Highways & Hostages (32 page)

This was too much to take in. Finn’s mind struggled to grasp just one bit of information and hold on to it. “If you knew I was Julian’s nephew all along, why did you object to me dating your daughter?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You may be Julian’s nephew, but you’re still a bastard, you grew up in a most uncivilized manner, and you are a delinquent. Please educate me. What on earth do you have going for you?”

Every word was like a knife to Finn’s chest, even though it was nothing he hadn’t heard before. It was the blunt, matter-of-fact way von Rothschild laid it all out that made it a thousand times worse. In that moment Finn realized running away to Las Vegas and trying to mold himself into Julian’s image was him trying to escape his shitty background. Julian had given him hope—that he could leave it behind, remake himself, and start a new, upscale life. But von Rothschild had always seen him for what he truly was.

Finn didn’t care anymore what happened to him. Apparently no matter the amount of the distance he put between himself and his past, people only saw the worst part of him and judged him for it.

Billy stumbled from the library, where Christoph was still antagonizing Finn. He was lying. He
had
to be lying. Finn couldn’t be his cousin—Uncle Elliott had never mentioned anything about having a kid when he was alive. And Billy’s father would have said something for sure…unless he’d kept it from Billy like he did everything else, because he believed Billy wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Billy paced the floor of Christoph’s office. All the special treatment Finn had gotten from Julian made sense now: Finn’s father had died, he’d had a shitty childhood, and Billy’s father was trying to make up for it. And all this time, Billy had been jealous of Finn.
Fuck
.

Billy felt guilty for the way he had treated Finn as of late, and he was sorry. Finn was his cousin—they were
actually
related, not just “like” family to each other. And Finn had been in his corner more than anybody. Billy had no idea what to do now, or how to right the situation, but he had to do
something
. It was his fault Finn was in the other room right now, waiting for who-knew-what to happen to him.

While Billy forgave his father for his special treatment of Finn, he couldn’t forgive Julian for not telling him. He was also angry with Christoph; he had saved the information until it benefitted him. Come to think of it, Christoph had yet to actually give Billy
anything
to do for him. He just used the information Billy gave him about Julian’s business plans and had Claudia take it from there. What did Billy have to show for coming over to Christoph’s side of the battle? Not a damn thing. But there wasn’t much he could do now. Billy wasn’t ashamed to admit that Christoph scared him a little bit; he didn’t want to get on the guy’s bad side.

The door connecting the office to the library opened, and Christoph entered with Claudia on his heels. He hobbled to the chair behind his desk and sat down heavily. Claudia perched on the desk.

“What are you going to do with him?” Billy asked, his quavering voice betraying him. “You just said you were going to teach him a lesson. You didn’t say anything about killing anybody.”

Christoph waved a dismissive hand. “He is a problem, and I am a problem solver. Hasn’t he also been
your
problem, William? A thorn in your side? Isn’t this what you wanted? He’ll never bother you again.”

“No—I never wanted this. I thought you were going to make him do the grunt work or have Marc and Tobias rough him up. Not kill him. He’s my cousin!”

“What difference does it make? He might share some of your blood but he’s not one of us, Billy,” Claudia said. She turned her attention to her manicure.

Holy shit, Claudia was a bitch. That didn’t mean he didn’t still want to screw her, though.

“He cared about you!” Billy said, incredulous.

“And then he tried to send me to prison!” Claudia hopped off the desk and lifted her hands. “I’m not really involved in any of this. I’m just helping my father take care of a few things until he’s back on his feet.”

“You Tased him!”

“No, I used a stun gun. Fifteen million volts of power right in the palm of my hand.”

“Okay, you used a stun gun. Big
difference. You still knocked him out!”

“As I remember it, Billy, it was
you
who stunned him. I saw you do it. Your jealousy of his relationship with your father got the best of you and you snapped.”

Billy looked from Claudia to Christoph in confusion. “What are you talking about? That’s not what happened at all.”

Claudia folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Of course that’s not what happened. But that’s what I’ll tell the police or anybody else who asks.”

Billy held his hands up. “I’m not going to say anything, okay? Let’s all just calm down. There’s got to be some other way out of this if we think about it. Let’s all just think about it.”

“What do you think we should do, Claudia?” Christoph asked, fingers steepled on the desk in front of him.

“Let’s do what he says and think about it.” Claudia sat back on the desk and folded her legs, then looked at Billy with cold eyes. “I think we have a new problem that needs solving.”

Stella, 7:31 p.m.

“So that’s what really happened on my trip to Texas,” Stella finished. She had just spilled her guts about her trip to Valerie and Phoebe, both of whom sat gaping at her. “And after all that, all the frustration, and finally realizing how I feel, he’s with some other woman.”

“Holy crap, Stella! Why didn’t you tell me? This is better than any of the crazy stuff that happens to me!” Valerie exclaimed.

Stella shrugged. “The whole thing has been pretty fucking weird. Excuse my French.”

“Maybe he’s just using her as a rebound hookup to forget about you?” Valerie suggested. “No wonder Blondie and Mr. Hot Stuff always looked so mysterious; they’re criminals!” Her voice dropped an octave. “Is it wrong for me to say that it makes them even hotter?”

Stella glared at her. “Finn stood me up, remember? We don’t like them. At all.”

“Right. Of course not. Not one bit,” Valerie said unconvincingly. She hesitated. “So this means I can’t ask Mr. Hot Stuff out?”

Stella took a pillow from the couch and whacked her friend with it. “I don’t know why I put up with you.”

“Because I put a smile on your face when you need it. And I tell you the truth. Which reminds me, that eye shadow you wore yesterday didn’t work for you.”

“Val—”

“Hey,” Phoebe cut in. “Can we get back to the original subject? Stella’s in love with the guy who kidnapped her, and this guy’s friend kidnapped me.”

“Isn’t that called Stockholm Syndrome?” Valerie asked.

Stella waved her hands in the air. “Why does everyone keep saying that? I’m not in love with anyone. It’s just—Finn made me feel a certain way. It was nice, but now it’s over. I just wanted to tell you guys so I could get it all out of my system and move on with my life.”

“Uh huh,” Valerie said at the same Phoebe chimed in with, “Sure.”

Stella unfolded herself from the couch and started picking up empty plates and cups. “It’s over, and I’m ready to move on. It never would have worked anyway; we’re totally different from each other.”

“Did you come up with that line before or after he broke your heart?” Valerie asked. “Because you always get super domestic with all this baking and cleaning business when you’re trying to distract yourself from something you don’t want to deal with. Remember when your mom told you Paolo was the same age as you? You brought muffins in to the bar every day for a week. Or what about when you met Derek’s mother for the first time? I never even knew there were that many types of pie—”

“Okay, we get it,” Stella said.

“Can the pie thing happen again? I love strawberry pie,” Phoebe said.

Valerie rolled her eyes. “My point is, just let yourself be upset. Let it all out instead of sweeping it under the rug. Just because you finally confided in us doesn’t mean it will erase your feelings.”

Stella blinked. “That is
not
what I thought you were going to say at all. I was expecting something like, ‘Climb onto the next saddle and keep it moving!’”

Valerie flashed a wicked grin. “That was coming next.”

“I’ll take your advice into consideration,” Stella said. She took the dishes into the kitchen, dumped them in the sink, then ran back into the living room.

“I just can’t stop going over the fact that he gave me his grandmother’s recipes. Why would he do that, and then turn around and hook up with some other woman?”

Valerie shrugged. “Who knows how men think? I certainly don’t.”

Stella’s phone trilled on the coffee table. She leaned forward to look at the screen, but didn’t recognize the number.

“Who is it?” Valerie asked.

“Maybe it’s Finn calling to explain,” Phoebe said.

“If that’s the case don’t you dare answer it!” Valerie cut in. “Let him suffer.”

“I don’t recognize the number, but it’s a Nevada area code,” Stella said as the phone beeped. “Whoever it was left a voicemail.”

Valerie and Phoebe looked at the phone hungrily, ready to pounce. Stella scooped it up. “I’m going to listen to it in the kitchen…
alone
.”

Phoebe opened her mouth as if to complain, so Stella hurried to the other room. Once there, she pressed the play button and held the phone up to her ear.

“Yeah, Stacey, hi. This is Alex, a friend of Finn’s. I was wondering if you’ve seen him today. I was with him last night when you made plans to meet up for dinner today. He said he’d stop by before, but he never made it, and his phone is off. Could you just let me know if you’ve seen him? Thanks.”

The message ended, and Stella stood holding the phone to her ear for a moment longer. She finally walked back into the living room.

“You guys, that was the weirdest message,” she said. “It was from Finn’s friend.”

“Was it Will? I wanna rip that guy to shreds,” Phoebe said. “If I had the chance, his eyebrows wouldn’t be the only things missing. I’d tear off each of his limbs, and make a necklace with his teeth.”

Stella and Valerie stared at her.

“What?” Phoebe asked, the picture of innocence. “I went through a very traumatic experience.”

“Who’s Will? Oh—Billy! No, it wasn’t that creep, but when we find him, you can get in line for the ass-kicking. It was Alex,” Stella said. Seeing Valerie’s confused expression, Stella added, “Mr. Hot Stuff.”

“Ah! So now you have his number, and can pass it on to a lonely single friend, right?” Valerie asked with a wide smile.

“That’s exactly what I’m
not
going to do. Come on, guys, listen. Alex said Finn told him he would stop by and see him before he left town today, but he never showed. Finn agreed to meet me for dinner, and never showed. When I called, I didn’t even get him on the phone—just some woman who said he was busy.”

Phoebe and Valerie exchanged a look.

“Soooo?” Valerie asked.

Stella bit her lip. “I think something’s wrong. I feel it in my gut.”

“Maybe he’s being held hostage by the bald guy.” Phoebe’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “Holy shit! It was her! The voice—it was her!”

Stella glanced at Valerie. Maybe Phoebe wasn’t as okay with everything as she said she was.
Should I talk to Derek about counseling?

“The woman who was there when I was kidnapped! That was her voice when I called Finn back. Now that I think about it, she asked me about you. It sounded like she was jealous.”

“Oh my God!” Valerie exclaimed. “This is better than any soap opera episode I’ve ever seen. I feel like I need some popcorn, but these empanadas will do.”

Stella waved at Valerie to be quiet. “Phoebe, what are you talking about?”

Phoebe hesitated. “After you called Finn and threw your phone, I picked it up and hit redial. I recognized the voice that answered, but I couldn’t place it until now.”

At least she has the decency to look ashamed
, Stella thought. “What are you saying?”

“I bet you he’s at the mansion with her and the bald guy.”

“Maybe he defected to the other side like his friend,” Valerie suggested.

“No. He values loyalty; he wouldn’t betray Julian.” Stella bit her lip.

Valerie arched an eyebrow. “And you know this after spending a few days with him?”

“Yeah.” Stella’s voice was firm. “I do.”

Valerie waved her empanada in the air. “So, what happens now? We call the police?”

“And tell them what? Even if we did tell the truth, do you think they’d believe us or do anything about it? Finn wouldn’t even be considered a missing person until after twenty-four hours, and who knows what could happen by then,” Stella said.

“You could call Derek,” Phoebe suggested.

Valerie rolled her eyes. “Gee, that’s a great idea: call your old boyfriend to rescue your new boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend. And I’m not calling Derek…not yet, anyway,” Stella said.

Phoebe jumped off the couch. “You can’t just leave him there! That bald guy was scary as hell. He acts all nice, but his eyes are creepy.”

“So what do
you
suggest we do?” Stella asked.

Phoebe crossed her arms. “We go get him ourselves.”

“Absolutely not. I’m calling Alex back, and
he
can figure out what to do.”

Phoebe stuck her lip out and plopped back onto the couch as Stella dialed.

Stella paced the floor of the living room. The call went straight to voicemail. She hung up and looked at Valerie and Phoebe.

“Voicemail. What should I do?”

“What Phoebe said—we rescue him,” Valerie replied.

“But—”

“Answer me this: if the situation were reversed, would
he
come to
your
rescue?”

Stella thought about all of the times during their journey she’d caught Finn looking at her out of the corner of his eye. The times he’d teased her, and showed her he wasn’t as much of a badass as he pretended to be, like when he opened her car door or pulled her chair out. The gentle way he’d kissed her yesterday. The envelope of family recipes on her dresser.