Page 6 of Full Throttle

“Agreed,” Leon replied. “She belongs at Oasis.”

“Who is she?” I asked, something vaguely familiar about her curves hidden under the black skater skirt and white, long sleeved thermal.

The woman turned around to face us, smiling and chatting with the crowd.

My stomach tightened as the organ in my chest seemed to stop altogether, right around the time Mickey said, “Her name is Dominique, and she’s the best female racer in Denver.”

To me, she wasn’t.

To me, she was the good girl next door. The one with the shy smile and kind eyes.

The woman before me was a stranger, and she confirmed it a few minutes later when Mickey introduced us.

She didn’t look me in the eye once.

She acted like I didn’t exist.

I suppose it was a feeling I needed to get used to. Between her and Leon, I didn’t know if I was going to survive being the invisible man.

“You good?”

I looked up from the floor to find Leon standing above me, a Red Bull extended out to me. His eyes were conflicted, the gold ring within them dimmed as he stared down at me.

Clearing my throat, I shook off the memory of seeing Dominique for the first time in ten years and focused on the present. “Has the doctor discharged her yet?” I asked, ignoring the tension between us.

“No, not yet,” he sighed as I took the can from him.

I watched as he looked away, his jaw jumping. My eyes drifted back to the strangers passing by, from the pregnant mothers walking in with a smile, to the grieving old men walking in with sad smiles and flowers. Leon moved after a few moments, taking a seat beside me, propping his forearms on his knees, joining me in the people watching.

“I wanted to apologize for last night,” he began, his voice filled with regret. He looked at me over his shoulder. “I shouldn’t have held you back—or hesitated. I should’ve gone to her sooner. I just—”

A strange feeling bloomed in my chest. “We don’t have to talk about that. I understand.”

He looked away from me, and I stared at his profile, noticing the muscle in his jaw working relentlessly. “It was a stupid mistake, and I’m sorry—”

“I pulled my gun on you, Lee,” I cut him off again, leaning forward, mirroring him. “If anything, I should be the one apologizing.”

He shook his head and looked down to his feet. “Cain, if it was me and Amara was in that burning car…you’d have a bullet in your chest.”

I couldn’t say I was surprised. Lee and I were just starting to build our trust back, and while that was going to take time, I understood him. I’d seen the way he looked at the detective, even on the first day I met her. I knew then that she meant something to him. I was shocked that Dontell or Jeremy didn’t see it.

“If Dontell or Jer tried to stop me, I think—I think they would have bullets in their chests too.”

My stomach twisted. “You can’t mean that.”

Finally, he looked at me, pain lingering in his eyes. “Oh, but I do. That’s what happens when a man like me falls in love. No one stands a fucking chance if Amara is in danger.” Knives built in my throat, and his next sentence rocked me. “So, yeah, I understand why you pointed your piece at me.”

I jerked. Then, my face twisted as I snarled, “I’m not in love with Dominique.”

He drew in a deep breath, releasing it as he leaned back in the chair. “And I wasn’t in love with Detective Harrison, brother.”

Brother.

I looked away from him then, cracking open my unhealthy energy drink with a single hand. I leaned back then, downing half of the cool liquid. I needed to get the subject off her, but that was kind of hard considering she was the one in the hospital bed. “I want her out of Oasis.”

“Cain,” Lee sighed.

My head turned to him as I growled, “She raced in your fucking car.”

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