40. Skylar
CHAPTER 40
SKYLAR
Y esterday was like a dream. I’d never been so happy, and my boy smiled widely the entire day. He forgot about everything else, and I’m glad I could give him that. Our perfect day and night, however, was interrupted by my phone ringing ridiculously early this morning, and if it had been anyone else but Noah, I would have bitch-slapped them.
Work is important, though, so I left Bones sleeping, made my ass presentable, and hightailed it down to the hotel he sent me the information for.
The room is already set up when I arrive, and I throw myself down in one of the chairs behind the tables. Our logo is on screens behind us, and our names are situated before us with little mics. Mackie is already at my side, and he looks a lot better. There’s some bruising on his face, but I’m sure Nurse Noah has been taking good care of him.
“You okay?” I ask.
He nods and forces a smile as he faces the people who keep trickling in, the crowd made up of journalists, bloggers, influencers, and fans. News of Mackie’s accident spread quickly, and Noah wants to get ahead of it before speculation runs amok, saying that we are pulling out or being shut down for having unsafe practices. Our mics are off for a moment, but I make sure to keep my voice low, not wanting to spoil whatever Noah has planned.
“You know what he’s going to do?” I question.
“Not a clue.” He nods at Noah, who is talking animatedly to Alek at the side. “But he’s been on a warpath for days, terrifying everyone. Whatever it is, I’d say buckle up for the crazy.”
“You know it’s because of you, right?” I ask as I glance at him. “He was mad before, but the moment they made you a target, he lost every shred of control he had.”
“No, it isn’t,” Mackie mutters. “If it had been you, he would have been the same way. He’s just mad someone thinks they can get away with this.”
“You are both idiots.” I sigh as I slap his shoulder. “When you get married, I’m going to share all the times you morons tried to deny this.”
Mackie sputters, making me grin, and when Noah appears behind him and calls our names, he whirls around, his face turning red. Poor boy.
“What?” Noah asks, looking between us before he presses the back of his hand to Mackie’s head. “Are you feeling sick? You’re hot.”
“You think so?” I prop my chin on his shoulder and grin at Noah. “How hot do you think he is on a scale of one to ten?”
Noah frowns, not understanding. “Like a six? Not a normal temperature for sure.”
Mackie pushes us both away and glares at me before he focuses on Noah. “What’s going on? You didn’t tell me anything when you hustled me from your house.”
“Staying over, are we? Nice little slumber parties. Noah, do you wear silk or nothing?” I retort.
Noah ignores me and glances at the room, which is almost full now. “It’s time to tell everyone what’s been happening and start a manhunt. The police have scaled up their investigations, but I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.” He looks at us. “Go along with what I say and show we are a united front, okay? This won’t take long,” he tells us. “Then it’s back to practice. The room will be left set up for the boxing announcement coming next, so don’t break anything.”
“Why does he assume we will break anything?” I mutter to Mackie.
“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe because you have broken eight?—”
“Nine,” I correct, knowing where this is going.
“Coffee mugs, two chairs, a shower, and a locker. How did you even break the locker?” he asks, his eyes narrowed.
“Ah, well, see, my boy called me, and he wanted to see what I was wearing?—”
“Microphone,” Noah hisses, and I jerk up to see some members of the crowd giggling.
“Oops. If you’re watching, baby, sorry!” I call, and some of the journalists shake their heads. Mackie’s face is beet red, but I just lean back and grin.
“Sorry for that. As you can tell, Skylar has no qualms about oversharing,” Noah offers, and the room breaks out into chuckles. “I won’t keep you long. First of all, thank you for coming today. We really appreciate it. For those who don’t know, I’m Noah, manager of Starfire Racing, and to my right are Mackie and Skylar, our two racers this year. We wanted to address some rumors and stories that have been circulating about an accident Mackie recently had.”
Everyone leans forward, eagerly waiting. They know that whatever’s next will be good. After all, you don’t call a press conference for no reason, and coupled with the pissed expression Noah is unable to control, they know there is gossip.
“I can confirm that Mackie was in an accident this week during training. The car lost control and spun from the track. We are very lucky it wasn’t much worse. However, it was not the driver’s fault or even a simple accident. This was an attack. Mackie’s car was sabotaged, causing him to lose control. If he hadn’t been such a good driver, he could have died.” Noah lets that sink in, and I see horror and confusion on the faces of those gathered.
Reaching under the table, I squeeze Mackie’s hand, and he grips mine for comfort.
“We are working alongside local police to investigate this matter thoroughly. There have been a recent string of injuries and attacks at Starfire Racing, resulting in some of our team members being hurt, but this was something we kept quiet at the police’s request. However, I refuse to sit back and remain silent while my business, my team, and my family remain under threat. Nobody should ever feel unsafe doing their job, and that is exactly what’s happening.”
“Why?” someone calls.
“Starfire has qualified at the top and are expected to place with the other elite teams, something we have not done in many years. Skylar and Mackie are at the top of their game, and that threatens this year’s championship. If we lose, not only are sponsorships, money, and titles lost, but respect, and in some drivers’ cases, their contracts with clubs. I believe that one of the teams below us feels threatened, knowing we will win, and they have decided to scare us away from competing.” Noah once more lets that sink in. There are questions, but he ignores them for a moment until he raises his hands. When they quiet down and sit back, he carries on.
“We will find who did this, and we will not let them succeed. Nobody comes into my house and threatens my family. I will make sure they never step foot in this industry again and will face the full wrath of the police for their crimes. Make no mistake, this is a crime. People have been hurt. My family has been hurt. These are weak, scared individuals who think they have power. I will show them what true power feels like.”
I turn to Noah in shock. They don’t know it, but he just declared war.
It seems going after his boy was a bad idea.
“Skylar, Skylar, what do you think about all this?” someone calls.
“I think Noah is right. They are scared. They know we are going to win and are trying every underhanded tactic to scare us from the races, and we won’t let that happen. Fear never wins. They came after my partner, my team, my family. We won’t let it stand. Let them do their worst. They don’t scare me. My ass will still be in that car on race day, and when Mackie and I take home first and second place, they’ll finally realize there is no stopping us.”
I glance at Mackie. “What happened was a disgusting show of fear and resentment, but they won’t win. We are a family, and we protect each other.”
“Mackie, Mackie!” they shout. “Aren’t you scared to get back in the car?”
Mackie swallows and glances at Noah, but then he sits taller. “Not in the slightest. I was born to be a racer, and nobody will take that away from me. I feel the strongest and happiest behind the wheel. One accident won’t change that. I will bring the title home for Skylar and Starfire. Their scare tactics have only made us more determined, and I know Noah and the police will do everything to keep us safe while we compete.”
“Absolutely.” Noah nods. “Which brings me to my final topic. We are offering a reward for any information on these attacks. Fifty thousand dollars will be given to anyone who provides us with information that leads to the successful arrest of the culprits. This is being funded by Starfire Racing. We do not care how you know or who you are. We simply want the information.”
“Noah!” someone yells. “You must have an idea of who is behind this.”
“The way I see it, there are only two teams that would benefit from us pulling out of the championship,” Noah replies without an ounce of fear.
My eyebrows rise. That’s a shit ton of money, which I’m guessing is Noah’s.
Like I said, you don’t fuck with his boy.
Noah stands. “We won’t keep you any longer. We thank you for coming, and we hope to see you at our next race.”
Mackie and I stand, and as one, we follow Noah from the room. Questions are shouted at us and cameras chase us, but we stand tall through it all.
We just declared war, and now we need to prepare.
I’m eating dinner at a local restaurant when he appears. I don’t know how he tracked me, but it shouldn’t surprise me that he did. He’s never been one to let someone else have the last word.
He sits down opposite me, reclining back. Despite him being Bones’s father, he looks nothing like my boy. This man is cold through and through, while my boy is simply pretending to be.
“Please, sit.” I wipe my mouth.
“I’m not here to play nice?—”
“Silly me, I thought we were going to bond for a moment.” I wait, my eyebrow arched. “Well, come on then, I’m waiting for the next threat.”
“No threat, not this time.” He pulls out a black book—a checkbook, I realize—and I watch incredulously as he scribbles something, rips one out, and slides it over to me. “This is if you leave my son alone. Break his heart and walk away.”
Picking up the check, I look at the numbers. It’s a lot of money.
“One hundred grand is that what your son is worth to you?” I ask. He looks smug, like he’s won, the dumbass. I take great delight in ripping it up and letting the pieces flutter to the table. “You’ll need a whole lot more money than that. I thought you were rich.” I pull out my own and grab his pen, filling in the check before I slide it across. “There, triple what you offered me for you to stay away from your son.” Standing, I smirk as he gapes at me, open-mouthed. “I have more money than you, I have more power than you, and I have no plans to ever let your son go. Have a good meal. Feel free to put it on my tab.”
I leave him staring after me, smiling the whole time.