Page 90 of Deceit

The red haze returned in a beat.“You lying bitch!”

I had no idea how I managed it, but somehow, I broke free from Miles’ grasp,and managed at least two steps toward Vanessa when he caught me again, wrapping his arms around my waist and completely lifting me from the floor.

“Calm down, Sofe. This isn’t going to get you anywhere,”Miles urged.

But I continued to pull against his hold, determined to teach Vanessa alesson she wouldn’t forget.

“Get her out of here, Miles,”Rafe ordered. Through the haze, I barelymade out his concerned features.“I’ll deal with this.”

Chapter 28

Miles

Sofia’s hushed sobs finally eased as we crossed back into Hollows Bay.“You okay, Jailbait?”I asked, sliding my gaze over to her.

She continued to stare at the dark road ahead of us.“My hand hurts.”

“I’m not surprised.Thatwas some whack you gave her.”

“She deserved it.”

“I’d say so. Remind me not to get on the wrong side of you,”I grinned,hoping to lighten the mood.

It worked. Sofia twisted to face me with a coy smirk playing on her lips.“It…it felt good.Evenif Papa is going to be furious with me.”

“Fuck him. If he is furious with anyone, it should be with what’s-her-name,not you,”I replied, pulling the car to the side to let a motorbike pass.

“What’s-her-name?” Sofia laughed.

“She’s not important to me, so I chose not to remember her name.”

“I wish I could forget her name. Seriously, what is Papa playing at, makingRafe marry someone like her?”

Headlights flashed in my side mirror as another bike overtook us.“I wish Iknew the answer,”I replied, distracted by the two bikes now ahead of the leading SUV.

It wasn’t unusual to see bikers on this stretch of road; the straights and bendsmade it fun to drive. It had been a few years since I’d ridden a bike, but growing up, Theo and I often raced along these roads, challenging each other to see who was faster.

No, it wasn’t the factthatthe bikes were on the roadthatcaught myattention. It was the way they were riding next to each other, and had slowed their speed so they were only several feet ahead of the front car.

“Is everything okay?”Sofia asked, sensing my distraction.

“Yeah,”I replied, not wanting to spook her before deciding not to lie to her.“Ijustdon’t like the way those bikes have slowed down.”

She stretched in her seat to get a better look while I tapped at the dashboardcomputer to dial Rob, the driver of the car in front. He answered on the first ring.“Mr. Wolfe?”

“Give me a sitrep on those bikes.”

“Looks like a couple of kids out for a ride, Sir,”he replied nonchalantly.

“Right. Keep an eye on them, I don’t like how close they are to you.”

“Yes, Sir, will do.”

Hanging up on him, my gaze shot to the rear mirror when the revving ofmore bikes sounded, and two more bikes appeared, surrounding the SUV behind us.

Everything happened at once. I barely had time to acknowledge the tworiders in the rear mirror pulling out their guns before they started firing at the car behind us, while in front, the other two did the same, hitting Rob’s car.

They meant business, too; the weapons they were using weresemi-automatic, firing round after round of bullets in an endless stream. The tires of Rob’s SUV skidded when he slammed on the brakes, right at the moment bullets hit the engine block, and the car burst into a fireball.