All I've Never Wanted(126)

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 f*cking 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.”