Chapter Fourteen
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
T HE DISTANCE FROM her hotel bed to the bathroom and back was the most movement Nina accomplished over the following two days. With her phone switched off, and a strict do not disturb sign on the door, she ensured herself some peace. At least externally.
Internally however, she was a hurricane of emotion that she couldn’t quite separate or work through. She cried silent tears when notes appeared under her door on two separate occasions from Alain. A small package arrived too, a basket filled with her favourite romcoms and chocolates. No note accompanied the gift, but she knew Tristan had sent it, even before she opened up the simple hotel card to see his sprawling initials on the signature line. She didn’t have the appetite for romance or sugar, instead choosing to leave them propped upon the desk in the corner of the room as a reminder. A reminder of what exactly, she wasn’t quite sure...why not to trust anyone, perhaps?
Tristan’s words rang in her ears.
‘We are not born knowing how to trust. It’s something you have to learn to do, just like being in love.’
She knew that people made mistakes. She’d made plenty of mistakes herself in her life. But being lied to and deliberately misled was another thing entirely. Alain had always said she was too rigid in her views, and perhaps she was. She had always been so sensitive to injustice, finding solace in the solid concept of right and wrong. But with her heart broken and her future in the sport she loved uncertain, she just didn’t have the energy to make sense of it all. She’d gone from hating Tristan Falco to falling in love with him in a matter of weeks. Surely falling back out of love could be achieved simply? Even as she grasped at that thought her chest tightened and her body seemed to push it away. Somehow, she knew that this would not be so easily healed.
She slept for what felt like weeks, the only indication of day bleeding into night coming from a thin slit in the curtains and the glow of the single hotel clock upon her bedstand. It was a slippery slope, allowing her overwhelmed mind to rest this way. She knew from experience that giving in to this kind of exhaustion could lead to a dark place she would only struggle more and more to pick herself back up from.
The next morning, a knock sounded upon the door, one that she did her absolute best to ignore as she burrowed her face deeper and deeper beneath the pillows. Until a familiar voice intruded upon her thoughts.
‘You’d better open this door, superstar. Or I’ll be calling some hunky Argentinian fireman to chop it down for me.’
Stiff and cranky, Nina forced herself across the room to throw open the door and was practically attacked by the blonde ball of energy that was Sophie. ‘You’re not supposed to get here until tomorrow.’
‘You turn your phone off for two freaking days and expect me not to rush here early?’ Sophie practically shouted, then she paused and looked around at the chaos of the darkened bedroom. ‘It smells like something died in here.’
Perhaps something did... Nina thought mournfully.
‘Nope. Stop whatever it is you are thinking right now. I know that face.’ Sophie placed her hands on both sides of Nina’s cheeks, forcing Nina to look up into her eyes. ‘When’s the last time you trained?’
Nina shook her head, pulling away to sit down heavily on the side of the bed. ‘I’m not driving this weekend; I’m not needed here. I don’t know why I don’t just go back to Monte Carlo.’
‘Dear God, would you listen to yourself? You are a superstar, and superstars need to train. Whatever personal stuff has gone on, it’s not worth giving up your career for.’
‘What have you heard?’ Nina asked roughly.
‘Nothing. But I can piece two and two together and get four, darling. I know that whatever has happened, you’ll think through it ten times better after running your backside off and cursing at me through your own sweat.’
Nina groaned, pressing her eyelids into her hands. Sophie was right, of course. Her brain craved movement and order to keep regulated. Everything she was feeling was far more intense and unmanageable as a result of her staying here, isolating herself in this room. But she was so tired... So tired of trying so hard all of the time and still ending up right back where she always started. Alone, betrayed.
Sophie kneeled down in front of her, her blue eyes wide and worried and her jaw set in that way Nina knew too well. She was the best trainer in the industry—Falco Roux was not paying her nearly enough. She always knew exactly what to say.
‘Okay, thank you for coming to get me.’
‘I’ll always have your back.’ Sophie smiled, leaning in to give her a deep hug. With a polite sniff, she whispered in her ear, ‘But I think you need to have a shower first.’
Nina arrived on the morning of race day at the brand-new Argentinian track to find the garage in utter chaos. At least half of the team was missing, and as she wandered around in confusion she spied the team principal, Jock, sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.
‘What is it? What happened?’ she said, looking frantically around at the worried faces that greeted her.
‘They’re all dropping like flies, that’s what,’ he said, running agitated hands through the little hair he had remaining upon his head.
Sophie appeared at her side, a worried frown creasing her forehead. ‘They went out to eat at a restaurant last night, with Daniele Roberts. At least a quarter of the team have food poisoning. Some of them have gone to hospital. Including Roberts.’
‘Oh, God, is he going to be okay?’ She felt her heart drop. ‘How bad is it?’
‘We’re not sure quite how bad it is yet, but with food poisoning he’s bound to be out for a couple of days at least. Even then, his recovery could be slow.’
‘We are screwed ,’ the team principal growled. ‘I’m down five mechanics, we have backups on the way, but who knows what kind of speed they’re going to be? I can’t believe this. We were so close to winning the constructors’ championship.’
‘It will be okay. I’m good to step in as reserve.’ Nina’s mind worked furiously over the statistics and strategies they’d perfected recently. Their new star was good, but Apollo was still settling in. If he made a mistake in the first seat and didn’t secure a third-place finish at the minimum, they’d lose the constructors’ championship. If Nina took first seat and drove her very best...they still had a chance. But as she opened her mouth and began relaying her thoughts, the older man immediately scoffed.
‘After that stunt you pulled in Spain? There’s not a chance I’d put my faith in you, Roux. You lack the aggression required to drive in first. I won’t clear it.’
His phone rang and he growled, taking the call and walking away.
Apollo was already suited up and preparing for the first practice session when Nina walked into the opposite end of the garage.
‘Looks like you’re driving with me, Roux,’ he said, a brief attempt at a smile on his handsome face.
‘I won’t clear it, Falco.’ The team principal appeared, still bellowing into his phone. His face sweaty and red. ‘You think you can just call me up and demand I put your fiancée in my first seat? I’d rather walk.’
Nina frowned. Tristan? That was who was on the call?
‘I mean it, Falco,’ Jock cried. ‘I’ll leave.’
Whatever Tristan’s reply was, the older man’s face blanched and he threw his phone down on the ground with a growl, smashing the device to pieces.
‘I support the decision to seat Nina first,’ Apollo said matter-of-factly. ‘We won’t have to argue about it then.’
‘You actually agree with that madman?’ Jock bellowed. ‘In my thirty years at this team, I have never heard such ridiculous—’
‘I’d stop right there or you’ll be fired, Jock.’ Alain appeared behind them. ‘Then we’ll be down a team principal today as well as half our team.’
‘Alain! I wasn’t aware that you were back. Good, I might get you to talk some sense into that man who took over our team.’
Alain moved to stand behind Nina, his hand upon her shoulder. ‘I think you’ll find that it’s our team. As of today, our shares have been restored to us by Tristan Falco and I’ve been appointed as managing director once again. Myself and my sister have not agreed on many things, but the fact that she is the most qualified person here to lead this team today is not one that’s up for debate.’
‘Thank you, Alain,’ Nina said, a lump in her throat. ‘I know our contracts stated that Apollo was to be in first, and most of my experience so far has been in second...’
‘You can do it,’ Apollo said encouragingly. ‘Even with my experience, we all know it was the plan for me to drive in second seat today, Nina. I’ve seen you instruct our strategy team on how to help Roberts win; you are undoubtedly the natural choice for first driver today.’
‘Seems like you’re getting your way again, princess .’ Jock glowered.
‘You know what? I’ve had enough of you,’ Nina growled. ‘If it’s true that my shares are back...then I’ve been waiting a long time to say these words. Jock, you’re fired.’
Nina’s eyes widened as the team principal lunged towards her and her brother launched to her defence before shouting for security to remove the abusive old bat from the garage once and for all.
In the chaos that followed, Alain announced that he was going to be acting team principal for the day, a position that he’d hoped to wait until next season to assume after undergoing training while at the recovery centre. He didn’t need training, of course, he’d grown up on the track just as she had. He’d never shown any aptitude for the driving side of things, but he had always had a way with people. She looked at him, seeing once again how vibrant and alive he looked, and she realised belatedly that she had Tristan to thank for all of it.
Tristan, the man who had allowed the world to paint him as a frivolous playboy, swiping up a team in a sport he had no knowledge of or interest in simply to avoid the destruction of a long-respected Elite One racing team. When all the while, he had actually been their saviour. Yes, he’d made mistakes along the way. But didn’t everyone?
Closing her eyes, she leaned her head down upon a stack of tyres and took a deep breath, hoping and praying that all of her training would stand up as she attempted to pull off what was the most difficult feat of her entire career.
As she drove into her starting position on the grid, she looked up to the box where she hoped Tristan would be, even though he had no reason to stay for today’s race. He’d done his part in launching the event and had participated in countless press calls. Now that the end of his role as team owner had arrived he could slip away without anyone knowing any differently.
As her eyes scanned the crowd of guests in the box, she felt her chest tighten with relief. He’d stayed. He stood head and shoulders above everyone else, his handsome features looking pinched and drawn. He was still here, standing guard in his brooding fallen-angel way, silently supporting her even after she’d rejected him and walked away.
She knew family wasn’t supposed to give up on you, unlike her parents. Her aunt Lola had always said love meant always being there, even if you were fighting, even when you messed up. Real love was unconditional. She had never known that kind of love, she hadn’t known how to accept it when he’d so bravely tried to make her see what he was offering to her.
But now...she wanted to try.