Chapter 23
Fia
Nadia smiled as she signed another grid girl calendar for the balding man before us. She nodded along to whatever he was saying, ‘mm-hmm’ing at the right moments and looking up on cue.
Every other grid girl was in the same scenario.
So I wasn’t needed.
My placement report might have been extraordinary, but the ‘above and beyond’ Livie mentioned felt like a lie. There were other places I could actually help, so I’d gone to the VIP tables outside by the press tent, where people got to meet the girls and, on the odd occasion, a racer.
If they couldn’t speak English, they couldn’t speak to them.
Enter me.
Now my report would be spectacular—people would write reports on my report.
The bell sounded behind us, and Everly waved her miniature green flag: it was time for them to pack up and return to the grid for the start of the race.
The men in the queue groaned, but as soon as security stepped forward and told them the race was about to start, they shut up and moved on.
Their void of loud, annoying chatter filled with @Noraaaaa12 clacking up in cowboy boots. Her hair was a shiny, impossible copper in the Austrian sun.
The Prixton table was the one I’d gone out of my way to avoid, but she’d looked over enough, keen to talk to me, and that made me more desperate to keep away.
“Fia,” she said with a beaming smile. The worst part? It seemed genuine. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!”
I swallowed and tried to slide a smile on my face, but it stalled after a few millimetres.
“Zoltán,” she said, and lifted her phone for me and Nadia to see.
My ribs knifed into my heart.
And my mouth made the sound of a punctured balloon.
Because there — in cruel, high-resolution — was Zolt on the dance floor at that club, his arm around my waist.
Everyone had seen us like that. It hadn’t raised any alarms as far as I could tell, though Nora had narrowed her eyes at me a couple of times, but that wasn’t new after I laughed in her face. And to be honest, I probably deserved her snarl.
But this wasn’t just her picture. It was in a magazine.
“Where did you find that?” I wheezed.
“Some sleazy celebrity magazine,” she said. “My brother sent it to me. I didn’t know Zolt’s mum had got married.”
Wait—what?
I finally looked up from her phone. Her face wasn’t twisted with disgust or anger. She looked at her nails, turning the screen back to herself.
“So when I read that, I was really confused.”
My heartbeat slammed in my ears.
“Because then I found out who she married and… well, you never said one of the mechanics was your dad.”
Nadia’s side pressed into my back. “Because she doesn’t owe you her family tree.”
“It is weird, though,” she sighed. “Like, you’re translating for your brother.”
The world tilted. I gripped Nadia’s arm to stop myself from colliding with the concrete floor.
“And you manage to make him sound smart,” Nora laughed, shaking her head. “He’ll be the first to tell you he isn’t. I feel like he’s losing his identity, replaced by you.”
And then I was holding Nadia to ground myself and not throw my fist in Nora’s face.
“Maybe because you didn’t bother to learn each other’s language?” I snapped. “In Hungarian, he is incredibly clever.”
He’s learning English for me. Not for her.
“Where did you… It was just a picture, wasn’t it?”
“The caption mentioned you were step-siblings.”
Shite. Of course it did.
“It’s just weird to keep it a secret when you work in the same team. It’s like the whole family is in Veltar.”
She was right: A lot of my family did work for Veltar. But it didn’t feel like it. It wasn’t how I’d imagined joining Ciclati as a teenager.
I wanted to be there— back when Dad, Livie, Luca, Nix, and Everly all worked there.
“Right, come on, you drama queens,” I could hear Everly’s voice, but she was further down the tables, dismissing those who had stayed for Nora’s allegations.
Nadia squeezed my hand. “Nora, do us a favour and jog on, love. Just because he doesn’t want you, doesn’t mean you have to go after his step-sister, does it?”
She shrugged. “It just makes sense now why they hired you. Your sister manages the grid girls, your dad is on the team, your brother’s a racer.”
I didn’t look like a translator, apparently. I dressed professionally. Livie would have told me otherwise. So what the fuck did that mean?
“Stop calling him that,” I said through my teeth —not sure if I meant Imre or Zoltán.
“Well, I’m bloody glad that’s what he is to you. Because, for a second, I thought you were fucking.”
She said it coldly. And when our eyes met, hers were cruel and hard. She stared me down. She knew.
I didn’t know how, but I was certain. Dread pitted in my stomach.
“Nadia, Nora, you’re due— Fia?”
I couldn’t turn to look at my sister. Nora would look away first. This whole time, she thought she was above me. She was furious that not only was I better than her, but that I was beneath him. Daily.
“What’s going on?”
Nadia pulled away from my grip. “Nora just told everyone Fia’s dad works here.”
I wanted to turn around and hit her too for speaking those words aloud, but it wasn’t as loud as before. Ever must have cleared the crowd. My focus was on the shit-stirring ex of my boyfriend.
Everly’s voice soothed me. “And that’s your business because?”
The second Nora looked away, I released a shaky breath.
She was all smiles. “I wanted to welcome her to the family. Zolt and I were together so long it feels like that.”
Everly’s eyes swung to mine. She surveyed me and breathed in. “Not in public, Nora. Let people keep their private lives private. You’re here to look pretty and cheer on the racers. Plural. Not just Zoltán.”
“Of course,” she said and nodded.
“Imre sounded disgusted when he thought you two were back together,” I told her, finally finding my voice again. “You’re not welcome in my family.”
Everly leaned against the desk and dropped her bag, watching with a hint of a smile.
“You can’t control that man,” she said. “No one can. Who would want to? And when he calls me back into his home, I’ll be there. Your sister-in-law.”
“You can play family all you want, Nora. The difference is—I don’t need a man’s name to belong.”
You belong wherever you choose to stand, he’d told me.
And I was going to stand right at his side.
“No need to get nasty now,” Nora laughed. “It’s going to make the family reunions all the more awkward.”
Again, her eyes stayed on mine a little too long. She knew.
“Don’t worry, Nora. You won’t be invited. He doesn’t want you.”
“And he wants you?” Her laugh was dark.
I’d thought I was getting somewhere. The panic had subsided into rage, but my face heated, knowing Nadia was behind me.
“Do you know what he’d say if he saw this?” I said, my voice far stronger than I felt, because I could feel my chest caving. “Már régen lejárt a vendégjogod, és hiba voltál, amit ? már kijavított.”
Her eye twitched.
“Do you know what that means? You’ve already overstayed your welcome, and you’re simply a mistake he’s already corrected.”
“And you know what you are?” she asked, her body tight, her voice lighter than I expected. “His step-sister. Who apparently needs some made-up words by someone else to defend herself.”
Everly stood straight. “In a second, Nora, you’re going to have some very real words from me. Get to the grid before I make sure this is the last grid you ever walk.”
Nora went to argue, but my sister raised a hand. “Your issue is not with her, it’s with him. In fact, it’s probably with yourself. Sort yourself out—privately. Speak to Zolt. But do not speak to my sister like that again.”
“This is ridiculous,” Nora grumbled, shaking her head. “I’m going to HR.”
“Do it,” Everly ordered. “Please. Because I’ll be safeguarding this conversation anyway.”
Nora’s frown said it all.
“The grid,” Ever snapped. “Both of you. Now.”
Nadia gave me a soft smile and followed Nora, a few paces back. When Nora turned and stopped to talk to her, Nadia waved her on.
“She’s a good friend,” Everly said. “I’m glad you have her.”
“Yeah.”
She could still tell everyone. We’d been friends for a few weeks, and she’d been friends with Nora for far longer, but I didn’t trust where her loyalties lay.
I started to pack up the remaining calendars. The press tent kept most of the wind at bay, but every now and then, the walls flapped about.
I didn’t want more mess to clean up.
“Are you okay?” Everly started to gather the pens, but I felt her eyes on me.
The map on the leaflet in front of me showed my pit box, where I should be. Where Zolt would be getting ready to race. I wanted a hug. I needed his voice.
He’d never given me any inkling that he cared about her.
You belong wherever you choose to stand.
I belong wherever I choose to stand.
“Fia?”
Everly was blurry. I tried to blink my vision away, but then she was holding me, and I was scrunching my eyes to stop myself from sobbing.
“It’s okay,” Everly shushed, rubbing my back. “It’s okay.”
“Isn’t,” I blubbered into her hair.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” she said. “Nora blabs, and no one believes her because she’s a jealous ex who left Zolt for another racer within like two weeks of his accident.”
“Imre will know.”
She stopped stroking. “So maybe your fling has to end.”
I pulled away and looked into her dark eyes for any instance she was joking. All I found was pity in the sad turn of her lips.
“What?”
Her expression shifted, brows lowering, eyes widening. “This isn’t… this isn’t a fling, is it?”
“I…” Of course, that was what she thought. Because how could we ever actually be together?
I sniffed and rubbed at my eyes. “It’s complicated.”
She scoffed, almost laughing. “You don’t need to tell me that.” Her face softened. “So it’s not just sex?”
“No,” I sighed. That would make things nice and simple. “He told me he loves me.”
Everly nodded slowly, looking away.
“Be honest with me. You always are.”
Her face stiffened, she pursed her lips and then said, voice low, half-pained, “Do you believe him?”