As Max pulled away, he felt his mind go into the Zen state that it always did when he raced. Everything suddenly felt calm and clear. For many, racing at this speed would have induced an almighty panic, but for Max it was different.
At the halfway stage, Max’s rival was winning. Everything was going to Judd’s plan. All Max had to do was keep a safe distance and all would be right. But Max had never deliberately lost a race before, and he wasn’t about to go changing that now.
Using all of his knowhow, Max dragged himself back into the race and won a tight finish, right on the line. Max felt elated. But as he clambered out of the car to shake his opponent’s hand, he was interrupted by a livid Judd…
‘You stupid sonofabitch! Your life is over!’ Judd screeched, his face red with rage and fury. ‘Do you have any idea how much money you’ve cost me?’
Max shrugged. He simply didn’t care. Max knew that if he was ever going to truly change and learn how to fight his demons, then he simply could not contemplate intentionally losing the race.
Judd continued to rant about losing his money by betting against Max. And speaking of money…
‘This might come in handy,’ Michael said, showing Max his phone screen as he deposited a six-figure sum into Max’s bankaccount. ‘I bet big on you winning. Don’t worry, I took a little cut myself too!’
‘But I said for you guys to stay away,’ Max laughed, high fiving with Michael and Harrison.
‘Like we were ever going to listen to that,’ Harrison said, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘We’re brothers. We stick together like true family. Oh, and Judd?’
‘What?’ Judd snapped, still angry and looking ready to throw some punches.
‘You don’t know me, but I know you,’ Harrison said, his voice firm and meaning serious business. ‘Or I should say, my personal investigator knows you. We’ve got proof that you drugged Max. And we’ve also got evidence that you’ve been selling drugs on the side too.’
With that, Judd turned and made a run for it. His black two-seater was just across the road and he made it there before either Max or his friends could give chase.
‘He won’t escape the police for long,’ Harrison said. ‘It’s an open and shut case. It’s over, man. You can have your life back. The cops will put Judd away for a long time.’
‘Speaking of cops…’ Michael said, the sound of police sirens in the distance and rapidly getting closer. ‘Looks like this location has been compromised. Time to bounce.’
As the whole crowd dispersed, Michael and Harrison quickly made their way to Michael’s black Tesla.
Max meanwhile jumped back into his car and revved the engine. It was time to find Channing and make everything right. Max didn’t know whether Channing would take him back after hedisappeared with no explanation, but Max knew that he would give it his best shot to convince Channing that he truly loved him, and he had changed once and for all.
Max may have just won the biggest street race of his life, but now it was time for Max to get to Channing in triple-quick time and tell him exactly how important he truly was.
I’m a Daddy to my core.
But not just any old Daddy Dom.
I’m Channing Bale’s Forever Daddy - and it’s time I made that crystal clear to the boy so he never doubts me again…
Chapter 21
CHANNING
Channing was struggling to get to sleep. It was perhaps no surprise given how badly his day had been, but Channing simply couldn’t control his thoughts for long enough to quieten them down and doze off to sleep.
To say Channing’s inability to drift off to snoozetown was causing frustration would be an understatement…
‘Argh! Crappers!’ Channing shouted, tossing over from one side to the other and finally throwing his spare pillow out of the bed. ‘I give up!’
Channing hauled himself out of bed and walked over toward the soft white robe that was hanging from a hook next to the bedroom door.
It was the middle of the night and Channing hadn’t had a single second of sleep.
Having had a torrid previous few nights too, Channing was beginning to wonder whether he would ever have a satisfying night’s sleep again.
Being a healthy-living guy, Channing knew all about how important sleep was to physical and mental health and couldn’t help but worry what the next day in work was going to be like if he was up all night.
Yesterday was a disaster.
