Page 82 of Heartbreaker

“What does Mel have to do with anything?” Kevin asked, head spinning from side to side, trying to understand what was happening.

“Mel is the one who slit Lana’s tires to force her into a crash with the hopes of Rome running out onto the field and getting suspended, and I think I’ve figured out why,” Demi says, finally getting the grand, dramatic reveal she had hoped for.

When the room erupts into noise, her grin only gets wider.

The woman really does love her dramatics.

THIRTY-NINE

The last twelve hours have been absolute insanity. From the crash to the emotional rollercoaster with Lana, to everyone and their mother storming into my hotel room, my head is spinning.

But somehow Demi’s explanation still takes me aback, the cherry on top of the most chaotic day I could ever have imagined. The room erupts in noise, confusion, and shock, and beside me, Lana just shakes her head and sighs. I look at her, confused both by Demi’s words and Lana’s lack of response, and she smiles.

“Demi loves a dramatic reveal, and she’s never going to be able to top this one,” she says, almost exasperated. Despite myself, I laugh. After a moment, my dad shakes his head and stands.

“Everyone stop,” he says, and like magic, the room quiets. “Now, can you please repeat yourself…?” He starts, realizing he never got Lana’s partner’s name.

“Demi,” she says. “And I said that Mel cut the tires. We have a camera in the trailers. After our most recent intervention of an attempted sabotage, I think they may have realized someone was watching the trucks more closely, or maybe it was the added inspections. Either way, yesterday morning, she entered the trailer where Lana’s truck was being held for transportation and slit Lana’s two rear tires.”

“No one would have questioned her being in there if they saw it,” my dad says, voice low as realization hits, since Mel is in charge of facilitating DeLuca Transport for Monster Smash.

“Exactly, which is why she wasn’t even trying to hide herself. We also have microphones in there, and I was able to hear parts of a conversation with someone, cooing about how she had it covered, seemingly flirting.”

“Jordan?” I ask, remembering Tyler and Oliver’s words, and what I saw before the crash. “They were fighting in the pits before the show.” Demi shakes her head and smiles at me.

“No, but good eye. That was picked up on the microphones in the toolboxes too, which gave me my next direction.”

“There are microphones in the toolboxes?” Oliver asks, looking horrified.

“Yes, which is how I know you’ve been fucking Courtney on yours. That’s kind of gross, Oliver. There’s dirt, like, everywhere. She’s going to get an infection.” Demi says, looking at him with a disapproving look. A bright blush burns on his cheeks, and I snort out a laugh. “Anyway, the argument wasn’t just a lovers’ quarrel: it was Jordan telling her things have gone too far, and Mel explaining that she handled things herself since he couldn’t.”

“So it’s Jordan and Mel?” Phil asks, confused.

“I can’t believe Mel would do that,” Dad murmurs, sounding both hurt and disappointed.

“I think Jordan is just an idiot who got wrangled into this with promises of stardom and a pretty woman. It seems like Mel was making him a lot of promises and possibly telling him that if he got Rome out of the way, it would be easier for him to win.”

“What was his excuse last season?” Tyler murmurs, and I bite back a laugh.

“So what you’re saying is Mel is the brains of the operation?” Dad asks.

“Well…” Demi says, tipping her head. “Yes and no.” I look around the room and catch all of the men looking irritated.

“Hey, babe, you should really do this a bit quicker. They’re not used to your dramatic storytelling, and if you don’t get to the bottom of it, they might snap on you,” Lana suggests gently.

“See, this is why I don’t work with men,” Demi grumbles. “They just don’t get the art of storytelling.”

“I know, Dem, but just humor us this one time.”

“Fine,” she says with utter exasperation before laying out the facts. “Mel was involved with an Indy driver. When Rome was relegated to Monster Smash, the Indy driver in question convinced Mel to start messing with things. Based on the reports Rome helped us sort through earlier, he’s been messing with Rome for much longer than we expected when we first arrived on this mission.”

“How much longer?” my dad asks.

“A year at least,” I explain, voice low, but my eyes are locked on Demi. “Is it Levi?”

“God dammit, Rome!” Demi groans, looking like a kid whose birthday candles were just blown out by someone else. “Why would you steal my thunder!”

“Is that a yes?” I ask, looking at Lana, who nods. My stomach drops, but I also feel vindicated—I fucking knew that guy was an asshole, though I never knew it ran this deep.