The Syndicate’s Bride

Chapter 5 (Cont'd)

He sighed as if content. “Well, I did always say this car wasn’t at its best for your type of personality, Mr. Winchester.”

Ryan looked from the car to the engineer. “What do you want changed?”

Thomas smiled like he was a child being asked his favourite ice cream flavour. “Everything.”

Ryan looked at me, eyebrows slightly raised. His eyes seemed to ask “are you okay with that?”

I itched the back of my neck, a habit of mine when uncomfortable. I wasn’t exactly sure why he needed to confirm with me but I nodded anyways. Maybe it was him keeping up appearances due to Thomas’ presence.

Thomas clapped. “Okay. Miss. Logan, I hope its okay if I ask you questions.”

I nodded, feeling a little bit bashful. “Sure.”

“Okay,” he rubbed his chin. “Where would you like us to start from?”

I gave it a thought. “Umm...Aerodynamics The wings of the car should be a good place to start.” As much as the aerodynamics of the car depended on certain factors like the weather, the kind of track, and other factors, it also depended on how fast the rider liked to go.

Thomas excused himself to get some tools from his car, promising to be gone only a while, so I turned to Ryan to ask any question I deemed important.

I turned to Ryan. “How fast do you like to ride?”

His eyes widened slightly like my question caught him off guard. “What?”

“Your car,” I said slowly. “How fast do you like it to go?

He blinked at me. “Oh. Try to word your questions properly.”

Is he looking for a fight? I scowled. “How else would you word the sentence?”

“Without s****l innuendos.”

My ears went hot. “Why – Why would you even think I was referring to something sexual.”

He kept a straight face but the red tips of his ears gave him away. “How fast do you like to ride?”

My cheeks burnt in embarrassment. Looking me dead in the eyes and repeating the exact words to me in that low tone of his, I could see his point.

“But it was with context,” I said, still trying to defend myself.

He shrugged. “I was distracted.”

“Then pay attention!” I was so embarrassed at how embarrassed I was. His eyes twinkled in amusement, and just when he was about to reply, Thomas returned with a tool bag in his hand.

Thank you Thomas.

Oblivious to our previous conversation, Thomas dropped the box beside him and went straight to work. “Okay, aerodynamics,” he said. “Mr. Winchester rides fast.” I breathed. Oh God. Ryan hid a chuckle behind his hand, so subtle that Thomas didn’t notice. “And he has good control of the speed so we don’t have to worry about him losing control – ”

Thomas stopped as Ryan’s phone began ringing. He took it out, read the caller ID and excused himself. I tried not to be curious but I couldn’t help but wonder whose call was so important that he had leave his race car setup.

Thomas smiled at me. “I guess it’s just us then?”

I returned his smile and he continued “To understand how to set up the front and rear wing of the car, you need to understand the type of racer the driver is. Do you know how Mr. Winchester races?”

I think back to all of Ryan’s races I’d watched and the only fitting answer to the question was simple. “Level headed, calculating and planned.”

“Wrong.”

I blinked. “Wrong?”

Thomas chuckled. “I understand your conclusion but you’re wrong.” He leaned on the car. “Mr. Winchester enjoys the thrill of a match, rough, hard vibrations coursing through his veins, speed that most people would find difficult to control. Mr. Winchester can be quite reckless and carefree on the track.”

I raised a brow. Ryan and carefree in the same sentence? “Hmm,” was the only reply I could give.

Thomas laughed. “Unbelievable, right? With his cold demeanour one would think he’d be a cautious and planned player, but he’s the total opposite. He is daring, yet precise. He drives like he has an extra life somewhere, I don’t really get it either. And to be honest,” he looked around to ensure Ryan was absent, “he probably has some loose screws.” He touched his temple.

That was the last thing I expected to hear about Ryan. The description didn’t suit the man I knew. It felt so out of character that out of content, I would have thought he was speaking about someone else.

Thomas laughed at the expression on my face. “Yeah, I understand how you feel. I was also surprised when I first started working for him but –LOOK OUT!”

I heard the equipment falling before seeing it. In the background, Thomas yelled frantically, telling me to move out the way but my legs were glued to the floor in both fear and resolution that it was already too late.

But just before the machine could crush me, a hand pulled me with a speed so quick that I was lifted off my feet and landed some distance away from the place of impact.

I landed on the ground with my saviour holding me tightly against him. Panicked, I let out shaky breaths as I unconsciously held unto my saviour.

He laid on my body, arms wrapped tightly around me and his palm under my head to reduce impact.

I looked down, expecting to see Thomas but was instead met with familiar short black hair.

“Ryan?”

At the sound of my voice, he pulled away just enough to get a proper view of me. His eyes frantically roamed my face, probably looking for any injuries and then,

They flashed blue.

Just like the day of the crash.

Dumbfounded, I stared at him.

What the f**k was that?