Chapter 15
Ensnared
CHANCE
Mason Morelli is the fucking devil.
“I thought we talked about it.” His eyes rove over Zara’s body in her leather race clothes. “Every day you don’t pay me back, interests are added to what you all owe me.”
I want to gauge his eyes out for just looking at my girl after how he attacked her last week. The bruises on her neck have barely begun to fade enough that she can cover them with makeup and isn’t forced to wear a scarf.
“How much interest do you exactly charge us?” Zara asks.
The answer doesn’t surprise me. “As much as I deem necessary. I’ll let you know when you’re off the hook. Unless you want to consider coming to a couple of those parties on my uncle’s yacht like I offered. In that case, I can let you drop out of the races. Your choice, sweetheart.”
A visible shudder works its way through Zara.
She told me what Morelli offered her in lieu of racing.
Illegal races are just the tip of the iceberg of Morelli’s criminal empire.
Those parties happen on international waters.
The young women who are sold to Enzo Morelli’s rich clients are often forced into compliance to pay off debts or plied with drugs and kept ensnared once they’re addicted.
“I don’t think so.” Is Zara’s answer.
Mason shrugs. “Then you’ll race until I’m satisfied that you’ve paid for the bets you all lost.”
“Actually,” Ares interjects before Mason can turn around and leave. “I need you to let Chance quit right now.”
“Why the fuck would I do that?” Morelli looks genuinely surprised.
Ares tells him I choked. “His bike wasn’t having any issues. Chance has PTSD from the last official race we were in. It isn’t safe to let him continue racing.”
What the fuck?
“Wait,” I say to my brother. “This is not your call to make.”
“I have to agree with your brother,” Morelli says, to my surprise. “I had a deal with him and Lev. Chance is a crowd favorite, and I would be crazy if I let him quit. Stay out of it, cop.”
Ares doesn’t give up. “If he’s a crowd favorite, then you need to give him some time to work through his issues. If he had gotten seriously hurt or worse today, your entire little racing enterprise could have come to an end.”
Morelli barks out a laugh. “Why is that?”
“Come on, Morelli,” Ares argues. “Be fucking real. How would you justify serious injuries or a dead body? Sure, you could say it happened in a car, but the sheriff would have a lot of questions about what happened.”
“Officer Hunter,” his tone is derisive. “I see that almost a year as a cop hasn’t opened your eyes to how certain things work.
My uncle has great doctors on his payroll who are more than happy not to call the cops.
Whether it’s a gunshot wound or a race gone wrong, they’re paid well enough to offer first-class medical care and not to ask any questions.
If the injuries are serious enough to require extensive surgery at a real hospital…
we have other hired help who can dispose of a body.
Either way, I like my odds of keeping your brother racing and making me money. ”
Jesus.
I had no doubt about the way the Morellis handle their business. But hearing how to Mason, we’re nothing more than cash cows, cannon fodder if anything went wrong, doesn’t make me feel any better about the predicament we’re in.
“I don’t care what kind of resources your uncle has at his disposal.” Ares insists. “This was Chance’s last race.”
“I don’t think so.” Mason is adamant. “Your brother is the town’s new golden boy.
A future hockey star and the mayor’s son.
He’s the reason why I said yes when Fox asked me to sponsor these races.
Most of the people who pay to watch the races from the college are here to see him and Lev.
There is no one else who can draw the same amount of attention. ”
Hearing that is more of an ego boost than it should be. I think Ares is right, that I shouldn’t keep racing. But it looks like I have no chance in the matter.
My brother’s next words surprise me. “What if I raced in his place?”
We all react at the same time.
“Are you insane?” I say.
Lev is on my same page. “Have you lost your mind? You’re a fucking cop. If you get caught…”
“Ares, no.” Zara gasps.
Despite our objections, Morelli’s interest is peaked.
“Hmm, interesting. This might work for me. You’re also the mayor’s son, and being a cop adds a layer of risk to your participation in the races.
Besides, everyone in town knows about what happened to your twin brother.
That’s the reason why your old man campaigned to ban motorcycles in Star Cove.
And before that, you guys were up-and-coming motorcycle racing champions.
You were signed to a MotoGP team, weren’t you?
I like this. Ok, deal. Chance, you’re off the hook.
Officer Hunter, pleasure doing business with you. I’ll see you all here next week.”
Zara
We don’t even wait until Mason is out of earshot to let Ares know what we think about the deal he just made with the literal devil.
“You had no right.” Chance confronts him. “How is racing in my place fixing anything? And that motherfucker is right. You’re a cop. If you get caught, you’re in even more trouble than all of us could ever be.”
I’m not surprised when Ares’s tone is twice as hard as Chance’s. “I have every fucking right. You’re my little brother, and I love you. If you think I’m gonna let you play Russian roulette with your mind until you get hurt next time you choke…”
“You don’t know if it’s gonna happen again.” Chance argues. “It didn’t happen every time I raced.”
“Right.” Ares laughs, but there’s no mirth in it. “So we just gamble with your safety. Fuck that. It’s too late, anyway. You’re off the hook.”
When Ares starts walking away, Chance grabs his arm. “This is not over. You can’t just make these kinds of decisions for me. You’re not the boss of me, or my dad.”
“No, I’m not. But if you think that’s going to stop me from protecting you, you’re even more wrong than you were for not telling anyone about the flashbacks you’ve been having.
Knowing what could have happened to you out there today when you stopped in the middle of the racetrack, I had to step in. ”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chance so angry. “You are just like Dad!” he snaps. “You have a fucking God complex, but I’ve got news for you. You can’t fix everything.”
That last remark strikes a nerve with me. The urge to fix everything is something Ares and I have in common. Maybe that’s why we understand each other so well.
“Guys,” I intervene. “Let’s get out of here. It’s getting late, and everyone has gone home. We can talk about this somewhere more private.”
Lev backs me up. “Zara is right. They took away all the extra lighting, and the street lights offer barely enough light to walk back to campus. Let’s go.”
“Where? I don’t want to be alone tonight, but Mom and Scott are home. And we can’t talk freely at Lev’s house anymore.”
“We can go to my place.” Ares says. “No one will bother us there.”
Lev shakes his head. “There’s barely any room for you in that tiny apartment.
Chance and I have practice tomorrow morning, and we can’t sleep on the floor without getting all tweaked up.
My parents have a suite rented permanently at the Country Club.
They use it whenever they have important clients coming from out of town.
Let me check with the club if it’s available. ”
A few moments later, we’re climbing into Ares’s Jeep that’s parked behind the old gas station at the opposite end of our illegal racetrack from campus.
The ten-minute ride is quiet, and I’ve never understood the expression “you could cut the air with a knife” until tonight.
I can still feel the adrenaline from the race course through me, and the guys seem as on edge as I am. None of us utters one word until Ares stops at the valet while Lev runs to get the key to his parents’ suite.
The suite is as large and opulent as I would expect from a place as swanky as Star Cove’s Country Club.
Two bedrooms with king-sized beds and each with its own en-suite bathroom can be accessed from a living room fit for royalty.
Each room has also use of a private patio with an infinity pool and a hot tub under a pergola.
Usually, I would be all over the hot tub and the pool, but it’s past three a.m. and I have a morning class tomorrow, so I should try to get some sleep.
That, however, isn’t going to be possible until the guys resolve what is making them scowl at one another.
For as much as I agree with Ares that Chance should have never raced after he had his first flashback of Atlas’s death, I understand why Chance kept it quiet.
He has a much sunnier disposition than Ares, but Chance has the same stoic attitude as his older brother. Chance is always the one who soldiers on, carrying other people’s loads on his shoulders, no matter how heavy.
When he needs help, he often doesn’t know how to ask for it.
“Guys,” my tone is gentle as I look at them.
“I know it’s getting late and we’re all exhausted.
But after she left Dad, my mom taught me to never go to bed angry.
I know you aren’t going to solve your disagreements tonight, but can you agree that you love each other?
Once you’ve had some time to think, I’m sure you’ll find some common ground. ”
Chance is the first to speak. “Yeah. I can agree to that. This isn’t about my not caring about Ares. He just stepped out of line tonight by offering to take my place in the races.”
“Sure, I can agree with you on that.” Ares fires back. “If you admit that racing after you had the first flashback was the stupidest move you could have made.”
To my surprise, Chance nods. “Yeah, you’re right. I just didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to worry Lev, since we had no choice but to race. And it’s not like I could have come to you, since you’re a fucking cop.”
I guess we’re doing this after all.