“Winning is fun,” Rome drags out. “And it looks like I won this one, Princess.”
Maybe, but only because I’m distracted by something worse than him.
I move away from the cocktail table and put my back to the gala. I long for the door like it’s my savior. My ears ring, and the back of my neck prickles with the thought of everyone’s eyes on me–especially Vinny’s.
I want to poke his eyes out so he can’t look at me and cut his hands off so he can’t touch me. But more than both of those things, I want to beat him on the track just as badly as I wanted to beat Rome before he signed a contract with my father to join our team.
Chapter Twelve
ROME
I watch her go.
Not in a longing way, but instead with puzzlement.
These types of events are stuffy. In Canada, I’d have a few women I’d rotate through, bringing them with me as my “date” so I wasn’t totally bored out of my mind, but tonight, I’m flying solo.
Which is probably why I couldn’t help but toy with Tessa.
Clearly, we need to take a break from one another after the day we had. I thought the rivalry between Beck and me would be the most prominent within the Halston family, his jealousy impulsively throwing him at my throat, but I was wrong.
It’s my little spitfire engineer.
We’re supposed to be working seamlessly together, and we’re not.
I didn’t mesh well with my father, cautiously disagreeing with his shots on the track, and now I’m finding myself in the same scenario over at Vanstone.
If you asked me who I trust more, my father or Tess, it’d be her.
That’s a secret I’ll die with, though.
I turn back toward the mingling and look for the rest of my team. They’re all still here, in various spots, each of us in our black suits. Jericho and Vinny, both decent drivers who I’ve never had beef with, break apart from conversation.
I watch Vinny sneakily head for the door, and after a few long seconds, I find myself following him.
Something is pulling me in that direction.
A magnetic force of sorts. A fuzzy thought. A tight knot in the pit of my stomach that switches between curiosity and protection.
Cool air brushes across my face, cooling my skin. The street is just as busy as it always is. Vegas never sleeps, the blurring headlights zipping past as Ubers park off to the side beside valet drivers in expensive cars.
Drawn like iron to a magnet, I find Tessa in that black dress that reveals just enough to keep me on my toes. Her chest expands, but it doesn’t deflate, as if she’s holding her breath.
I shift my attention, and my eye twitches at the sight of Vinny.
Heat surges through my veins from the way his arm finds her waist.
Does she like that?
A man like Vinny pulling her away possessively from the cameras and chaos?
I pause when she lifts her hand and slaps his arm away.
He grins and then whispers something in her ear.
My fists clench, but I can’t look away.
“Sir?”
