All I've Never Wanted (45 page)

There was a short pause. “Wasn’t it—Henderson? Or something?” Venice tried. “Something beginning with an H, I’m sure.”

“I think she said Holtzman at Thanksgiving,” Carlo said quietly.

“Holtzman. Holtzman, Holtzman.” Adriana’s face screwed up in concentration. “
Why
is that so familiar?” She looked at them. “Am I the only one who thinks so?”

Roman racked his brain but came up with nothing. “I don’t remember hearing it.”

“Actually…” Carlo said slowly. “It does ring a bell, but I don’t remember when I heard it.”

“Is it really important, though? I mean, James is really nice. I don’t think he’s the kidnapper. We’ve probably just watched way too many detective movies,” Venice insisted.

“No, I need to figure out where I’ve heard that name.” Adriana’s mouth was set in a stubborn line. Suddenly, she gasped, all the color draining from her face. “Oh my god.”

Roman’s head snapped up. “What?” he nearly shouted, his heart in his throat.

She didn’t answer him. Instead, she whipped out her phone and furiously typed something into it.

“Adri! Answer me!” He was full-out shouting by now. “Now’s not the time to text!”

Adriana’s hands stilled as she stared at something on the screen. Then slowly, ever so slowly, she held her phone up.

“You guys. I think you need to look at this.”

They immediately crowded around her phone. There was a picture of Rico two years ago, walking out of the courthouse after he’d been acquitted of rape charges. It wasn’t the picture that was chilling, though, it was the headline that accompanied it:
Tevasco Heir Found Not Guilty in Toni Holtzman Case.

*              *              *

“Well, that looked painful.” James’ face was half-amused, half-disgusted as he eyed the vomit on the floor. “It’s a good thing I brought some water.” He turned to Tattoo Guy. “How long has she been up, Carson?”

“Not too long.” Carson’s own face displayed one hundred percent disgust. “She’s quite a chatty one.”

I barely heard the rest of their conversation through the loud buzzing in my ears. It was like there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room.

James. James. James. James was the one responsible for this? Was this some kind of sick joke? Why would he do this? He was supposed to be my friend!

My breath was shallow and labored as a cold sweat broke out on my forehead.

“Why?” My voice was weak, but it did cause the other two to stop talking.

“Why what?” James asked, unscrewing the bottle cap and holding it to my mouth like I wasn’t tied up and kidnapped. I ignored it, my eyes burning into his face.

“Why did you do this?” I asked through gritted teeth.

He sighed, lowering his arm and capping the bottle again before tossing it carelessly into the plastic bag dangling from his arm. He nodded at Carson, who shot me one last disgusted glance before exiting through the side door James came through in.

James pulled up a chair and sat right across from me, too close for my liking. If I’d been able to move, I would have flinched away.

“Maya, Maya, Maya.” His eyes searched mine. “It’s really your own fault, you know.” He sounded almost sad.

My own fault? Was he kidding me? He was insane! My thoughts must’ve reflected on my face, because James just shook his head and clucked his tongue.

“I honestly thought we were going to be good friends. When I saw you at Stan’s party, you were like a breath of fresh air. I especially admired the way you stood up to Roman—“ His voice soured a bit. “If you’d kept that up, we really could’ve been great friends. But then you had to go and date Parker.” James’ face darkened. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, you started being
friends
with the Scions. You lived in Carlo’s house. You dumped Parker for Roman.” He laughed humorlessly. “Turns out you’re more of a social climber than I thought.”

I could literally feel my blood boiling. “I am
not
a social climber,” I hissed. “Not that I need to explain anything to you, but Parker and I weren’t really dating, and I’m dating Roman because I actually
like
him.”

“Right. Because there’s so much to like,” James said sarcastically. “Please, Maya, spare me. Although I suppose it’s all for the best, because it seems as though that arrogant little scumbag has really fallen for you, which certainly makes my plan that much easier.”

His words left a horrible taste in my mouth. Although that could also be because I’d just puked my guts out earlier.

“What plan?”

He sighed. “You really aren’t as smart as I’d imagined. It was all part of the plan. All of it.”

All part of the plan? What was he—

Suddenly, I froze, and it took all I had not to throw up again. “You. You’re the one who hired Lexi.” My voice was flat.

James didn’t even blink. “Yes.”

“Why?” That seemed to be the question of the day.

He sighed again. “Well, I think I’ll just answer your questions in the order they were asked, if you don’t mind,” he said almost merrily. “I was the one who placed Lexi at your father’s company. I got her that internship. Not hard, considering my uncle works in the human resources department—that just so happens to be a stroke of luck on my part. She’s very good at her job, as you must have noticed. Although she never did get him to sleep with her.”

James smirked. “That would’ve been so much more entertaining. “Then, lo and behold, I found out you were going to New York that day. Did you really think I bumped into you by accident there? Out of all the stores in all the world—“ His mouth twisted. “You should’ve figured it out. Barneys isn’t my type of store at all. But I was there, keeping an eye on you. I heard you were all planning to go to Masa, so I called Lexi and let her know. She convinced your father to take her there for dinner and, well, the rest is history.” He chuckled.

I was seeing red. He should be glad I’m tied up, because if I wasn’t, I would’ve made damn sure he’d never be able to have children ever again. We didn’t need any more sick, twisted people like him again. And to think I’d considered him my friend.

My face burned at the humiliation of having been so easily duped. “Is this a family vendetta thing?” I demanded, wishing I could move my leg so I could kick him right in the groin. Since I still had stilettos on, that would’ve hurt. A lot. And there was nothing I wanted more than to see James in pain right now. “Why did you hire Lexi?

James ran a hand through his sandy hair. He had the nerve to look chagrined. “It was collateral damage, really. If you hadn’t started dating Parker—“

“We weren’t dating!” 

He ignored me. “If you hadn’t started dating him, none of this would’ve happened.” He stared at me. “You see, I wanted revenge. Unfortunately, the Scions—“ He spit out the name. “—are a tough group to crack. I knew I couldn’t attack one of them directly. It wouldn’t work, not with the devastation I needed, and I would lose the element of surprise. I needed to find some sort of alternate way to get to them, and what better way than to destroy one of their girlfriends? Although you have to believe me when I say I wish it wasn’t you. I wish Roman wasn’t in love with you. But—“ He shrugged. “C’est la vie.”

Inanely, I actually felt my heart skip when James said Roman was in love with me, but now is so not the time to focus on that. How would he even know?

Then again, he knows a lot of stuff about you that you didn’t think he knew.
The thought brought me back to the present. “Revenge for what?”

Maybe if I kept him talking, I could stall whatever else he had planned. I’m not sure what he did have planned, but it definitely couldn’t be good. 

James’ eyes narrowed, and I suddenly felt more afraid than I ever had. “For what they did to my cousin.”

Now I was confused. “Wait. Wh-what? Who’s your cousin?”

He gripped his chair. “Toni. My cousin. My best friend in the whole world. She was the sweetest girl, but that was before he raped her and left her for dead.”

The breath whooshed out of my lungs. “Who?” I whispered, afraid to know the answer.

“Rico Tevasco.” James’ lips curled up in disgust. “That fucking bastard. It was him, no matter what his fancy lawyers said. I
know
it was him. But he got off scot-free, didn’t he? Flew off to another country, leaving the people he ruined to pick up the pieces.”

I was too shocked to say anything for a minute. I remembered him warning me about Rico that night at Carlo’s house. The girl—she was his
cousin?
My head spun. This was all too much.

“But he doesn’t have anything to do with Roman and the others,” I blurted. “I mean, he’s Carlo’s brother, but they don’t even get along!”

“Please.” James laughed bitterly. “They all helped him. The Remingtons, the Tevascos, the Fioris, the Perrys. They’ve all been friends for generations. You really think they’re going to let one of their own go to jail, even if he was guilty?” There was fire in his eyes. “Yes, Maya, your precious little boyfriend helped Rico get away with rape and attempted murder. How does that make you feel?”

“That’s not true,” I whispered, feeling sick. Roman wouldn’t do anything like that. He had his faults, but he wouldn’t do that. Carlo wouldn’t do that either. “You don’t know for sure Rico did it.”

“Who else could’ve? Do you know, after he was proclaimed innocent, Toni
killed
herself? Did you?” James shouted, anger erupting out of him like a surprise volcano. A vein bulged in his neck. “And I couldn’t do anything about it! Rico was gone! Gone! The Scions were the only ones left, and when I stood over her grave, I promised her I would get revenge if it was the last thing I did!”

I couldn’t help but whimper a bit. Angry James was, honestly, terrifying.

He stopped, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he seemed to have regained some control. “Luckily, my uncle was more than happy to help. That was his daughter. And Lexi—“ He took another breath. “I probably could’ve gotten her to help even if I didn’t offer to pay her.”

Suddenly I flashed back to the picture I’d found in the Fioris’ bathroom. “But—but she and Rico knew each other,” I stuttered.

Surprise flitted across James’ face. “So you found out.” He smirked, doing a complete one-eighty. I was beginning to think he was bipolar, on top of being utterly and completely psychotic. Fantastic. “I’m guessing you don’t know they had an affair?”

My jaw dropped.
What?

“That’s right,” he continued. “Lexi was dating the gang leader, but she was carrying on with Rico behind his back. Of course, once she found out what Rico did, she was sickened. Broken-hearted. She wanted revenge almost as much as I did.”

“Oh my god,” I whispered.

This was too much information. Too much. Spots danced across my vision, and I felt like I was going to faint. But I couldn’t. God knew what he was going to do to me if I ever passed out.

“So you weren’t ever really my friend.” My voice trembled. “You were just using me. plotting against me.”

James stared at me pityingly, a slightly sad look in his eyes. “Like I said, I’m really sorry it had to be you.”

Then he reached into his bag again, only this time, instead of pulling out a bottle of water, he pulled out a large, gleaming butcher’s knife.

My heart stopped.

“It’s nothing personal. But you have to understand. I have to keep my promise.”

I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. All I could focus on was that knife. I pictured him bringing it down, the sharp blade cutting through my flesh, the life slowly draining from me as I bled to death, morbid thoughts that were overtaken by flashes of my life so far.