Chapter 10 Leo
Leo
Three times.
That’s how many times I’ve seen Alessa since the meeting with my brothers. I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with Ryder, but at least Gage is here. Ryder no longer talks shit, he just glares, and it isn’t always aimed at me.
“Will you stop before you burn a hole through my fucking head?” Gage says, not looking away from the TV. He’s kicked back on the chaise at the end of the couch with me at the other end, Ryder sitting on the love seat across from us.
“Fuck off,” Ryder replies, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Gage laughs.
Ryder glares harder. “Nothing about this is funny.”
Gage shrugs. “Sure it is.” He finally looks at him. “I’m not the one who can’t pull my head out of my ass and figure out what needs to be done. The right thing.”
My eyes are swinging between them in confusion.
“Maybe you should just tell me what you’re talking about,” Ryder points out, and it’s the first time I’ve been on his side. I’m curious as hell.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Gage asks with a grin. Gage swings his head toward the kitchen, listening. That’s when I hear Alessa’s sweet voice filter through. Gage told me that she left with Holden earlier. “And let the fun begin,” he mutters, and I think I’m the only one who hears him.
“Hey,” she greets Gage, flopping on the chaise beside him and kicking her feet up.
“Hello, Pretty girl,” he replies, kissing her on the cheek.
Ryder growls and storms out of the room, causing Gage to crack up. I love that he can get under Ryder’s skin. I see her roll her eyes.
She finally looks at me. “Hi.”
“Hey, Baby,” I greet back with a smile even though it’s a little forced with how she’s cuddled up to Gage.
“What are you watching?” She looks closer. “Are you watching Supernatural again?”
“You’re just mad because I didn’t wait for you for this rewatch,” Gage answers.
“Fair point,” she laughs. “Is this all you’ve done today?”
“Not all of us had dates,” he teases, but I turn her way anyway.
“It wasn’t a date.” She elbows him in the ribs.
Could I even be mad if it was?
He cuddles her into his side with his arm around her shoulders. “We going to The Games tonight?”
She shrugs. “If you want to, yeah.”
“What are The Games?” I ask with a frown.
Gage grins and sits up on the chaise, animated as hell. “Illegal Street races. Bikes. Cars. It’s badass. Wait until you see it.”
How the hell did I live here for a year and never know about this? I can probably add that to the list of shit Evander and Mateo kept me away from. “I’m going?” I ask. They haven’t even let me step outside, much less leave the house.
“Well, you can’t stay here alone,” Alessa answers, and it pisses me off.
She’s only taking me because she has to, not because she wants me to go.
“We will leave at eleven, so we can be ready by midnight.” She gets up from the chaise, stretching her arms over her head.
Her shirt rides up, and I have to shift my gaze so she doesn’t see me staring.
I look at Gage, and he has no qualms about it.
“You can ride with Dex,” she tells me and walks away.
Gage watches her ass in those short shorts until she disappears.
He looks at me with a sly grin, and I don’t know whether I want to laugh or punch him in the face.
Riding with Dex was quiet as hell. He never said a word the entire thirty-minute drive, and I gave up trying to make conversation after the grunts as answers.
He drives us down an old road that eventually turns onto a dirt road.
When it opens up, it looks like an old airstrip and is huge.
Bikes and cars of every variety line the strip we drive down.
We brought Dex’s black, jacked-up Ford Raptor; the rest were on the way on bikes.
It bothers me to know she’s wrapped around one of them on the bike; my only hope is it’s Gage and not fucking Ryder.
Dex pulls in and parks beside a group of guys leaning against their fast cars. One of the guys grins when we pull up, walking up to Dex’s window.
“Hey, man,” he greets Dex with a slight Russian accent, his strange dark eyes sliding over me.
“What’s up, Alexey?” Dex rumbles. At least he talks to someone.
“Where’s the boss?”
Dex chuckles. “On her way.” Dex pushes his door open and looks at me. “Don’t do anything stupid,” he says before he jumps out.
I roll my eyes and climb out behind him. I’m not an idiot. I don’t miss the Glocks he has hidden beneath his leather jacket.
“Who’s your friend?” Alexey asks when we walk into the group.
“Leo,” Dex answers with no last name. Interesting.
Alexey leans against a dark blue Lamborghini.
His stance might seem casual, but I don’t miss the hard glint in his eyes.
“I’m Alexey. That’s my brother, Dmitri.” He gestures to a guy with the same black hair and equally black eyes.
Dmitri nods but doesn’t say anything. Alexey’s head snaps up with a grin. “There she is.”
I look in that direction with confusion until I hear the screaming of the bikes.
Three crotch rockets stop beside us, and to my surprise, the one on a dark purple Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R jerks the helmet off to reveal Alessa in matching riding leathers.
Holy shit, that’s fucking hot. She swings her leg over the bike, and I see how molded those leathers are to her ass.
She unzips the jacket, peeling it off to reveal a tight as fuck black shirt, dipped low in the front, showing off ample cleavage.
I want to bend her over that damn bike, like right now.
Gage hops off a white matching bike, Ryder getting off a black one. Both dressed in leather to match the bikes.
“Well, look who it is.” She smiles and gives Alexey a big hug, then his brother Dmitri. Each of them linger a little too long.
Dmitri pulls back from his hug, slinging an arm around her shoulders, guiding her toward their group. I look back at Ryder and notice I’m not the only one who wants to rip his fucking arm off. Ryder looks like he could spit nails.
Same man, same.
“Isn’t this awesome?” Gage asks, propping himself on the front of Dex’s truck.
“Who are they?” I ask instead of answering his question. I’m sure it would be awesome if I weren’t here just because she had to bring me.
He looks at me like I’m crazy, then laughs. “I forgot you don’t know shit about this world.” He points to where Alexey is whispering in Alessa’s ear, making her throw her head back and laugh. “That’s Alexey and Dmitri Orlov.” He looks at me again. “Russian Mafia.”
What the fuck did I step into?
I thought about messaging Evander and Mateo with the phone Alessa gave me because I couldn’t keep my own; she couldn’t track that one.
I’ve stayed in contact with my brothers, but this doesn’t seem like something they would be interested in or maybe not invited to.
Frankie didn’t leave much room for them to have friends with how he was.
“This won’t kick off for another thirty minutes or so. Want to take a lap with me?” Gage asks, pointing to all the cars and bikes. “Check out the competition.”
I jerk my head to him. “You’re racing?”
“Uh yeah,” he grins. “I didn’t get all dressed up for nothing,” he says, gesturing to all the leather.
I shrug. “Sure.”
He throws his jacket on his bike, telling Ryder what we’re doing. He’s leaned back against his bike, glaring at a laughing Dmitri, Alexey, and Alessa. Gage shakes his head and gestures for me to follow.
We pass rows and rows of every vehicle and bike you can imagine, most greeting Gage with a smile or wave, primarily out of respect. You can tell they know who he is. We walk a little further, where I can see them setting up the actual track for a quarter-mile run.
“Is that all they do here?” I ask, pointing to the track.
“Nah.” Gage shakes his head. “They do contests and shit, too. Burnouts. Stunts.”
I look around and wonder how the hell they set this up without getting caught. They have huge lights shining everywhere, so bright it almost looks like noon and not midnight.
“How do they pull this off?”
Gage chuckles. “Cops know who’s here, and they aren’t busting it up.”
That made sense. No cop in their right mind would come here against these guys.
We loop back around the other side, looking at everything there, and I start getting excited, listening to cars and bikes rev their engines.
I didn’t get to do this in North Carolina because I didn’t hang out with people that did.
Now I’m here with the Italian Mafia leader, who is talking to the Russian Mafia.
It sounds like the start of a good movie.
We walk back toward the group while Gage describes everything that goes down here, and I find myself interested in what he’s talking about.
I don’t know much about cars and such, but I know enough to follow most of his conversation.
Gage is easy to talk to, and I feel myself being pulled into the conversation, listening to everything he has to say.
“Hey, Gage,” a sultry voice purrs in front of us.I look from Gage toward the voice, and it’s a busty blonde girl in a bikini top that barely covers her boobs.
Gage barely spares her a glance. “Hey, Victoria.”
She runs her long red fingernail down my t-shirt. “Who’s your friend?”
“Leo,” I answer.
“Leo,” she lets the name roll off her tongue with a purr. “I like that.”
“Fuck off, Vickie,” Gage says, surprising me.
“Oh,” she pouts her red painted lips, “Why the grump face, Gage?” she asks, running her fingernail over his arm.
“I think he said fuck off,” Alessa says, walking up behind Victoria. Alessa puts this barely dressed girl to shame while she’s still fully clothed. I might be biased, though. Is Alessa jealous?
Alessa walks by her and puts herself right in front of Gage and me. The girl sneers at Alessa, looking her up and down like she’s shit on the bottom of her shoes. “If it isn’t the Italian whore.”