Chapter 39: Chapter 38

Kristal Anderson

"So you're telling me you've been racing since you were fifteen,” My fingers traced the length of the shelf he kept all his trophies on.

I peeled my eyes from the shelf and turned to face him when he took too long to respond, he was sliding his left hand into his black leather glove that matched the rest of his biker gear. This was the first time that I was seeing him like this and God was my body having an embarrassingly strong reaction to it. The sight of him alone was enough to form very clear and graphic images in my mind that would be enough to put a nun in a 6-month coma.

But I had to contain myself, at least until he finished his race.

Tonight my Aiden decided to peel back another layer of himself and allow me to see a new part of him, he was allowing me to walk in and explore this part of him. And that was making me the happiest woman alive.

This was the big surprise he had for me; he had taken me to one of his races. We drove to the stadium that he had been racing at ever since he was fifteen and I couldn't be more thrilled; one because I had never seen any type of sport live and two- and most importantly- I was to see my Aiden race and I was going to be the loudest person there, cheering him on from the sidelines with so much pride in my heart.

When we arrived we went straight to his changing room as we were already running late because convincing Aunt Jenna that I was off to bed was particularly difficult tonight. Though our entry into the stadium was rushed, I still managed to get a glimpse of the crowd and the energy that radiated from their screams of ecstasy was intoxicating. You could feel it from a mile away.

His gaze was down at his hands as he secured the first glove in place with the velcro, a small smile on his face, “It was an escape, from my parents, from their fights, from everything. When I’m out there on the tracks everything just. . . melts away,” He kept his eyes down on his hands, never meeting mine. I took a few steps in his direction and I stood before him, that was enough to get his eyes back on mine. “I fell in love with it and I became damn good at it, I had every intention of doing it professionally. When my father found out that I wanted to race professionally I had just graduated college and he snapped, he couldn't understand how a son of his would rather race instead of following in his footsteps and taking over the business. So he gave me an ultimatum; either I forget about racing or I fuck right out of his life, I chose the latter,”

He brought his gaze down momentarily to slide his second hand into the glove, “But you’re working with him again now,”

He nodded, “I stayed out of his life for five years, and knowing my father I just know he made sure to use his connections to make life as hard as possible to prove a point because making that transition from racing here and racing professionally was impossible. The money we make here comes from bidding that the audience does, although we only get a small portion of it the rest goes to the man who runs this place, Don. It’s good extra money but it’s not nearly enough to make a living off of, so I had to put racing on the back burner again and get a job. I was a sales associate at a car dealership,”

Knowing that Aiden’s life wasn’t always comfortable in his life, knowing that he had to work for the things he had despite being the son of a multimillionaire only made my admiration grow. He knew the struggles of life and that was a lesson that most people of his status would never have.

He continued, “The only reason I came back was my mother; when she was diagnosed, he refused to pay for any of her medical bills because ‘it was a waste of his money’, to him she was already dead,” He scoffed, his eyes glistening in the light as tears began to form but he blinked them away. The hurt in his eyes was evident. I took his gloved hand in mine- the coldness of the leather material catching me a little off guard- I needed to touch him, to reassure him in any way I could that I was there. “The money I was making was just about enough to support myself. When I went to confront him, he gave me two options; either I start working at RVP again and in one year I take over the business completely like it was always meant to be or I go on with my life and find another way to pay my mother’s bills,”

I furrowed my brows in confusion, “What made him change his mind?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out, my father is the type of man who likes to prove a point so to me he would have just sold RVP when the time came for him to retire, the fact that me being back in his life was even an option is very bizarre to me and I just can’t shake the feeling that there’s something he isn’t telling me,” I stared up at him and without a second thought, I wrapped my arms around his torso resting my head on his chest.

He was quick to return the embrace before placing a kiss on top of my head, “Whatever he’s planning, I just hope he isn’t putting you in danger. Just thinking of those masked men being anywhere near you sends shivers down my spine,”

Pulling me closer, he brought his head down to rest on top of mine, “I know, Darlin,”

I shut my eyes letting myself indulge in the feel of his arms around me; my safe place, my personal paradise. The light thump of his heart was a rhythm I had gotten so used to hearing, it was a rhythm I had come to love.

My heart swelled with so much love and the words were right at the tip of my tongue, threatening to spill out at any second. I bit the sides of my cheeks as a way to restrain myself but it was useless, those three little words were like a ticking time bomb on my tongue.

This was probably horrible timing and I would most likely regret it the moment they left my lips, I mean the man had just opened up about his asshole of a father for God’s sake! But I knew that I felt it, I felt every bit of it deep in my soul.

I had fallen in love with him.

I loved Aiden Vasilakis.

And every bit of my heart was telling me to scream it to the world.

“Aiden, I-”

My eyes snapped to the corner of the small room where a speaker was, one I hadn’t noticed when I came in as a loud voice filled the room, “Racers make your way to the tracks, we will begin shortly. I repeat racers make your way to the tracks, we will begin shortly,”

He pulled back from the embrace with a groan, I smiled, “That's your cue,”

He nodded, “What did you wanna say?”

I shook my head, deciding to pick the cowardly option and chicken out, “Nothing important but before you go I want to give you something,” I reached towards the back of my head to the pink ribbon holding my hair in a low ponytail, with a gentle tug I undid the bow before bringing the ribbon forward. “Here I want you to take this as a little good luck charm, even though you probably don’t need it,” The smile that he gave me from that sentence alone was enough to make my heart melt, I wanted to freeze that moment and relive it every chance I got. "You can put it in your pocket or something, I don't know," My cheeks began to heat up and I just had to look away, showing affection was never my strong suit, everything that left my lips suddenly felt so idiotic.

He cupped my cheeks, the leather of his gloves cooling down my burning cheeks, "Thank you, Darlin," The most gentle peck landed on my lips and a grin flashed it's way to our lips, "I could definitely use some extra luck tonight, this is my first race in a while," And with that all of my insecurities melted away, how did he always find the right things to say? He took the light pink ribbon from my hold and instead of sliding it in his pocket like I had suggested, he wrapped it around his left arm, "You mind helping me tie it, baby?" I was a puddle on the floor.

I stepped to the side and tied a pretty bow on the ribbon around his upper arm. That ribbon around his arm was the only pop of color in his outfit and knowing that I was responsible for it made my chest fill with so much pride.

"Perfect, now I'll have a piece of you on the tracks," I moved to stand back in front of him, and I took a second to just admire him. I took my time, letting my eyes travel down his body. I was checking him out with no shame because I knew that he was mine, every inch of his man was mine. "What?" He chuckled bringing my attention back to his face.

I stared up at him through my lashes and gave him the sweetest smile I could muster, "You look so handsome, Darlin,"

The look he gave me was unmistakable, I knew it all too well. "Fuck you can't do that," He chuckled sounding flustered.

Giggling I spoke, "What, am I not allowed to compliment my boyfriend?"

"That wasn't an innocent compliment and you fucking know it Kris, " He moved so quickly catching me completely off guard making a gasp leave my lips when he wrapped an arm around my waist pulling me flush against him. "Don't play with me Darlin, nothing's stopping me from bending you over that couch and–"

My hand shot up and landed right over his lips stopping him from going any further, "Aiden!" I looked around even though I knew that we were the only people in the room. I was hot all over. The filthy things this man could come up with still caught me off guard every time and it sent a shot of electricity down every nerve in my body. "Y-you can't say things like that–"

"Why not?" He laughed his voice muffled by my hand.

"Because," I trailed off, because I'm this close to giving in and letting you bend me over and claim m– stop, "Be-because you came here to race and I came to watch and that's exactly what we're gonna do," I managed to free myself from his hold, I made my way to the couch and grabbed the black helmet that sat on it. "Here," I handed it to him, he took it from my grasp but instead of putting it on his free hand moved to the back of my head pulling me into a kiss. I returned the kiss with everything I had in me, I allowed him to deepen the kiss, to take charge, to claim me in the way he needed to. I pulled back to catch my breath, our foreheads pressed against one another , "A-after the race, I might just have to take you up on your offer," I said with a glance towards the couch, a satisfied grin lit his face.

• ° • ° • ° • ° • ° • ° •

I don't think I'd ever been so simultaneously scared and ecstatic in my life. Watching Aiden race made me feel things I'd never felt before, I wanted to scream my lungs and cheer him on but I also wanted to cover my eyes everytime he made a sharp turn or one of the other racers got too close to him.

It was worst on the first few turns but as the race went on, he showed me why he had so many of those trophies in his dressing room and my anxiety slowly began to melt away. He was a pro.

Every turn he made seemed perfectly calculated, he was in perfect control of his bike and he seemed to have known the tracks like the palm of his hand– which made sense taken the fact that he had been racing there for over a decade. Watching him was satisfying, you could just tell he knew what he was doing so it was no surprise to see him cross the finish line first.

I was on the front row with full access to the tracks so as soon as he got off his bike I was already making my way through the gate towards him. Between my screams and the energetic screams from the crowd that carried such a contagious energy, I was running on pure adrenaline.

I ran to him and when I finally got to him he had just taken off his helmet, his hair falling to his forehead in a disheveled mess. I threw myself into his arms, getting on my tip toes and wrapping my arms around the back of his neck. He surprised me by wrapping his free arm around my waist and lifting  me up slightly like I weighed nothing  so that I was basically levitating off the ground. His head made it's way to the crook of my neck and I was completely enveloped by him.

"Gosh you're so annoying, how are you so good at everything you do," I was being brought back down to my feet as he slowly pulled back from the embrace but before pulling away completely he brought his lips to mine leaving a lingering peck on them.

A cocky smirk was plastered on his face as he pulled away, "Sorry Darlin, not everyone can be God's favorite," I lifted my hand landing a playful slap to his chest.

A snicker left my lips, "I loved every second of it, I loved seeing you in your element Darlin."

"And I loved having you here, watching me in my element," His lips came down on my forehead then my cheeks then my chin and before I knew it he was leaving sloppy kisses all over my face, holding me in place with his arm around my waist. Laughter overtook me as I attempted to rid myself of his hold.

"Stop it, Aiden," I said through a pit of laughter, weakly pushing back on his chest, "you're getting your–" My laughter and voice dead down when I turned my head to the side to escape his kisses and something caught my eyes. Someone.

I froze completely, Aiden knew instantly that something was wrong because he stopped in his tracks and pulled back to look at me. He snapped his eyes in the direction I was looking towards.

My heart was beating out of my chest at the sight of him. "Uncle Greg," I said under my breath but Aiden being Aiden heard it all. Uncle Greg, it was really him, a few feet ahead of us in a uniform looking over one of the bikes.

"Who? Gregory?"

I whipped my head back in his direction, "You know him?"

"If you mean that Gregory," He pointed at the man in question, "He's been working here as a mechanic for a few years now, that's your uncle Greg? Aunt Jenna's ex husband?" I nodded, I had told him about my encounter with uncle Greg I had on our trip. We had gotten to a point in our relationship where things left our lips with such ease, telling him about my childhood didn't bring that heaviness in my chest like it used to.

"I- I need to go talk to him, I need answers," My feet moved before I even finished my sentence but I didn't get far because he gripped my arm stopping me.

"Wait, I'll go with you–"

"No. I. . . have to do this on my own and he might get intimidated and decide not to say anything. The universe has given me another chance to get the answers I need, I just I can't risk wasting that chance,"

He stared at me for a moment hesitating before he nodded, "I'll be right here waiting for you," He said before letting me go, I wasted no time in making my way toward him.

"Uncle Greg," He was checking over the wheels of the bike, the moment he heard my voice he was up on his feet.

"Kristal. . . You again," He trailed off.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about our conversation that weekend, Uncle Greg I need to know the truth," My palms were sweaty and my heart was beating out of my chest at the possibility of finally sliding in the puzzle pieces that seemed to be missing my whole life.

He just stared at me, his gaze cold and controlled. He bent down to fix the contents of his tool box before shutting it completely ignoring my existence.

A lump began to form in my throat and I did my best to swallow it back, I needed to control myself, "Please," Said control was already slipping from my grasp because my voice cracked, "please uncle Greg, you can't leave me in the dark any longer I need to know the truth,"

He continued like I wasn't right there in front of him on the verge of tears, begging for him to talk to me. He picked up his tool box and turned to leave, but I wasn't gonna let him off this easily. I needed those answers. The uncertainty of it all was driving me insane.

I needed the truth.

So I reached out and gripped his arm with both hands as tight as I could to stop him, "No, you can't leave without telling me the truth. Do you know how frustrating it is to be left in the dark with no way of finding the light," My emotions had gotten the best of me and I began to raise my voice, the noisiness from the crowd around us made it go unnoticed by bystanders. "Do you know how fucking maddening it is to feel like information is being withheld from you and yet you have no way of finding out what it is! I feel like I'm going insane, Uncle Greg! You're my only hope of finding out the truth, please," I lowered my voice, "you have to tell me the truth,"

His intense gaze was locked on mine as he watched tears form and fall down my cheeks yet he didn't utter a single word. The silence was drawn out for so long and I was starting to lose hope and I was slowly accepting the fact that maybe I was never meant to find out the truth.

Until he spoke.

"Your father didn't kill her."

😈

Well if it wasn't her dad then who was it hehehe. Told you that shits about to hit the fan.

Thanks for sticking around for another chapter my loves<3

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