Chapter 47 – VALENTINA
Forty-Seven
VALENTINA
His eyes burn straight through me. I can feel him watching, staring, seething, from across the lineup. The look on his face when I stepped out of my car, Maksim right behind me, is one I’ll never forget.
I adjusted my pants for good measure, lifted my chin, and kissed the man I love like it might be my last. Maybe he warrants a little violence, because the urge to crack a bat over his head only eased by a sliver. But that shocked look on his face? I’ll take it and savor it any damn day.
I grin and grip the steering wheel as the starting line gets sprayed across the pavement in front of us. A woman with a thick blue braid down her back steps between our cars, raising a bullhorn high above her head. Even now, seconds from launch, his beady eyes are glued to me.
I’ve rattled him in the best way. The best revenge.
The growl of our engines rises, and I flick my gaze toward him once. He cuts me a petty glare as if it’s supposed to do something. If anything, it just makes him look exactly like the pussy he is. That pathetic mix of ego and desperation rolls off him in waves.
Good.
Let him choke on it.
I roll my shoulders back, fingers tightening.
The Supra hums beneath me, vibrating up my arms and settling deep in my chest like a second heartbeat.
When I glance at the rearview mirror, I catch Maksim’s reflection, watching me with a look that sets my whole body on fire.
Pride, possession, and hunger all rolled into one.
My thighs clench, still sensitive from the way he touched me…
and from the glorious stickiness he left behind.
My good luck charm.
I breathe out once. Blue Braid drops her hand to her side, then the bullhorn comes down.
Game time.
The Supra leaps forward so hard it shoves me into the seat, and the world tunnels into neon streaks. Cole's car lunges too, trying to keep up.
Second gear. Then third.
He hangs near my rear quarter panel for a breath, just long enough for him to think he has a chance.
He doesn’t.
I shift again, and I’m shot forward. The gap stretches, and his headlights shrink in my mirror.
“Bye, asshole.”
When I hit the last stretch, I can see the finish line glowing under the floodlights ahead. But I don’t let up. I push harder, forcing every ounce of power out of her until the line streaks beneath my tires.
And I fucking win.
“Fuck, yes!”
I ease off the throttle, my heart pounding, and a laugh ripping out of me so loud it feels like a victory scream.
The crowd outside erupts, but instead of cheers for me, all I hear is the beautiful sound of Cole’s loss.
And when I spin the car around and roll back, his headlights are still crawling toward the finish line.
I guess I’ll save that crowbar for a rainy day.
Maksim is already walking toward me, eyes on me like I’m the only one on this entire fucking street. I park, unbuckle, and step out, smiling so hard my face is about to split.
“Looks like your luck charm worked,” I call out, loud enough for my ex to hear. “Now I'm going to need you to fuck me before every race.”
The wind whips my hair around, strands catching in my mouth as I laugh uncontrollably and flip Maksim off. He pulls in front of me and guns it toward the next exit, childish and victorious.
I ease off the gas and let him have his little moment. Nothing can dull my mood tonight.
Three wins. Fifteen grand in my pocket. And a good, bone-melting fuck.
What more can a girl ask for?
“I won,” he calls out when he steps toward my car.
I roll to a stop behind his M8 on the shoulder of a dark road. Before I can even open my mouth to argue, he’s ripping my door open and hauling me out. My legs instinctively wrap around his waist, a startled breath escaping as my back hits the warm hood.
“Did you?” I challenge. “Or did I let you win?”
He laughs against my throat and trails kisses down my neck. “I still want my prize.”
My legs squeeze tighter around him, pulling him closer, and I grind my pussy against his hard abs, desperate for even a hint of friction.
I’ve realized something tonight—when it comes to Maksim Belov, I am completely and hopelessly insatiable.
I tilt my head back, losing myself in his touch and in the starless sky above us.
“Thank you for tonight?” I say, my tone soft.
“For fucking you in your car?”
Laughing, I shake my head and rake my nails into his hair, reveling in the way that particular gesture makes him shudder.
“Well, certainly that…But—for being you. For being here for me. For handling Casper. For everything, Maksim.”
His lips still against my neck. And slowly, he lifts his head, those pretty blue eyes locking onto mine with a seriousness that makes my stomach flip-flop.
“You don’t need to thank me for any of that. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I love you.
The words burn in my chest and claw their way up my throat, nearly choking me. But maybe on the hood of my car, horny, and still high on adrenaline, probably isn’t the best time for love confessions.
“Callum,” he says suddenly. I don’t recognize the name, so I let him continue. “Casper is Callum.”
That has my full attention. I shove lightly at his chest, and he lets me sit up.
“Callum? What else did he say?”
“I didn’t want to ruin tonight for you,” he admits. “But we need to talk about something.”
My heart begins to accelerate. I run through possibilities, unable to land on one serious enough that he wouldn’t tell me right away.
“Callum is a bottom-of-the-barrel lackey. A yes-man. He put up a good fight, though. I’ll give him that.” Maksim cups my face, his eyes laser-focused on mine. “Have you ever heard of The Architect?”
I must look completely lost, because he nods once, pulls away, and begins pacing in tight, controlled strides.
“I need to run this by my mom and Derek.”
He wants to talk to my dad. Fuck. This is serious.
“Who is that?” I ask.
“All I got out of him was something about searching for a ledger.”
The more he says, the less any of it makes sense.
“What ledger?” I press, confusion twisting tighter. “Maksim, what does that mean?”
He stops pacing and looks at me with a heaviness that makes my heart drop.
“We’re going to find out. But whatever this is…it’s bigger than Callum. Bigger than Balterra. It reeks of The Six and Ares.”
The close call with AJ flashes through my mind, and a wave of protectiveness slams into me. For her, my parents. For everyone I love. I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to them.
Maksim steps in, sliding his body between my legs, arms wrapping around my waist. “None of it will touch you. I promise you that.”
I offer him a faint smile. “Sometimes things happen beyond our control.”
“Not you. Not while I’m still breathing.”
It’s my turn to cup his face, to pull him close and hold his gaze even as tears sting the edges of my eyes. “Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that. Because I won’t allow it.”
There they are again.
Those three words. Hovering. Waiting.
“Maksim…” I breathe, my voice barely holding together. “Maybe the world will look a little different tomorrow. But tonight, all I want is you. Make me forget,” I whisper. “Just for tonight.”
“Ptichka, there isn’t a single damn thing you can ask of me that I won’t do.”
I close my eyes as he kisses up my throat, over my chin, then captures my bottom lip between his teeth, tugging gently. “Whatever you want…it’s yours.”
“Maybe you should clean up the mess you made.”
Silence. A slow, fiery silence.
Maksim wets his lips and hooks his fingers into my waistband, dragging my pants down my legs. One shoe, then the other. He plucks my black panties off with his teeth and tosses them over his shoulder. They snag on a shrub like some obscene little flag.
“Hey!” I laugh. “I’ll need those eventually.”
“Not where you’re going.”
I tip my head back, laughing harder, and slide my fingers into his hair.
He nips at my inner thigh, then kisses the spot he bit. “You know,” he says quietly, “that night I lost everything, I thought it was the end.” He presses another kiss. “But now I know it was fate…breaking me apart to lead me here to you.”
Emotion swells in my throat, threatening to spill over.
But I don’t want sadness. Not now, when he’s looking at me like that. Because he’s right. Our names were carved in the stars long before we met, long before our story ever began.
I tighten my grip in his hair, a moan slipping free when his tongue drags up my slit.
“Here?” I gasp. “On the side of the road with your mouth on my pussy?”
His laughter vibrates against me, sending a shockwave straight through my core.
I curse into the dark, falling back on the warm hood, my body arching into his mouth. The clouds shift overhead, just barely parting, and through them, a line of stars peeks through.
I grin on a broken moan at the perfect and ridiculous irony.
Finally seeing stars while Maksim eats.