by Marian Tee
Chapter Seven
The club’s name Áf̱xi̱si̱ meant ‘rise’ in Greek, symbolizing the cornerstone in which all the club’s rules were founded on. Every member of the club had his own story to tell, his own tragedy to overcome, a self-made cage to break free from.
Throughout the world, everyone knew Áf̱xi̱si̱ as having the most daredevil riders, racers who dared stunts not even professional bikers and exhibitionists ever contemplated. In underground races, they were known for taking the same risks, a way of compensating for their dislike of using violence and underhanded tricks to win first place the way most other clubs encouraged its members to do.
When the old club died down, Helios had relocated the entire club to one of the vast properties his family owned, this time an abandoned ranch near the edge of the Evergreens. At the back of the sprawling two-story building he had built to house the club’s facilities was a racecourse of his own design – the kind that prevented any underhanded tricks from taking place but allowed for the most adventurous to take the wildest risks in order to win.
The most advanced sensors were installed to monitor every inch of the course, ensuring that racers would not be able to use any objects to destroy another racer’s beast or compromise the course’s integrity. On the other hand, there were ramps, rope bridges, and other obstacles that, when successfully conquered, offered shortcuts to the finish line of the circuitous course.
From where Bobby was standing, the entire course looked like something patterned after Snakes and Ladders, only this time human lives could be at stake. “Is this really safe?” This was the first time she would be watching an underground race where Leandro was competing. For that matter, it was her first time to see Sabastian race as well. Like Leandro, he had been “retired” since coming to live in America.
“98.4% safe.” MJ’s technical answer wasn’t much comfort, but she told herself she was only worried over Sabastian’s safety and no one else’s.
The girl Bobby had seen Leandro talking to earlier had been selected as the flag-waver for the race. Bobby tried not to look irritated even if she was at the fact that the girl had changed into a skimpy red bikini. Sure, it was summer now, but it wasn’t like there was even a stupid lake nearby. All the girl wanted was to flaunt her admittedly sexy body, and with the way she was hungrily looking at Leandro, there wasn’t any doubt who she was flaunting it for.
“She’s the president of the only all-female racing club here in Florida,” MJ explained, seeing the way Bobby was doing her best not glare at Erica Norwood. The two of them stood at the side of the starting line while the rest of the club’s members stood opposite them. It was always like this since MJ, as the official photographer, always had to look for a spot isolated from the crowds.
Bobby grimaced. “Am I that obvious?”
“Not at all, but I’m used to observing people when I take photos,” MJ said honestly. “So I often see more than I should.”
Bobby sighed. “Whatever you think you see in me, please keep it to yourself. Even from me.”
MJ couldn’t help but giggle a little since the other girl sounded truly desperate.
The sound made Bobby smile. “This day is honestly one of the most horrible in my life, but I have to say I’m really glad I got to talk to you. I hope we can have coffee and go out sometime.”
“I’d be glad to,” MJ answered shyly.
“You’re so shy it’s too cute for words,” Bobby teased. She burst out laughing when MJ turned red. “Okay, okay, I’ll quit teasing. If I keep teasing you, you might not talk to me again like you did last year.”
MJ’s eyes widened. “Oh no, did you think I was deliberately not talking to you?”
“Actually, I just thought you were shy.”
She shook her head. “No. It’s one of the rules of the club. When you’re a first year rookie, you’re only allowed to speak to officers when inside the club.”
“What?” Bobby exclaimed. “That’s crazy.”
“It’s for the club’s safety. There was a huge scandal a few years back because of a rookie’s indiscretion so…”
Seeing MJ was uncomfortable with disclosing club secrets, Bobby said quickly, “You don’t have to tell me.” Before she could say anything else, the bikini-clad flag-waver was shrilly counting down, “Three…two…one!”
Sabastian and Leandro’s beasts roared down the race course.
In a few seconds, it became quickly evident that Sabastian’s bike was a lot faster than Leandro’s, which was specifically built to conquer off-road terrain. On an even course, its bulk became a disadvantage, allowing Sabastian to take a greater lead.
Her heart in her throat, Bobby watched through her binoculars as Leandro leaned forward on his bike, resolve stamped on his face. But if this continued, there was no way for him to win. Surely Leandro had known how his bike would fare against Sabastian’s in this kind of race, Bobby wondered uneasily. And if he did, then why had he even bothered to race in the first place?
A more sinister thought occurred to her, and Bobby stiffened. Was it because Leandro wanted to fool her again for whatever reason? Did he want to fool her into thinking that he cared for her – again?
When Blaine had played his cruel trick on her in high school, Bobby had told herself that she would not be fooled by another man again. That she would be wiser. But Leandro came and proved her wrong. Once a fool, always a fool.
Bobby deliberately kept her face expressionless as she watched Sabastian increase his lead, speeding along as he and his beast bent to the side when making a sharp turn to the right.
Leandro was a good distance behind him, and Bobby told herself it was how it should be. Sabastian would win the race, she would not have to be Leandro’s prize, and—
Her eyes widened when Leandro made a sudden turn towards the ramp.
What the—
Was he serious?
A silent gasp of horror broke out of her as she watched Leandro take the ramp, his bike shooting into the air before diving down and landing in an explosion of dirt and gravel. The dangerous jump had given Leandro a shortcut, but Sabastian was still a few miles ahead of him.
Leandro didn’t seem bothered, racing down the course but when he reached the first intersection, he made a turn to the left, away from where Sabastian was and heading to the rope bridge. This time, Bobby cursed fluidly.
That rope bridge didn’t just look flimsy – certainly not strong enough to bear the weight of Leandro’s big, badass bike. It was also thin, leaving him no room for error. Was he seriously thinking of—
Oh my God, he was!
Bobby started to run. She didn’t care that she was giving herself away. If that fucking rope gave out, Leandro would crash from twenty feet up in the air and take a nosedive into a mountain of gravel. Whoever designed this racecourse had clearly been watching too many Saw sequels. If something happened to Leandro—
She halted mid-run when the rope bridge did give out and Leandro was still a few feet away from reaching the other end.
Bobby screamed.
****
The scream had Leandro almost jerking his head around to look over his shoulder. That scream could only belong to Bobby, but he knew he would end up killing himself if he did look. As the rope gave out under him, Leandro took control of his bike, allowing his instincts to take over.
Every obstacle in Helios’ ever-changing racecourse was designed with safety nets. If the rope bridge had given out, Leandro knew it didn’t mean the end.
His gaze quickly scanned the land below him, sizing up his options and he immediately saw the best safety net to take advantage of. He turned his bike towards the sharply inclined ramp. It would mean careful balancing to prevent him from driving down at a vertical angle, but it was better than a head-on collision with the ground.
The moment his beast’s wheels hit the ramp, Leandro focused on his balance, making sure not to lean too forward or back. Just the slightest change in his position could prevent
his beast from safely traversing the ramp.
The crowd cheered as he successfully rode out of the ramp, which placed him just a few feet ahead of Sabastian. He heard Sabastian revving his engine, gearing for a full blast to the finish line, and Leandro leaned forward, giving it everything he had.
He broke through the finish line just a second before Sabastian did, and triumph burst inside him. But more than that, an overwhelming sense of relief had surged into him.
Finally.
Finally, he had a chance to make Bobby truly listen.
Finally, he had a chance to make Bobby understand that he had always, always, always loved her. And he had never stopped.
Chapter Eight
Bobby didn’t know when she started to cry. Maybe it was when she had realized the rope was truly giving out, leaving Leandro with nothing to drive on. Maybe it was when she saw that Leandro had miraculously found a way out of it, when she had almost been convinced he was driving to his death. Or maybe it was when the entire crowd of bikers roared in approval as Leandro finished first, winning the race – and her.
All she knew was that she had to cry. She didn’t even understand why and was too tired to bother figuring it out. She just needed to cry, feeling like she would explode if she didn’t.
“Bobby, it’s time.” It was Sabastian.
She wished she could be childish and cry harder at Sabastian’s words. “I don’t want this,” she told him hoarsely as she forced herself to open her eyes, her blurry gaze finding him dusty and disheveled, his hair plastered to his head after having been kept inside the helmet throughout the race.
In the background, she saw Leandro walking away from the crowd of well-wishers that had gathered around him with tear-blurred eyes. He was taking off his helmet as he headed her way and in minutes, he would be next to her. In minutes, he would be taking her away. In minutes, he might discover the truth.
The months where she had nearly withered away in her pain came back to Bobby. She whitened, not realizing how the tears were falling faster on her face as she lost herself in her memories.
Everyone spoke of breakups so casually, of divorce and of separation like they were common. But they weren’t. When you were the one breaking up, when you were the one dumped, abandoned, and betrayed, it was the most terrible kind of death – a private hell that no one could see and rescue you from.
Everyone had seen her smiling face and thought she was okay. Everyone had seen her helping the kids at the foundation, studying in school, doing what everyone did, and they all thought she had moved on.
But she had not been okay. She had not moved on.
Leandro Christopoulos had made her believe in herself, in him, in love, and in just one night, he had destroyed her when it turned out that everything she believed in was so damn fake.
No one knew how hard it was to just sleep when she knew only nightmares waited for her, bad dreams where a sea of faces would laugh at her for daring to believe that Leandro Christopoulos loved her.
No one knew how hard it was to just breathe the same air he was breathing, to pretend that she didn’t feel like shit, that she felt like she deserved to be human because he had played her like she was a toy with no feelings.
No one knew about how their breakup – no one knew how that one fucking word had changed her life completely, leaving Bobby empty. And now Sabastian was asking her to open her world again to the man who had destroyed it so ruthlessly.
She clutched Sabastian’s shirt. “Please,” she said brokenly. “Please don’t make me do this.”
“I’m not making you do anything, Bobby. You know I’m not. I won’t force you to go with him. But if you do – then this is your chance to do it, to have that closure without losing your pride.” Sabastian’s voice became a low fierce whisper. “If I had the same chance, I’d grab it with both hands.”
“I don’t need closure,” she protested almost feverishly. “He needed a good girl to be his fake girlfriend and I was that girl. He was smart enough to know I couldn’t have played the role if I didn’t think he loved me while I was stupid enough to swallow his lies.”
Sabastian cupped her chin and made Bobby look at him. “Just take this chance, Bobby. Find out if he’s really never loved you…it’s the only way you’ll truly be free of him and start living again.”
Behind them, a voice spoke. “I believe you’re holding what’s mine.”
Bobby’s eyes begged Sabastian to say no.
Sabastian slowly released her and stepped back. Looking at Leandro and seeing the ominous expression on the other man’s face, Sabastian was almost tempted to call the entire thing off. Was he truly doing the right thing for Bobby?
If it had been him – if he had the chance to start things over again with Zee-Zee, would he have taken it? Even if it meant finding out that he had truly lost her and that she would never love him again? Or worse – that she had never loved him at all and it had purely been girlish infatuation on her part?
The answer to his questions came to him easily, an answer that had burned inside his heart for years, and it gave Sabastian the strength to look at Leandro and fall back into the role he had deliberately shouldered.
“I’m just saying this is only for today.”
Leandro’s eyes flashed. “We didn’t talk about the duration.”
“But I’m sure you won’t be holding her against her will if she proves to find you irresistible after today, won’t you?”
The way Bobby still hadn’t turned to face him, the way she was still clutching the other man’s shirt even though Sabastian had already released her made Leandro feel like he was fighting a losing battle. But pride and, more than that, his love for Bobby, prevented him from giving up.
Once, he had found a way to own her heart. Surely there was a way he could do it again.
Looking back at Sabastian, he snapped, “Today then. But don’t hold your breath.”
Sabastian smirked, knowing exactly what to do and say to get under the other man’s skin. He wanted Leandro wild with jealousy because it would make him more prone to speak the truth once he had Bobby alone with him. “I don’t need to hold my breath, Christopoulos. I know my Bobby—”
Leandro stiffened.
“—and I know at the end of the day, she’ll choose me.”
Sabastian looked down, and the sight of Bobby’s curled fist against his shirt pained him. It was even more painful to force her to let go, to feel her resist against letting go. “You will choose me in the end, won’t you, moro mou?”
Bobby didn’t answer.
And the fact that she didn’t gave both men hope.
****
Bobby remained stiff and quiet, seated next to Leandro in his car. She didn’t ask where they were going – she was too afraid of what she would say or do if she found out about his plans.
Her silence gnawed at Leandro and for the thousandth time, he questioned himself. Bobby, he thought broodingly, had shown all signs of being over him. She had in fact kissed another man in front of him when the thought of kissing another woman had never even occurred to him.
“How long have you known Gabris?”
The harshly spoken words took Bobby completely by surprise, and she asked blankly, “Why do you care?”
“Because I want to know, dammit!”
“You don’t have a right to ask.”
The car screeched to a stop as Leandro made a sharp turn at the side of the road, causing Bobby to slam hard against the side of her door. “Are you crazy?” she shrieked as her heart galloped in fear. After this morning’s race, she didn’t think she could ever manage riding in anything that could go faster than 20 miles per hour.
“You’re driving me crazy,” Leandro raked back at her. “What do I need to tell you to make you listen to me?”
“Nothing! Nothing will make me believe a word you say anymore! I don’t care about you—”
“Is that why you screamed when you saw the rope bridge giving out?”
/> Bobby whitened.
“Is it better for you to see me die? Because just say the word, mégaira,” he grated out, “and I can easily go back and this time I won’t do a thing to stop me from—”
“NO.” The word was torn out of her. It was too much, the memory of Leandro falling in the sky too vivid and raw to keep her from reacting to the threat in his words. If Leandro had died, if Leandro had died —
She started to cry, pummeling his chest with her fists. “No!” The word came out as a sob and a scream. “It won’t be better for me, damn you. I wish it was but it won’t!”
Leandro hauled her into his lap, easily restraining her as she tried to pull away. It was a tight fit inside his sports car, and when Bobby realized that there was no way she could squirm away from him, she cried harder and beat his chest again. “I hate you. I hate you so much.”
“I welcome your hatred, mégaira,” he said grimly. “It is better than having you indifferent.”
She cried harder at his words, wishing there was a way to make her deaf to the sincerity in his voice. He sounded like he meant it, but he couldn’t. It was impossible he did. “I hate you.”
“And I love you.”
“Stop saying that!”
His hands cupped her face, forcing him to look at her. “I’ll never stop saying what’s true—”
Her eyes blazed in hurt accusation, the pain in it so deep it cut him to pieces. Only now was he beginning to see how much he had hurt her that night. Only now was he beginning to understand that such pain was only possible because Bobby had also loved him so much.
“Listen to me,” he said rawly. “Just this once, let me tell you everything.”
She tried to look away, but he wouldn’t let her. “Don’t you ever run out of lies?” Bobby demanded painfully. She was so damn tired of running away from the past, from him and all the stupid lies he had made her believe.
