Chapter 9
The first dayat any job was nerve-wracking. But the first day at a brand-new race team made me feel like I was about to jump out of my skin. Here, I had a chance to make something of myself. For my name to be written into history books, even if it was just as a lowly mechanic.
The compound where VANT Enterprises had set up VANT Racing was huge, more like a plane hangar than any workshop I’d ever been in. There was technology here that was revolutionary. I tried not to walk around like Charlie in some creepy old guy’s chocolate factory, but it was hard not to gawk.
“We’re just going through the motions of building the car at the moment, and while there are very few modifications we can make, there’s always something, am I right?”
Antony was showing me around, and everything had that shiny newness about it. Even the other employees. Eventually, we’d be a team, where we could lean on each other and know that we had each other’s backs, but that would take time.
I nodded, pointing out things I would change, things I was excited about, just generally fangirling about even being here, but trying to be cool. “How about drivers?”
“Rocco Passero has just lost his seat in F1, and we’ve managed to convince him to sign on for two years as our primary driver.”
“Holy freaking shit!” I gasped, making heads turn.
Rocco Passero had been the wünderkind of F1, but suffered from a severe image problem. He partied way too hard. He also didn’t play well with his teammates or the press or the team bosses, or just about anyone.
I cleared my throat. “Uh, well, that’s a bold move.”
Antony laughed. “Indeed. But we needed a bold driver to break into the game, and no one can drive like Rocco Passero.”
That was true. “Just the one driver then?” I asked lightly.
My new boss raised an eyebrow at me. “I think we should start our working relationship with open and honest communication, don’t you think? So how about you ask me what you want to ask me, hmm?”
I chuckled nervously. Way to make a first impression, Hayes. “I guess I didn’t expect to see you out at that race the other day.” I mean, we might be in a brand-new company, but you never knew who was a snitch. “Do you, uh, go to those kinds of events often?”
Antony snorted a laugh. “Not as much anymore, but it might surprise you that once upon a time, I attended those kinds of events regularly… from behind the wheel. But I’m a little too old for that now, and Vanessa would murder me if I died in a fiery car crash.”
He continued around the factory. “No, we were doing exactly what you thought we were doing—scoping out racers. Mostly for sim driving and testing while we get the car race-ready, but maybe even for seats on the team. Rocco is excellent on road circuits, though he lacks some of the experience of street circuits and definitely on ovals. He was a little derisive of ‘racing in a damn circle.’” Antony shook his head, like Rocco was just a wayward child and not a twenty-odd-year-old veteran of elite motorsports.
I nodded, and didn’t hesitate when I said, “You should get Tally in. She can drive in circles, on the street, on a track, anywhere you need her to race. She’s amazing behind the wheel of anything. She could make a shopping cart race downhill competitively.”
Antony made a non-committal noise, but didn’t outright say no. We continued the tour, before sitting down to talk logistics in a meeting with the rest of the team. I met the team manager—a legend of IndyCar, Ari Rome. I’d thought he’d retired, but apparently, enough money could pull anyone out of retirement.
When the day was done, I waved to Antony as he slid into that beautiful fucking Ferrari that made me want to weep. I knew the team wanted to get into Formula One eventually, but they were looking at probably six years or more before they could get FIA to even consider letting them in as a new team. They could buy out the interest in one of the existing teams, but Antony had big ideas of starting something great from the ground up. He was happy to pay his dues in IndyCar for now, but he’d be developing an engine in the background that could make us a contender.
Fishing my keys from my pocket, I jumped a little at the shouted, “Hayes!” As I turned, Antony pulled up beside me. “Tally… Why did she get booted from Ryclo? I know what the media said about it afterwards, but everyone is very tight-lipped about it.”
Dammit. I could tell him the truth and break Tally’s trust, but possibly get her a job back in her dream industry. Or I could be vague and hope he gave enough of a shit to look into it further. “I’m not sure I can say, but it didn’t have anything to do with her driving ability. She was an amazing driver, and had one of the best rookie years in the last decade. If you’re thinking of hiring her, you won’t regret it.”
Antony nodded slowly, staring through the windshield. “And she’s pregnant?”
I bristled. “Yes, but I promise you that won’t slow her down. I’ll work with her to get childcare figured out, if you give her a chance.”
He shook his head. “Calm down, kid. I’m just putting out feelers, not drawing up contracts.” He gave me a lopsided grin. “You should know that while motorsports is my passion, Vanessa has one true goal in life: to put deserving women in male-dominated arenas and watch them fuck shit up. Miss Palmer being a woman won’t count against her at all. See you tomorrow, Hayes.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Driving home, I decided not to tell Tally that Antony had been inquiring about her. If something came of it, then great. But if nothing came of it, I couldn’t watch her heart break one more time.
Holding her in my arms that day, first when Buck died, and then when Ryker fired her, was the fucking worst thing I’d ever experienced. Not as bad as it was for Tally, of course, but watching someone’s world shatter was so heart-wrenching, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
She’d changed that day. I’d watched it happen before my very eyes; she’d gone from a fresh-faced, happy-go-lucky driver living her dream, to a crushed bug beneath the heel of powerful men who gave more of a shit about their boys’ club than anything else, including winning races.
Even now, it pissed me off. The only thing that chased away the anger was the fact I was going home to her.
I wanted to woo her without pressuring her, but I’d be damned if I knew how. I didn’t want to push, and I could wait for her to come to me, if that’s what she wanted. It was so freaking hard, though—every time I saw her with her head thrown back, laughing in that loud, honking laugh she had, I’d fall a little more in love with her.
Part of me didn’t want her to work at VANT with me, because then we’d have to go back to being coworkers and teammates once more, and I wanted to be so much more than that. I hadn’t believed in love at first sight until that first moment I saw Tally.
Letting out an aggravated huff at my pathetic selfishness, I turned up the music and sang along to Tom Petty at the top of my lungs. By the time I pulled into Jesse’s driveway, I was excited about seeing her. Did that make me whipped?
As I climbed from my car, I could hear Tally laughing, and Jesse’s own deep-throated chuckle. Jealousy poured through me, but not at Jesse making her laugh. I mean, even the thought of Jesse flirting with her, or actually pursuing her, didn’t make me jealous. No, if anything, I was just envious of the time he got to spend with her, making her happy. I wanted that.
Slowly, I warned myself again. She’d been through a lot, and the last thing she needed was me to barrel into her life with my heart bleeding in my hands.
Rolling up the sleeves of my button-down work shirt, I walked over to the new house. The sounds of some eighties rock band reverberated around the place, and Norton picked his head up from the floor where he was lying near the front door. I swear, he rolled his eyes, like he was saying, “They’re nothing but pups, am I right?”
When I made it further into the place, I saw Jesse in a paint-splattered tee, beside what I could only assume was someone here to investigate a crime scene. Dressed head to toe in a white jumpsuit, Tally looked like she was turning off a nuclear reactor rather than undercoating a room.
“Rocking that body condom there, Tally,” I teased to get their attention, and she whirled around. Her eyes lit up, making my heart thud in my chest. What I’d give to come home to that expression every day.
“Hayes! Jesse is convinced that if even a drop of paint gets on me, the baby will turn into an alien,” she laughed, walking toward me and ripping the respirator mask from her face. She was grinning, her cheeks flushed pink.
“You’ll be a great mother to little E.T.,” I said solemnly, and she swung the respirator at me, gently whacking me in the gut.
Shaking her head, she looked between me and Jesse. “Honestly, you’re as bad as one another.” I looked over at my best friend, and I knew that expression. The wall around his heart was being kicked in, one laugh at a time, by the woman in front of me. “How was your first day?”
I led her out of the living room where they were painting and into the kitchen. The fumes couldn’t be good for her, and I was glad Jesse was making her wear all the protective equipment.
She grabbed a beer from the fridge and handed it to me, and I smiled gratefully. “It was amazing. Tally, the tech they have in that place would blow your mind. The simulator itself is like Formula One grade. It’s…” It was the stuff of motorhead wet dreams. “So fucking amazing. And you’ll never guess who they’re lining up as their primary driver?”
Her big eyes were so focused on me that it was a heady experience. Maybe that’s what was so intoxicating about Tally; she made you seem like no one else in the world existed at that moment but you.
I drew out the silence for dramatic effect. “Rocco Passero.”
“No fucking way!” she squealed, and I laughed.
“That’s what I said! Apparently, he’s lost his seat, and Antony Barbieri managed to woo him to IndyCar for a two-year contract. And guess who they got to be team principal? Ari Rome!”
Her eyes were so fucking wide, and I just wanted to pick her up and swing her around. I hated that she wasn’t in this world anymore. I’d do everything I could to get her into VANT Racing too. I didn’t give a shit if it was like, insider benefits, or whatever. She deserved everything the world could give her and more.
“Ari Rome! I thought he’d retired. Oh my god, what I’d give to work with Ari Rome. Did you know when he was a driver, he won the most back-to-back championships in history? He still holds the record…”
As she rattled off more racing facts, her face all lit up like there was a supernova burning inside her, a fragile thing in my chest awoke, and I knew I’d do whatever I could to make her happy forever.