Chameleon Soul (Chequered Flag #1) (3 page)

“Raine, wait!”

Footsteps thundered behind me, forcing me to run faster as my vision began tunnelling. Bouncing off the walls as I rounded corners, I attempted to trace my steps back to the exit through the labyrinth of hallways.

I could hear the footsteps growing louder, as if Nadine was right on my heels, but I couldn’t look without losing my rhythm.

Abruptly, I was jerked to a stop by a hand on my wrist. I spun at the touch, flinging my back against the wall with a scream. My movements were too fast to take anything in.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” The voice that snarled the words was not Nadine’s. Even full of malice I could never forget his tone. Despite that, my brain was no longer thinking logically.

I raised my hands instinctively to shield my face, the line between reality and my memories blurring. The brightly lit corridor was too tight and darkness encroached from every corner.

I was back in the alley. The rough bricks bit into my spine as I cowered into the building praying I could make myself invisible.

“No, not again,” I whimpered, my hands shaking. “Please, not again.”

In my mind they were coming at me, closing the distance.

No matter how tiny I made myself they could still see me.

“Don’t hurt me. Let me go!” White-hot panic rose in my chest, consuming me and fuelling the memory. Everything felt so similar, I wasn’t even seeing what was really in front of me.

The sound of shouts vaguely pushed through the wall of fear, then a softer, more feminine voice broke into my mind. “You’re okay, Raine.”

Like a blanket smothering flames, the panic rising within me lessened with every soothing word. Something warm embraced my body, drawing me into it and melting the tension.

“Open your eyes, Raine.” I could place the voice as Nadine’s now, the scent of jasmine pulling my eyes open. She’d taken a step back, holding me at arm’s length, yet I was still partially in my memory. The two worlds blurred, darkness clinging to the edges of reality.

“What colour’s the sky, Raine?”

With a deep, unsteady breath I tried to process her question among the haze to answer her.

“Blue.”

“What colour is the grass?”

“Green.” I could feel myself calming down, the fear receding.

“What colour’s my top?”

I blinked a few times, trying to clear the last of my darkness so I could focus on Nadine.

“Purple.”

“What colour are my eyes?”

Lifting my eyes to focus on her aquamarine gaze, the panic that had seized me finally released its hold. The darkness that had seeped into my vision vanished and I was back in the real world.

“My eyes, Raine. Focus on them. What colour are they?”

I didn’t know where she’d picked up the technique, and I didn’t care. It worked and that was all that mattered. The colours brought my mind back from the past by making me concentrate on objects around me. It distracted me and made me remember where I was, therefore allowing me to break free.

“Blue.”

As soon as I said the word she pulled me into her arms. I buried my face into the crook of her neck as she rubbed her hands up and down my spine in comfort until she felt me begin to relax against her.

“You’re okay,” she whispered soothingly. “You’re safe.”

Finally, I lifted my head from her shoulder and blinked back the tears blurring my vision. Swallowing hard, I made the conscious effort to calm my rapid breathing and pulse.

“What the hell was that? Can somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on?”

The unforgettable voice was once again in front me. Although it wasn’t filled with as much venom as before, there was still enough bite to the words that my body tensed. How was I meant to answer that question? I’d broken up with him to spare him this drama. I’d hidden it for a year, and now I’d blown it all in a minute. Teo was never meant to see me lose it, and for that reason I refused to acknowledge him. I kept my gaze downcast as I pulled away so I could whisper in Nadine’s ear.

“Let me go, Nadine. I need to leave.”

Sensing the panic rising in my voice once more, she dropped her grip. The second she no longer held onto me, I sprinted towards the exit I could now see. Shouts came from behind me, though unlike before no footsteps followed them.

Within minutes I was back in my car. Slamming the door shut behind me, I engaged the locks then tilted my head back against the threadbare seat. Screwing my eyes shut, I willed away the jumble of thoughts that were on a loop. Pictures of Teo’s face, the dark alley, and the group of men hunting me were the only images I could see. No matter how many distractions I threw at myself, they always broke through.

I didn’t know how much time had passed when a gentle knock on the window brought me out of my thoughts with a start. Glancing across to the passenger’s side, I saw Nadine crouched down and looking through the window, pointing at the lock.

Grudgingly, I opened the door for her and she slid into the seat.

“He wasn’t supposed to be here,” I whispered.

“I know, Raine. It surprised me to see him too.” She paused for a second. “You know he wasn’t going to hurt you, right?”

I nodded. “Everything was just too much. The people, the chasing, touching me, and his anger. Geez, he sounded so angry.”

“I’m not making excuses for him, or taking his side, but he kind of has the right to be angry.”

“That’s why I was never meant to see him again.”

“Did you really believe that would work? He’s Dustin’s
brother,
for crying out loud. You were bound to run into each other eventually.”

“Not before I said so, and he wasn’t meant to see me like that.” I leaned forward to rest my head on the steering wheel. “He probably thinks I’m crazy.”

Nadine placed her hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles over it. “It’ll all work out.”

I let out a groan and turned the key in the ignition. All I wanted was to get out of there. I needed the safety of my flat.

“Raine, are you okay to drive?”

“Of course,” I snapped, going on the defensive to prevent any more questions. I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

Chapter Four

Teo

I was furious when I first saw her standing in the doorway—at least once the shock wore off. At my workplace, no less! She couldn’t have picked a worse fucking time than when I was in front of the press trying to quell the bad publicity Hattersey managed to get the team on the first day of summer break. We didn’t need another scandal coming out, and the way I’d torn off after her had basically given the press all of the information they needed to tell them there was a bigger story there.

I hadn’t been thinking when I ran out of the conference room.

Well, that’s not strictly true. I had been thinking; they just weren’t very cohesive thoughts. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my gut when my eyes locked with hers. The piercing brown eyes that used to be full of teasing had stared at me with such fear and sorrow while her ruby lips were parted to allow her rapid breaths in and out of her lungs. Even with that expression she looked gorgeous, and I hated the slither of longing that mixed in with the anger and surged through me.

After a whole year spent trying to forget her, it was all for nothing. As soon as I arrived home she was thrown in my face, first by Dustin and then there she was, at my work.

It was a fucking joke.

She’d left me with no answers, no explanations, and no closure. I shouldn’t have desired her still. Then again, the heart wants what the heart wants. Seeing her only made me realise not one person I’d been with since lived up to Raine.

It had always been her.

An explanation seemed like a reasonable request after everything she’d put me through. If not so I could understand, so I could move on. I deserved to know why she broke off a two-year relationship the night I was leaving for the second leg of the Formula One calendar via a
phone call
. It was what made me run after her, but the reaction I received in the corridor freaked me the fuck out. Even though Nadine had blocked most of my view, the words Raine had screamed wouldn’t stop circling in my mind.

Did I really repulse her that much? And why did she think I’d hurt her? She had been the one that caused an unbearable pain to shred my heart.

I blew the air from my cheeks and pushed off the wall I rested against. Retreating in the opposite direction of the conference room, I headed back to the car park. I wasn’t going to give anyone the enjoyment of watching my tentative facade crumble before their eyes. Neither Raine nor I needed a reporter sticking their nose into our business.

* * *

It was two hours later when Zeke found me pounding the punching bag in my home gym. I’d been repeatedly pummelling it for the last half hour after I’d realised running wasn’t doing anything to burn off my mood.

“It’s a good thing we’ve got four weeks off. Slipping gloves on over those knuckles would sting like a bitch.”

I paused mid-punch and glanced down at my hands. The skin around my knuckles had cracked open. Now he’d pointed it out, there was a stinging sensation starting to radiate out over my hand.

When I stepped away from the bag, he smirked at me. “Wise choice.”

Zeke sat down on one of the benches, resting his elbows on his thighs so his hands hung down between his legs. “What’s got up your ass?”

I picked up my water bottle and gulped down half the contents as an excuse not to reply. There wasn’t much I could hide from Zeke, though. We’d been together throughout my final years of karting and the lower formulas. He’d received a contract to race in Formula One with Sabre a year earlier than me and was one of my closest friends on the circuit, unless we were racing. When that happened, he was nothing but another driver I needed to beat.

“Nothing. Had a bad day at the office. Did you know Dustin got hauled away by the cops last night? The dumbass hit on Aston’s latest bimbo.”

A roar of laughter burst from Zeke, and he ran his fingers through his short, black hair. “No shit?”

“Oh yeah. I don’t know what he was thinking. Now Hattersey’s out to get him.”

“If anything, he’s using Dustin to get to you,” Zeke said. “It’s all mind games, Teo.”

“Don’t I know it. It’s not going to work this time.”

He looked me dead in the eye. “Exactly, so what’s really eating you? Because I know you don’t put this much thought into your brother’s life.”

I leaned against the wall, folding my arms and crossing my legs at the ankles. “Raine showed up at the factory earlier. Her friend fell right into the conference room and then there she was.”

Zeke’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack. “Raine, as in
your
Raine?”

“She’s not my Raine. She hasn’t been in a year.”

“You get my point.”

“Yes. Raine Wilkins was at the factory.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment then blurted, “How’d she look?”

“Seriously? That’s the first thing you ask me when my ex mysteriously appears then legs it like she’s trying to outrun my car when I go to speak to her?”

“She ran?”

“Is there something wrong with your hearing today? Yes she ran, like a crazy person.”

“Well, I would too after seeing your ugly mug.”

I didn’t join in with his laugh, and it faded into a sigh. “I meant, what did she look like as in her emotions, not her body, because it would have taken a lot of work to ruin the figure I remember her having.”

A warning growl rumbled in the back of my throat. She may not have been mine anymore, but I wasn’t going to have Zeke talking shit about her. He had a reputation worse than mine, which was saying something.

“She looked beyond terrified, and I can’t figure out why. I know I wasn’t exactly warm, but what did she expect?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, something wasn’t right. She was acting off.”

“It could be from seeing you.”

“No, it was more than that. I’ll check it out with Dustin.”

Zeke regarded me with disapproval. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Teo? You need to stay focused on the championship, and she fucked you over last time.”

I glowered at him, and when Zeke saw that was all he was going to get out of me, he stood up.

“Okay, I’ll mind my own business. Just…be careful.” He paused at the door. “Oh, and we’re going out tonight. I have a feeling you need it.”

It shouldn’t have bothered me what was going on with Raine; she was the one who left me, after all. However, and I’d deny it if anyone questioned me, something about the raw fear in her eyes made me want to care. I’d never seen her look so frightened.