starting point, the crowd rushed toward the end of the pier. I could see Violet’s blue coat even from a distance. I tried not to stare. Tried not to hate the fact that she was being overshadowed by a man in black that Jada and I both despised.
“I’m going down to check the pressure,” I said.
“You worry too much,” Dax tossed back, but he took the helm from me.
Down below, I opened the engine compartment, checked the special pressure gauges we’d installed. They were perfect. Just like Dax and I both knew they would be. I pulled out the phone I’d hidden on the lip of the compartment and sent off a text.
ME: Whatever he does or doesn’t know, it’s put Jada and Violet at risk. You still set up at the neighbor’s?
Seeing Violet’s name mixed with danger was a splash of cold water on me. Shit. So many reasons I shouldn’t have indulged in kissing her. So many reasons I shouldn’t have indulged in lustful dreams of her in my arms.
Malone’s response eventually came through.
M1: We’re here. Get your head on your current task. Just get to Spain in under fifty-eight hours.
ME: You’ll have to risk the satellite phone if you need me.
M1: You’re telling me stuff we’ve already covered. Should I be worried?
Should he have been worried? I wasn’t nervous about the race. I wasn’t nervous about the hold full of cash I had below. I was worried I was leaving two women with Ken’Ichi on that side of the ocean while I traveled in the opposite direction.
ME: If anything happens to them, I’m holding you responsible.
M1: I’m not the one who invited the Banner girl to New York.
“Dawson! Everything good?” Dax shouted down as the boat slowed to a stop at the buoy.
“Yep,” I said. I turned off the phone with reluctance, stowed it back away, and returned to the deck.
Demario had come to a stop next to us. His very Italian features were lit with a smile so large I could see it all the way across the space between the yachts. Angelica was at the helm of their boat with her dark hair wrapped in a scarf, making her look like some forties movie star throwback.
Behind us, a third yacht holding members of the New York, Spanish, and Italian yacht clubs sponsoring the cup pulled up. Their ship’s bullhorn would signal the start.
“Ready to make history?” Dax looked at me with a wide grin.
A chill went over me. I’d almost lost sight of it. The fact we were attempting to break a world record held for well over twenty years. The fact I was doing the one thing that had always been in my veins. Racing boats. I wanted to take a picture with a middle finger sticking up and send it to my dad. Fuck it. This was a real job.
Dax stepped away from the steering wheel. “You should be here to start.”
My friend was humbler than someone of his upbringing should have been. I was grateful his bright-yellow cigarette boat had broken down in New London five years ago and found its way into the shop where I’d been working as a mechanic. I was honored that he’d had enough faith in me to build this business together.
As we exchanged places, I stopped him, giving him a hug. Dax was not accustomed to male exchanges of affection, and he patted me awkwardly on the back.
“No matter what, I’m grateful for you. For us. For all of this,” I told him.
“Don’t fucking cry on me, Langley,” he said with a laugh barely hiding the emotions he, too, was feeling.
Just as I got behind the wheel, the horn sounded, and I slammed the throttle. The yacht lurched forward as if it had been anxiously waiting for this moment. The water and sky whipped past us. My heart leaped with joy as it always did when I was racing.
Dax and I grinned at each other, and a caveman cry of triumph escaped our lips, like William Wallace and his men screeching across the battlefield. We were going to accomplish something historic.
Violet
NEVER GONNA BE ALONE
“I won't let you fall,
You're never gonna be alone!
I'll hold you 'till the hurt is gone.”
Performed by Nickelback
Written by Kroeger / Lange
The crowd was a loud mass of screams as the two yachts jumped into motion. The wind had kicked up, and I could barely see them as it stung my eyes. The speeds the boats were traveling at weren’t anywhere near