Two Kings

Chapter 28

As the Lamborghini rounds the bend, I step inside the SUV. What a mess. What a complete fucking mess. I didn't want to argue with Rico. But how could I allow him to dictate what I do or what happens to the ring? After everything I've endured, I feel like I've earned that ring. Rico may be my husband, but he's not my boss. And how dare he throw it away? I'd sooner sell it and help my family than let someone else reap the benefits of a ring that was meant for me.

"You ok," Trav asks me as I click my belt in.

I turn to him, genuinely curious as I ask, "Do you think it's irrational for a man to be jealous of his wife wearing his dead brother's engagement ring?"

Trav grins and chuckles a little, enough to make me realize how stupid that question must sound—nowhere near as logical as it sounds to me. "Damn straight. I wouldn't want my old lady wearing some other dude's ring... Rico will calm down, though."

"Well, maybe I won't." I huff defensively, not so much at Trav, but at Rico, for thinking he can control everything, including me. "Why should I have to wait for him to calm down? Why can't he see things from my perspective as well?"

"You think the ring is worth it after last night?"

My cheeks flush. "What do you know about last night?"

"I got ears." Trav shrugs. "All I'm saying is, you got the guy on side. Why ruin a situation that's just turned good so you can wear his brother's ring? From an outsider looking in, it seems a little fucked up if you don't mind me saying; looks like you had a thing for Grey."

"Well, I didn't," I tell him. "And I don't see how me wearing it is hurting Rico. Grey's dead. What sort of threat is a dead man to him?"

"I think we got a problem," the driver announces after a small white truck cuts across in front of our SUV at a sharp angle, blocking us in.

"Back up," Trav tells him.

As the driver pushes the gear stick into reverse, he glares over his shoulder and out the back window and says, "we have another one up our arse."

Trav spins around, glaring out the back window. "What the fuck's going on?"

When a blacked-out SUV pulls up alongside us, I tap Trav on the leg and point toward the third vehicle. "Another car just pulled up."

As Trav turns to look, the back window rolls down and someone wearing a balaclava points a pistol at our car.

"IT'S A TRAP. GET US OUT OF HERE!" Trav yells. "GET DOWN, LEXI!"

Before I can even move, our driver hits the accelerator and our car slams into the second vehicle behind us. Metal and rubber crunch and grind, and I hide in the tiny floor space between seats, crouching, when Trav pulls something from a halter in his shirt. "Here." Trav offers me some odd-looking pistol thing I've never seen before. "If they make it inside this car, zap 'em; they'll drop on the spot once you hit them with this."

No sooner does our SUV accelerator forward, the driver knocks it into reverse and rams the second car again. It hits full force this time, Tyres spinning and the engine roaring full throttle, pushing the second car from our path.

"That's it!" Trav yells. "Don't stop until you make a path out of here."

This time, our driver doesn't let up. The Tyres spin, and the engine howls like it's about to blow. Then, suddenly, our car takes off up the gutter and around the truck, before fish tailing it across the bare earth and swerving back onto the road, just missing a passing semi-trailer.

The driver plants his foot on the accelerator and we speed away, doubling the 60km speed limit within seconds.

"Man, that is some slick arse driving!" Trav laughs, slapping him on the shoulder.