Page 70 of Reign of the Queen
I can see Raegan’s expression from the side of my eye, her mouth hanging open like a damn fish. I look across the table at Theo. The large vein throbbing and the color rising on his neck are the only tells that he’s upset.
I place the water bottle on the table and give him a raised eyebrow, daring him to say anything. He looks disgusted and gets up from the table, heading out the courtyard doors, where Finn and Carter disappeared.
“Be careful,Mamí; pulling a tiger’s tail isn’t usually a smart move,” Mateo declares and then gets up, abandoning his lunch and following his fellow kings out of the cafeteria.
“Mia... are you sure about the move you just pulled?” Raegan asks nervously. “They’re likely to dismember and bury poor Jessie.”
“He’s a big boy Rae. He makes his own choices, remember? He just didn’t realize I was the boogeyman he needed to worry about.”
“But...Mia,” she starts.
“No, Raegan. I will play this out. Jessie will follow along, or I’ll do what I should have done when he first betrayed me. I’ll burn his family to the ground.” I get up and walk out of the cafeteria doors, heading in the opposite directions of the kings. Needing some distance to think over the move I just made.
We pull up to the Quick Bean Café just after ten to see a solemn-looking Jessie and a nervous Evan waiting for us on the sidewalk, dressed casually in sweatpants and oversized hoodies.
"Get in," I order as I pull to the curb.
They do as they're told, and both hustle into the back seats of the Range. Raegan gives each of them a pity-filled look but doesn't say a word. The drive to Raleigh takes us a few hours. I alternate between the radio and my Spotify playlist. Not a sound comes from the back seat, but I catch Jessie looking at me through the rearview mirror. The car's mood is somber and depressing, like we're heading to an execution rather than a car race.
As we approach where the racing is taking place, I pull onto the shoulder of the road and turn in my seat to stare down the two sizable football players in my backseat. "You two fuckers will stick close to Raegan and me unless I say otherwise. You'll play along with everything I'm doing, and if one of you even thinks to tuck tail and run, I'll have your family's assets frozen within an hour. Do you understand?"
They look at each other, fear evident in their expressions, turn back to me, and nod their agreement.
"Good, you have a chance to redeem yourselves here gentlemen, don't blow it," Raegan utters with unhappiness from the passenger seat.
We pull into the parking lot where the races are taking place. It's an old, abandoned dirt racing track. It's packed, based on how many people are wandering around. I pull the Range into a spot out of the way on the hilly grass, trying my hardest to avoid hitting idiots that aren't watching where they're walking. We get out of the car and head toward the track as a unit.
"Never been here before but I heard the racing's intense. They race for papers." Evan lets out a whistle.
"Let's find Finn." I motion toward the lower section of the track.
The crowd is dense with people our age and college-aged kids standing around different cars. Most of the guys are either in jeans or sweatpants and hoodies, but the girls are in a variety of looks, from ripped jeans, leggings and sneakers to barely their skimpy clubwear, showing a lot of skin.
We get a few looks as we approach where the next race is set to go down, but I ignore them. I spy Mateo up ahead, his hair tied up in some version of a man bun and shirtless among a throng of girls. Once he spies me, he quickly pulls away from them and heads toward us.
"Myreina, how are we doing on this gorgeous day?" He extends his hands out on either side, palms up like he's some magically golden sun god. His chest and abs are on display, the deep V in his muscled abdomen leading down and disappearing into slim, low-rise jeans barely hanging on and red chucks.How he's not cold right now, I don't know.
I never realized he had ink up and down his rib cage, having never seen him shirtless. Large box script covers both sides, and I narrow my vision until I can read the text. One side says, "Do no evil," and the other says, "Take no shit."
Rolling my eyes and shaking my head, I look away from him to the crowd and spy the girls he was chatting with, giving Raegan and me death stares. I give them a little wave and follow it with my favorite middle-finger salute.
"Aren't you cold, asshole?" Raegan lets out before I can answer him.
"RaeRae, we Cabano men are hot-blooded creatures,mami. We don't feel the cold." He winks at her with a grin.
Mateo stares at Jessie and Evan behind us but doesn’t say anything. I can see by his expression he’s not happy with their presence, but he’s also not willing to begin the day arguing with me. I’m starting to think he has the most common sense out of the four kings.
"Where's Finn?" I question, looking around and not seeing him through the thick crowd of people standing around.
"He's down by the track, getting shit finalized to race." Mateo grabs my hand and pulls me along in the direction of a group of people. I pull back and grasp onto Jessie's hoodie to drag him along with us. He looks like a lost scared puppy. I almost feel sorry for him. Almost, but then I remember what he looked like standing in the hall that day.
Once we reach the group of people standing around a couple of race cars, I spy the other three kings standing together. A few girls are trying to chat them up. Finn looks like he's on edge and keeps looking into the crowds for someone, his height allowing him to see over everyone's heads. Carter's flirting away with a pair of blondes, oblivious to all around him. One of the blondes runs her dagger-tipped pink nails down his chest. Theo looks utterly bored with the brunette that's trying to chat his ear off.
He's the first to spy me out of the crowd. He straightens up and moves away from the girl abruptly, causing her to step back or risk falling over in those ridiculous sky-high heels she's wearing on hard-packed dirt. I notice him look behind me to where I'm dragging a stressed Jessie by the hem of his hoodie with me, and Raegan and Evan are bringing up the rear.
A flash of anger momentarily crosses his face. Then he shuts it down; his statue mask makes an appearance on his strong features. He looks gorgeous in his dark denim, a tight gray long sleeve Henny covering that impressive chest and shoulders. His feet are donned in dark green Jordans, and his dirty blond hair is back in its perfect styled look.Pity, I like it better when I've dug my hands through it, and it's messy, like our situation and my mind.
Finn moves toward me first, a smile breaking across his beautiful face. "You came."
