Page 45 of The Consequence of You (Heathley Academy #2)

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

ASHER

I t’s hours since I gave Don Messina and Luca a piece of my mind, and it’s been radio silence from them all since.

They didn’t kill me outright, so that’s something, I guess.

They didn’t actually do much at all. They listened to everything I said, and then I left.

I can’t lie. The twenty minutes I spent with those men might be the scariest thing I’ve ever done, but I’d do it all over again for even the slimmest chance of making Callie’s life better.

“She thinks you both blame her.”

“You need to tell her she’s wrong.”

They didn’t say much, but I could tell my words affected them. I just have to hope they’re man enough to make this right.

Callie believes we have no future; she told me about the arranged marriage that was expected of her, but that shit doesn’t worry me. I would never let a little thing like that get in the way of my happiness.

When I imagine my future, she’s it. I see us visiting our friends abroad. Finishing university. Travelling the world. I see our wedding day, and I see Callie as the mother of my children. I see us growing old together, when previously I didn’t have any intention of growing old at all.

It doesn’t scare me. It doesn’t worry me; it just makes me feel hopeful in a way I’ve never felt before.

I pull my mask down. It’s the first race of the new year. I need to feel the speed and rush tonight. It’s not the same as the rush I get when I’m with my girl, of course, but it will have to do for now.

The starter raises her flag.

I’m racing against someone new. Someone I don’t recognise. We both rev our engines aggressively, and as the flag is lowered and the horn sounds, we shoot off together.

We’re neck and neck for the first mile, neither of us giving an inch. This guy is good. Maybe as good as me.

As we barrel around the first corner, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Adrenaline floods my veins with the thought that it could be Callie calling me.

We race along the straight, neither of us gaining any ground.

My phone vibrates again. Whoever it is, is keen to speak to me.

We barrel to the left this time, and for a few seconds, I pull ahead.

I’m glancing in my rearview mirror to see how much distance is between us when I see his headlights flash repeatedly. Frowning, I briefly wonder if he’s trying to distract me, but then my wheels tilt and slide.

Fuck .

I’ve only ever felt this once before, this loss of traction.

Black ice.

The other driver must have seen it reflected off my lights. He wasn’t trying to distract me. He was trying to warn me.

Only it’s too late. Too late to avoid it.

Using all my experience, I try to steer into the skid, but it does little to slow me down and I spin.

Faster and faster my car spins out of control, and all I can do is think about Callie.

About how she lost her mother in a car accident four years ago today, and about how I’m going to hurt her all over again.

The vibrating in my pocket continues as my car collides with a tree and flips before coming to a stop, just as the entire world goes black.