. Hey, Franco,” Wesley greeted. Franco nodded his head in response, and then shook Ivan’s hand as well. “Did something happen this morning?”

“Sim,” Franco said, using the word Wesley began to suspect meant ‘yes.’ “Apologies, my car did not start. I had to have repairs done to it. I did try calling Miss Hazel, but—”

“But my phone was missing,” she finished.

“But when her assistant contacted me to tell me what happened to you, I get another car from my friend and come here at once.”

Wesley was touched at Franco’s thoughtfulness. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Wesley said with heart. “But…” He pulled the phone Ivan had handed to him from his pocket and placed it in his wife’s hand. “Turns out I found her phone.”

Hazel’s eyes widened. Her eager gaze darted from Wesley to Ivan and back. “What the—how did you get it back?”

“This man somehow found your bag,” Wesley said, deciding to go with the truth. Or what he knew of the truth. “I’m not sure how, but he found it. And because of that, he also has your mother’s hat.”

The phone nearly slipped from her hand. Wesley caught it before it could topple to the sidewalk.

“What?” Her perfectly pink lips parted. “How?” She turned to Franco as if he knew the answer.

“Sim.” Ivan pointed to his chest again. He said a few words in Portuguese and then produced the hat from his back pocket. It looked even more rumpled and downtrodden than before.

Hazel reacted far quicker than Wesley had. “You found it? Oh, thank you. I’m so glad, thank you!”

Delight gleamed in Ivan’s eyes. This time he allowed Hazel to take the hat. Wesley stroked Hazel’s back, needing something to ground him in the moment. Hazel held the hat close to her chest.

Meanwhile, Ivan clapped his hands as if in delight and raised his eyes to heaven. “Graças a Deus. É ela.” His speech continued in rapid Portuguese, and even though Wesley didn’t understand a single word, he read well enough the delight in the man’s expression and the tears pooling in his eyes.

“What is he saying?” Hazel demanded, not unkindly. More like a hopeful, desperate request.

Franco cleared his throat. “This man says he found your purse on the roadside during his walk to the market this morning. Its contents were spilled out and he bent to replace them in the bag when he ran after a paper that had flurried away in the wind.”

Ivan continued speaking, waving for Franco to continue. He did.

“He opened the paper and could not believe his eyes. It was a notice from the hat factory he and his wife worked at.”

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