I shook my head, smiling despite myself.
My jeans tightened at the thought of turning that frown upside down, and I had to shift my stance like that would somehow fix it.
“But Caaalllll…” Valentina dragged my name out, her voice dipping lower, turning soft and breathy. “I saidI miss you.” A pause—just long enough to land hard. “You know what that means. Ineedyou. I need youinsideme.”
My grip tightened on the phone. A part of me wanted to toss the wrench, slam the hood, and be at her door in ten minutes.
But family was family. And she knew the rules.
“Oh, baby…” I lifted the phone to my ear and let out a rough sound. “You know I’d come running for you, but I gotta be there tonight. It's boss business.”
A small sniffle crackled through the speaker.
Then another.
My chest tightened like someone had hooked a finger under my ribs and yanked. Staring at the engine bay, the gears in my mind started working.Maybe I can see her after I met up with my sisters. Maybe I can?—
Rack stepped into my line of sight, tight lipped and unimpressed. I jerked back so hard I nearly knocked my elbow on the hood. “Shit!”
“What did you say?!” Valentina whined.
Narrowing my gaze on Rack, he looked entirely too satisfied with himself. His eyes flicked to the phone, then back to me. One brow lifted.
You need to go. Now.
I rolled my eyes so hard it almost hurt, raking my fingers through my hair. “Nothing, baby. I just—” I scrambled for anything. “Dropped a… wrench?”
Realizing how stupid that sounded, I scrunched up my face. A wrench? Really? That was the best I could come up with? Ugh.
Valentina gasped dramatically like I’d been shot. “Oh! Are you okay, my Calie? Do you need me to come save you? Steal you away from all that annoying work?”
My fingers tightened around my phone as I tried not to get mad, tried not to care that she had insulted what I was passionate about.
Rack’s boot started back up again.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Glancing down at his foot, then up at his face, I tilted my head and gave him a look. His arms were crossed, eyes fixed on my phone like it had personally offended him. What a little eavesdropper.
“Nah, baby.” I shook it off and turned away, escaping those judgmental eyes. “I’m fine,” I said, but the words came out sharper than I meant, the tone not technically for her.
There was a beat of silence, then her tone became light and sweet as syrup. “Oh! Good! Then you can pick me up around nine for dinner and?—”
Fucking hell.
“I gotta stop you right there, baby.” I forced my voice to be steady, firm, leaving no wiggle room for her. “You know I’ve got plans tonight,” I reminded her.
She didn’t answer right away, but I heard it. That tiny exhale. The faint puff of annoyance she probably thought I wouldn’t catch.
“Andwhycan’t I go again?” she fussed.
Behind me, Rack clucked his tongue, making it obvious that he was losing his patience with the whole situation.
He was never a big Valentina fan, but he kept his mouth shut because I said so. She was my girl, and that was fucking that.
She’d earned her place after nine years with me, from high school to now. She’d been there through all of it. The noise, the attention, the girls who smiled too wide and touched too fast, trying to climb their way into the Syndicate through me.
I’d watched them size me up like a ladder, knowing the hunger in their eyes was for something other than me.
