Page 56 of Vicious Temptation

I shake my head and take a deep breath. “I’m better now.”

“Good.” Valentina takes my hand and pulls me toward the kitchen, where she grabs my helmet and holds it out to me. “Old times?”

A grin breaks across my face. “You already forget what it feels like to lose?”

She tips her head back and laughs. “I think you’re the one who forgot who’s second best.”

The vibration runs through my body as I swing a leg over my bike, grip the handlebars, and lean forward. I don’t want to think or feel anymore. I just want to ride with the person who means everything in the world to me.

I didn’t realize how badly I needed her until she was in my arms, or that without her showing up today, I probably wouldn’t have left my condo.

We pull out side by side and accelerate down the street. The wind cuts through me, dragging everything loose with it, and carrying it away as Valentina keeps pace beside me.

“How long are you staying?” I ask, already dreading the answer.

Her voice comes through the speaker softly. “Two weeks.”

I sigh, the sound crackling through her helmet.

“I’m sorry. Maksim has work, and things are…”

“I get it, V. I do. I just miss you.”

Her quiet breath fills my ear. “You can always come with me for a bit. For as long as you need.”

I swerve around a blue sedan, and she follows. “You know I can’t do that. I have Sloane’s, and I want to be here for Zara, and…” My voice trails off as a certain SWAT officer slips into my head.

Thiago.

What the hell was I even going to say? That I need to stay because of him? I don’t even want to see him. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

“Remi? And what?”

“My mom,” I answer quickly. “Estela’s death has hit her pretty hard, and I can’t leave her.”

Valentina goes quiet for a few seconds, and I know that silence. She heard everything I didn’t say. There’s no way she knows about Thiago, but she’s the one person I’ve never been able to hide much from. She always knows when something’s off.

The problem is that I don’t even know what that something is yet. I’m grateful when she doesn’t press. Instead, she pulls up beside me at a red light and revs her engine.

I smile behind my visor. “You’ve been out of the game for a long time. Are you sure you want to get whipped your first day back?”

She laughs and revs again. “Please. I was winning races before you even learned how to shift.”

“Fuck, Val. Go easy on me. I can’t help that I was born four years too late.” I glance over at her. “But you might want to look both ways this time.”

The light flips green, and I floor it.

Valentina is still laughing, which costs her precious seconds.

“Remi, you bitch!”

I shoot through the intersection as her laughter fills my helmet. She catches up fast, her engine roaring beside me as she pulls even.

“Cheap shot!” she shouts through the comms.

“You hesitated,” I fire back, shifting and pushing harder.

The road opens ahead of us, and we fall into the rhythm we’ve known for years, reading the traffic and each other without needing to say a word. We take the next turn together, leaning low as the bikes move beneath us. She edges ahead for a few seconds, just enough to make her point, but I close the gap and pull even again as the pavement stretches out.