Page 27 of Driven by Desire

Jun-young stood up behind her and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back down until they were sitting in the bed of the truck again. Wendell put a restraining hand on her shoulder and gave her a stern shake of his head. Finally, she settled down and crossed her arms.

Turning to Jun-young who had settled back down beside her, she shot him a grimace with some teeth. “I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life. Going to shove my car up that fucker’s ass!”

He laughed and put a loose arm around her shoulders. “Good girl. You show these assholes.”

The group in the back of the truck relaxed and talked cars for the rest of the ride to the top, doing their best to ignore the tension and shit talk surrounding them. They arrived at the top a few minutes later. Riley jumped out of the truck, wished her new friend luck and made her way over to her car with Wendell.

The Koenigsegg Regera gleamed gorgeous red in the sunlight, waiting patiently for her new mistress to race her to the bottom of the mountain. Another air horn sounded, indicating five minutes to race time. Riley unzipped the leather jacket and handed the coat and cap to Wendell. He took them and set her up with an earpiece, which they immediately tested.

Her heart began pounding as she watched the other race teams prepping. Most cars had more than two people, except for her and Jun-young who caught her eye and winked at her across the hood of his shiny blue and silver Nissan GT-R. He stood with a tall and lanky clean-cut kid that was talking a mile a minute and giving his driver instructions.

Wendell was doing the same for Riley, but seemed to be obsessing over just one thing. “Just promise me you'll stay the fuck away from cliff edges. I don't even care where you place in this damn race. I just want you to survive it. I mean look at the way Digger keeps giving you the stink-eye. Fucker has it in for you. And this damn car is dangerous, never mind where you got it from. It’s death on wheels, babe.”

She nodded, absently scanning the area for Digger. She didn’t really care about him. He kept most of his worth in his pants. Or so he thought. She could work with that kind of idiocy. Then her eyes landed on the second to last person she wanted to see at the race. Roman Valdez. He was looking around like he was ready to spit nails. He must have spotted the car by now, which meant he was looking for someone. With a gasp, she grabbed hold of Wendell and shoved him away from her.

“What the f…!” Wendell began, but she cut him off.

“Go, Wendell!” Riley gasped. “Roman is here! You need to hide, now! I can’t hide the fucking car, but I can lock myself in until the race starts.”

She didn’t have to say it twice, Wendell took off at a run, putting as much distance between himself and a woman who, at that particular moment, posed a whole lot of danger to his health. Riley unlocked the car and lifted the handle, taking a moment to marvel at the smooth opening of the door, before sliding into the driver’s seat. She slammed the door shut and locked it.

She waited breathlessly for Roman to make his way over. There was absolutely no missing the incredibly beautiful car she had stolen from his boss two weeks ago. She was absolutely fucked. The air horn blew for a third time, indicating the drivers should take their prearranged places at the starting line.

Turning the ignition, Riley enjoyed the aggressively refined bark of the unparalleled engine before putting the vehicle in gear and pulling it around to her place in the starting lineup. She didn’t see Roman anywhere now in the crowd of people lining up to wave the seven drivers off the starting line. She rolled her shoulders in an attempt to loosen the tension and closed her eyes, counting down the seconds until the race started.

She grinned and ran her hands over the warm, smooth steering wheel. She made it. She was actually there. One of only three women to compete in the Sparrow Hawk Cup in its entire twenty-two-year history. A legacy competitor; the daughter of a champion. She hadn’t been stopped by the dark mafia kingpin who dogged her every footstep, trying to chain her to his side. Hell, not only had she escaped from beneath his shadow, she’d taken his car with her.

She opened her eyes, still smiling and glanced out the driver’s side window. The sun blinded her for a moment, before the shadow of a man stepped into the window, blocking it out. She shaded her eyes and looked up. She gasped, the smile melting from her lips. Soloman Hart stood staring down at her through the window, his dark eyes as icy cold as she had ever seen them. There was not a spark of warmth for the woman he professed to want with every fibre of his being.

She. Was. So. Fucked.

Riley stealthily double-checked to make sure the car was locked. About two seconds later he checked the handle to see if it would open. It did not. His eyes grew harder, never releasing hers. He lifted his hand and pointed at her, then at the door. She bit her lip and shook her head. She expected him to speak, but he didn’t. There was no point. He must have understood that she intended to race his car in the Sparrow Hawk, regardless of his commands. Just as she understood there would be consequences once he got his hands on her.

For once in her life Riley wished she was a praying type of girl. Because the Lord’s Prayer seemed appropriate right about now, if only she knew the words. She was pretty sure what she was seeing in his eyes was something similar to what people saw right before he killed their asses. She had stolen his extremely rare 2.5-million-dollar car, lied about it and now intended to race it in a dangerous, illegal race he had expressly forbidden her from attending.

Yup, totally fucked.

She swallowed hard and turned her eyes straight ahead. A tall, black-haired woman wearing fuck-me heels, tight jeans and a bikini-top was holding a green starting flag high in the air. Engines revved all around her. Riley glanced toward Soloman and pumped the accelerator with her foot, feeling the raw power of the Koenigsegg rumble beneath her. He stepped away from the car, his eyes still on her. She couldn't help herself, the moment the flag dropped, she blew him a kiss and then floored his Koenigsegg off the line, leaving him in her dust.

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