worse in private. Nothing and nobody was allowed in his innermost sanctum.
Valenna had a kind of celebrity so different from his. While he was a subject of awe and reverence, it was mainly through his abilities in the race track and never his character. Valenna, on the other hand, was adored by her fans the world over but not only for her talents. She was incandescent. Her personality was sunny. Positive. Inspiring.
Unlike him who was born with a business empire that could feed a small country, Valenna started with nothing. Her parents were simple folks from Alabama. Her father was a country singer who had taught her music the moment she could pronounce a word.
Based from the articles, she’d had a happy childhood, her parents, still together after twenty six years of marriage. She had a younger brother and a black, adopted sister. She had a decent, supportive, close-knit family. Something he could never say about himself.
He didn’t care what the press will say about him but he did care about what they’d say about her.
It was strange to care that much for a woman he just met two days ago. But he was getting more information about her in the last two days more than he’d cared to get to know all the women who’d passed through his life in the last decade. And he was genuinely interested, too.
He had in his hands a twenty-four-year-old over-achiever who happened to be as exciting in the sack as she was on stage.
Dio, that badass thing she did with the windshield will be etched in his mind forever. He was getting hard again just thinking about it.
He hugged her, molding his body around her warmth.
She moaned in her sleep.
He buried his nose in the softness of her thick hair, inhaling her scent.
One week.
One week was all he had.
One week was all he’d allow himself of her.
How can he make the most of it?
UNCONTAINABLE
“WHERE ARE WE GOING?”
“To see my racing buddies on the other side of this property.”
“Racing buddies. They’re visiting?”
“Yes. We meet up to do this every year.”
“Do what?”
“Another kind of racing.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see.”
Valenna’s heart was lodged in her throat. She was barely breathing as her eyes followed the car navigating the rugged track like a rampaging four-legged animal. Dirt flew all around it as it swerved at dangerous angles, even doing a 360-degree turn!
The driver had a death wish!
She was not a motorsports fan but she’d seen the formulas on TV. Apart from the fact that the cars were super fast, watching the races could actually become boring, just cars going round and round for almost an hour. Except for the last lap where the top three placers give it their all to win the race.
Off-road racing was something else. She’d seen a few on TV while scanning channels but not long enough to get fascinated. She thought drivers who participated in extreme sports like this were insane. Adrenaline junkies. But to actually see one live…
Oh God!
She might just die of a heart attack when this was all over.
The car disappeared for a while, and she was so scared she grabbed Jonas’ arm beside her. “I can’t see him! Where is he?!”
“He’s rounding the bend for the grand finale,” Jonas replied, so relaxed, as if he was watching the race on TV with popcorn and beer.
“Grand finale? What’s that?”
“Watch.”
Seconds later, the car appeared again, fast climbing the hill.
The hill?! What the frosh...?!
“Where’s it going?!”
“To the finish line.”
“Why’s it climbing the freakin’ hill?!”
“That’s where the finish line is.”
Valenna failed to get why the finish line was up the hill. But she found out seconds later.
The car suddenly lurched upward. It flew a few meters high, landing hard on its wheels. It bounced then it was eating up the slopes, dirt swirling violently around it like the base of a tornado funnel.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” she chanted, barely breathing. She was