Chapter 2
A Raw Deal
CHANCE
The situation is getting rapidly out of hand.
I have no idea how much trouble we are really in, but I know none of what happened tonight is going according to plan.
Ares seemed inclined to let us go home rather than arrest us like he should have done. But my brother is still a wild card. There’s no way to tell how long he’s going to bend the law for us.
Morelli is a much bigger problem.
While I have no doubt that Dad will be furious with us for breaking the very law that was at the center of his campaign during the last election, he won’t kill us.
With Mason Morelli, that’s definitely a possible outcome.
“What do you mean I owe you money?” Zara argues. “I was about to win that race. If that dirt bike hadn’t come out of nowhere, I would have crossed the finish line before anyone else.”
I know Zara’s argument isn’t gonna fly even before Morelli shakes his head.
“That might be true,” he tuts, his tone patronizing as if he were talking to a child. “But you didn’t cross that finish line. If this were an official race, you’d get no points. So as far as I’m concerned, you owe me the full amount of your bet.”
“But I—”
Morelli’s gaze hardens as he interrupts whatever objection was about to come out of her mouth.
“But you agreed to my terms before the race, remember? If you won, I would have paid you four hundred grand; but if you lost, you would race for me for five weeks or until you can pay back the 400k. Let’s be clear on the fact that not crossing the finish line means losing.
If you think you can talk yourself out of this by batting your eyes at me, you’re going to have a rude awakening.
That’s why they don’t let girls’ race unless it’s in some bullshit women's league. You always think that having a cunt should buy you preferential treatment.”
Zara doesn’t let Morelli’s crass words intimidate her.
Maybe she doesn’t know who he is—after all, she’s new in town—or she has an even bigger pair of balls than I thought.
She’s proven plenty of times that she’s fearless; like the night we met when she stood on the back of my bike during the Blue Lightning race.
“Fine.” She bites out. “I don’t expect preferential treatment.
But you have to admit that the reason why I didn’t get to cut the finish line was that someone who wasn’t even a part of the race rammed into me.
Who says that you didn’t get one of your men to do that to make sure I didn’t win the bet? ”
Morelli’s arm shoots out, grabbing Zara’s wrist.
I tense up, ready to intervene, and I see Lev and Ares square their shoulders too.
“Are you accusing me of cheating, little slut? I have no fucking idea where that dirt bike came from. And unless you want to repay your debt on your back on board my uncle’s yacht, I would take the very generous deal I’m cutting you. You wanted to race? This is your shot.”
Zara shoves him off. “I’ll race. But what if whoever hit me tonight tried again? This is the second time it has happened.”
“What are you talking about?” Morelli asks. “Last time you won the fucking race.”
“This isn’t the first time we all run into JJ Smith,” Fox snickers. “No pun intended. The last time, I almost got blamed for this bullshit.”
Fox explains the events that changed all of our lives two years ago.
“Interesting,” Morelli muses. “And you’re sure you haven’t gotten anything to do with this mysterious rider?”
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Fox actually sounds sincere when he denies any involvement with it.
“No, believe me, if I catch that motherfucker, he’s gonna be fucking sorry.
” Fox spits out. “These guys’ old man was convinced that I was behind what happened to his son, and when he couldn’t make a conviction stick, he used his influence to blackball me from the official racing circuit.
I lost all my fucking sponsors, and no team would touch me with a ten-foot pole.
That’s why I’m here. The only way I can race is like this, Fast and Furious style. ”
Ares confronts him. “Racing without authorization and safety measures is illegal everywhere, not to mention the betting. But of all places, you had to choose a town where even owning a motorcycle can mean jail time?”
“Of course.” Fox grins. “Last time I crossed paths with you and your family, my career was destroyed. Racing illegally sucks. It isn’t just dangerous, but the people who organize these races aren’t people you wanna argue with when they decide to cheat you out of your money, it happened to me more times than I can count.
So, I decided to organize my own races, and Star Cove was the perfect place.
All I had to do was get your hotheaded little brother and his friend involved, and I knew that I would be in a perfect position to earn enough to eventually start my own team. ”
His arrogant tone rubs me the wrong way. “What makes you say that? Like Ares said, here you risk more than anywhere else just by bringing a motorcycle within city limits.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Fox smirks. “You’re my insurance policy. By having your ass racing every night, I’m untouchable. It’s not like the mayor is going to arrest his own son, right? And now that we have his shiny new stepdaughter involved too, if I go down, I’ll be in excellent company.”
I get a sense of déjà vu when Fox says that. It’s the same bullshit he tried to spin earlier at Noel’s shop.
He obviously doesn’t know my dad, or he wouldn’t say that. “I already told you that I wouldn’t test that theory if I were you.” I warn him. “If my father finds out about this, you’ll definitely go to jail. And that’ll still be better than what’ll happen to me. He’s going to kill me.”
I’m not joking. Dad is adamant that in life you should lead by example. So if we got caught, he’d make sure we’d get punished just as hard as everyone else, if not harder.
“Nah.” Fox chuckles. “That’s bullshit. And the proof is that your brother could have had us all locked up in a cell at the sheriff’s station by now.
But he told you to go home. So unless he wants the mayor to receive an anonymous tip about how you spend your post-game nights, he’s going to extend me and my friends the same courtesy.
I’m also fucking the deputy mayor’s daughter.
So I’m kinda liking my odds right now. We’re going to continue to race, and now we even have an inside man from the sheriff’s department who can help us remain undetected. We’re golden.”
Fuck.
This guy is like a virus that infects everything he touches.
“Ok.” I nod. “Lev and I will keep racing, but it’s us or Zara.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Morelli bites out. “You’re all racing.”
I’ve been thinking about this since Ares took JJ Smith’s helmet off. “We had a deal, right? You wanted JJ Smith or us. Let Zara off the hook, and Lev and I will keep racing to pay her debt. You get two racers for the price of one.”
Morelli laughs. A full, head thrown back, belly laugh. “You know, kid,” he says between fits of laughter. “If you don’t get a contract with an NHL team, or you get bored with racing, you have a future as a fucking comedian. You’re all racing.”
I’m not intimidated by Morelli. If fists were flying, I could take him. He might be tall, but he’s skinny. I have at least forty pounds on him, and I’ve won fights with bigger and scarier dudes on the ice.
“Zara isn’t racing for you.” I insist. “We had a deal, and—”
“The deal,” he interrupts me. “Was that you and Lev would bring me Smith and I’d allow you to quit racing.
But you didn’t bring me anyone. Our JJ fucked up all on her own and now owes me a small fortune.
So, the way I see it, she’s going to race for me until she pays her debt.
And you two will continue racing, unless you want the mayor to receive a very interesting video in his inbox showing him how his own son is breaking the law that he bet his entire political career on. ”
The most infuriating part of all this is that I had a feeling Morelli would find a way to go back on his word one way or another. As it is, he found the only thing that will truly keep me and Lev wrapped around his little finger.
While we might have decided to call his bluff on releasing that video—because let’s face it, if he did that this whole racing thing would go away and his bottom line would be hurt—there’s no way we can walk away if Zara is racing for him. Especially after what happened tonight.
I don’t really care what happens to me, but I would protect Zara with my dying breath. I know Lev is on the same page, and the only way we can try to keep Zara safe is to keep racing. At least for now.
Zara
Leaving Dad’s old Ducati in the old hangar gives me anxiety.
But under the circumstances, I think it’s my safest option.
Before tonight I wouldn’t have trusted Cal not to fuck with my bike to fix the race to his advantage, but since I’m now racing for the house, I don’t think he will.
My ex-boyfriend is a scumbag; there’s no doubt about it.
But he isn’t totally stupid, and I’m sure he knows better than to cross someone like Mason Morelli.
I might be new in town, but I’ve heard all the rumors about his family being one of the most notable mafia families in the country.
They’re smart enough to have a front of official, mostly above board businesses; but if the rumors are true, their underground dealings go from drugs, to money laundering, to human trafficking.
I’ve even heard they might be fueling a couple of civil wars in faraway lands by selling weapons to foreign governments and the rebels they fight against. So my best bet is to complete the five races I owe Mason without making any waves.
The only silver lining to my situation is that now that the guys know, we can try to find a way to get Chance and Lev off the hook, too.
By the time all our bikes are secured in the dilapidated hangar, most of the crowd of spectators has dispersed.
Even Wren has gone home after I texted her that I was ok. If anything, that’s another positive considering my cover being blown. I can come here on my own, and I don’t have to risk Wren or DJ getting caught in Star Cove with a motorcycle in their possession.
I’m bone tired, and when Lev asks me if I want to go back to his place, I agree.
“Let me text my mom.” I say. “She’s probably back from that fundraiser by now and probably asleep, but I don’t want to risk a repeat of that time when we went to get frozen custard and fell asleep.
She’ll find the text when she wakes up, and like that we can sleep in. ”
“You can sleep in,” Chance sighs, wrapping one arm around my waist so that I’m effectively sandwiched between him and Lev. “We have practice at seven am sharp. Coach Harrison doesn’t believe in giving us the morning off after a game. Lev, do you mind if I stay too?”
“Knock yourself out.” Lev says. “Zee can sleep in and we can bring breakfast after practice. We have a lot to talk about.”
Our overall situation might be pure chaos, but right now, walking between Lev and Chance, with their strong arms around me I couldn’t feel any safer.
“Sorry to crash your fucking party of three,” Ares’s voice reaches me from behind us. “But we do have a lot to talk about, and I don’t think it can wait until the morning.”
“Tough shit,” Chance bites out, turning to glare at his older brother. “We all need to sleep, you included. Nothing is going to change in a few hours, so you’re going to have to wait. If you aren’t too much of a pain in our asses, Lev and I might get breakfast for you too.”
To my surprise, Ares doesn’t argue. “Fine. But I’m staying over at Lev’s too. I want to keep my eye on all of you.”
“Why?” Chance barks out a laugh. “Do you think we’re gonna skip town or something? Where would we even go?”
Ares quickens his pace to come to stand in front of us right before the end of the clearing.
“That’s not why. You went and got yourself mixed up with some very questionable people.
And we’ve all seen what almost happened to Zara.
Someone obviously wants to hurt her. I’m not staying to keep you from leaving; I’m staying to protect your asses. ”
His eyes lock with mine when he says that, and my heart clenches at the storm of emotions I see in the gray depths of Ares’s gaze.
Our last interaction before everything blew up in my face right before I could cross that finish line was fraught with tension and animosity.
Right now I have no idea where Ares’s heart is. We were falling for each other, but the reality of seeing me with Lev and Chance hit him hard. Finding out about the races and my involvement in them couldn’t have happened at a worst time.
The fact that he’s concerned about my safety should give me some hope, though. Unless he’s just doing it out of some sense of duty because he’s a police officer. But if that were true, we would be in a jail cell right now rather than going home, right?
I’m so tired that I wish we didn’t have to walk through the woods and through most of campus to get back to the Gamma house where Chance left his truck.
We haven’t even left the hangar’s clearing yet, and I’m struggling to keep my eyes open.
“Do you guys want a ride back to the frat house?”
Heather’s offer would feel like a godsend if this were any other night and Chance, Lev, and I weren’t all coming out of Mason and Cal’s hangar sporting race suits.
I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.
“Think long and hard before you say anything,” Heather warns, her glare resting on each of us.
“You’ve all been lying to me for weeks, and I’m done with your bullshit.
If I hear another lie, I swear to God, I’m going to wake up my dad and tell him everything I saw tonight.
I thought we were friends. But we can talk about that during the ride home.
Follow me. My car is parked right over there. ”