Page 178 of Axis of Fire

Ready for anything.

Airis stepped beside me at the same moment.

“And here we have the pathetic little bastards who burned my paintings,” Ethan said with an unsettling calmness, shifting his gaze between Gwen and me.

“You mean the ones you stole?” Gwendolyn crossed her arms over her chest.

Gwendolyn looked at Ethan with even more hatred than Dwayne did.

After all, he'd spent months feeding Dwayne false promises of something real.

“Why are you here, Ethan?” Dwayne asked, trying to sound uninterested, though tension radiated from every inch of his body.

“What do you mean why?” Gwen snapped before Ethan could answer. “Probably because he wants someone to finally smash his arrogant face in.”

Ethan ignored her completely.

“I came to offer you a choice,” he said casually before slipping a hand into his pocket.

My eyes instantly dropped to the movement.

Every muscle in my body tightened.

I was already preparing to step forward when Ethan finally pulled something out.

A familiar bright-red keychain shaped like lips.

Attached to it were my keys.

My actual fucking keys.

For a second, the sound of the sea disappeared.

After the fire, I'd never been able to find them.

Part of me had assumed I'd dropped them somewhere near Ethan's garage.

But I'd still hoped the flames had destroyed them.

“I think this little piece of evidence is more than enough for the police to open a case against you.”

A sugary smirk spread across his pierced lips.

“And what exactly is this choice?” Mike asked, stepping closer to Camille.

“I won't hand these over to the police if you compensate me for the damages,” Ethan replied.

“Not just for the garage.”

His smile widened.

“For everything inside it too.”

Gwen let out a loud scoff, clearly ready to argue, but Mike’s hand landing on her shoulder stopped her.

“Or,” Ethan continued, “one of you can race for me tonight.”

“What?” I frowned. “What race?”