Page 33 of Racing Dirty Trilogy Box Set

Xavier

A few hours later, I wake up to a loud banging noise outside. My brain is groggy as I try to compute where the noise is coming from. Izzy stirs next to me when I hear it again. Her eyes flutter open and she smiles at me.

“Hey,” she says.

“Sleep good?" I ask, looking into her eyes.

The sparkle that has been missing is there for a moment. “Yeah, actually I did. It felt good." She stretches, rubbing her naked body against mine.

“Good, you needed it,” I tell her and kiss her lips. She lets out a whimper into my mouth.

Just as I’m deepening the kiss, I hear a loud bang from outside. It sounds like metal cracking. Izzy jumps when she hears it.

“What the fuck was that?" she asks, panic in her voice.

My body tenses. “I don’t fucking know but stay here,” I demand.

I get up from the bed and throw a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt on. I rip open my bedroom door and run down the stairs, ready to beat the fuck out of whoever is making that noise. I hear a window breaking as I rip the front door open.

Night has settled in and the moon is giving off a soft glow. I spot a tall dark figure standing next to my car, holding a baseball bat dressed all in black. I can tell it’s a man, but I can’t see their face, it’s covered by their hoodie.

They have the baseball bat pulled back ready to smash my car again like it's a home run derby. Anger radiates through my body.

“What the fuck are you doing," I scream at the figure from my front porch. He stops mid-swing and turns to look at me. A deep voice penetrates the quiet night.

“I warned you to stay the fuck away. She’s mine,” The man growls out.

I jump over the porch railing, running at him full speed, ready to beat the shit out of him. He runs off into the dark, towards the back of my house. I give chase but stop when I lose him in the woods.

“Xavier!" I hear Izzy scream.

“Xavier!" She screams louder.

I hear tires squealing off in the distance. My heart is beating hard in my chest, there is a ringing in my ears as Izzy’s panic laced voice invades my head. I run back to her as fast as I can, chastising myself for leaving her unprotected.

I spot her under the porch light, she has on a tiny pair of running shorts and a tank top. Her arms are wrapped around her chest, holding herself. I come into the light and I see her breathe a sigh of relief.

“Call Christian,” I bark out not meaning to sound like such an asshole, but I can’t help it.

Izzy goes back inside. A few seconds later she comes back out, her cell phone pressed against her ear. I’m standing on the porch now, my body tight with rage. I hear a tremble in her voice as she talks.

“Christian, it’s Izzy. Someone was here." She pauses for a beat, listening to Christian talk.

I look at my car in the moonlight and rage flows through my body. My hands are shaking from pent-up anger. What was a good day for both of us is now shattered. My car’s ruined, the windows smashed, the sides and hood are dented in.

I hear Izzy speak again. There’s no emotion in her voice. “No, they’re not here. Xavier chased them into the woods." She shakes her head, not realizing he can't see her. “Yes, he is OK. He’s right here."

She hands me the phone. “He wants to talk to you."

I take the phone from her and she wraps her arms around herself again. I put it up to my ear.

“Yeah,” I bark into the phone.

“I’m on my way over now,” Christian says on the other end. I hear a car start and tires peel out. “What the fuck happened?" Christian asks.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, willing my body to calm down.

“I don’t have any fucking clue. We were upstairs sleeping when I heard a loud bang.

I ran down the stairs and opened my door.

There was some guy out next to my car beating the fuck out of it.

I yelled at him and he ran away. Fucking pussy," I growl.

“Did you see him?" Christian asks.

“Fuck no. The fucker was dressed all in black. All the fuck I saw was a dark fucking figure swinging a fucking baseball bat at my fucking car,” I growl into the phone, squeezing it in my hands. “Fuck," I screamed into the quiet of the night.

“Calm the fuck down Xavier," Christian yells at me through the phone. “I’m almost there. I’m going to call this in. I need you to stay calm and think of Izzy."

I cut him off. “I am fucking thinking of Izzy," I scream into the phone. My adrenaline is still running high, sweat beading on my forehead. Christian takes a deep breath on the other line.

“No, you’re not. You’re thinking of killing whoever did this.

Look at her bro," Christian barks at me. I drag my eyes from my car and see Izzy sitting on the porch. Her legs are up against her chest, her arms wrapped around them. She’s folding herself into a tight ball, rocking back and forth next to the side of the house.

Her head is down, and I watch her body shudder from fright.

“Fuck," I scream again and hang up on Christian. I slowly approach her and will myself to calm down. It's not working, my body’s coiled tight. I sit down next to her and wrap my arms around her shoulders. She stiffens to my touch.

“It’s OK Izzy,” I tell her calmly. My voice is quiet, but the war raging inside of me is anything but quiet.

“No, it’s not,” she responds quietly, her head still down.

“You’re pissed, I’m crying like a fucking baby and whoever is doing this will not stop until they hurt me or you.

I’m not stupid X, I can tell you want to murder someone and this is all my fault.

If I didn’t come back home, you wouldn’t be in this situation.

” Izzy sobs out. My heart breaks hearing her talk like that.

I pull her tight against me, making her uncurl.

“Izzy, listen to me. It’s not your fault. Whoever is doing this, it’s their fault, not yours,” I tell her gently.

She tries to interrupt me. “But,” she says.

“No, no buts. I’ve been miserable without you. These couple of months have been some of the happiest times in my life. You being here with me has completed me. So, what if there is a little crazy." Izzy takes a deep breath and looks me straight in the eyes.

“Xavier, you’re not listening to me,” she protests.

I stop her. “Yes, I am. You think this is your fault. You think if you would have stayed in L.A., all this crazy shit wouldn’t have happened to me. You’re wrong. Izzy, I’m a target just as much as you. If you weren’t here, I’d be going through this alone."

Izzy relaxes a little against me. “Xavier, I still feel like this is my fault. You wouldn’t have some crazy stalker after you if I wasn’t here."

I finally calm myself down. “Yes, I would. I’m just that charming, that I attract crazy women," I tease trying to lighten the mood.

She sniffs and leans against me. “Yeah, you do.” I laugh a little, the tension leaving my body as she relaxes further into me.

“Xavier,” she says. I look down at her.

“Yeah, Hun?" I ask.

“Are you OK?"

“I will be. This threw me for a loop, but as long as you’re safe, I’ll be fine.” I answer her, honestly. Izzy wraps her arms around my waist.

“God, twice in one day I lose my shit. I’m so pissed at myself,” she mumbles against my chest. Headlights light up the driveway as a car turns down it.

“Christian is here,” I say. Neither of us moves as he parks behind my smashed car. He gets out of the driver's side and Mia gets out of the passenger side. Mia runs up to us and Christian stays back looking my car over.

“Holy fuck," Mia says. She walks over and sits on the other side of Izzy. I give Izzy a quick kiss on the head.

“I’m going to talk to Christian before the cops get here,” I tell her.

Izzy looks up at me. “Ok,” she whispers.

I kiss her lips gently and then stand up. I walk over to Christian, anger radiating through my body again as I take in what used to be my car.

“They sure did a number didn’t they,” Christian states.

“Fuck yeah, they did. I’m so pissed. We were right inside the whole time and didn’t hear a fucking thing. What the fuck are we going to do?” I ask him.

“I don’t know bro. This is escalating again and it’s pissing me the fuck off. We have nothing, no trace of anything anywhere."

I turn towards Christian, so I quit looking at what's left of my car. “Did you check up on that Craig Williams?"

“Yeah, he’s clean. Has some gambling debt, but nothing else. Nothing that flags him as our guy. He races in Southern Michigan, I’ll keep my eye on him tomorrow night. The track asked us to man up and tighten security, so I’ll be on duty.”

“Shit, I need to call Nolan,” I say.

“I already did after I called this in. He will be here in a few minutes. He was uh, indisposed at the moment. I kind of interrupted him.” Christian says, his face turning red. I let out a laugh.

“After weeks of not getting any, he finally finds some and gets interrupted. Bro he is going to be pissed." We both laugh as another pair of headlights turn down my driveway.

“Fuck, here he is,” I laugh.

Nolan slams on his brakes and jumps out of his car. His t-shirt is inside out, and his brown hair is messy. “Holy fucking shit," Nolan exclaims, as he approaches my car. “Who the fuck did this?"

“I don’t have a fucking clue,” I answer.

Nolan turns to Christian. “Bro, what a way to fuck up my night. I finally find a woman who wants to give it up and I get a call, leaving her high and dry, literally. Don’t these assholes know not to do this shit while I’m finally gettin’ some?"

I bark out a laugh at Nolan. “Bro, I already got mine earlier." I wiggle my eyebrows at him.

Nolan groans, running his hands down his face. “I don’t need to fucking hear it. I’m going to be suffering from blue balls for a while. That shit hurts, man."

I hear Mia squeal behind us. I turn around quickly to see Mia glaring at me. “Are you fucking kidding me!" She yells, her glare is enough to make my balls shrink if I didn’t know her that well.

Izzy’s eyes meet mine, a small smile on her face and I figured she just told Mia I asked her to marry me.

“Xavier. Get your fucking ass over here," Mia shouts from the porch.

“Bro, what did you do?" Nolan asks as I walk over to the porch. A smile lights my face when I walk up the stairs.

“Xavier. You better explain why I knew nothing about this you fucker." Mia stands up and punches me in the arm.

I rub my arm like it hurt and shrug my shoulders. “I didn’t feel you had to know," I tell her, knowing that answer is going to get me hit again. Sure enough, her tiny fist hits my arm.

“Fuck head, I’m her best friend. I have every right to know,” Mia huffs out. Christian and Nolan come up onto the porch.

“Mia, what’s got your panties in a bunch? It’s not like you were getting any and now suffer from blue balls,” Nolan says.

Mia turns her glare onto Nolan. “Fuck you, Nolan." She points a finger at me. “Ask this fucker what happened today."

All eyes land on me as Izzy comes up next to me, bringing her left hand against my chest splaying her fingers over my heart. Nolan’s eyes snap down to her movement and his eyes grow wide.

“Holy shit bro," Nolan shouts, excitement in his voice. “You finally got the balls to ask."

“Yup,” I say popping the p.

“You knew?" Mia asks Nolan, her voice jumps a few octaves higher.

“Fuck yeah, I knew. I helped him pick out the ring weeks ago.” Nolan shrugs his shoulders like it's no big deal.

“Mia,” Christian says approaching her cautiously.

“What," She barks out.

“Why are you so mad?" he asks gently. Always the voice of reason between the two of them, he puts his arm around her shoulders. She releases a deep breath.

“I’m not angry. Well, I am because this big fucker didn’t say anything to me, but I’m not.” Mia says.

I look at her confused. “Well, I’m sorry Mia. I wanted Izzy to tell you, not me. You’re her best friend and I thought it would be best if she gave you the news."

Mia’s shoulders slumped a little and a smile comes across her face. She pulls Izzy away from me. “I’m sorry. I’m thrilled for you. He finally gets it right. You know how my crazy gets. Being hangorny does things to my mind.”

Izzy laughs, and it sounds like music to my ears. “Christian, you really need to take care of that,” Izzy giggles.

Christian shrugs his shoulders his brown eyes boring into Mia’s. “All in good time. I’m not one to rush things. Besides, she can’t say she is that horny anyways, maybe hungry, but not horny unless you were faking it. Don’t you remember earlier Mia?"

He gives Mia a look that makes her shiver and her face burns red. Before she can say anything, blue and red lights flood my driveway as the cops pull into the driveway.

Christian turns to me, his cop mode in full effect. “Let me handle them. Just tell them what you saw and nothing else." I nod my head and follow him down the stairs.