Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Creed
Being shoved into my office by my technical director was not what I had envisaged before our race this evening, but here we are.
Royce follows after, then Pascal and Glenn step in, closing the door behind us.
“What the fuck?” Glenn’s hands fold into his pockets and I sigh.
Royce’s eyes are puffy and red and I fucking hate that he is upset.
“Dad’s been banging Ana?s.” His words spill out of him like daggers, hitting me in the chest each time.
Pascal sucks in a breath, his eyes level with mine and Glenn bounces his gaze between the both of us.
“I’m not banging her,” I try and defend myself and Royce rolls his eyes.
“It’s more than that… I love her, Royce, and I am sorry you have had to find out this way, but we were going to tell you.
We just wanted you to see out the remaining eight races, and then we would have dealt with it,” I say firmly.
He shakes his head, scrubbing his face. “You should have told me from the start.”
“It’s not being going on long at all…” I admit, cautiously walking towards my son but he backs away.
“How long?” His fingers curl around the door handle.
“A few weeks.”
“You still should have told me. Her I can understand, in a way… but you?” He jabs his finger at me, and I feel the disappointment surge through me.
“I’m sorry, Royce.” I breathe but he shakes his head, pure disgust lacing his face before he gives me one last look up and down before storming out of the room.
A few seconds of silence pass, and I begin pacing the room.
“Well…” Glenn puffs his cheeks out and I sigh.
“Not ideal, is it?” I admit, folding my hands into my jean pockets.
“I mean…” Pascal pauses, flicking his eyes to me. “It might make him angrier on the track.”
I watch as the corners of his mouth tug and I roll my lips. “We don’t need Royce angry…” I scrub my face. “Because angry Royce leads to reckless Royce.”
Glenn nods in agreement.
“I fucked up.” I sigh as I take a seat, Pascal dropping down beside me.
“Is she worth it?” he asks me and my mouth drops open for a moment before I close it.
Glenn eyes me, standing next to me.
“One hundred fucking percent.”
“Then you better make up with Royce fast. my man.We don’t need mad Royce out there today.”
Slapping my hands on my thighs, I push to my feet and walk towards the garage. The chatter falls silent, and I clear my throat. Nora is beside me, holding her hand onto my shoulder and pressing onto her tiptoes.
“Just be careful what you say,” she whispers. “Keep it to the point. That you and Ana?s Sinclair have been dating for a few weeks, you told the correct sources. Shut it down before it spirals.” I nod at her words, then turn my face over my shoulder.
“Where is she?” My voice is low.
“Rue is with her in her office; she is really upset.”
I give a solemn nod. “Stay here with me, then take me to her.”
“Course.” Nora smiles and I turn back to face the garage.
“Firstly,” I announce, “I would like to apologise for what you witnessed a few moments ago. That was a conversation that was meant to take place in private but unfortunately wasn’t.
Just to be clear on what you have heard, yes, I am dating Ana?s Sinclair.
Yes, she is Royce’s ex-girlfriend, and yes, she is the head of our social media team.
No, I was not dating Ana?s when she took on the job, but we were friends beforehand.
We decided to keep our relationship out of the public eye out of respect for my son, Royce, and when we felt it was appropriate and knew that this was more than dating, we would have sat him down and had the conversation. ”
A few mutters fill the deathly silent room.
“All the appropriate people were informed of our relationship. This is the last I will speak on the matter, thank you.” I nod, turning on my heel and walking out the room, Nora close to me.
“Spot on.” She places her finger and thumb together as she leads me towards where Ana?s is.
My heart is jack hammering in my chest with each step I take towards her. Nora knocks on the door before opening it and that’s when I see her, eyes red rimmed and puffy, sniffling, her body shuddering.
“Baby,” I rasp and Rue walks past me to Nora, who closes the door behind me.
I fall to my knees in front of her where she sits, dishevelled and broken.
Cupping her face, I lift her eyes to mine.
She’s breaking my fucking heart. Edging my lips forward, I kiss her tears away, pressing my lips softly against her skin.
“I’m sorry.” She sniffles, her breaths catching at the back of her throat where she has cried so much.
“Ace, you have nothing to be sorry for.” My thumb brushes over her cheek as I look at her, the way her eyes glisten with the tears that tease her bottom lids. Her lashes are damp from the wetness she can’t control, and her cheeks are flushed above her dry, cracked lips.
“You lied for me.”
“And what?” I press a kiss to her forehead.
“Is Royce mad?” she stammers as she chokes on a sob.
“Yeah, but he’ll calm down,” I reassure her and she crumbles again. Dropping her face, I pull her into me and hold on to her until she wants me to let go. “I love you, Ace, I have never been surer about something in my life than I am you.”
Tears soak into my team polo, and I hug her a little tighter.
“Dry those eyes, baby. Royce will forgive you.” I know that’s the issue here. Her and Royce are in a good place, they never stopped being friends after he broke up with her. Now, it all feels like it’s in ruins because of us.
“You think?” She peels her face away from my chest, her blue eyes locked on mine.
“I promise.” I lean down and cover her lips with mine, kissing her slow, my large hand cupping her face as I hold her where I want her.
“Creed,” she whispers and I hum, my eyes hazy. “I love you too.”
Sitting on the pit wall, I watch the screens, focusing on Royce. Sixty-two laps of the Marina Bay and each one is nail biting. We have twenty laps left and the team are just trying to strategise whether to pit Royce now or keep him out for a while longer.
“Royce, stay out for one more lap,” Maurice speaks into the radio and I hear Royce curse.
“My tyres are fucked. I have no grip.” He raises his voice and the team are looking at his car.
“We will get them fixed next lap mate,” Maurice tries to pacify him. He has managed to get into P3 and I know he is anxious but we need the gap slightly bigger behind him so we don’t lose our position.
“Okay Royce, box box.”
“Finally.” Sarcasm drips from his tone and I shake my head.
I watch the garage disperse and the pit crew set up waiting for him. Turning my head, I watch him drive past and hold my thumb up. He wouldn’t see me. He’ll focus on getting out of here as quick as he can.
We do a record time pit stop and he crawls out of the lane and makes it back into P3, just ahead of Kai. We could have double stacked them but it would have been too risky.
“I’ll be right back,” I mutter as I place my headphones down and move towards the garage.
Walking in, I see Ana?s, Rue, and Nora watching. Thankfully, she looks a little happier than she did a couple of hours ago. Pausing in front of her, she gives me a smile.
“He is doing really well.” She swallows and her voice still sounds strained.
“Yeah, he is.” I glance up and look at the big television screen and proudness blooms in my chest.
I see Glenn call me over and I place a kiss on her cheek as I jog back towards my seat, hooking my earphones back on.
“How far is Kai behind me?” Royce asks
“He is out of DRS range, just over a second behind.”
“Are we swapping?”
“We have no intention to swap, Royce. Keep your position,” Maurice tells him and gives me a soft smile.
“You’ve got this, Royce, ten laps to go.”
Silence crackles down the line.
“Dad…” He trails off for a moment. “Can you put Ana?s on the radio?”
“Of course.” I walk and grab her, leading her to the pit wall. She looks at me confused and I usher her to my seat, placing the headphones over her ears.
“Go ahead, Royce,” Maurice says before removing his own headphones. He gives them to me, turning his focus on the screen.
“Kid.” Royce’s voice cracks through the headset. Her eyes flit to the screen watching him drive.
“Yeah.” Her voice is so quiet over the radio.
“I’m not mad at you, not even one bit.” My heart drums in my chest. “Dad, I’m not mad at you either.
” I swallowg down the lump that has lodged in my throat.
“I want you to be happy, Ana?s, you deserve it. I reacted in the wrong way. I was shocked and confused… blindsided even. But please, don’t think for even one second that I am mad at you.
I wasn’t even mad when I stormed out the garage. ”
“Really?” she whispers, a smile on her face as tears roll down her cheeks.
“Really. But Ana?s,” he rasps, and I watch as she hangs off his words. “I draw the line at calling you mum.” She laughs, covering her face with her hands. “Now, let me go and chase that podium.”
“You deserve the world, Royce, never settle for anything less,” she says before pulling the headphones off and placing her hand on my chest, her blue eyes blinking up at me. “Thank you.” She pushes onto her tip toes and kisses me.