Page 84 of Vicious Temptation

People make a mad dash for their cars. I lock eyes with Rafe for a moment, and words aren’t necessary. He knows exactly where we stand now. Muttering something under his breath, he forces himself upright and climbs into his car. I turn around just in time to see Valentina land another punch that leaves the bob-haired woman crumpled and unconscious on the pavement.

“Val, we gotta go before we get pinched,” I call out, moving toward her.

She straightens and spits. “Did I just get blood in my mouth? I got blood in my mouth.”

Her front teeth are streaked red, and I can’t decide whether to laugh or throw up.

“No...maybe just a little.”

“Bitch ripped out one of my earrings,” she grumbles, spitting again as we hurry toward our cars.

“My place!” I shout, then climb into the GT-R and slam the door.

Valentina nods through her windshield, and seconds later, Poison Ivy shoots toward the exit with me right behind her.

We force our way onto the crowded street as everyone pours out of Furia at once. Cars shove into whatever openings they can find, tires squeal on the pavement, and horns blare from drivers unfortunate enough to get caught in the middle of it.

Valentina stays a few cars ahead of me, her Supra’s green easy to spot among the other vehicles until a Mustang cuts across two lanes, forcing me to brake while Valentina slips through an opening ahead.

“Asshole.”

I swing around him and search for her again, but she’s disappeared into the mess of cars racing in every direction.

“Fuck.”

I reach for my phone to call her when red and blue lights fill my rearview mirror.

One cruiser.

And he’s directly behind me.

Twenty-Four

remi

“Shit.”

I jerk the wheel right and take the next turn hard, the cruiser staying right on my ass as we tear down the road.

“Out of all the fucking cars, you choose mine?”

“Pull over!” his voice booms through the speaker behind me.

For a moment, I actually consider it. I could stop, take whatever ticket he wants to throw at me, and probably spend the next few hours explaining why I was fleeing an illegal street race where half the crowd decided to beat the shit out of each other.

Or I could run.

My eyes flick to the rearview mirror again. It’s just one cruiser. I know these streets, and I know my car.

“Sorry, buddy.”

I drop a gear and floor it.

My car launches forward, shoving me deeper into the seat as the speedometer climbs. The cruiser tries to keep up with me, his lights washing over the inside of my car every time he gains a little ground. But I cut into the next lane, slip around a slower car, then move back over. A horn blares behind me, followed by another command from the cruiser telling me to pull over.

“Yeah, I heard you the first time.”

The road ahead opens up, and I give the GT-R more gas. This isn’t the first time I’ve run from the cops after Furia, but usually everyone scatters and the police pick whichever unlucky asshole happens to be closest. We split up on different streets, wait for things to cool off, and laugh about it later.