Page 46 of Midnight Racers

“I think you’ll find they belong to Charlotte,” I replied. “My advice is to walk away.”

Dale grabbed Charlotte’s arm. “This is family business.”

Charlotte glanced at me, panic flaring in her eyes.

“Take your hand off her,” I warned. He had just gone from an annoyance to someone on my persons of interest list. People rarely survived finding themselves on that list.

“Charlieis my sister.” He stared at me and I saw Charlotte flinch from the corner of my eye.

Yeah, he needed to fuck right off. “And she comes under my protection.” My hand deliberately went around his as I prised it off with enough force to make him flinch. “Come on, Charlotte, we have more important matters to attend.”

I drew her away since she didn’t need to be in the middle of this right now. Today had been hard enough for her.

“This isn’t finished,” Dale called out in defiance.

“Have a good day, Dale.” I flicked him a middle finger salute as I walked away. “Safe home.”

Stupid fucker. He should have quit while he was ahead. Now he had just earned himself a visitation when he wasn’t expecting us. Dale Jones was a marked man and should sleep with one eye open because he had made Charlotte vulnerable, tears hiding at the back of her eyes.

I would happily be an agent for retribution.

***

Chapter Sixteen

Charlotte

My hand trembled as it clung to Flynn’s arm. The guys had tried to keep me out earlier, but I had seen him kneeing Dale in the balls. That had to hurt more than the punch Jordan bestowed on my brother. There was a part of me that wanted to feel sorry for him and go to his aid, but all the times he laughed at me rung in my ears.

It was the first time I’d ever seen someone stand up to Dale. He had been spoilt for years since he was the star of the team and ensured everyone knew that he was to be obeyed. We had all kept our gazes down when he had arrived at the factory in a temper. Just like we all knew, he deliberately hit Flynn’s car out there.

My heart still pounded in my ears from the fear that I experienced earlier. I knew Flynn was an excellent driver, but I had no idea how he had controlled the car at that speed out there. My heart had leapt in my chest and the world stood still for several moments.

I shouldn’t feel this much for him, but I did. In work, we were professional and courteous, but when the door closed against the world, that ended and we became creatures of passion and desire.

We were wild and careless that first night, my horror at not using protection flooding through me when I had got home and realised his semen had dried between my thighs. Now we were cautious in more than one meaning of the word since no one was to know about us.

I didn’t know how no one had guessed since my body tensed every time he was close, electrical currents flashing up my arm when he touched me accidentally. Flynn had taken me away from Dale and Dad, pulling me along beside him like a force of nature.

“Head up,” he said under his breath, his arm squeezing my hand against his body.

My chin came up and I refused to look back.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He didn’t reply, but I knew he’d heard me. He was the first person who had treated me with dignity and respect, and that confused and terrified me because what we had found was unable to last in the real world. Our rule was that we continued to be friends with benefits until we had this explosive chemistry under control. It didn’t help that every single day, I craved him more than the one before.

Declan stood with his ass on the front bonnet of Flynn’s car. He glared at Greg who worked on my old team.

“Problem?” Flynn asked.

“Nope,” Declan replied, continuing to stare at Greg. “I just don’t trust anyone who works for a cheat who tries to take out other cars in a race.”

“I only wanted to speak to Charlie,” Greg said, his eyes darting to me. “I need to ask her something about our car.”

Flynn held his hand up. “If this is about work, then I need to advise you that Charlotte no longer works for your team. Any advice given to you would be considered as a breach of contract. You should have started with asking how she was and that you all missed her.” We stopped a few feet away. “I might have actually considered your request.”

Greg glanced at me for a moment before he turned and walked away with his hands in his pockets.

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