Chapter 840
Claire stared at him.
She shot Owen a look that screamed: I can’t believe you’re that kind of guy!
“You’re seriously risking your life over a smut peddler?”
Owen scratched his head defensively. “Everyone has their little secret hobbies, right?”
Claire cast a highly meaningful glance toward Xavier: This didn’t seem like a secret anymore.
It was practically public knowledge at this point.
“The guy’s writing was genuinely brilliant. The explicit stuff was just a side hustle. He mainly wrote incredible tomb-raiding thrillers.”
“His suspense plots were top-tier, really adrenaline-pumping.”
As a naive teenager, Owen had been absolutely hooked by his first foray into adventure fiction.
“Adrenaline-pumping or downright erotic?” Xavier chimed in. “The guy literally wrote scenes where the protagonist hooked up with thousand-year-old corpses for some twisted romance.”
Claire had never dabbled in such niche genres, but pairing grave robbing with necrophilia painted a vivid picture of a deeply disturbed author.
“Was distributing explicit material really his only charge?”
Owen’s expression slumped. “No, there was another one.”
“Grave robbing?” Claire guessed before Owen could even answer.
The man was clearly a method writer, weaving his own criminal exploits and wild fantasies straight into his manuscripts.
He had accidentally gone viral and garnered a massive cult following.
Which eventually caught the attention of the authorities, leading to his spectacular downfall.
Owen gave his sister a thumbs up. “As expected from a valedictorian. Nailed it on the first try.”
Claire wanted absolutely nothing to do with that compliment.
In fact, she desperately wanted to distance herself from him entirely.
Seeing her judgment, Owen quickly backpedaled. “I don’t admire the guy personally, I just really love his books.”
“But his work has been wiped off the internet, making my physical copy a rare out- of-print collector’s edition.”
With a hardened gaze, he turned to Xavier. “You’re on. When do we race?”
Xavier found it utterly hilarious.
Jocelyn
hadn’t been enough to bait
him, but a signed smut book did the trick.
FindNovel.net
Fine by him!
“Right after we eat. We head straight to Ridgeview Pass!”
“Done!”
Owen agreed instantly.
Xavier shot Claire a dismissive look. “Send your sister home first, then find another girl to ride passenger.”
It was actually meant as a courtesy.
But Claire refused. “It’s fine, I’m coming with you.”
She hadn’t been interested initially, but she had noticed Owen’s intense, unspoken dread regarding the track.
She had a feeling he might need her to step in when it mattered most.
Xavier was taken aback. “So the little sister has a taste for extreme sports
✓ How come oven riever brought
you around before?”
Was she really his sister, or just another fling playing along?
“Because I was studying for my finals,” Claire reminded him flatly.
Xavier paused, remembering Owen’s earlier brag about her being a valedictorian.
He had dropped out of academia years ago and knew absolutely nothing about the academic elite.
As long as Owen raced, he didn’t care what Claire did.
Though, if he had truly grasped her identity beforehand, he never would have risked putting her in danger.
Since they had agreed to head out together, Xavier’s crew officially took over the adjacent table.
Since Xavier had already paid for a hundred crawfish, it would be a shame to waste them.
Macy continued peeling the seafood for them, exhibiting impeccable situational
awareness.
She made sure to give Claire the vast majority of the meat.
Xavier watched in disbelief. He was footing the bill and paying the tips, yet the service was going straight to his vals. He could only laugh out of sheer frustration.
Still, he couldn’t exactly throw a tantrum at a waitress.
Once the feast was over, the entire group roared off into the night, making a beeline
for Ridgeview Pass.