Page 79 of Heartbreaker

“It’s a great ass, trust me. Demi. Just ask Lana.”

“Okay, okay,” I start, breaking it up before it gets any worse. “It’s obvious that we weren’t doing anything—I just got into an accident.” Demi shrugs as if she rightfully doesn’t believe me.

“Your vagina wasn’t hurt.” My eyes go comically wide.

“Oh, my god. Demi, please. Are you here for anything important, or are you just here to make me miserable?” She grins widely, but when I glare at her, she sighs in annoyance.

“I just got the reports from the accident. Your tire was brand new, but on the inside, there was a slice that was pretty much invisible: bursting like that was only a matter of time. Both back tires were cut, so we can see the slice on the intact tire.” My brow furrows. “But yours were the only ones tampered with.”

“Why would they mess with mine?” I ask, confused and a bit offended. “What do I have to do with all of this?”

“I don’t know for sure, of course, but my gut says it was less about you and more about Rome. Interfering with the race and leaving your truck against the rules of the officials will result in an immediate suspension, and if something happened to you, there was a good chance loose cannon Rome would bolt. You guys have been in the limelight, and it’s obvious he cares about you. The chances of him throwing common sense aside when he saw you get hurt weren’t zero.”

“And I fell right into their plan,” Rome murmurs, looking frustrated with himself, even if Phil has already assured him he won’t be suspended due to extenuating circumstances.

“When would they have had the chance? Everything is being so heavily monitored right now.” Demi looks from me to Rome, and I know then she has not just a theory, but something backed by proof.

“Remember when we added those cameras to the trailers?” I nod, and Rome’s eyes widen, which is when I remember I didn’t actually tell him about those. “I thought all info was transmitting to my computer and I had it set up for motion detection. But when I went to look at your trailer, something must have happened to the feed, and it wasn’t sending to me.” That happens occasionally, of course, because nothing is foolproof. With all the moving parts, I know there was no way we could have known ahead of time. Demi is currently monitoring dozens of feeds at once, plus constantly trying to access new ones. Despite that, there’s deep guilt in Demi’s eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Lana. I should have been double-checking. I just thought that⁠—”

“Demi, it’s all good. I’m fine.” I pinch Rome’s leg before he can say a word. “Was there anything on the physical drive?” She smiles then, the guilt evaporating.

“Yes,” she says with an excited nod. “I was able to access it while you were waiting to be released from the hospital, and I’ve been combing through. It seems yesterday morning, someone opened the trailer and slit your two rear tires just deep enough not to impact your tire pressure, but deep enough that on impact, it would be an issue.”

“Okay, and did you happen to catch who?” Demi nods, then grins wide.

“I got a lot, actually. You’ll never believe⁠—”

But before she can spill, there’s another knock on the door.

THIRTY-EIGHT

“Who the hell is that? Everyone knows you have Lana in here recovering,” Demi says, clearly annoyed that she can’t drop whatever bomb she’s holding. Rome stands with a sigh.

“That might be the issue,” he grumbles before moving to the door. Demi and I exchange a confused look, but before either of us can speak, the door opens.

“Is she in here?” a familiar voice, this time one I can’t place, asks.

“This isn’t⁠—”

“She’s in there,” another voice says. There’s a small scuffle before Rome groans. A moment later, Tyler and Oliver walk in, and my eyes bug out. Rome’s arms are crossed on his chest as he follows in, looking annoyed and frustrated.

“Lana!” Oliver says, his face lighting up before he looks over his shoulder at Tyler. “I told you she’d be in here.”

“We checked your room first,” Tyler says, looking between Demi and me.

“You must have barely missed me. I just got here.” Oliver sits in an armchair in the corner, turning to me.

“How are you feeling, Lana? Phil told us you were cleared to leave the hospital, but you had a concussion?”

“A very mild one,” I clarify, because I don’t need everyone exaggerating the extent of my injuries. Rome is bad enough.

“So you decided to just track her down instead of letting her recover?” Rome grumbles, and I can’t help but smile a bit.

“Lana’s one of ours,” Tyler shrugs, looking from me to Rome. “We’re here to check on her and to figure out what the fuck is happening here.” I lift an eyebrow, and Demi has a similarly intrigued face on.

“I had a huge crash, and no one came bursting into my room,” Rome says.