“Are we seriously going to just pretend like the entire club wasn’t overrun with rats like some kind of plague and pestilence out of the Bible? What’s going on, Nassir?”
I sighed and rubbed a hand roughly over my face. “I’m not sure. Can we talk about this later? I want a shower and five minutes to calm down so I don’t put my fist through a wall.”
She must have seen the barely contained violence that was boiling in my gaze because she took a step back without arguing and nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you at the house.”
She got into her little car, and I walked over to my much more expensive one. I loved the Bentley. It screamed king of the fucking mountain, but it was also fast and handled like a dream. I appreciated the opulence of it. I pulled out of the parking lot behind Key, making sure to keep her in sight as we tooled through the city. My mind was a million miles away, wondering how someone could be circumventing my security system and what they gained by messing with my new club.
I made enemies like it was the one job in life I was born to do, but most people with a grudge against me wanted to put my head on a pike not a dent in my fat pocketbook. I didn’t understand it and that annoyed me even more. Revenge and retribution were the things I’d been weaned on, so I should be able to figure out why someone was toying with my new club. It all felt very random and woefully immature.
I rested my wrist on the steering wheel and forced myself to concentrate on the twin red taillights in front of me. Desire, sharp and jagged, poked at the anger that was flooding my veins. I would have Keelyn in my house, alone for the next few days, while the infestation at the club was taken care of. If there was ever an opportunity to show her that this thing between us was inevitable, this was it. She could push and push at me until she tired herself out and then I would pick her up and take her to bed because by then she would be begging me to. A grin pulled at the corner of my mouth at the idea of Keelyn Foster begging for anything, ever. It was a nice fantasy, but I knew she was going to fight me every step of the way. That’s why no one else but her would do.
I squinted as bright lights suddenly illuminated the interior of the car. I glanced into the rearview mirror and frowned when all I could see was headlights because the car behind me was so close to my bumper. The hair on the back of my neck stood up a little as I eased my foot off the gas and slowed way down. I heard an engine rev up as the car behind me sped up instead of slowing down to match my new pace. I frowned and tightened my hands so that I was actually holding the steering wheel in a tight grip. I saw Key’s taillights pull farther and farther away, which was what I wanted. I wasn’t sure why the person behind me was riding my ass, but after the week I had had, I wasn’t leaving anything to chance.
I let the Bentley pick up a little bit of speed and switched lanes to see if the person behind me would pass. They didn’t. They switched lanes as well and I wasn’t surprised in the slightest when I heard metal screech against metal as their bumper made contact with mine. The Bentley wobbled a little, but Bentleys were luxury cars made for rich people with a lot to lose, so the love tap barely sent me off course. I slammed the gas pedal down to the floor and the car leaped forward smoothly. I shot my gaze to the rearview to see if I could get a license plate or tell what kind of car it was, but the brights shining in my eyes made that impossible.
I knew I had the driving skills and the horsepower to outrun pretty much anyone on the road. But I didn’t have that luxury, because as soon as I sped up I ended up catching up to the Honda and to Key, who had obviously slowed down to see where I had gone. I swore and tried to flash my lights at her to get her to move, but that just made her slow down even more, forcing me to slam on the brakes to avoid rear-ending her and pushing her off the road. I didn’t have any choice but to let the other car that had been chasing me catch up. I didn’t want to run the risk of speeding past Key and having the other driver pursue her instead. When the other car reached me it was still going top speed since the driver was trying to catch up to me, and the impact when our vehicles collided was brutal and violent enough that it sent the Bentley careening off the shoulder of the road.
I probably would’ve been able to regain control. The Bentley was made to take a hit; what it wasn’t made to do was fly. The shoulder had enough of a lip on it that once the wheels caught it at the speed I was going, the car lifted up into the air. I watched everything go upside down, and I knew the impact was going to be harsh and violent. All I could think about was Key telling me my forever was never going to be as long as someone else’s and how this just served to prove her point.
When the car came back down, it landed on the roof and everything crunched down around me like I was on the inside of a trash compactor. The noise was deafening and the impact was enough to rattle all of my bones. The top of my head collided with the concave metal—hard—and everything instantly went foggy and out of focus. I felt shards of glass shatter around me and pierce my skin. I had to blink blood out of my eyes as my vision started to get blurry. My head really hurt and everything was the wrong way, but I could smell gasoline and the copper scent of my own blood, so I knew I was still alive . . . at least for now. I tried to move so that I could release the seat belt, but the car had crunched so far down that this was impossible. I groaned and lifted a hand to the blood liberally flowing over my face.
I couldn’t move. I was stuck upside down in the mangled mess of my car because someone had run me off the road. I groaned as my vision started to fade to black.
I heard someone call my name in a frantic voice and realized it had to be Key. I wanted to yell at her to stay in her car and just head to my house in the woods where it was safe, but I couldn’t make words work. My tongue felt too thick in my mouth and my thoughts were fighting through a bunch of darkness and haze in the effort to become speech.
“Nassir! Are you okay? Oh my God, that SUV ran you off the road!”
Suddenly her face was in the window and I had to squint to see her clearly. Her gray eyes were taking up most of her face and her usual sexy sneer was replaced by pinched concern. “You’re bleeding. Bad.”
I couldn’t reply, so I just closed my eyes and then startled when I felt her fingers tap against my cheek, at first softly, but when I refused to open my eyes she used more force.
“None of that. I called 911. They’ll be here any second to get you out of there. Just hang in there.” She sounded scared and really worried.
I sighed and rubbed a hand roughly over my face. “I’m not sure. Can we talk about this later? I want a shower and five minutes to calm down so I don’t put my fist through a wall.”
She must have seen the barely contained violence that was boiling in my gaze because she took a step back without arguing and nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you at the house.”
She got into her little car, and I walked over to my much more expensive one. I loved the Bentley. It screamed king of the fucking mountain, but it was also fast and handled like a dream. I appreciated the opulence of it. I pulled out of the parking lot behind Key, making sure to keep her in sight as we tooled through the city. My mind was a million miles away, wondering how someone could be circumventing my security system and what they gained by messing with my new club.
I made enemies like it was the one job in life I was born to do, but most people with a grudge against me wanted to put my head on a pike not a dent in my fat pocketbook. I didn’t understand it and that annoyed me even more. Revenge and retribution were the things I’d been weaned on, so I should be able to figure out why someone was toying with my new club. It all felt very random and woefully immature.
I rested my wrist on the steering wheel and forced myself to concentrate on the twin red taillights in front of me. Desire, sharp and jagged, poked at the anger that was flooding my veins. I would have Keelyn in my house, alone for the next few days, while the infestation at the club was taken care of. If there was ever an opportunity to show her that this thing between us was inevitable, this was it. She could push and push at me until she tired herself out and then I would pick her up and take her to bed because by then she would be begging me to. A grin pulled at the corner of my mouth at the idea of Keelyn Foster begging for anything, ever. It was a nice fantasy, but I knew she was going to fight me every step of the way. That’s why no one else but her would do.
I squinted as bright lights suddenly illuminated the interior of the car. I glanced into the rearview mirror and frowned when all I could see was headlights because the car behind me was so close to my bumper. The hair on the back of my neck stood up a little as I eased my foot off the gas and slowed way down. I heard an engine rev up as the car behind me sped up instead of slowing down to match my new pace. I frowned and tightened my hands so that I was actually holding the steering wheel in a tight grip. I saw Key’s taillights pull farther and farther away, which was what I wanted. I wasn’t sure why the person behind me was riding my ass, but after the week I had had, I wasn’t leaving anything to chance.
I let the Bentley pick up a little bit of speed and switched lanes to see if the person behind me would pass. They didn’t. They switched lanes as well and I wasn’t surprised in the slightest when I heard metal screech against metal as their bumper made contact with mine. The Bentley wobbled a little, but Bentleys were luxury cars made for rich people with a lot to lose, so the love tap barely sent me off course. I slammed the gas pedal down to the floor and the car leaped forward smoothly. I shot my gaze to the rearview to see if I could get a license plate or tell what kind of car it was, but the brights shining in my eyes made that impossible.
I knew I had the driving skills and the horsepower to outrun pretty much anyone on the road. But I didn’t have that luxury, because as soon as I sped up I ended up catching up to the Honda and to Key, who had obviously slowed down to see where I had gone. I swore and tried to flash my lights at her to get her to move, but that just made her slow down even more, forcing me to slam on the brakes to avoid rear-ending her and pushing her off the road. I didn’t have any choice but to let the other car that had been chasing me catch up. I didn’t want to run the risk of speeding past Key and having the other driver pursue her instead. When the other car reached me it was still going top speed since the driver was trying to catch up to me, and the impact when our vehicles collided was brutal and violent enough that it sent the Bentley careening off the shoulder of the road.
I probably would’ve been able to regain control. The Bentley was made to take a hit; what it wasn’t made to do was fly. The shoulder had enough of a lip on it that once the wheels caught it at the speed I was going, the car lifted up into the air. I watched everything go upside down, and I knew the impact was going to be harsh and violent. All I could think about was Key telling me my forever was never going to be as long as someone else’s and how this just served to prove her point.
When the car came back down, it landed on the roof and everything crunched down around me like I was on the inside of a trash compactor. The noise was deafening and the impact was enough to rattle all of my bones. The top of my head collided with the concave metal—hard—and everything instantly went foggy and out of focus. I felt shards of glass shatter around me and pierce my skin. I had to blink blood out of my eyes as my vision started to get blurry. My head really hurt and everything was the wrong way, but I could smell gasoline and the copper scent of my own blood, so I knew I was still alive . . . at least for now. I tried to move so that I could release the seat belt, but the car had crunched so far down that this was impossible. I groaned and lifted a hand to the blood liberally flowing over my face.
I couldn’t move. I was stuck upside down in the mangled mess of my car because someone had run me off the road. I groaned as my vision started to fade to black.
I heard someone call my name in a frantic voice and realized it had to be Key. I wanted to yell at her to stay in her car and just head to my house in the woods where it was safe, but I couldn’t make words work. My tongue felt too thick in my mouth and my thoughts were fighting through a bunch of darkness and haze in the effort to become speech.
“Nassir! Are you okay? Oh my God, that SUV ran you off the road!”
Suddenly her face was in the window and I had to squint to see her clearly. Her gray eyes were taking up most of her face and her usual sexy sneer was replaced by pinched concern. “You’re bleeding. Bad.”
I couldn’t reply, so I just closed my eyes and then startled when I felt her fingers tap against my cheek, at first softly, but when I refused to open my eyes she used more force.
“None of that. I called 911. They’ll be here any second to get you out of there. Just hang in there.” She sounded scared and really worried.
