All I've Never Wanted(114)

I swear Roman’s eyes turned almost black at that moment, and legitimate fear entered my system at how angry he looked. “I’m nothing like my father,” he hissed. “Maya, let’s go.” With that, he all but dragged me away to the other side of the foyer, leaving his mother behind as she snagged a champagne flute from a passing tray.

“Roman—“ I began.

“Don’t,” he said in a clipped voice. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”


I fell silent until we joined the rest of our friends, who had set up camp near the stairwell.

“Woman of the hour!” Parker cried when he saw me. “You look ravishing, honeybee.” He winked at me.

Ridiculous as always, but it eased some of the tension.

“My-My, where’s Mickey?” Zack asked excitedly, peering around me like Mickey was right behind me.

“At home. I couldn’t bring him here.”

His face fell. “Why?”

I laughed. “Zack, I’m beginning to think you love my dog more than you love me,” I teased.

Zack shrugged and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, but Mickey’s cute and fluffy and while you’ve got the cuteness down you’re a bit lacking in the fluffiness department.”

The others laughed. Even Roman cracked a small smile.

“It’s good to see you,” Carlo said, smiling at me while the others started chatting about the best breed of dog to have as a pet, which segued into who owned the most horses. So far, it seemed as though Adriana’s seven Arabians beat everyone else’s collection. “I haven’t spoken to you in a while.”

“I know,” I said guiltily. I haven’t had a real conversation with him in at least a week. He always seemed distracted, and I was just so busy with college applications, school, and Roman. “How’ve you been?” I hesitated, then added, “Are you and Rico getting along better?”

The moment I said Rico’s name, I couldn’t help but think about what James told me. I’ve never asked Carlo if it was true. I just couldn’t think of how to bring it up.

Carlo stared at me for a moment, his dark eyes searching my face. “You know.” His voice was matter-of-fact.

I blinked. “Know what?”

“About Rico.”

My jaw dropped. How did he do that? “H-how did you--?”

Carlo chuckled, looking a bit sad. “Your face is like an open book, Maya. I’m assuming someone told you?”

I nodded.

“And you want to know if it’s true.” It was a statement, not a question.

I nodded again.

He sighed, fiddling with his flute of champagne. “Honestly, I don’t even know. Rico was definitely involved with a gang, and they definitely participated in some…unsavory activities. However, I can’t tell you for sure if he personally engaged in anything more serious than the occasional fight with a rival gang, maybe some grand theft auto and robbery.”

I swallowed. Gang fights. Grand theft auto. Robbery. Wasn’t that bad enough?

“He had to leave though, because he was accused of—“ Carlo hesitated. “Of raping somebody, but I suppose you know that. Rico’s always denied it. He said he was framed by the gang’s leader—who conveniently disappeared soon after—but there was no hard evidence. It was enough for my dad to send him out of the country though, it was too much of a scandal.”

“And now he’s back.” I couldn’t quite believe it.

Carlo nodded guiltily. “I shouldn’t have let you stay at my house, it wasn’t safe. It’s just—“ He sighed. “I may not like him very much, but he’s still my brother. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.” He paused, a concerned look sliding over his face. “Did he—“

“No! No.” I shook my head. “He didn’t do anything to me.”

Nothing beyond creeping me out, anyway. “So you guys still aren’t talking to each other?”

“Oh, we are, if you call the occasional jab and insult ‘talking,’” Carlo said wryly. “He’s here tonight, you know.”

I looked around. Rico had disappeared. “I know. I saw him earlier.”

“Saw who earlier?” Adriana had stopped talking about her horses and was tuned in to our conversation. The others gazed at me curiously.

“Rico,” Carlo said casually. Judging from the looks on the their faces, the others already knew all about him.

“Ah.” Adriana looked at me. “Who told you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

I cleared my throat. “Um, James.”

Roman snorted and looked away. Even Parker and Zack looked a bit disturbed.

“James what?”

“Holtzman.”

Adriana tilted her head, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“Holtzman? That sounds familiar.”

“Probably. His dad is in business too, you’ve probably heard about him that way,” I explained.

She pursed her lips. “Maybe.”


Before we could dwell on it any longer, the butler announced that dinner was ready.

Everyone filed into the dining room, and when dinner was served, I couldn’t help but gape at the lavish spread in front of me. According to the calligraphed menu in front of me, it was a French gourmet dinner, with winter fruit and nut stuffing, herbed potato gratin, the juiciest turkey I’ve ever seen, and several other dishes I couldn’t pronounce.