The heart of Cleopatra

Not so useless

Chapter twenty nine.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cleo asked her brother as he headed for his black street car.

"Heading to the race and taking out these ass holes." He said as if it was blatantly obvious.

Cleo narrowed her eyes at her brothers stubbornness. "Hey, daredevil. The last time I checked you weren't on the list, therefore meaning you need to keep a low profile. AKA go home!"

Zeus laughed and got into his car. "I'll see you at the race." Was the last thing Zeus said before he pulled out of the base garage and sped down the road.

"Why do you look so shocked? He's the bigger version of you." Jax said patting Cleo on the shoulder. Cleo nudged him away in a stroppy manner and headed for her car where Charlie was already stood waiting.

"Seriously? You're coming to?" She asked Charlie who looked determined to make his point of him being a part of the team clear. He nodded his head with a smile, Cleo grumbled and unlocked the car.

"See you there losers." Kai laughed as he pulled out. Cleo was once again confused as to why Kai was driving around one of his slower cars, granted this race was spontaneous but it's not as if that hasn't happened before. Cleo wished she could read his mind but quickly cringed at the thought of what goes on in Malakai west's brain.

***

Cleo drove down the gap the crowd created for the racing queen, as usual she received cheers and jealous looks from the girls.

"This is as intense as you said." Charlie said watching the people stare into the car.

Cleo laughed looking at him paying little attention to the road. "I told you." Charlie rolled his eyes just as the Valencia expected. "A word of advice. Act like you belong, racers thrive off of intimidation." This was premium advice. Cleo knew what it was like to be the new person, even though she always had confidence in her ability, being surrounded by these people can be scary. To add to the fear Charlie felt in his stomach he remembered the people who wanted the Valencia team were also somewhere among the already packed crowd.

"Now or never Ivy league." Cleo said as she took her key out of the ignition. Charlie pushed the fear he possessed and flashed the oddly calm girl a grin.

They got out the car to be exposed to the music, chatter and revving engines. Cleo smiled, for just a moment she felt like she was back at her old races, not a worry in the world. It was soon broken by Zeus whistling her over, she narrowed her dark eyes at his command, his subtly was appalling, not that her presence had gone unnoticed already but it certainly added to it.

"What's good Valencia?" Adder asked coming behind Cleo and blowing the bubble gum flavoured smoke from his mouth.

"No tobacco?" Cleo asked, shocked by his new life choice.

"I'm becoming a good boy Valencia." Adder replied with a cheeky wink. Cleo nudged him playfully in the ribs. The race mastermind seemed to be in a particularly good mood today. Cleo felt Charlie tense beside her, his jealously has almost as strong as the vape smoke. "A newbie I see. Where's your ride?" Adder asked Charlie directly.

"Actually, he's not a racer. He's just with us." Cleo answered. Charlie wouldn't dare make a scene but her casual words wounded him, 'he's just with us' cut like a sword. He was aware he wasn't in a labelled status with Cleo but she didn't exactly put their relation in nice terms.

Adder extended his inked hand for Charlie to shake, which he did. "Nice to meet you man." Charlie nodded wanting to finish this conversation with the overly friend older guy that seemed to have a liking for Cleo. "There was a couple guys asking when the Valencia's were arriving. I haven't seen them for little bit, I assume it's not about racing." Adder informed the group as they eagerly listened to his tip off. "Look, I don't want to know. Just try not to make too much of a mess. I would like people to still turn up to my events." He finished. Cleo thanked him for the warning and he walked away collecting more bets on his way.

"He's friendly." Charlie said to Cleopatra in a blunt tone.

Cleo chuckled as she turned to the bothered Asterin boy. "You need to relax. Adder is the least of our problems." Cleo said in the most reassuring way, she had learned that Charlie had become quite insecure during the time they have become closer. The headlight lit roads exposed his unconvinced expression, Cleo sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, lacing her fingers together. His eyes lit up as their bodies became flush. Cleo took control and connected her sweet lips to his soft ones, Charlie soon caught on and followed her lead. They both almost forgot how good the feeling of their kisses felt. Charlie's hand rose to her cheek tracing her defined cheekbone with his thumb. "Better?" Cleo asked when she gently pulled away. He nodded a grin the size of a Cheshire cat.

"Woah, what happened to you?" Zeus asked making Cleo look to see what her brother was curious about.

"Nothing." A dazed looking Kai replied walking towards the group. Cleo moved away from Charlie to question Kai.

"You look a little pale. Lose another race?" Cleo asked sarcastically, taking her usual dig at him. Her concern grew when he didn't fight back. "Kai?" She asked as he stared into the distance. Kai's head was pounding so much he was almost numb.

"Dude, you're bleeding." Jax said revealing his bloody hand after touching the back of Kai's head.

"What the hell happened?" Cleo demanded suddenly feeling the need to know.

"Some guy came behind me, he hit me with something. I took care of him but I guess he knocked me a little harder than I thought." He explained using some preserved energy to keep his stable appearance up.

"You should really get cleaned up." Lola said finding the current situation more important than tracking the phones. "He's right, one's disappeared." She said after her phone buzzed. Cleo couldn't quite help feeling proud of him for handling himself, injured or not he's proving himself.

"Cleo's the best with first aid." Jax was speaking for plenty of experience, Cleo was his first call when he had any sort of injury. Bloody knuckles from fights, knife wounds when he's struck himself accidently and just all together stupid stuff when he's with Zeus.

"Lets go." Cleo said without hesitation. "Shit, my cars only a two seater" She cursed as her eyes landed on Charlie. The thought of leaving him stranded at his first car race when there's still three people hunting them was more than enough to make her feel guilty, but with Kai's head bleeding more as time goes on she knew she didn't have a choice.

"We'll look after him. Just make sure this idiot doesn't bleed out, he's not as useless as I thought." Zeus said pushing Kai towards Cleo, he could read his sisters troubles. Cleo gave Charlie an apologetic smile and kissed him on the cheek, Kai watched her act of affection and even he couldn't lie to himself. That hurt more than his head.