Chapter Seventeen
‘WHY ARE YOU HERE?’ she asked over the roar of the wind and rain. ‘You should be in Monaco right now, celebrating your victory at the hearing and planning for more.’
‘I barely lasted five minutes after the news before I was hopping onto the jet to follow you here.’
‘Why?’ she asked again.
‘Because I never should have let you go. Because it took me being offered every single damned thing that I thought I ever wanted before I realised that it would all be meaningless…without you,’ he declared.
Astrid shook her head slowly, her heart beating frantically in her chest. ‘Is this some kind of guilt trip? Because, if so, that’s not fair. You knew that you had my blessing to stay and race. I just want you to do what makes you happy.’
Apollo stepped forward, gently taking her hands in his. He was freezing, and the wind and rain pounded down all around them, but she couldn’t look away.
‘You make me happy. With your bossy attitude and your big heart and your refusal to think the worst of me, even when I make the worst decisions.’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t need to race or to own a team. I don’t need any of it, Astrid.’
‘But your vision, your plans…?’
He shook his head. ‘The only plan I truly need is to follow whatever path keeps you and Luca by my side so we can make up for the years we spent apart.’ He stepped even closer, the wind whipping his wool coat around them both as his eyes met hers.
‘You said that I’m trying to have it all…
but you are everything to me, Astrid. Everything.
I should have told you that when I proposed.
Or when I realised you were the woman I hadn’t stopped thinking about for nearly eight damn years.
Or even before that, on that fateful night in a lift in the dark, when our fates intertwined in the best way. I’m head over heels in love with you.’
Astrid felt her body tilt forward, reaching for him, needing to feel his strength surrounding her as tears spilled from her eyes and words completely failed her. Strong hands framed her face, wiping away the moisture but, frustratingly, he held her at a short distance.
‘You’re crying. I didn’t mean to make you cry,’ he said softly.
‘What did you expect a girl to do when the man she loves makes a big romantic speech like that?’ she sobbed, glorying in his low, husky laugh as she pulled him into a kiss.
She was consumed with the wild need to reclaim him, as though they’d been apart for weeks rather than mere hours.
When he pulled away far too soon, she fought the urge to complain, still reeling at the overwhelming riot of emotions that he had unleashed in her chest.
‘I need you to understand that this isn’t just pretty words and empty promises,’ he said earnestly.
‘This is me vowing never to walk away again. You were the first person to challenge me, to make me see how much my childhood affected me. How I chose to latch onto the limelight as a way of being in control, despite deep down craving something more stable. You showed me a version of myself that I never thought I could be: someone solid and dependable, someone real. It’s only been a month, but I feel complete with you.
Our time together in Grenada as a little family was true happiness.
Being with you, having your trust and your heart… that’s the only victory I want.’
A look of uncertainty crossed his handsome features.
‘You told me that you loved me, my darling, and I froze like a coward. I want the chance to prove that I can deserve it if you choose to say those words to me again, and the chance to prove my own love for you. I want to prove it to you every single day for the rest of our lives.’
Astrid reached up, framing his strong, stubbled jawline in her hands. ‘I love you, Apollo.’ she said, letting the words sink in and glorying in how his eyes darkened with possession.
‘You hurt me yesterday.’ She met his gaze, knowing that, if he could bare his heart like this on her doorstep, she could do the same.
‘I was heartbroken and furious, but I realise now that I don’t want to give up on this: on you, on our future.
Real love means giving each other room to make mistakes and grow past them.
We found each other again after so many years, after so many obstacles in our way…
I’m not going to give you up without a fight. ’
‘You really are made for me. My dream woman,’ he murmured against her mouth, his body pressing hers up against the cool wood of her front door. ‘My partner in life, my soul mate.’
‘Your partner in jail if we don’t take this inside and away from prying eyes quickly.’ She laughed as he wrapped his coat around them both, ushering her inside and shielding their passionate reunion from the rain-soaked street.
They barely made it up to her bedroom before he claimed her with a wild abandon she’d never felt from him, leaving a trail of frantically removed clothing in their wake and filling her townhouse with the sound of their passion.
As she rode towards her climax, she met his eyes and made her vow to love him and honour him so long as they both lived.
He held her as they both fell apart, the beauty and connection of the moment almost too much to bear.
And, once both their heartbeats had returned to normal, he whispered the same words against her skin.
He promised to love her, to honour her and cherish her as his, for ever.
Apollo felt the car shudder and shake as he rounded the final bend at the end of the track in the final race of the season.
It was a tricky corner to navigate on soft tyres, and he had almost slid into the wall on the last lap.
He focused his attention straight ahead, ignoring the chaos happening in his headset as his team mate cursed loudly.
Nina was five seconds behind him, holding off the lead driver of Accardi, who had been fighting it out with her for the past ten laps.
She was a master at defending, her skill unmatched as she’d held off their competition and paved the way for Apollo to maintain his significant lead.
This had been her first full season in a permanent seat and she was about to finish on the podium alongside him.
He focused on the track, holding his speed in check and praying his wheels held out as he guided the car onto the final straight.
He felt every tiny lift, and the pull as he pushed his speed full-throttle, his body and the car seeming to meld into one as he held his breath and finally shot over the finish line.
Roars of triumph erupted in his headset from the engineers and team on the pit wall. He felt emotion clog his throat as he raised his fist high in the air above his head.
‘Apollo Accardi, Elite One World Champion!’ an announcer roared as the crowd’s cheers became a wall of sound around him.
Fuelled by pure adrenaline, it seemed like a lifetime before he could get the car off the track and park safely.
Even longer while he ran at full speed towards the garage where he knew his wife and son had been watching every single lap.
‘Papa!’ Luca’s small voice called out, loud and proud over the sound of the engines still finishing the race in the distance, and Apollo pulled off his helmet before lifting his boy high into his arms.
‘You did it!’ Luca cried, his little face filled with excitement in a way only a day at the track could cause. Apollo laughed, crushing his son into a tight hug and turning to greet his wife.
Astrid’s eyes met his, watery with tears and pride as she too leaned in and joined the embrace with full force. ‘You did it,’ she murmured against his ear, the choked sound of her sobs like tiny earthquakes as her tears wet his cheeks.
‘We did it,’ he corrected her, closing his eyes tightly and releasing a long breath of pure relief.
They had finally done it. Against all odds, they had made it work as a team, with him travelling on the remaining Elite One schedule while Astrid held down the fort in their home in London and Luca absolutely smashed all his goals at school.
And, amidst all that chaos, they’d decided not to wait to get married.
They’d eloped in Italy, on a sunny October afternoon, to a tiny chapel in Venice not far from where their story had first begun.
His mother and Grayson had acted as their witnesses, with Jem guiding an excited Luca up to them so they could say their final vows together as a family.
Izzy, Tristan and Nina had been the only other guests present, to keep the event intimate and calm.
Once Luca had gone to bed, the grown-ups had enjoyed a welcome night of celebration before resuming the final stretch of the racing season.
It had been a hectic few months, and there had been moments of tears from all three of them, but overall they had learned how to prioritise one another and make it work. But, by God, he was ready to retire as a driver and switch his attention to cleaning up things at Accardi.
‘My husband, the world champion,’ Astrid said with a smile, leaning up on her tiptoes to place a fierce kiss against his mouth.
He was caked with sweat, and smelled like engine oil, but she didn’t seem to mind too much as she deepened the kiss, much to the delight of the mechanics and the cheering crowd in the distance.
‘I couldn’t have done it without both of you,’ he said, emotion turning his voice hoarse as he crushed them even tighter to his chest. All the trophies in the world could not amount to the pure treasure he held in his arms.