Drive
Hot Rides #1
Hot Rides #1
By: Sidney Bristol
Releasing
February 23, 2016
Zebra
Zebra
Blurb
Blazing
Miami sun. Cool classic cars. Dangerous undercover assignment. In Sidney
Bristol’s scorching new Hot Rides series, the cars are fast and the romance is
furious…
Aiden
DeHart has a history—and secrets. His classic car garage is a front for an FBI
operation. His current mission: get some evidence from a drug dealer’s ex-wife,
then get out. Madison Haughton sending his engine into overdrive isn’t part of
the plan, though, especially considering she might not be as innocent as Aiden
thought…
Since
her divorce from her sleazeball ex, Madison has sworn off bad boys, gotten some
sweet tattoos, and become a star of Miami’s roller derby scene. But however
fast she skates, her ex is always on her tail. When the sexy guy in the muscle
car offers to help, he could be her ticket to safety—or a detour down a deadly
road…
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2016/02/drive-hot-rides-1-by-sidney-bristol.html
Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/154970-hot-rides
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sidney_Bristol
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Excerpt
1
There
was a good way to start a week, and there was a bad one. Aiden DeHart figured
the jury was still out on this one.
“DeHart, microphones are live. Keep
Ross near the car.”
“It’s a Chevelle, Kathy,” he replied
to the disembodied woman’s voice only he could hear. He hated this, working
with the FBI, but they had him by the balls.
“Yeah, whatever. Keep him near the
Chevelle.” Kathy chuckled.
Aiden tapped the steering wheel of
his Chevrolet Chevelle and rolled his eyes at the FBI agent chirping more
reminders in his ear. Kathy was a good agent, a little too motherly for his
tastes, but a good woman.
He tuned her out and cleared his
mind, inhaling the scent of the beach. The simple truth was that every word he
said needed to be carefully chosen. Microphones were all over the damn car,
which irritated the hell out of him that his classic restore was getting
adhesive all over the leather. He wouldn’t normally allow it, but if this job
led to taking down Michael Evers, it was worth it. The son of a bitch had
murdered Aiden’s sister and her cop husband to make a point to the Miami-Dade
PD. His brother-in-law had been a good cop. A bit too
good,
unfortunately, and it had gotten both him and Andrea killed.
“DeHart, we’re in place.” CJ’s voice
echoed in Aiden’s ear. Great, he had not one, but two Feds in his head.
CJ and his wife, Kathy, were FBI
agents undercover in Aiden’s garage, and often worked support for him and his
crew. He hadn’t known FBI agents could be married to another agent in the
field, but he had the proof under his roof. Hell, there was likely some
extensive study with all sorts of data to justify the work/wed arrangement. He
could imagine CJ spouting said data as he got down on one knee. Kathy and CJ
were a . . .unique couple. He overlooked their uniqueness
because they knew their shit.
“Try not to break too many laws,” CJ
warned. They might be FBI, but the deep cover operation had them bending and
breaking laws. Which was why it was Aiden doing this gig instead of his
co-owner and best friend, Julian. While Julian was a full-fledged undercover
FBI agent, Aiden was a contracted employee, or asset. He could break rules
Julian couldn’t, though that line had begun to blur as of late.
“No promises there. Going silent.”
Aiden sucked in a deep breath and blew it out.
It was time.
He emptied his mind of the two
people on the other end of the radio, of all the little things he needed to do today
and simply—let go. The road stretched out ahead of him, a path to anywhere.
He hit the accelerator and shifted
gears. The old muscle car roared to life. He blazed down the well-kept street,
mansions sprawling on either side of him. His awareness narrowed to the bend in
the road ahead and the gate leading to their target’s home.
The humid Miami air rushed through
the windows, beating him in the face and carrying with it the cry of seagulls.
The scents of freshly cut grass, salt water, and flowers drifted on the wind.
Here, there was no Latino hip-hop music breaking up the pristine silence. It
was all opulence and wealth.
The gate yawned open to his right.
He grabbed the hand brake, turned the wheel, and let the Chevelle drift sideways
through the space. The whole car vibrated, tires squealing with the maneuver. A
security guard in the gatehouse dropped a magazine out of the window and yelled
something, but Aiden was already through and accelerating up the drive. Palm
trees lined the quarter mile to the two-story mansion. The drive circled around
a fountain. Several sleek sports cars were parked around the bend, like some
fancy magazine spread. Those cars might have the flash, but his Chevelle had
double the horsepower.
Aiden brought the car around the
fountain, breaking and letting the tail end swing around. It made for a jarring,
flashy stop.
Flash was what he was going for.
“Fuck, Aiden. Did you have to burn
so much rubber?” CJ whispered in his ear.
The agent was a stickler for
following the rules, and one of their biggest ones was: stay under the radar.
The Feds didn’t want to have to cover up their shit if Aiden got in trouble, which
was bound to happen on occasion. CJ had proven to be an invaluable member of
their team. Between his experience in the field and his wife’s quick thinking,
they’d saved Aiden’s ass more than a few times.
He snorted and climbed out of the
car. A trio of men in suits stood on the stairs leading to the grand double doors.
It might have been impressive, except the whole community was one mansion
trying to outdo its neighbors. At least a half dozen guys in suits hung around,
hands poised on their barely concealed weapons. The whole setup was a little
pretentious, but then again, men like Dustin Ross weren’t exactly classy folk.
Two years ago, Dustin barely
registered on the lowlevel crime scale. He’d climbed the ladder fast thanks to his
greed, and he liked to show it off, unlike his boss, Michael Evers. What Dustin
probably didn’t know was that Evers ran through guys like Dustin every two
years, using them up and spitting them out to save his own ass.
Dustin was
just the latest in a string of dummies stupid enough to get into bed with the
Evers operation.
Aiden pushed
his sunglasses up on his head and leaned against his car.
“Aiden DeHart.” Dustin shook the
hand of one of the men he was standing with before heading down the stairs
toward him. “Wasn’t expecting you so soon.”
“I drive fast. You said you wanted
to see me?”
“Yeah, why don’t you show me what
this baby can do?” Dustin didn’t wait for permission. He climbed in the
passenger side and settled in.
Well, that was easy.
“Sure. Whatever you say, boss.”
Aiden sank into the driver’s seat while CJ snickered in his ear.
Aiden didn’t
punch it hard out of the driveway. He did want to hear what the other man had
to say, after all.
And they
needed a clean recording. Dustin suggesting they leave his property—without
security—confirmed Aiden’s suspicions. Whatever this job was, Dustin didn’t
want his boss to know about it.
In the grand scheme of things,
Michael Evers was the real target. Dustin was just a stepping-stone to taking
down the criminal mastermind. Jobs like this should never be personal, and yet
here he was. Driving an asshole around one of the ritziest areas of Miami,
neither speaking. Which was fine with him. Conversation with
Dustin was
about as stimulating as watching oil drip out of a car. He took his time,
winding through the houses, around the properties and eventually out onto the
highway.
“How fast does she go?” Dustin
asked.
“One-eighty if I’ve got the
distance.” The Chevelle wasn’t a race car, though he liked its speed. It could perform,
but he didn’t like to push the car too much. It was a classic that deserved the
respect of the road. He had a few newer, American muscle cars tricked out and
outfitted for racing.
“Nice.” He cleared his throat. “I
really appreciate that job you did for me. The guys were right when they said
you were the person to go to if I wanted something done quiet—and right.”
Dustin peered at him through tinted glasses. For someone with so much money, he
still seemed sleazy. Maybe it was the
off-the-rack suit with the
Rolex watch
and store-bought tan.
“Glad I could be of assistance,”
Aiden drawled. Thanks to a few dings on his record, the FBI had been able to
embellish the truth a little. Between their additions and what came naturally
due to racing, he had plenty of street cred and the experience to back it up.
He doubted old Uncle Sam had intended him to put the skills he’d learned in the
service to use chopping cars and pretending to be one of the bad guys.
“That street gang, they don’t want
to mess with us.” Dustin acted like he were the one who’d chopped six cars of
the rival gang.
“They’re punks. Kids. They don’t
have any business playing with the big boys. Just let them drive their toy cars
in circles.”
Dustin approaching Aiden out of the
blue like that had shocked him and sent their entire operation into chaos.
While they’d had their heads shoved up Evers’s ass, Dustin had begun a little
war with one of the street gangs. One Aiden knew all too well because he raced
against them regularly.
Aiden's past isn't exactly clean and innocent, but he's moved past most of that. He's still keeping secrets though, including using his garage as an FBI front. Acting as a contracted worker for the FBI, Aiden has signed on to help them close a case and catch the bad guy. However, the case is getting to him in unexpected ways, or rather, the woman involved in the case is. But when the FBI is upset with how long the case is taking and threatening to pull in other help, Aiden steps up his game. I really liked Aiden and his
Madison's done her stint with bad boys and gotten burned. She got out of her relationship when she finally discovered the truth about her husband and what he had been doing. She swears she's over that part of her life and isn't going to be pulled back into it, but she's had little luck keeping her ex away. Aiden's not jsut a bad boy, though, he's her one chance at hopefully getting away once and for all and moving on with her life.
Drive is an action packed story with a side of romance. Fancy, sexy cars, some suspense, and a sexy guy at the middle of it all? Yes, please. The relationship between Aiden and Madison moved at a steady past, not too fast or to slow, and it was full of both steamy and sweeter moments. Action, Drama, and romance pull together to make this book soar and take you on a ride.
I look forward to more books in this series.
Madison's done her stint with bad boys and gotten burned. She got out of her relationship when she finally discovered the truth about her husband and what he had been doing. She swears she's over that part of her life and isn't going to be pulled back into it, but she's had little luck keeping her ex away. Aiden's not jsut a bad boy, though, he's her one chance at hopefully getting away once and for all and moving on with her life.
Drive is an action packed story with a side of romance. Fancy, sexy cars, some suspense, and a sexy guy at the middle of it all? Yes, please. The relationship between Aiden and Madison moved at a steady past, not too fast or to slow, and it was full of both steamy and sweeter moments. Action, Drama, and romance pull together to make this book soar and take you on a ride.
I look forward to more books in this series.
Author
Info
It can never be said that NYT & USA
Today Bestselling author Sidney Bristol has had a ‘normal’
life. She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, and tattoo
addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional
jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney
has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and
teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she splits her time between a job she
loves, writing, reading and fostering cats.
Website: http://www.sidneybristol.com/
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