Page 49 of Rush

“If you ask your boyfriend, I’m sure he’ll tell you,” a deep, masculine voice answers me. Isla twists around and my head snaps up. The red covering falls from my grasp, the car covered once more. Romeo stands in the open area wearing another suit, the top buttons on his crisp white shirt open at the neck. Given the fact that we broke into his private property, he doesn’t look that mad. He actually looks amused.

“How did you know it was me?”

His emerald eyes sweep over Isla and me and a hint of a smile plays on his lips. “I was in the area when my phone let me know someone hacked the garage. Be glad it was me and not my men who found you ladies.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, backing away and stealing my spine. “We shouldn’t have done it.”

He eyes me speculatively. “You’re a long way from Michigan. Why would you come here to see Kane’s car?”

“I needed to see if it was true.” My shoulders shrug.

“And now that you know, what are you going to do with it? Will you stop him from racing?” he questions further and something about his tone lights a fire in my stomach.

“I would never stop him. I do have a lot of questions for him though such as why is he hiding it? Why did he lie about seeing our friend in Vegas? Sure, I’m worried for him and the implication that these races are dangerous, but I’ve never stopped Jameson from doing the things he loves,” I argue, my chin lifting in defiance. It might be stupid letting my sass show in front of this man, who is probably more dangerous that I assume. Romeo watches us until the silence is thick in the air. When he cracks a smile and laughs, I almost flinch.

“Damn girly. I do not envy your man when you get home. I almost felt my own balls shrivel up during your little speech.”

Isla relaxes next to me before taking my hand in hers. I still haven’t taken my gaze off the man in front of us. “We should go. I apologize for breaking in.”

Romeo’s eyes flick to Isla with interest. “It’s not every day a wisp of a girl cracks my security. Wish I could be mad, doll, but more than anything, I’m curious.”

Isla’s face flames red, and she ducks her head. “Ahh, it’s a learned skill.”

The man takes pity on her and moves to let us pass. He walks out of the stall a few steps behind, escorting us to the waiting SUV. Another man is waiting by our doors. Horror washes over me when I see he has a gun trained on the driver.

“Oh no!” Isla walks faster to the car.

“Ace, drop your weapon,” Romeo tells the man who glares at him questioningly. “It’s all good. This is Kane’s woman and her friend. The ladies are headed back to Michigan.”

Ace grunts and a flash of a smile tugs his very full lips. “Give Kane our regards.”

I nod at him, paralyzed with fear, knowing he’s carrying a gun, and scoot to get in the SUV. Isla slides in next to me and our driver starts the engine. Romeo taps the window and it lowers right next to me. He flashes another smile.

“Kane is expecting you to go right to his place when you get back.”

My stomach completely bottoms out as we take off down the road. My heart flips in my chest. I power up my phone, and within seconds, there's 34 text messages and 21 missed calls from Jameson flashing on my screen. Five messages are from our friends wanting to make sure I’m okay. I reply to the girls quickly briefing them on what happened. I don’t answer Jameson though. I don’t know what to say yet.

Isla sits quietly next to me. “What are you going to do?”

I shake my head, watching the sky around us turn to night with stars shining brightly. “I have no idea.”

sam

. . .

The air seems to shift as soon as we land back in Michigan. I swear there are eyes on us the second we exit the plane and get back in Isla’s car. She starts up the engine and cranks the heat up. While we wait, her phone dings twice. I watch as her hands shake when she reaches for it, her silver eyes widening.

“Well, now we know how Romeo really found us,” she says, her teeth grinding in frustration.

“Your family told him?” I turn to her, my mouth gaping open.

Isla laughs. “My family would never rat me out. When I told Riley she informed Reign who told Carter. Carter was the one who reached out to tip off Jameson.”

“How dare he!” I snap, feeling somewhat betrayed by a guy I consider a friend.

Tears slip down Isla’s cheeks and she quickly wipes them away. “It's not you. He did it to get back at me.”

“Isla, you did nothing to deserve his attitude toward you.” I argue for my friend wanting to support her.