Chapter 97

"I will be late." He leaned in and softly kissed her lips.

"It's okay." She smiled and kissed him back before getting out of the car and heading inside the Manor.

As planned, the two of them had spent the entire afternoon overseeing the ongoing construction at the sites, and it was quite a hectic day. Given that they were visiting the sites for the first time, they had to meet all the supervisors, as well as address the workers and observe the working conditions.

There was also the Press that needed to be addressed, and even if there were no complications, it was a busy day.

Keith drove the car inside the underground parking lot and then started walking towards the section where his Sports Cars were parked.

It was the 20th of January, and tonight, a special event was taking place. Initially, he had planned on refusing James when his friend would eventually call him, seeking his help, but since Kiara wanted a fun evening, he decided to take her along the ride.

"Take the Valkyrie." He said to his ever so-obedient Shadow, who would not let him go alone.

"Yes, Master!" Yingying nodded to him and walked over to her ride for the night.

Keith eventually decided to take the rare Aston Martin One - 77 for the night. It had been a while since he last drove it, and because there were certain rules in place tonight, where one needed to stay under 820 bhp to compete, it was a decent option.

On his way to pick up Kiara, the clock finally hit 8 pm, and Keith frowned as he had still not received a call from James.

Perhaps, it was because he interfered with the timeline that led to a butterfly effect, and it was quite possible that the plump boy was not in the mood to attend tonight's event, given that they had recently lost one of their closest friends.

However, it did not matter much to Keith as the event was still taking place, and he could attend it even if his friends were not coming.

"I am here." He informed Kiara on the call as soon as he entered the Angelini Estate, and a few minutes later, he arrived at the front of the Manor, where Kiara was standing next to Danielle and Ingrid, brightly smiling at him.

"Good evening, Aunty!" Keith greeted the lady as soon as he exited the car and accepted her hug.

"Good Evening!" She smiled at him and then took a proper look at him. "You should visit us more often, Keith."

"I will." He nodded to her and then gently patted Kiara's head. "Ready?"

"Yes!" She nodded her head excitedly, which made Danielle giggle.

"She's been so excited since she returned home that even Ben was planning on joining you guys tonight. It was so hard to make him let go of the idea." The new lady of the Angelini Family informed him.

"I will take him out some other day." Keith understandably nodded. "I hope you don't mind the presence of Ingrid."

"Of course, not!" She immediately shook her head. "I am rather glad that you are concerned about my daughter's safety, and your Greatfather has approved of Ingrid after Sol tested her out earlier in the evening. Also, it's a blessing to have another daughter around in the house." She lovingly said and smiled at Ingrid. "Ben's smitten with her, and he's happy that he has another sister now."

"I know." He laughed as he recalled the reactions of the little boy when Kiara introduced him to Ingrid after today's lunch. The boy was simply enchanted by the Carmilla Princess, having never before seen someone with such bright auburn hair and amber eyes. And when he learned that she would be his new sister, he was beyond himself.

"Will you be late?" Danielle asked.

"Yes. But we should be back before dawn." He nodded to her.

His words made her frown, but she still nodded to him.

"Take care of her."

"Of course." He chuckled and then took her hand, planting a kiss on her knuckles. "You look lovely tonight, Aunty."

"Thank you!" She smiled at his action and lovingly ruffled his hair before combing them with her fingers.

"Be safe." She hugged her daughter and wished for her safety.

Since the car could only accommodate two people, Ingrid joined Yingying in the other car, and then they were off to their destination, which was on the outskirts of Delvon City, more than 150 Kilometres away.

"Where are we going?" The blue-eyed girl expectantly asked.

"To an Underground Race Circuit." He smirked and said, and laughed when Kiara happily squealed and clapped her hands.

"Brother, you are the best!" She hugged his arm and sweetly smiled at him, trying to melt him with her puppy eyes.

"No." He understood her intentions and sternly shook his head. "I won't let you race."

"Mean!" She playfully punched him on the arm before settling back into her seat and folding her arms on her chest. "But I will stay in the car when you race." She clearly said.

"Of course." He accepted her request and smiled. "Seatbelt, please."

Kiara did not argue and complied with his request, and once he pressed down on the accelerator, she was glad that she listened to him.

The rush of speed was exhilarating, and the car just seemed to keep gaining speed. However, just when she had started enjoying it, a call rang inside the car.

Keith smiled he saw the name on the screen and then accepted it with a voice command.

"Yes, James?"

"Julian here." An unexpected voice sounded out.

"Is everything okay?" He asked when he heard that the boy on the phone was a little short of breath.

"For now, yes..." He took a few deep breaths. "I was caught in a little scuffle, and my phone's smashed. As for James, he's fine, but his right foot is twisted."

"What happened?"

"Our friends got into a fight after Eric lost a race to a boy from Delvon. Apparently, he spoke some uncourteous words towards Hal." Julian sighed.

"I see." Keith got the gist of the matter. Somebody threw some mud at their late friend, and both Eric and James lost it. "Where are you guys?"

"North of Delvon, Hellington Highway, 7th Avenue. There's a race circuit here tonight."

"Oh, I know about that." Keith nodded. "I will be there in an hour."

"Great!" Julian sighed in relief. "There are some guys here who are quite good..."

"Is he coming?" A familiar feminine voice sounded out from the phone.

"Rebecca's there?" Keith raised his brow and asked.

"Yeah, she tagged along," Julian informed him. "Be safe, and try to get here as soon as possible."

"Got it." He nodded and ended the call.

"That was Julian Grayson?" Kiara curiously looked at him. "And his older sister, Rebecca?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"Qingyue informed me that you went out on a date with her in Fiji." She smirked.

"How often do you two talk with each other?" He curiously asked.

"Every night." She admitted.

"Why?"

"What do mean 'Why'?" She frowned. "We are friends!"

"Oh..." He shrugged and did not ask anything more about it.

It was indeed a surprise, but at the same time, it was not unexpected. Both Kiara and Qingyue bonded well with each other at his wedding, and he was pretty sure that they were both keeping tabs on him through each other.

"I am curious..." He frowned.

"About what?"

"If you two are such good friends, why were you even mad at me for last week?" He smirked and asked.

"Because I wanted to spend more time with you." She straightforwardly said and narrowed her eyes at him. "Was it too much to ask for?"

"Sorry." He sighed. "I was just trying to pull your leg." He smiled and then grabbed her hand, gently squeezing it. "Tell me, how are your lessons going?"

"I don't want to talk about my lessons." She grumpily said.

"Oh, come on." He insisted. "Tell me."

"Dance lessons are boring!" She pouted. "I have no interest in Gardening and Painting, and Calligraphy hurts."

"Is there even something that you are enjoying?" He chuckled.

"Yup. I love playing video games with Ben. Chess with Greatfather is fun! Cooking is sometimes very fun, and at other times, it's just too hectic. And yes, I love Archery!" She happily informed him.

"Nice." He was pleasantly surprised by how hard she was working nowadays.

"Ingrid told me that you directed her to teach me Hand-to-Hand Combat?"

"Yes." He smiled. "You need to learn how to use your fists properly."

"Hope you don't regret it." She smirked at him and then started playing with her phone.

"I thought you wanted to spend time with me." He playfully complained.

"It's Qingyue..." She simply said and busied herself chatting with her new friend.

Keith sighed in his heart, glad that Kiara had people to talk to and was not feeling too isolated from the world.

She would need to be home-schooled for another year, and then the Angelini's would arrange for her to enter the Sameran High School where she always wanted to go.

He inadvertently glanced in the rearview mirror and found two cars trailing him. One, of course, belonged to his Shadow, and the other belonged to the Special Forces Guards assigned to protect their Commander, Major General Damien's Family.

Keith could have gone faster, but he deliberately kept the speed at a constant 200 Km/h to not make things too difficult for the men guarding them.

At exactly, 9:16 Pm, they arrived at 7th Avenue, which was closed off to the traffic because of the races that were taking place tonight.

Keith paid the entrance fee for their three cars at the checkpoint, and the Team of guards allowed them inside without any inspection.

"Wow!" Kiara exclaimed when she saw the colourful bright lights and heard the dance music that was blending in with the revving of the engines.

It was just like a festival here, and there were hundreds if not thousands of people attending this event.

"How can something so big be organised right outside the city?" She curiously asked.

"This route is seldom used, and 6th, 7th, and 8th Avenues can be closed off since the 5th directly connects with all three of them and the 9th Avenue. Therefore, the traffic can be easily diverted away from this place. Even though this is an Underground Circuit, they do have a permit to organise this event tonight until dawn." He informed her. "City Management allows these events as long as the Fine is paid in advance." He chuckled.

Kiara lightly laughed and nodded her head before looking around again.

Keith checked his messages, where James had pinpointed his location, and after a drive of 7 seven minutes, they reached the spot where their group was stationed.

"It's Keith!" Eric recognized the Aston Martin and informed everyone, who happily waved their hands toward him.

"They look funny!" His passenger giggled when she saw the bruised faces of the lot. They indeed looked funny waving at them bearing all those signs of a beating.

"That they are..." He chuckled and parked the car in a safe spot. "Let's go!"