“Why would a rich asshole like Dom want to live in a shithole mansion like this in the middle of nowhere, in a sleepy town like Valemont?” The words were past my lips before I could consider whether I was ready to ask it aloud.
Avoiding my eyes, Leo stammered for an answer. “I don’t… I mean it’s a nice change of pace.”
My eyes flicked across her face, trying to glean as much information from her as I could. If I had any hope of getting out from under Dom’s grasp, I needed more data. I needed to figure out what made her tick and why she was out in these woods hiding from the world.
She had everything, the money, the status. She could have anything.
But as I looked at Leo’s stern face, I couldn’t tell if this was all a deflection — a way to obscure the truth Leo wasn’t ready to spill to me yet — or if Dom had been keeping secrets of her own.
57
KIERA
A few dayshad passed since our explosive breakfast, but after Dom’s little show, no one felt comfortable leaving me alone with her. Which was fine by me: it meant I got to spend more time at Lucky Strike, learning about the bikes I’d one day be driving if The Oracle had their way.
“Okay, what’s step one?” Leo leaned against a tool chest as I hovered in front of her bike.
“Unscrew the drain bolt?”
She shook her head. “Oil fill cap. You want to allow for airflow.”
“Right,” I groaned, pouting over my shoulder. “You sure I can’t just learn how to ride it?”
From one of the wheelie stools, Spencer smirked. “I’ll show you how to ride it, Bunny.”
I hardly had time to roll my eyes at the innuendo before Leo crossed her arms. “No. You need to know how this thing works before you get behind the handlebars.”
“Laaaaame,” Spencer teased, spinning in her seat.
Despite myself, I’d gotten back to my usual comfort with my two captors since The Hollow. Nothing had changed really, justthat I couldn’t leave if I tried. But I still needed their protection. My mom’s incessant calls hadn’t slowed which told me one thing: Gabe was still looking for me.
Dr. Leo kicked her stool, spinning her wildly through the shop. I laughed at the sight of her spinning out, but bit my tongue as Leo leveled me with a stern look. “Back to work, Princess.”
Thanks to Leo’s calm guidance, I made quick work of the oil change considering Spencer wouldn’t stop heckling. While my other two captors could be quite solemn, Spencer always knew just how to make me laugh. And laughter was something I was needing more and more of as I adjusted to the chaos that was my life.
But even the life of the party had her limits. And that phone of hers was often the catalyst of cloudy moods.
As I kneeled on the floor to get a better angle on my wrench, I prepared for a joke about getting down and dirty. But the familiar ring of her cell sapped the smile from her face in an instant.
“I’ve gotta take this.” She frowned, standing abruptly and walking off from the work station. She always deflected when I asked about her mysterious callers, but I figured it was the same person based on the furrow in her brow. But her tone, usually hushed and irritated, swiftly shifted to panic.
“Kiera.” Leo barked as a metal clang hit the floor, followed by a flush of liquid.
“Crap!” I muttered, looking down at the stinky brown liquid spilling all over the floor from the motorcycle. Distracted, I must have unscrewed the drain bolt without realizing it, and now, the piece was lost in a mess of used oil.
“The drip pan.” Leo rushed from the tool cabinet toward my workstation, shoving the tin under the spill with a boot.
“Fuck, that’s such a mess.” I muttered, shaking my head. “Sorry I don’t know what?—”
“I’ve gotta go,” Spence muttered as she hung up the phone.
“Where are you heading?” I asked, curious what had her twisted in such a knot.
“I’ve gotta run some errands for my niece and nephew. I’ll be back late.”
But before Spencer could head for the door, I caught her eye. “Hey, are you okay?”
Leo never asked these questions. Which meant she either already knew the deal with Spencer’s family, or she just didn’t think it was her business to pry.
