as fast as they could go but fast enough that they disappeared on the horizon in a matter of minutes. The balance of fuel consumption with speed was the key to winning the race and breaking the record. The numbers swam before my eyes.
Jada tugged me back along the pier to where Ken’Ichi waited in the SUV with Kaida. Jada had been frustrated and resigned when he’d walked down the stairs this morning and told us he was coming with us to the race, but she hadn’t denied him.
I’d had a million questions for Dawson after he’d whispered the truth to me on the balcony of the restaurant the night before. Questions that had flown right out of my brain with our earth-shattering kiss. Questions I’d been forced to keep when Dawson was dragged back into the restaurant for Demario’s toast. Dawson had stayed away from me the rest of the night, but instead of being upset, I’d been able to see it for what it was―him doing a job, playing a role.
It gave me hope. Hope that I knew might tear me apart, but I couldn’t help reveling in it anyway.
Kaida saw us approaching and jumped out to open the door for us. When we slid in, Ken’Ichi didn’t even glance up. He was on the phone. “Yes. One hundred. That was the arrangement.”
Pause.
“It was already guaranteed.”
His voice took on a deadly tone as he glanced our way. “I have insurance.”
It made a chill walk up my spine.
Dawson told me Jada knew about his undercover status, but he hadn’t told me what role she or her family played in all of it. It left me and my wild imagination to continue filling in the blanks. One thing I did know was that there was a sense of unease I got whenever Ken’Ichi was nearby. At first, I thought it was just because of Jada’s reaction to him, my friendship with her making me hate him because she did. But friendship aside, there was an aura to the man that had my gut screaming to run.
Jada seemed oblivious to any of it as she turned to Kaida. “Drop Ken’Ichi wherever he needs to be dropped so we can head back to New London.”
Ken’Ichi hung up and shoved his phone into the pocket of his very expensive wool coat. “I am coming to New London with you.”
Jada glared, crossing her arms over her chest. “Go back to Japan. Or Cairo. Or wherever the hell it is you need to do your next deal. I don’t need you watching over me.”
“Oyabun is waiting for me in New London. While I’m there, we can discuss our engagement party.”
“What party?” Jada demanded.
“The very expensive party you’ve been arranging for a week.”
“That has nothing to do with us. It’s to celebrate Dax and Dawson winning this thing.”
“There is no guarantee they will win, but our engagement is guaranteed. Regardless of the outcome of Langley’s adventure, we will still have something to celebrate.”
“Kaida, pull over,” Jada said.
Kaida glanced in the rearview mirror from Jada to Ken’Ichi and back.
“Pull over!” Jada demanded.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ken’Ichi said. Then, he casually opened his laptop and started typing.
“I hate you,” Jada whispered.
He didn’t even acknowledge it.
My skin crawled from the entire scene. From Jada’s emotions. From Ken’Ichi’s creepy calm. From the fact that I was witnessing it all as I had at the penthouse, and yet, neither of them seemed to care.
I tugged Jada’s arm through mine. “Show me the designs Yuriko texted you.”
She’d gotten the message from the designer just as we’d gotten to the yacht club. These sketches weren’t for the costumes. They were for the theater-like sets she’d been arranging for the party.
Jada’s body was brittle next to me, tense and strung so tight I thought a mere breath might break her. For a moment, it was like she hadn’t even heard me, but then she pulled her phone out with shaking hands, unlocking it.
We spent the trip back to New London discussing the food and the decorations. Fountains and flowers. A truly decadent expense resembling Gatsby’s in many ways. His twisted life seemed to reflect in hers more than I’d ever imagined, especially if you threw in a bit of Romeo and Juliet, because Jada was throwing the party for Dax even knowing they couldn’t have each other.
By the time Kaida pulled into the driveway of Books and Beds by the Sea, Jada was more herself, all but ignoring the dark figure in the corner of