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These two are going to exhaust me, and I don’t even mind. It’s better than the alternative—them ignoring me while our peers bully me. Not to mention, I’d rather be here than at home any day. I just hope Dana does her job faster this time and finds out who drugged me and killed Lacee before I become the next victim. Or worse—the killer takes Zeke or Christian from me…

Chapter 18

CHRISTIAN VERADIN - THE PREVIOUS NIGHT

TherumblefromTakumo’sNissan GT-R makes my dick hard as I grip the steering wheel with one hand and the gear shifter with my other. Racing is in my blood—always will be. And the Barrett brothers are going to fucking lose this race. I’ve got Takumo’s power beneath the hood, and that motherfucker doesn’t spare a dime with his cars. He’s not the best street racer in Japan for nothing.

Bad Omens plays through the speakers, pumping up my adrenaline and making my dick even harder. Not only is this song—The Death of Peace of Mind—a fucking banger, it makes me think of all the dirty, fucked up things I’m going to do to Billie. But that will have to wait until later.

Looking to my right, I see the youngest Barrett brother, Kage, in his souped up Subaru Impreza, revving his engine like a douche bag. I grin, knowing this Nissan is going to eat his Subaru up and spit it out. Let’s just hope my time away from the streets hasn’t made me rusty.

I haven’t been invited to race yet, but they can never say no to me. I’m their biggest rival, and I plan to keep it that way while also doing what Dana needs me to do.

After I park in an open spot, I get out of the car like I own the place. Everyone knows who I am. The guys eye-ball my car, probably wondering where I came up with this badass machine, while their girlfriends eye-fuck me behind their backs. I throw them a wink and my panty-soaking smirk before I turn to Kage, getting out of his own car.

“I see you like to keep getting your ass kicked. Ready to lose another car, Veradin?” he calls out over the hood of his car, grinning like the chauvinistic prick that he is.

Cracking my neck, I hold the smirk on my lips but ignore his stupid fucking question. He got lucky in the last race against me, taking my dad’s car and landing my ass in juvie. That’s not going to fucking happen again, though.

“Keep talkin’ shit, Kage. We both know you cheated on that last race.”

He loses his smile as he squares his shoulders and glares over at me. Yeah, I poked the fucker right in the chest. I don’t have proof, but there’s no way his car was faster than my dad’s. My guess is he used nos at the last second that pushed him over the finish line right before me. Out of all the Barrett’s, Kage is the loose cannon—the one that gives their family name an unpleasant taste in people’s mouths. But he’s blood, so he’s not going anywhere.

It’s chilly as fuck tonight, so I’m lucky I grabbed my Reaper Academy sweater on my way out. A fog is rolling in from the mountains, which is going to hinder our racing if we don’t get a move on. I look around for the one in charge, finding him surrounded by a small sea of girls, like always. Beau Barrett is the pretty boy out of the brothers, but he’s ruthless as fuck. He’s unhinged, hanging onto his sanity by a thread. I won’t be surprised if his face gets plastered all over the five o’clock news when he finally commits murder; the guy is nuttier than squirrel turds.

“Christian fucking Veradin,” he says my name deep and low as he pushes through the girls, coming right for me. His gaze drops to my ankle when he mentions, “I see you’re finally free. Welcome back to the outside world.”

I don’t miss the way he mockingly laughs at me. Things would have been so different if my dad hadn’t called my ass in. They might have won my piece of shit father’s car, but I would have raced again—against a different brother entirely—to keep the car and gain a new one. I never got the chance to redeem myself.

“You owe me another race, Beau,” I tell him, cutting right to the reason I’m here. I don’t fucking do pleasantries; they’re worthless.

He looks me up and down, losing the sarcastic smirk on his face when he stops. “Another race? How many cars are you going to hand over to us, Chris?”

I groan, hating when people call me that. “It’s Christian,” I correct him through clenched teeth. “And I’m not wanting to race for pink slips this time. I race to win a few minutes of your time, Beau, and hopefully, for some fucking respect around here.”

His smile has completely faded away as he rubs his jaw, studying me. “You’ve already earned your respect around here, Veradin. Because if you hadn’t, your rubber would never drive on these mountain roads.”

Not saying a word, I wait for him to control the conversation since that’s what he enjoys doing, anyway. I have to keep reminding myself that I’m here for a reason and to keep my mouth shut. I won’t get on their good sides if I let my smart remarks go flying.

“Well, what are we waiting for, then? Let’s do this,” Kage bellows, throwing his arms up.

Beau whips a hard glare in his brother’s direction, silencing Kage almost immediately. I’m a tough guy who rarely takes shit from anyone, but even I would clam up if Beau looked at me like that. Like I said, he’s a ruthless monster.

“What are you racing?” Kage asks, nodding his head toward my car.

A smile plays on my lips when I look over my shoulder at the white and black beauty handed over to me. They can obviously see what car it is, but I’ll never tell them who it belonged to. I want to actually race against them and win; Kage will back out like a little bitch if he hears Takumo’s name dropped.

“Daddy buy you a new whip?” Beau asks, nodding at the Nissan.

I shrug and say, “Something like that. So, what we racing?”

Beau grins, turning his gaze up the mountain. “We race to the top and back down—around Captain Jack’s bend.”

My heart sinks into my gut before it beats like a wild beast. I won’t show any fear, though. He’s testing me right now. Captain Jack’s bend is gnarly, killing almost everyone who attempts to race it. Well, besides the Barrett brothers, and I figure if they can survive it, then so can I.

“Dude, don’t do it!”

“Yoooo, that’s fucking whack. He ain’t gonna make it.”

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