My name wasgoldon these circuits, and while Arlo would have heard it breathed in certain circles, I purposely kept a low profile where I could; it was better for daylight business that way.
Tonight, Arlo Linetti was going to find out what it was like to lose to the King of the street, just like every other asshole here tonight.
Chapter 2
-Raf-
Dropping down a gear to help slow enough to take the sharp corner without braking, I pushed my car hard and fast through the turn. Arlo’s brake-lights flashed red in front of me for a split-second before he surged out of the corner.
Lights blurred out of the side windows as we wove our way through the sleeping suburban streets of L.A. I chanced a glance in the rear-vision mirror to see the initial pack of seven had thinned out to a breakaway pack of three, putting me in a comfortable second place.
A long straight had me planting my foot and welcoming the surge of power that pressed me into the seat. The sensation never got old. The rush took me back to when I was a kid, spinning shit and talking a big game, trying to earn a quick buck while outrunning my demons for fifteen minutes.
The memory had my glare narrowing on Arlo’s bumper as he braked and took a hard left a little too fast, causing him to drift wide.
I sniggered. Rookie mistake. Despite the opportunity to whip past on the inside line, I hung back to toy with him. Let him think he had the upper hand while biding my time to show him how the big boys played ball.
The guy in third dropped behind as I kept pace with Arlo’s attempt to break away. My smirk turned into a gritted grin as I cut the next turn tight on the inside line while the kid swung a fraction too wide again. Obviously, he didn’t learn from his mistakes.
Accelerating out of a gear change, I glanced left and laughed at Arlo’s expression. He was fucking losing it—tensed jaw, red in the face, wringing the steering wheel like it needed to die. When he dashed a quick look across and saw me laughing my ass off at him, his brows pulled low and one hand left the wheel.
“Go on, kid. Do it already,” I goaded, despite the taunt being lost to the noise of my engine.
I wasn’t surprised when his car shot forward and put two lengths on me. It brought on a second round of my race-crazed laughter.
“Another rookie mistake, Arlo Linetti,” I crowed.
Up ahead, a quarter of a mile away, the finish line lights grew closer by the second. Smirking devilishly and biding my time until the last possible moment, I flicked the cover off the boost button on my steering wheel and firmly pressed it. My Supra shot forward in response to the nitrous oxide deposited directly into the fuel line, feeding the turbocharged beast with a surge of power that heightened my car’s already high-end performance.
The last stretch was a velocity-induced blur. Barely a few single seconds passed before I crossed the finish line, and in first place no less.
Idling into the waiting crowd after getting my speed under control, I parked up and stood from the car as my hard-core fans packed closer. The King had proven himself once again.
Shades shoved his way through the partiers and threw his arms wide. “And he does it again. It’s payday, motherfucker!”
My only show of celebration was clapping my palm against his and pulling him in for a back slap. “Just another night at the office, brother.”
“And a damn good night at that,” Shades whooped, while digging into his inner jacket pocket.
He extracted a thick wad of cash and tossed it at me. “Don’t spend it all at once—not when you can get your pussy for free tonight.”
I sniggered; buying women wasn’t my thing. However, if I just ‘happened’ to find myself celebrating at a strip bar, then yeah, I would dish out a few grand, purely for personal entertainment, of course.
“Now that wasclose!”a voice crowed behind me.
Turning on my heel, I cocked a brow and laughed at Linetti swaggering in my direction.
“Kid, that was nowherenearclose.”
“Not from where I was sitting,” he shouted, so hopped-up on adrenaline that he practically skipped.
I gave Shades a bewildered look and thumbed at Linetti. “This kid for real?”
His reply faded into the background as I stepped into Linetti’s space and came nose-to-nose to him. Time to school him on how we rolled.
“Close is where they have to look at a fucking photo to see who won.That-”I pointed over my shoulder. “Was an ass-whopping.”
Much to his credit, he held my glare and didn’t back down like any other coward would. “Next time it won’t be.”