Chapter 16
On the flight to Singapore with Antoine and Daniela, they caught them up on the situation with Mark.
“Merde, do you know where he could be?” Antoine asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Erik said. “Sorry to ruin your good mood with this.”
“No, we want Ingrid to be safe. It affects us all,” Daniela said.
Ingrid was thinking about Daniela and her unborn child. Mark could get to any of them now.
“Jonny has suggested I get additional security for Singapore, so I’ve asked Peter to arrange it. I want you guys to stay close to us if you can.”
Ingrid hated the fact that one of her favourite races of the season was going to be under a cloud of fear and anxiety for everyone around her. They hadn’t told the families yet because they wanted to have everything arranged first.
“Alright, everyone, this bump and I are going to have a nap now. I don’t know how I’m going to handle the heat there! I think you might not see me for most of the week because I will be in an air-conditioned room.” She laughed.
When they got to their room, Erik gave her a tight hug.
“What’s that for?”
“I just want you to feel safe.”
“Oh, none of this porcelain doll stuff again.” Ingrid shook her head. “I’ve already messaged Gaetan, and he’s going to train me this week now that I can use my shoulder again.”
Erik laughed and kissed her. “I should have known that you would have some plan.”
“Always.” She smiled at him. “Now to conference call the families.”
They got everyone on a call and updated them on the situation. Freja and Jacques were flying out for Singapore, anyway, so they were going to be here. They offered to fly Ingrid’s parents, who agreed.
“Erik, I really don’t need more people here to worry about,” Ingrid said afterwards.
“I think it’s sweet of them to want to protect you, so just shut up and let them.”
Ingrid didn’t argue any further. She started training with Gaetan in the morning instead. Erik hadn’t warned her that Singapore was a busy week with evening events. As his partner, she was expected to join him. Even more so now that she was a part of the team.
“JP, did you know about this?”
“I sent you an email with a list of events,” he responded calmly. “There will also be a stylist at your door in about an hour if I have the time zone correct.”
It had slipped Erik’s mind to tell her because he was thinking about Mark, but he had also been focused on something else Peter had arranged for him.
It was on the second day in Singapore that he told Ingrid he was going for an early morning run.
This was true. He and Jimmy went running in the heat to get some exercise and get used to the humidity, but his destination was unusual.
The jeweller let him in through a special entrance so he wouldn’t be seen.
“Thank you for doing this so early in the morning,” Erik said.
“You’re very welcome, sir. We have three rings, which I think meet the specifications you sent.”
“Yes, simple, elegant, but with a slight wow factor to it.”
The jeweller brought out the three rings. Erik immediately knew which one he would pick for Ingrid. It was platinum, with a blue oval-cut diamond in the centre, as blue as her eyes, surrounded by diamonds that formed a feather shape on each side. He video-called his mother.
“Mamma, I think I’ve found it.”
“Show me.”
He flipped the camera so she could see.
“Oh, my son, that is perfect for your Ingrid. Are there others? I just want to look.” He showed her the others. “No, that one. You’re right. I’ll see you tomorrow. I think you’d better buy some earrings while you’re there. Just prepare her for the moment.”
“What do you think, Jimmy?”
“It’s perfect, mate,” he said. “I agree with your mum, though, earrings first.”
Erik jogged back to the hotel with about $ 150,000 worth of jewellery in his pockets. It was ok; he had a bodyguard discreetly jogging behind them.
???
They were still adjusting to the time zone, so they took an afternoon nap before the sponsorship event that evening. Ingrid woke up first and watched him sleep for a bit. She started stroking his head.
“I love waking up like that,” he said, smiling, “instead of having a pillow thrown at me or being shouted awake.”
“We’re going to have to get ready for this event soon.”
He pulled her against him. “I don’t want to. I’d prefer to be doing something else.”
“Oh, really?” She looked at her watch. “We have time for a sprint.”
“I want longer,” he said as he moved his hand between her thighs and started warming her up. It didn’t take long, and he was on top of her.
“You won’t get longer, so good practice for our first sprint weekend working together.
” Erik now knew the sweet spot that would satisfy her more quickly.
He moved his fingers to it as she pulled him in closer.
Erik looked into her eyes and thought about how that ring was going to match them perfectly.
He kissed her, knowing he had that little secret.
Between that kiss and Erik’s fingers, Ingrid was the one to lose control first. He felt her legs clench around him, and he came.
“Not fair, I wanted longer, V?lva!”
“Well then, you shouldn’t have done that to me!” She laughed. “Oh god, the stylist is going to be here in half an hour. Join me in the shower, and I’ll treat you,” she said, hopping off the bed.
The stylist was right on time. Erik loved watching her get dressed up. Ingrid pretended to hate it, but he knew she secretly enjoyed trading her jeans-and-shirt look for elegant dresses sometimes.
“Oh, don’t worry about the jewellery,” he said to the stylist. “I have something that I think she should wear.”
He went to get the little jewellery box with the earrings inside. At first, Ingrid thought this was going to be the moment she was still unsure about, but then he popped open a box of exquisite earrings.
“Oh, darling, these are beautiful! How did you sneak these in without my noticing?” She kissed him.
“I have my ways.” He smiled.
“Those are perfect, Mr Svensson! They match her eyes. I don’t think she needs anything else except the tennis bracelet she wears anyway.”
The couple met Antoine and Daniela downstairs, and they left for the event, bodyguards in tow.
It was a red-carpet event, so they had to do photos.
Erik and Ingrid hated this, but Antoine and Daniela loved it.
Erik whispered in Ingrid’s ear, “I swear, ten more seconds and then we get off this bloody carpet.”
“I agree.” She chuckled.
When they got inside, Ingrid got a message from Claire saying that she would be at the GP with her new ‘beau’. She hadn’t heard much from Claire since Madrid, except for a few check-ins about the Mark situation and to let her know that she’d finished the novel.
“You won’t believe it, but Claire is coming to the race with Bartoli!”
“Oh, I can believe it. She’s his type. They’ll be living together within a month or two, just watch.”
“Well, we kind of did the same.” Ingrid realised.
“The difference is that I didn’t have a type until I met you.” He kissed her. “Well, not one that I was serious about. Now I can’t imagine a life without you.” He put his arm around her waist.
Once Antoine and Erik had done their official duties for the evening, they headed back to the hotel.
There were fans outside the building even at this late hour.
One bodyguard went ahead to check the lobby, while the rest stayed with them as they signed autographs and took photos.
Ingrid suddenly felt a sharp pain in her right side, ripping through the silk of her dress and up to her ribs.
She screamed in pain and fury. A bodyguard caught her as she was about to fall to the ground.
Erik pushed his way through to her as he yelled to the guards to follow the man who had just attacked her.
Antoine instinctively took Daniela’s hand and pulled her inside, while the guards carried Ingrid into the car, and they sped off with Erik to the nearest hospital.
???
Ingrid wasn’t aware of what was happening except for the pain and Erik yelling. She passed out, and Erik slapped her cheek to wake her up.
“Hurry up! How far are we?”
“We’ll be there in three minutes, sir. Some of the roads are blocked off due to the race,” the bodyguard responded.
They carried Ingrid into the hospital's casualty section. Erik stood there helplessly as the bodyguard explained what had happened and who she was. They wheeled her off on a gurney, and Erik followed. The bodyguard went to take a call.
“Good news, sir. Between our team and the police, they managed to apprehend the attacker. It was Mark Blake,” he said, stone-faced.
Erik nearly punched a wall. The only thing stopping him was Ingrid and the lecture she would give him about damaging his hand before a race, if she lived. The doctor came back to let him know that they had managed to stop the bleeding for now, but they would be taking her into surgery.
“Surgery?” Erik was in shock.
“Yes, the knife has caused some internal damage, which we will need to repair.”
“How bad?”
“We’ll know better when we’re in there, but it doesn’t appear to have hit any vital organs because it was just below the rib cage. I’ll send someone out with updates as soon as we have any.”
Erik had to sit down. Antoine had left Daniela back at the hotel and made his way to the hospital. The police had also arrived.
“Erik, is she ok?” He put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“They’ve taken her into surgery,” he said calmly.
Antoine knew that he was far from calm.
The police wanted to question them both about the attack. Antoine went first to give Erik some time to gather himself. Erik went next.
“I didn’t see him. I should have. I’ve known him almost all my life,” Erik said in a daze.
“Can you tell us exactly what happened?”