58-Betrayed?

Editing in Progress…

Chapter 58

Gabriella screamed as expected, at the sudden thought of a cold steel knife being pressed against her neck, while Noah immediately spun around with a round about kick, hitting the square on the left side. 

Groaning in pain, Aban flew to the ground, holding the three bottles of beers in his hands. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!!!" He cried out in pain as he carefully placed the bottles on the ground ensuring their safety before clutching his sides, that began hurting like hell.

"I SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT!!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!!" He yelled as he stretched a protective arm out in front of Gabriella. 

"Dammit!! I just wanted to give you both a beer".

"And you couldn't come to the front of us and give it to us like a normal human being?" Gabriella asked, folding her arms across her chest. Her brown eyes not hiding her annoyance.

"Don't you know we are in a den filled with mafia, cultists, and the likes?! That shit was cold as a knife. I was scared shitless!!"

"Alright! Alright!! I was wrong. So, could you please help me up?" He pleaded, lifting his arm for help. But Gabi just turned her head away from him with a Hmph.

Noah chuckled, and as he helped Aban up. Besides picking the beers up. 

The beer was a combination of two normal beers for the men and One pineapple star beer for Gabriella. She snatched hers from Noah as he pointed it in her direction. 

"Wait, let me open it." Aban requested, pulling out his car keys as a bottle opener was attached to it.

But rather than let him help with the bottle cover, she cracked it open with her teeth and threw the cover to a far direction. "I don't need your help." She informed.

Noah and Aban nodded. "We can see that," Noah replied as he watched her chug down the beer.

"That is not very ladylike," Aban said, point his beer bottle at her with a playful nod of his head. 

Gabriella responded to his statement with a nasty snort as she rolled her eyes. "I am in an illegal underground racing. That is enough to show I am a far distant from being ladylike," She stated, "And besides, my body is riddled with marks and scratches from falls from races. So, I am the furthest thing from being lady like" 

Aban nodded in agreement as he replied, "Well, that is a fair statement." Noah rolled his eyes at both of them.

Turning his attention to Aban, he asked, "Where have you being since?" 

Aban shrugged at him. "After I sent Gabriella your way. I went to take a piss. While coming back, I saw Jake and you having a one-sided argument"

Gabriella visibly cringe when he said he had gone to piss. This caught Aban's attention as he hit her in the head at her silliness.

"So why didn't you join?" Noah asked, while taking a huge swing from his beer. 

"I just didn't see the need to. After all, you were already handling it perfectly," he said as he began walking in front of them as he signalled for them to walk with him.

"And besides, I would have knocked the lights out of him as soon as I see him. So I opted for the next best thing"

Gabi raised a brow as she stared at him. "Which was?"

"To go take a smoke and chug on a beer. And it wasn't like I was far away from you guys. I saw very close, but not too close for him to see him."

Noah was surprised that Aban could be this level-headed and make wonderful decisions for himself and not act selfishly.

Happy tears stung his eyes. "Dude! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU CRYING?!"

"It is nothing. I am just happy you are mature, and all grown up now," Noah answered, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. 

"This fucker!"

Their interaction came off as hilarious to Gabi as she bent over and had a full on belly laugh. They looked at her like she was crazy.

"So, what are you going to do about Jake's problem?" She questioned as she wiped the tears that pool from her eyes because of her laughing. "You do know, he betrayed your team," she fueled on.

Betrayal.

It was a thing that was never accepted or forgiving in the areas. A racer betraying their manager or viscera. But ‌betraying a friend, manager, or even the official was not acceptable.

There were rumors going round that the areas were owned by a mafia family. And if it was true, it was pretty much understandable why they would detest all forms of betrayal. After all, they were one extensive family in the mafia group.

"I am sure you would get a large compensation fee from Jake once you tell the officials," She informed. But Noah rolled his eyes at her advice, which she openly frowned at.

"Listen Gabi, you are not wrong, but why should we go report to the officials? Weren't they were clearly watching the race? It should have being very obvious."

"But they had let him finish the race and even gave him the prize money. Which means—"

"They bribed the official!!" Gabi completed with wide eyes.

"Or—" Aban said, looking up from his beer, "They are waiting for us to bring out substantial proof of his betrayal as they don't consider the race as betrayal"

"They don't consider?! It is a given that a racer in management must not relate without racers while on the race. It is acceptable before and after the race, but not during the race. And they don't put it into consideration?"

The two men shrugged at her, "Well, it's not surprising as it is Aban that is Jake's manager," Noah said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked.

Noah chuckled a little before continuing, "Well it's just that Aban here has up to fourteen racers under his belt," Gabriella's eyes went wide so hard that the men were sure it was going to fall off its sockets. "Wait, are you being for real?" she asked voice measure with her shocked look.

"Of course" Aban grinned.

"This is not a smiling matter!!" She shouted as her face changed from shocked to worried in the matter of seconds. 

"Relax. And besides, nine of them have being placed in hospital because of Hugo's antics" 

"Really?"

"Yeah, then, four said they won't race with Hugo regardless of how much the prize money was. Jake was surprisingly the only one that wanted to"

"Well, I can see why now," Noah added

Gabriella thought about the situation, and something suddenly clicked. "Was that why you came to me? Where are you hoping to recruit me?" 

"Well, aren't you a smart ass" Aban teased. Gabi rolled her eyes then shook her head, "Not interested and—"

"Listen to our preposition first before you go rejecting it"

"What? I am already quite population in seventeen different areas. So what else are you aiming to tell me?"

The men's hope sunk as that was their main go to bargain. Because the more areas you are population, the more people come to buy your ticket. Fans buying your tickets and the final prize money was how racers get paid. Therefore, joining a management team would only half the natural money they are supposed to make. 

So veterans very often reject any management. And that was why they mostly pick the freshly applied racers that don't even know the rules.

Noting Aban's cast fallen face, Gabriella sighed, and she nodded in agreement, "But on some conditions"

"Name it, and we will do it" Aban replied enthusiastically, while Noah rolled his eyes and he drank the remaining of his beer.

"First, you should have solved the Jake's situation. I don't want the officials to breathe down my neck"

"Of course!"

"Second, it would be a partial agreement, Meaning I decide which race I want to do, the day I want to do. You don't just get to call me on my phone and giving me an impromptu date."

"Hmm?"

"You can't just call me anytime to race for you and expect me to come." She folded her arms as she looked away from them. And this just confused them the more, "Because regardless of my size, I am still in high school"

Their eyes widened as at the same time they took three steps away from her. "Ah… we are sorry, we had no idea and… Um, never mind our offer," Aban stuttered.

"No… Forget we even spoke to you," Noah said firmly.

"Wait a damn minute, it is not like that!!" She argued. But they were not buying at it. "I am nineteen. I just repeated a class twice because they didn't believe my actual age as I look contract to it, She explained, but they still looked like they don't believe her. But she brushed them off as she continued explaining her situation. "I am in my final year of high school. I am both graduating soon and also turning twenty. So for your information, I am not a minor"

But their face showed they were not buying it at all. She sighed and pulled out her last choice. "Well, if you don't believe me, why don't you come to my school and check my registration"

"What about your parents?"

"I don't have"

"Orphan?" Gabi nodded. "Weren't you placed in an orphanage home, or did they kick you out once you turned 18?"

"Yes, I was, and no, they didn't. I got adopted to a family when I was fourteen and ran away from them when I was sixteen"

"You just stayed with them for just two years!!?? Why, what happened?" Aban asked with innocent curiosity.

But his curiosity put her in an awkward position as she looked away from. Noah pinched his side as he shook his head, signalling to him to stop with the questioning.

"Oh right! Sorry, you don't need to say it" He scratched his head as it was already becoming awkward.

Noah cleared his throat as the air between them became weird. "Wow! You must have being superb at skating if it took you a year to be famous in seventeen Areas," Noah said. 

"A year? No… I started skating around here when I was sixteen"