Chapter 7 #2
“Dad, I’ve told you, we’re done, I needed to focus…”
“I haven’t called you because I want you to get back with her.” I shake my head, placing my drink back down on the table.
“Then why have you called me?” His tone is blunt, and I sit a little taller in my seat, rolling my shoulders back.
“Because she is here…” I trail off
“She’s there?” he stammers over his words.
“Yes.”
“Why?” The word flies out of his mouth, and I can’t figure out if he is annoyed or panicked.
“Holiday.” I hum, flicking my eyes up and settling my gaze onto the calm ocean of the marina.
“In Monaco?”
I nod as I respond with a yes, a heavy sigh rumbling through me.
“Your wonderful public relations girl decided to book her into my penthouse… You can imagine I was quite surprised to see her there.”
“I bet.” The sound of gentle laugh greets me.
“It’s no biggie though, told her to stay. I was only having a break to gather my thoughts.”
“Right.”
Silence echoes.
“So, you and Ana?s… is this really over?”
“Yes, Dad. She was great, fuck, I mean, I don’t think I’ll ever get better than her, but selfishly, what I want is more important. I want the world championship, I need it, and I won’t do it if I have her distracting me.”
I rub my hand over my chin. “I see.”
“She deserves someone better, someone who can give her their undivided attention… but that just isn’t me.” I don’t miss the way his breath catches at the back of his throat.
“If it’s meant to be.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He kind of palms me off and I shake my head, a silly smile pressing against my lips.
“I better get going…” I say when I hear a clearing of a throat behind me.
“Yeah, okay, good luck with Cowan…” A warmth radiates through my chest.
“Thanks…” I trail off for a moment
“And thanks for letting me know about Ana?s,” he says quietly before cutting me off.
I blink a couple of times, pulling the phone from my ear.
“Mr Lexington.” Emily’s breezes over me and I twist, my eyes sweeping over her.
“Yes, sorry.” I smile, pushing to my feet and walking towards the exit of the boat to see Cowan walking towards me, manager in tow.
I flick my eyes across to the paparazzi and hold my finger to my lips, throwing them a wink and I know full well that they’re not going to keep quiet about this. We can just spin it as rumour mill. Everyone loves a rumour in our world, especially during silly season.
“Cowan,” I say a little louder, our hands clapping together as they meet and he gives me a warm smile.
“Creed.” He nods down as he steps onto the boat, and I usher him around to the deck where I was sitting. We’re a little more shielded and I know the paparazzi won’t be able to get any photos of us around here.
Emily hovers, and I give her a nod. She reaches for the champagne and pops the cork and Cowan raises a brow.
I take a look at him. Dirty blonde hair. Messy. Brown eyes, sun kissed skin. Kind of has this surfer look. It suits him.
He’s stocky, not overly tall, around the five-nine mark. Small enough to fit comfortably in an F1 car.
“Celebrating already?” He gives me a cocky smirk, and I shrug.
“We both know you’re going to sign.”
“Do we?” he counters back as Emily begins filling the glasses and passing one to Cowan, then passing me my own.
I thank her before she turns on her heel and disappears towards Toby.
“So.” I raise a brow, a smile tugging at my lips as I bring the delicate rim of my glass to my lips and take a sip before placing it back on the table in front of me. My arm is thrown around the back of the sofa, eyes beating down on Cowan.
“We both know that Saint Onyx can be so much better than it is. We’re running for the constructors championship as well as Royce running for World Champion…”
He scoffs.
“I won’t be no number two driver,”
“We don’t work like that. We want what’s best for the team, not the individual driver. We see enough of that on the grid, that is not what we’re about here. Fair racing. It’s anyone’s game.” My lips twitch.
“But Royce is your son.”
I nod heavily.
“What if he gets different treatment?”
Now it’s my time to scoff. “I promise it doesn’t work like that. Speak to him, he will tell you. If anything, I am harder on him because he is my son.”
Cowan steadies his gaze on mine, finger tapping against the glass.
“What about Kai?”
“He will go to reserve, unless he gets a seat elsewhere.”
He rolls his lips.
“Look, we both know you’re not happy where you are, the car is a pile of shit…
We all know it, fuck, we’ve even said it, but they don’t listen.
So, you either stick with it and hope for the best, or you break free and sign for us and you can start as soon as the summer break.
I am sure we can buy you out your contract… ”
He looks a little uneasy, side eyeing his manager who is sitting in the background. They may not be saying a word, but I know a conversation is happening between them.
“Not sure if it is going to be as easy as that.” He sips his champagne.
“Get the contract sent over and I will get my team to look at it, there will be a clause in there… we all have them,” I say with an assertive tone.
“Worst case, it’ll be the start of the new season.”
“I would rather get you in sooner.”
“I know, but we need to be sensible here.” He gives me a look.
“Of course. Get the contract over to me as soon as so we can get these plans into motion. I need to speak to Kai, but I don’t want to jump the gun and give him notice if this isn’t going to work the way I need it too.”
“I’ll get the contract over to you in the morning,” he says, pushing to his feet as he stands. His manager, Matt, stands with him and steps behind him, whispering something in his ear.
“Let’s shake on it then.” I stand and hold my hand out for him to take and he does gladly, his grip firm as he shakes on it.
“Welcome to Saint Onyx.” I give him a wink and I see the smile dust across his lips.
He looks excited, I think. The team needs this. We need the shake up. This sport is cutthroat, and as much as I like Kai and he is a good driver, I need more than good. I need next level. And I am going to get that with Cowan.
This is my team. My blood and sweat have gone into them and I am not about to watch it fall apart because I like the kid that is driving for me.
Cowan is fresh blood. He has the same hunger as Royce. They both want World Champion, and they’ll battle it out.
Kai is safe, but also reckless. He has smashed the car up more times than I can count. I am bleeding out money, and I can’t do it anymore.
I walk Cowan to the exit of the boat, and he gives me one last handshake before walking off. Ignoring the onslaught of questions that fire towards him, he ducks his head and climbs into the back of the truck that is waiting for him.
I inhale heavily, my chest vibrating as I exhale as I watch him pull away. Once he is out of sight, I turn and head back to the boat, reaching for my phone and hovering my thumb over the front desk of the apartments. All it took was a swig of champagne to push me to do it. Georgio answers.
“Mr Lexington’s Penthouse, please.”
“Certainly.”
It connects and she answers after three rings.
“Hello.” Her timid little voice slips through the phone.
“Hello you.” My tone is silky, and I know the bubbles are helping.
Silence crackles.
“What you doing?”
“Editing my video.”
I hum in response.
“Get dressed.”
“What?” Her tone is sharp, and it has my eyes sparkling.
“You heard me, get dressed. Car will be outside in twenty.” I cut the phone, my lips twitching with a smile.
She will probably ignore me and tell the driver to shove it, but I can hope she’ll arrive.
Draining the rest of my glass, I signal Emily to bring another bottle.
We are celebrating after all.