My blood ran cold even as anger heated up my stomach at the sight of Lexi’s smug face.
I was so shocked and furious I was literally shaking, but my feet were rooted to the ground as she turned to walk away with the man by her side.
Probably another happily married man she’s seduced, I thought, clenching my hands into fists.
“Want me to go scare her a little?” Roman’s voice broke through my thoughts. “I can’t hit her, obviously, but I can be quite intimidating if I want to.”
I looked up at him, cracking a tiny smile at the serious expression on his face. “Thanks, but I can handle it,” I said, my voice hard.
Without waiting for a reply, I stormed over to where she’d stopped at a food vendor. Resisting the urge to yank her around and bitch slap her, I settled for a rough tap, almost a push, on the shoulder instead.
Lexi whipped around, looking annoyed. “Oh, it’s you again. What do you want?” she asked.
“Why?” I demanded.
She stared at me like I was crazy, while her date just looked confused. She didn’t recognize me. Not that I expected her to, considering I’ve only seen her once and she probably hadn’t gotten a good look at the crazy crying girl running out of the restaurant that night.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said coolly.
I crossed my arms over my chest. Bitch slap. Now! my mind yelled at me, but I held back. I felt Roman come up behind me, his scent calming me down a little, but to my surprise, the man Lexi was with broke out into a smile.
“Roman! How are you?” he asked jovially, holding out one hand.
Both Lexi and I turned to stare at Roman, who now had a polite smile on his face. It looked jarringly out of place next to the giant pink pig in his arms. “Mr. Henderson, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” he said, reaching out to take the man’s hand.
Wait. He knew him?
“How is your father? I haven’t spoken to him since we had that business summit in Switzerland,” Mr. Henderson said, shaking Roman’s hand.
“He’s doing well, thank you for asking, although he’s busy as always.” Roman flicked his eyes toward me. “As a matter of fact, he wanted to ask you about the Wyatt-Triage merger last week…”
He led Mr. Henderson to a bench out of earshot, talking about some business concerns the whole way. Huh. I didn’t even know Roman knew anything about his father’s business dealings.
Nevertheless, gratitude seeped through me. It was obvious he wanted me to speak to Lexi without an audience.
“I’m sorry, but I have no idea who you are,” Lexi said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Right. Back to the task at hand.
I leveled her with a glare that could’ve slain a hundred dragons, had they actually existed. “No, but I know who you are. Lexi, right?”
She suddenly stiffened, narrowing her eyes at me as recognition spread across her face. “Ah. Arnold Lindberg’s daughter, I’m assuming. I should have guessed. You have the exact same eyes.”
This time I was the one who stiffened. How did she know automatically who I was? Maybe she really did recognize me and had just pretended not to.
My question must’ve been written all over my face, because Lexi rolled her eyes, twirling her hair around her fingers. I couldn’t believe my dad had cheated on mom for her. She acted like some stupid, ditzy teenage girl!
“I suppose I can tell you part of the truth now, just because I’ve already gotten paid, and I certainly don’t need you complicating my relationship with Thomas,” she said in a bored voice. I assume Thomas was Mr. Henderson’s first name.
“What’s there to tell? You seduced my dad, knowing full well he had a wife,” I hissed, the rage boiling up inside me like a volcano about to erupt.
Lexi didn’t even blink. “True.”
I’ve never been a particularly violent person, but at the moment, I wanted to smack that smirk off her face.
“I have to say, though, it wasn’t necessarily my idea.”
A cold, penetrating chill slid down my spine. “What are you talking about?” I demanded through gritted teeth.
She eyed me almost pityingly. “I never really worked at your father’s company. I was a temporary intern there, and I only took the internship to get close to him.”
I felt dizzy as my mind scrambled to make sense of her words. “You said it wasn’t your idea,” I accused.
Lexi rolled her eyes like I was a particularly dumb child. “It’s not. Someone made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. It was simple. Seduce your father, shake up his marriage a bit, and I get paid.” She shrugged. “The fact that you saw us that night at Masa only made things easier.”
That was when I snapped. All the pent-up anger I’ve been feeling towards my father and Lexi fueled the loud slap I delivered across her face. I could hear it even over the cheesy carnival music, and several passersby had stopped to gawk at the drama.
Roman and Mr. Henderson, however, didn’t seem to have noticed yet.
“Wow, so you’re a prostitute. Why doesn’t that surprise me?” I spat, feeling sick to my stomach. How could there be people in the world who were callous and greedy enough to break up someone’s family for money?
Although I lived in Valesca. That sort of stuff shouldn’t even surprise me.
To my ire, Lexi didn’t look particularly put out by my slap or accusation. It was like she was used to it, which she probably was.
“Au contraire, my dear, I’m not a prostitute,” she drawled, reaching up to touch her face lightly. “I just hit some hard times and like I said, someone made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Honestly, you shouldn’t be taking this out on me. I’m not the one diabolical enough to come up with the plan. I was just carrying out orders.”
I stared at her, trying to discern if she was lying or not. She stared right back, her eyes not leaving mine. She looked almost bored by our conversation, but a horrible gut feeling told me she was telling the truth.
“Who was it?” I demanded. “Who was the person who paid you?”
Lexi just shrugged. “Sorry, hon, but I’ve told you all I could. Besides, you think I’ll tell you after that little slap?” She smirked. “Word of advice though? Be careful who you let into your life.” She flicked her eyes over to where Roman and Mr. Henderson were seated. “Not everyone has your best interests at heart.”
With that, she turned and started to walk away, but after a few steps looked over her shoulder and added, “If it makes you feel better though, I didn’t sleep with your precious father. Actually, you can commend him for holding out so long. I’m very good when it comes to men.”
I just stood there, stunned, as I watched her and Mr. Henderson say their goodbyes to Roman and disappear into a waiting Town Car. Roman walked over, a concerned look on his face, but I couldn’t move.
My mind was spinning faster than the carousel I was standing next do, and the carnival music was jumbling up all my thoughts. Breathe…just breathe…
“What’s wrong? What did she say?” Roman asked, a frown creasing his brow as he touched my shoulder.
It wasn’t until then that I noticed I was shivering.
“Nothing.” My voice sounded far away. “Nothing at all.”
Nothing except something that had thrown yet another wrench into my life. Who could possibly have hired her? I felt nauseous at the thought that it might be one of my friends, someone I trusted. Out of everything else, that would devastate me the most.
* * *
For the next week and a half, I couldn’t push Lexi’s words out of my mind, but I didn’t mention them to anyone else. Not Roman, not Carlo, not even my father. I mean, the whole thing was just unbelievable, like something in a movie.
Could someone hate my family that much? It was hard to imagine. Up until a few months ago, I was practically invisible. My parents didn’t have any enemies that I knew of. It was just baffling.
Still, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, I was determined to push those negative thoughts out of my mind for at least one night. Actually, with the exception of my run in with Lexi, everything else in my life was falling into place.
My relationship with Roman was going fairly smoothly. Sure, we had a few minor arguments here and there, because honestly, he could be a huge idiot sometimes, but he was also a lot sweeter and more thoughtful than I ever thought he could be. We went out on dates several times a week, from dinners at expensive restaurants to more low-key outings to the park.
Can you believe he’s never been to a public park? That boy had no idea what he was missing out on, but now, I can’t tear him away from the swings. The park was also a really good place to walk Mickey, which we did together sometimes. Mickey and Roman still have their differences, but at least the former has stopped peeing all over Roman’s Armani shoes.
When I told Roman it was out of love that Mickey did that, because “isn’t peeing supposed to be marking your territory? You don’t mark things you don’t love,” he glared at me and told me in no uncertain terms that he was not a “thing” and that if Mickey peed on his custom-made shoes one more time, he was going to use him to make a dog fur coat and give it to his animal-hating aunt in Milan as a Christmas present.
Of course, that prompted Mickey to bite down on Roman’s finger, which didn't help matters. But that's another story.
I’ve continued my friendship with James, because, much to Roman’s chagrin, I am not the type of girl who will stop being friends with someone just because her boyfriend said so. Roman will just have to get over it.
By the time actual Thanksgiving night rolled around, I was a nervous wreck, but for an entirely different reason than you might think.
“Mom? Mom! Have you seen my pearl earrings?” I asked, bursting frantically into my parents’ room. I studiously avoided my dad’s gaze as he finished knotting his tie.
“Ah, I have them right here.” My mom held up the pearl drop earrings my grandmother had given me as a birthday present last year. “I thought you didn’t like pearls.”
“I don’t.” I quickly clipped them on. “But it looks classy, right?”
She smiled knowingly at me. “You look beautiful. You shouldn’t be nervous.”
“Nervous? Why would I be nervous?” My voice was high-pitched as I smoothed down the front of my simple black dress with a shaking hand. “I’m just meeting the wife of the richest man in the world.”
Yep. I was meeting the parents tonight. Apparently, it was tradition for everyone to have a huge Thanksgiving dinner at Roman’s house. According to Adriana, he has “the best cooks,” and this year, since I was dating the heir himself, my family was invited.
Personally I think my parents are slightly relieved. We’ve never been huge celebrators of Thanksgiving, and my mom hated making turkey.
“I’m sure she’ll love you,” my dad said, gazing at me hopefully.
I didn’t meet his eyes. “Thanks,” I mumbled. Things have been less frigid between us since I now knew he told the truth about him and Lexi having never slept together, but still. He did cheat on my mom, even if the person he’d cheated on her with had been hired to seduce him.
No. don’t think about that now, I instructed myself as we piled into my dad’s SUV. Just think of happy things. I rested my head on the back of my seat, trying to focus on nothing other than the soft classical music piping through the speakers. My mom was a huge classical music fan.
By the time we arrived at the Fioris’ estate, I had calmed down somewhat. My parents, on the other hand, were gushing over the Versailles-like structure in front of them, especially my architect dad.
“Whoa. Is this a house or a palace?” my dad muttered, getting out of the car and handing his keys to the valet.
When we stepped into the giant foyer, two impeccably groomed women came over to take our coats, and I saw my friends milling about, talking quietly. Among them were several well-dressed older couples who were clearly their parents.
“Maya! You’re here!” Venice bounded over, her eyes shining happily as she hugged me and greeted my parents. As my best friend, she also received a dinner invitation. “I can’t believe I’m celebrating Thanksgiving with the Fioris,” she whispered excitedly. “I think my mom’s actually proud of me for once.”
I glanced over her shoulder to see her mother, a willowy redhead who’d maintained her body from her modeling days, speaking with a couple who had to be Carlo’s parents, since they shared his exact same coloring and had similar features.
To my dismay, I saw that Rico was also there, though everyone was avoiding him like the plague. That didn’t seem to faze him at all. He was leaning against a wall, dressed not in formalwear but in a plain blue T-shirt and the type of ratty jeans you bought at Barneys for $500. He caught my eye and lifted his beer bottle in a silent toast before taking a swig, never taking his gaze off me.
Goosebumps erupted on my skin, and I purposely turned my back to him. The moment I did, I sucked in a deep breath. Roman was standing right there in front of me, even more dressed up than he’d been at homecoming, and he looked absolutely devastating.
“Hey,” I said softly, my heart fluttering.
He smiled slowly at me. “Hey.”
“Oh, I see Zack,” Venice chirped. “I’ll be right back.” With that, she beat a hasty retreat.
“You look…” Roman’s eyes swept over me, and I felt my heart speed up at the look on his face. “Ok,” he finished.
I snapped my head up with a frown as he burst out laughing. “So not funny,” I huffed, even as a small grin made its way over my face. “At least I don’t look like a penguin playing dress-up.”
“Trust me, no penguin’s ever looked this good,” he said cockily. He leaned down, placing his hands on my hips and brushing his lips softly over mine. “I was just joking, by the way,” he whispered. “You look beautiful."
I smiled, looking up at him underneath my lashes. “You don’t look too bad yourself, penguin boy,” I admitted, causing him to laugh again. “But we should save the kissing for later. Everyone’s watching.”
“They’re too busy kissing each other’s butts to watch us.” Roman’s grip tightened. “Besides, who cares?”
And as he crashed his lips down on mine again, I have to say I agreed whole-heartedly. Who cares?
Turns out, that thought came a little too soon, because a small “ahem” interrupted our embrace. My eyes flew open and I immediately stepped away, my face turning scarlet when I realized it was Roman’s father, whom I recognized from newspapers and the oil portraits that hung on the wall.
He was a tall, imposing man, with deep-set dark eyes, olive-colored skin, and a handsome face that would’ve been a whole lot handsomer were it not for the hard, serious set of his mouth.
“Oh, hello,” I blurted, blushing furiously. “I mean, good evening, Mr. Fiori.”
He stared at me disapprovingly. “Good evening, Miss…?” He raised one eyebrow.
Roman grabbed my hand and glared at his father. “Father, this is Maya Lindberg. My girlfriend,” he said coolly.
“I see.” A flicker of interest appeared in Mr. Fiori’s eyes. “Of Lindberg Chocolates, I’m assuming?”
My throat closed. “No,” I answered quietly.
The flicker of interest disappeared. “I’m sorry, my mistake.” From his tone, it was clear he wasn’t sorry at all. “Are your parents here tonight?”
I nodded mutely, but the last thing I wanted was for him to meet my parents. He would eat them alive.
“Actually, dad, I saw Thomas Henderson the other day,” Roman cut in swiftly. “He wants to speak to you about the Wyatt-Triage merger.”
Mr. Fiori frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“You weren’t exactly around for me to tell,” Roman said stiffly.
His father sighed. “That’s what secretaries are for,” he snapped. “Never mind. I’ll go give him a call now.” He paused. “And please do try to refrain from your earlier…activities. It is quite un-ladylike to engage in that type of behavior in front of other guests.”
Though he was looking at Roman while he said it, it was clear he was addressing me. I turned even redder as Mr. Fiori strode across the hall and disappeared behind a set of double doors.
“God, I’m sorry, Maya,” Roman said quietly. “My dad is just a huge ass.”
“It’s ok.” I tried to smile. “We shouldn’t have been doing that anyway.” I hadn’t exactly expected his family to accept me right off the bat, but his father’s snub still stung.
“Roman, dear! Who’s the lovely girl?” a gorgeous dark-haired woman trilled as she sailed towards us. She would’ve been the epitome of elegance and sophistication were it not for her slightly unsteady gait, the flush on her cheeks, and the intoxicated sparkle in her eyes.
Roman’s grip tightened even more. “Mother, have you been drinking again?” he hissed.
She shook her head, patting down her shining hair. “It’s a holiday. I just had a few sips, that’s all.” She smiled at me and held out her hand. “I’m Giselle, Roman’s mother,” she all but sang. “Are you Maya? I’ve heard Gloria talking about you."
I remembered Gloria was the housekeeper. Great, so now I was a gossip topic among the household staff.
“Yes, I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Fiori,” I answered politely, reaching for her hand with my free one. I let out a startled yelp when she pulled me into an unexpected hug.
“It’s so good to meet you!” I winced, my eardrums hurting a bit. “But please, call me Giselle. Mrs. Fiori just sounds so old!” She pulled back, swaying a bit. “I don’t look old, do I? If I do, I need to take it up with my plastic surgeon!” She laughed a little too loudly.
I laughed weakly in response, unsure what to do.
“Jesus, mom, get it under control,” Roman said angrily, pulling me back to his side. “We have guests.”
Giselle shook her head, clucking her tongue. “Roman, my dear boy, you always were too serious,” she sighed. “Just like your father.”
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.
Dinner went fairly smoothly, although Roman was still a bit tense from his earlier run-in with his parents.
To my chagrin, I found myself seated directly across from Rico, who kept shooting me suggestive looks the entire time, but he disappeared somewhere—again—in the middle of dinner. He was still gone by the time dessert was served.
I shifted in my seat, wishing I hadn’t drunk so much wine. At least I wasn’t as tipsy as Venice, whose skin color nearly matched her hair after several glasses of Bordeaux.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I whispered to Roman.
“Go out the doors, make a left, and it’s the third door on your right,” he answered quietly.
I smiled, then stood up and quickly excused myself. I followed his instructions and was about to pull open the door to the bathroom when Rico stormed out, a pissed-off look on his face. He was clutching his phone so tightly I was surprised it didn’t crack.
I let out a small squeak of terror, remembering what James said about the possibility he might have murdered someone, but for once, Rico brushed past me without even looking at me.
I stared after him, stunned, but then darted into the bathroom before he could change his mind and come back to rape me or something, even though the chances of that happening was very slim.
Call me paranoid, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
Shaking a bit, I used the facilities, washed my hands, and was drying off on one of the monogrammed guest towels when I caught sight of something on the floor, wedged between the sink counter and the wall. It looked like a…picture?
Curious, I bent down to pick it up. It was folded in half, and when I opened it, it felt as though someone had dumped a bucket load of ice down my back. My hands trembled as I stared at the photo. I couldn’t believe it.
In the photo, I saw Rico and several other boys, some of them smiling, some of them scowling. They weren’t what caught my attention though. What caught my attention was the blonde standing front and center, a small smirk on her face.
Lexi. Rico knew Lexi. Lexi knew Rico.
I sank down slowly on the closed toilet seat, my knees feeling weak. What the hell did this mean? Was Rico the one who’d hired her to seduce my dad? But why would he do something like that? I didn’t even know him! Plus, I hadn’t met him until after I caught my dad in New York.
Was it just a coincidence? That would be a pretty big coincidence.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to breathe. Whatever was going on, I needed to figure it out, and fast. Otherwise, I had a feeling things might spiral even more out of control than they already were.