‘What is she upto?’[Maybe she wants to have her way with you.]Coyote brushed off the thought and got out of his car, stretching his shoulders, the muscles in his back tight but buzzing with leftover adrenaline. Isabella was already walking ahead, her long legs moving with that casual confidence that always drew attention. She didn’t glance back to check if he was following, she just knew he would.And she was right.He grinned to himself and caught up, opening the door and sliding into the passenger seat beside her. The interior smelled like leather and perfume, expensive, clean, and a little intoxicating. Everything about Isabella Cruz was like that. Her chauffeur gave a polite nod before pulling into the stream of city traffic.For a while, nobody said anything. The only sound was the low sound the engine was making.Coyote leaned back, turned slightly toward her, his half-smile tugging at his lips.“Seriously,” he said, “where are you taking me?”Isabella didn’t answer right away

Coyote stared right into Ghost's blue eyes with an unreadable expression. “Come on, dude! You can’t do shit to me. Why would you say something like that? This is just a race.”Coyote stood there, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, watching Ghost pull on a pair of leather fingerless gloves in a slow, deliberate and menacing motion. The gesture was pretty clear even to blind. Ghost’s face was a map of anger and exhaustion, the kind of expression that belonged to a man who had lost more than money. “You took the bread right out of my mouth when you won that race night,” Ghost said, his tone cutting through the noise like broken glass. “And I paid dearly for it. I never lose, Coyote, or whatever the fuck you’re called.”Coyote tilted his head, a grin tugging at his lips. He looked utterly unbothered, maybe even entertained. “Wow,” he said. “Aren’t you too old to be a sore loser?”The smirk wasn’t just arrogance, it was an armor to hide the fear that was rising up his spine. And it

“Seriously! Coyote, what the hell are you doing here? Explain yourself?”Maya’s voice sliced through the chaos around them, sharp and disbelieving. She looked at him the way someone looks at a stray animal caught in the wrong place, half shocked, half irritated. Her gloved hands were still stained with someone else’s blood, her EMT vest reflecting flashes of red and blue from the emergency lights.Coyote froze. His mind felt like it short-circuited.‘I really don't know what to tell her. It’s like my brain’s gone blank.’[Just tell her what I am sure she already knows. You are racing here.]“I–uh, I am racing here,” Coyote stammered, words tumbling out awkwardly.“I can see that,” Maya shot back, crossing her arms. “But why? You’re like the most talked-about NASCAR driver right now and you’re out here doing something illegal. I don’t know much about racing laws, but I’m sure this might disqualify you from the season.” Her tone softened slightly, but her eyes were still hard. “What th