Page 67 of Full Throttle

I knew where he was coming from. He was concerned for me. All of them were, but my ankle was healed, and I’d been cleared to drive by my doctor weeks ago. I was ready.

I was sure of it.

I nodded once. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

Dontell nodded, accepting it. “Alright.”

Mina’s voice bounced off the concrete floor from behind us, and we both turned to watch her approach. I felt Dontell move around the table to greet her. “Hey, Jazzy,” he murmured, pulling her into his arms.

I smiled as warmth spread throughout my body.

Their love was so pure—effortless.

As their lips came together for a kiss, I looked away, giving them some privacy. My eyes landed on Leon, who was just entering the building dressed in sweats and a hoodie.

Leon gave me a chin lift as he walked up to me. “Nikki.”

“Lee,” I greeted, giving him a fist bump.

His eyes lifted over my shoulder where his sister and Dontell stood, giving them a chin lift before looking back to me. “How you doing?”

“Never been better,” I told him. It was a half-truth.

“You ready for tonight? You know you don’t have to race.”

As dramatically as I could, I made a show of rolling my eyes. “Yes, boy wonder, I’m ready. You, D, and Jer keeping asking me that, I’m going to lose my mind.”

He gave me a smirk, raising his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright.”

I flipped the conversation to him. “Are you racing tonight?”

That smirk morphed into a wicked grin, something I’d never seen on him before. A chill scattered down my spine at the sight of it. “I need a new addition for my collection,” he said, his words holding promise.

“Just not mine,” I laughed.

“I don’t think Lee should race tonight,” his sister cut in, coming to stand beside me. She linked her arms in mine. “It wouldn’t be fair to anyone else.”

Dontell came to stand in our huddle as Lee replied coolly, “Not my fault everyone is slower than me.”

His best friend chuckled. “Here we fucking go,” he muttered.

Mina and I laughed. “What about you, D?” I asked. “You racing tonight?”

Giving me a soft smile, he shook his head. “I’m in the office tonight, Nikki.”

A single clap sounded throughout the old building, and we all turned to find Jeremy and Casey. My eyes flicked over to the car bays and, one by one, each of the Oasis mechanics left, clocking out for the day. They’d be back tonight for the races. D and Lee explained to me that Oasis employees weren’t members of Oasis and couldn’t be included in the meetings.

I thought back to the man they’d told me about, the Oasis employee who pointed a gun at Leon a few months back.

Cain was the one who killed him, apparently.

As that piece of information fluttered inside my head, I found myself scanning the building for him.

He wasn’t here.

We all took our seats and a few moments later, an engine rumbled from outside. A sense of relief washed over my shoulders, but when Dean Connors walked in and not Cain, that relief vanished in an instant. As Dean greeted everyone, including me, Collin Stevens arrived with his wife.

Once everyone was seated at the table, I made note of where everyone was.

---