All I've Never Wanted (32 page)

My stomach rumbled at the thought of pad Thai.“Perfect.”

He laughed. “See you later then.”

For the next hour or so, I explored the guesthouse, which was about twice the size of any regular house in any other part of America. I could feel myself relaxing, just from being away from the Fiori residence, even though it was only two streets away. It almost seemed as though yesterday had been a bad dream.

I pushed open the curtains of my room, delighted to find I had a perfect view of the Tevascos’ giant lagoon pool. Today was fairly warm for a fall afternoon, and the water looked so inviting…

Making up my mind, I threw on my favorite black bikini, grabbed a towel, and flip-flopped down to the pool.

When I got there, though, I was surprised to see someone had beat me to it. From the back, he looked an awful lot like Carlo, except a bit taller and broader, and his hair was longer.

He turned when he heard my footsteps, and my eyes widened.

Whoa. He looked almost exactly like Carlo, only different, if that made sense. The coloring was identical, and their facial structures were similar, only the guy standing in front of me had thinner lips and a nose that looked like it’d been broken more than a few times. The most startling difference though, was his eyes. Whereas Carlo’s were warm and soulful, his were harder, more cynical.

“Well, hello, darling,” he said, eyeing me head-to-toe in a way that made me shiver. “And who might you be?”

I held the towel in front of me, wishing I’d worn a cover up. His lips tugged into a smirk at my action.

“I’m Maya. Carlo’s friend,” I said, my voice surprisingly clear and steady. “Who are you?”

He chuckled. “Rico. Carlo’s brother.”

My jaw dropped. Carlo had a brother? And he never told me? A frisson of hurt snaked its way through my system.

“Don’t worry if he never mentioned me,” Rico drawled. “He rarely does.” His eyes burned through my towel, and I clutched it tighter to me.

“Oh. W-why?”

There was something about Rico that made me incredibly nervous.
Forget swimming. Just go back in the guesthouse!
my mind screamed.

Rico smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” There was a strange inflection in his voice, but before I could do anything, another voice cut in.

“Rico! What are you doing here?”

I nearly collapsed with relief when I saw Carlo stride over angrily. He looked madder than I’d ever seen him. Actually, I’ve never seen him mad before, period. It was a little scary.

Rico shrugged, seemingly unperturbed. “Just getting to know your friend, little brother,” he answered cavalierly. “Besides, this is my house too.”

“For now,” Carlo muttered. He switched his gaze to me, concern filling his face. “Are you okay?”

I nodded.

“Are you sure?”

I nodded again, wondering why he looked so on edge.

“Come on, let’s get you back in the guesthouse,” Carlo murmured, guiding me inside. 

“It was nice to meet you!” Rico called out laughingly. “I’ll see you around…
very
soon.”

Carlo’s hand stiffened on my back, but neither of us said anything until we were inside. 

“What
was
that?” I breathed. You could’ve cut the tension between Carlo and his brother with a knife.

He shook his head. “Just my brother being a jerk, as usual.” He frowned down at me. “I’m sorry you had to run into him.”

“It’s no big deal. He didn’t do anything.”

“Good.” Carlo sounded relieved. “Just—be careful around him, ok? He’s not the nicest person on the planet.”

“Hey, if I can take on Roman, I’m sure I can handle him,” I half-joked.

A sad smile flitted across his face. “It’s not necessarily the same thing. Just promise me you’ll be careful?” 

I bit my lip. “I promise.”

Carlo’s shoulders relaxed a bit, and the smile reappeared. “So tell me. What are you going to do about Roman?”

Now it was my turn to stiffen. “What do you mean?”

A mischievous twinkle lit up his dark eyes. “Well, you are going to get revenge on him for what he did, right?”

I frowned. “I never thought about it.”

“You should. It’ll be pretty easy, he gets jealous quickly.” Carlo smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “You can only be jealous if you like someone, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me.  What?” 

Carlo was staring at me in disbelief. “Are you sure you’re an honor student?”

“Of course I am!” I huffed, insulted. “I’ve been an honor student all my life!”

“So you’re honestly telling me you don’t think he likes you?”

I blinked. “Um. No. I mean, yes.”

He laughed. “Wow, this is going to be fun.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He just shook his head. “You’re coming with us to celebrate Adri and Zack’s birthday next week, right?”

“Of course. We even picked out Zack’s present together, remember?” 

Carlo grinned. “Good. That’ll be the perfect time.”

“For what?”

“To make him jealous.”

I stomped my foot. “I told you, you can’t make someone jealous unless—“

“Unless they like you, yadda yadda yadda.” He tugged on a lock of my hair. “Come on, don’t knock it till you try it. Besides, wasn’t he trying to make you jealous yesterday? Why don’t you give him a taste of his own medicine?”

“I’m pretty sure he was just trying to be a pain in my butt yesterday, as usual,” I sniffed.

Carlo just looked at me. I threw my hands up, letting the towel fall to the floor. “What do you want me to do? I’m not good at this stuff!”

He laughed. “Wearing that bikini might be a start.” 

I made a face. “What a perv.”

Carlo smirked, ruffling my hair. I grumpily tried to swat his hand away. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you out. Just consider it a social experiment of sorts. Have fun with it. Even if it doesn’t work, just consider it an ego boost." 

Part of me still wanted to say no. Considering I’ve never had a real boyfriend, I’m not so good at these flirting games people pay. On the other hand, what if I
could
make Roman jealous? Or at the very least, upset?

I suddenly flashed back to the scene on the staircase, after I came home from the amusement park with James.

A small smile curved my lips. Huh. Maybe was Carlo right. It was time to give Roman a taste of his own medicine.

*              *              *

“Thank you for an amazing day,” Solange cooed, as Roman pulled up in front of the hotel where she was staying.

She trailed her fingers down his chest until it rested precariously close to a certain region below his belt. “You can come up with me if you want,” she breathed. “I have a hot tub in my room.” She eyed him suggestively.

“No, thanks,” Roman answered curtly, grasping her wrist and placing it in her lap. “You should get some sleep. You leave early tomorrow.”

Solange pouted. “I can make time for you.”

Jeez, couldn’t she get a hint? “I’m tired,” he snapped.

She frowned. “Fine,” she huffed, grabbing her new Gucci purse angrily and opening the door. She stopped and looked back at him hopefully, as if he were going to call her back.

When he didn’t, she slammed the door shut.

The minute she did, Roman peeled away from the curb. God, dealing with Solange for an entire day was insufferable. Trying to have a normal, intelligent conversation with her was like trying to pull teeth.

If it weren’t for Maya, I wouldn’t even have to deal with her,
Roman thought angrily, slamming his foot on the brake at a stop sign.

He’d only brought Solange back to the house yesterday because he thought Maya might be up, but she wasn’t. Then, the model had downed an entire bottle of wine by herself, babbling about shopping the whole time until he finally told her he’d take her to the mall today just to shut her up. Solange ended up spilling some of the wine on her dress in her excitement, hence why he’d reluctantly let her borrow a shirt. And on top of all that, she’d passed out before he could call a cab to take her home.

Roman had planned to make up an “emergency” so he could get out of the shopping trip, but then freakin’ Maya had waltz into the kitchen. He certainly wasn’t about to cancel in front of
her.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel as he thought back to the kitchen scene.

“He really was the perfect date. I’m going to have to find some…method of making it up to him.”

No need to ask what her “method” entailed.

A low growl erupted from his throat as he pulled up in front of his house, tires squealing.

Carlo, Carlo, Carlo. Of course Carlo could do no wrong. He was perfect.

Roman stomped angrily into the house, his boots echoing loudly in the marble halls. What did Carlo have that he didn’t anyway? Did girls seriously like that oh-so-sensitive bullshit?

It was wimpy as hell, in his opinion.

Of course, what
really
galled him was the fact that seeing him with Solange seemed to have no effect on Maya whatsoever. Just picturing her sitting there at the kitchen table that morning, calmly eating her stupid muffin, made his blood boil. She wasn’t supposed to be so nonchalant!

Well, what did you expect?
a voice asked smugly inside his head.
Did you really think she could like you?

“What’s there not to like?” Roman growled out loud. “I’m Roman Fiori!”

Yes, but that doesn’t mean a thing to her. Honestly, she’s better off with someone else. Someone like…Carlo.

“Shut up!” Roman roared, causing a passing maid to shoot him an alarmed look and scuttle into the closest room as fast as her feet could take her.

Why do you care so much anyway? Could you possibly have feelings—

“No way,” Roman muttered furiously. “I’m just mad because she’s the only girl who isn’t fawning over me the way. She’s. Supposed. To!”

He yanked open the door to his room and slammed it shut behind him.

He only took two steps before he stopped, turned, and stormed across the hall to her room. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say to her, but he had a feeling she was lying about being sick yesterday.

At least, he hoped she’d been lying. She seemed pretty upset when she saw him kissing Solange.

Roman scowled even more at the memory of the kiss. It had been a necessary evil, or so he’d thought. Now, it just seemed like it had all been for nothing.

“Maya!”

He stepped into the Greek suite, searching for a glimpse of her dark hair. Roman’s eyes scanned the empty room, puzzled.

Her bed was perfectly made, and he couldn’t hear any noises. That was weird. She was usually back by this time.

“Maya?”