miss the first race in the circuit, you can’t join the race at a later point. Every race builds up on the previous. And if you miss seven races, your chances of staying in camp are close to nil.” I didn’t want Dinara to disappear so soon. I wanted to keep her close, to find out more about her history, and her.
“I’ll be back in time,” she clipped and started to move away.
I touched her arm. “We’re almost 1400 miles away from Chicago.”
She gave me a sardonic smile over her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I won’t miss tomorrow’s race. We aren’t done yet, Adamo.”
With that, she walked away and I was left to stare at her back, wondering if her last words were warning or promise.
Dima hurried toward me. “What’s—”
“I need a private jet from Salt Lake City in thirty minutes. Set everything up.”
Dima stared at me. He opened his mouth but I wasn’t in the mood to talk.
“I don’t have time for questions. Get a jet. We need to leave now. We’re taking my car.”
Dima didn’t try to extract more information from me. Instead he picked up his mobile and pulled a few strings with contacts before he gave a terse nod. “Done.”
We settled in my car, and I hit the gas. We’d have to hurry if we wanted to reach the small private airport in time. It sat right outside of Salt Lake City.
It was half-past five, so if everything went to plan, we’d board the jet around six.
“What’s going on Dinara? Are you in danger? Did anything Falcone say upset you?”
Upset didn’t even begin to cover my feelings about the news Adamo had given me. My mother was alive. For years, I’d thought she was dead. Everyone had led me to believe she was.
My fingers around the steering wheel tightened even more until it hurt. I wasn’t in the mood to talk now. My head was a mess full of whirring thoughts, a thunderstorm slowly building up and about to unleash its destructive power. Deep inside of me, my dark craving began its enticing chant, a siren’s call I’d resisted for ten months now.
Dima gave up on talking to me for the rest of the drive and when we pulled up at the airport with only five minutes to spare before the scheduled departure, I breathed a sigh of relief. After Dima and I had boarded the private jet and settled down on seats facing each other, the stewardess served us drinks and snacks. “This could be a bumpy ride. A thunderstorm is brewing over Chicago.”
I gave her a quick smile. “That’s perfect.” Obviously set aback by my reply, she excused herself. I took the glass, and sipped at my Gin & Tonic while the plane began moving and soon we were air-bound.
Dima never took his eyes off me. “Won’t you tell me what’s wrong?”
“Did you know about my mother?”
If Dima knew what I meant, he hid it well. His blond brows pulled together. “What about her?”
The problem was Dima was my father’s man, would always be. He’d sometimes bent the rules for me but ultimately, he’d never betray my father outright.
“That she’s still alive, not dead like my father said.”
Dima shook his head. “How do you know? Did Adamo put that idea into your head?”
I leaned forward, narrowing my eyes. Something in his voice was off. Our close bond made keeping secrets from each other a difficult endeavor. “Did you know? Why would Adamo lie about something like that?”
“Because he and his brothers are masters of manipulation. They are the enemy, even if you get cozy with Adamo.”
“I’m not getting cozy with anyone,” I gritted out, but I couldn’t deny the mutual attraction between Adamo and me. I’d noticed the way he checked me out, and I’d ogled him more than once too.“What could they gain from making me believe my mother’s alive, hmm?”
Dima leaned back in his chair, his gaze moving to the window. Was he buying time? A subtle tension had entered his body, but I wasn’t sure if it was because he knew more about my mother or because he was jealous of Adamo. “Maybe they hope you’ll come to Vegas to find her. It could be a trap to get you in their hands. It wouldn’t be the first time that Remo Falcone kidnapped a high-ranking woman.”
“If he wanted to kidnap me, he could ask Adamo to do it. And I doubt Adamo’s the only racer with close ties to the Camorra. He