Kissing Killian (Face-Off Legacy/Campus Kings 5)
Chapter One
Killian
I’ve broken so many laws in a matter of minutes I’m starting to lose track, the list growing longer by the second. My skin tingles as my fingers glide across the keyboard, my entire body coming alive. Jacked up on adrenaline, I’m having trouble sitting still. Taking shit that doesn’t belong to me gives me a high unlike any other, especially when that high comes from the power of a 5.8L supercharged engine.
Sitting in the front seat of the Shelby GT500 we just stole, Chase runs his hand over the Mustang’s steering wheel, massaging the leather. “Listen to her purr.” The corners of his mouth turn up into an evil grin. “She sounds better than any woman I’ve ever fucked.”
Chase cares about three things—cars, women, and booze. They’re the three loves of his life, apart from being a member of our crew. Mine too. Except I have hockey and school to keep me going between jobs.
I laugh, shaking my head at him.
Chase can drive anything with wheels, and I can find it. He’s not wrong. This car is the Holy Grail for us. It’s the last on the list of cars we boosted tonight, the only one none of us want to hand over to the buyer.
“Hack into CCTV,” Roman growls from the backseat, gripping my headrest. “Delete the last ten minutes.”
With the computer in my lap and Roman yelling over my shoulder, I flip between screens. “You give me too much credit, Rome,” I shoot back. “It’s not as easy as I make it look.”
“If anyone can get this done, it’s you, Kade.”
He’s never called me Killian. Everyone in my crew calls me by my last name.
Roman cups my shoulder with his hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “Otherwise, we’re fucked.”
“I’m in,” I tell Roman, typing at a feverish pace. “One more minute…”
In less than sixty seconds, I replace the last ten minutes of footage on the security cameras with tedious, routine traffic from earlier in the evening. No one will even know we were there. It’s the perfect crime, and we’re lucky enough to end the night driving back to the drop point in one of the finest cars in the world. At least it is in my opinion.
I close the laptop and shove it into the bag on the floor between my legs, glancing over at Chase, who’s waiting for my signal. “Done.”
Once we reach the vacant lot on the river, Chase drives the car up the ramp of the carrier, a truck large enough to move the stolen cars between cities. This is how I pay my hefty tuition at Strickland University. The partial sports scholarship I received for hockey isn’t enough to cover the balance. I grew up in South Philly with a mom who can’t function most days and a younger brother to feed. This is the only way I know how to survive until I make it pro.
The buyer is from Italy and insisted we transport the cars in a particular way. We’d already loaded a dozen cars before taking the Mustang, splitting them between several shipments. A few of our crew members are already back at the warehouse with Roman’s cousin, Nate. Roman’s family has ties to the local motorcycle club as well as the Philadelphia Mafia. I grew up around criminals, and when times got tough, I did whatever I had to do to survive. I still don’t have a choice.
Chase kills the engine, and Roman gets out of the car, hopping down from the truck to light a cigarette. I stay behind with Chase, and then Roman calls out, “Which one of you wants to ride up front with me?”
He means in the cab of the truck.
I look at Chase, not ready to move from the leather seat molded to my muscular frame. This could be the last time I ever sit in a car this sweet.
“I’m good here.”
Chase slides his fingers over the dashboard, the same thoughts as me probably running through his head. He’s not ready to let go yet. “Me, too.”
I wave Roman off, and within a few seconds, he locks us inside before taking his place in the cabin.
“I need a few more minutes with her.” Chase caresses the wheel as if it’s a nice pair of tits in his hands. “I’m not ready to give her back.”
“None of us want to. But if we keep doing these jobs, one day we’ll have enough money to afford one.”
“It’s more fun to steal her.” He winks. “It’s like fucking a girl in public and hoping you get caught.”
I love chasing the high Chase is also relishing right at this moment. We’re cut from the same cloth, all of us throwaway kids with no real future until we found each other. Roman was always the glue that held our band of misfits together. Even though Chase runs the crew, Roman is the one who plans all of our jobs and organizes shit none of us want to deal with. We operate like a unit, same as my hockey team.