Chapter Forty-One #2
Elio wisely shuts the fuck up. Guilt flashes through his expression. “I’m sorry,” he says after a beat. “That was… beneath me. I’m sorry.”
Maybe he’s not a complete sellout and jerk. Anger buzzes beneath my skin at his insinuation, mixed with worry over how obvious Asher and I must be for everyone to already be catching on. That needs to be addressed in the near future.
In the interim… “People change. They evolve. If you want me to help your evolution as a driver—something I think I can do—you’ll help Asher’s evolution as a person.
And if you ever, ever suggest something so lewd again, you can forget about any assistance or comradery from me.
” And if I’m feeling super vindictive, I’ll also mention the situation to Sterling and suggest he switch sponsorships.
He might ignore me, but he did show a deep interest in my program at the gala.
There’s a chance he’ll be inclined to listen to me.
Elio clenches his jaw. Looks down at his shoes. “Do you really think he’s changed, Victoria?” he meets my eyes. “Or is he just acting that way for temporary personal gain?”
A seed of doubt plants itself in my stomach, spreading discomfort throughout my body.
“I don’t know.” I dislike the ring of honesty in my tone.
What if Asher is just temporarily acting nicer to get what he wants?
“In either case, the bullshit between you two needs to end. Agree to help end it, even if that’ll only be temporary, and I’ll spend the rest of my afternoon doing what your team has failed to for years. ”
“Which is?”
“Building a strategy around you instead of the concept of success.” The only leverage I have is that I helped Asher make massive strides overnight, but that’s because he already had the skills and just needed to pull his head out of his ass. Hopefully that’ll be enough to entice Elio.
The ideal scenario is helping this team rise through the ranks and gain points instead of just Asher. That’s only possible if the two drivers start working together as they should instead of competing against each other.
“Fine.” Elio nods. “Put me back in.” He pauses, gazing at me. “You know… I don’t think I ever apologized.” He clears his throat. “For my behavior on that first flight. For grilling my PA and then mentioning your surrogate father.” His lips thin. “And for being harsh at the club.”
“You didn’t,” I agree. “I appreciate that you’re doing it now. Apology accepted. Now please get back in the simulator so we can actually do something productive with our time.”
The next three hours are spent in painstaking tests.
By the end of it, Elio rises from the bottom of the ranks to P16. Not the best, but not the worst—and I give him a series of tests and practices to run on his own to hone his skills.
After that, he agrees to give Asher an actual chance. But, no matter how good I feel about the progress, I can’t help but think on what he said. Whether any of us can trust the sudden changes in Asher to hold… and what might happen if he reverts to the person he’s been for years.
“Bitch, spill,” Keith hisses that night.
He, Delilah and I have finally found a time to connect and chat after a while of me blowing them off… and now I feel like I’m in front of the firing squad.
Delilah, as always, is marking up case files with a red pen, but I know she’s still paying attention.
Keith is waving a tube of ridiculously expensive lipstick as he rants about me not regarding my best friends as the sacred people they are.
“You two act like you’re entitled to know everything about my love life.” My tone is coated in a thick layer of exasperation.
“We are!” Keith half-shouts. “What else are best friends for?”
“I don’t know,” I say drily. “Support. Love. Friendship. Maybe not run-of-the-mill gossip or treating you like a reality TV show instead of a human—”
“Babe, you’ve got something going on with one of the most beautiful men in the world. You’re an intern, and he’s a driver. This is better than reality TV,” Keith points out.
I sigh. “Delilah technically won the bet.”
Keith gapes. “You told her about our bet?”
“What are best friends for if not honesty, support, love, friendship, and treating you like gossip fodder?” Delilah murmurs, not glancing up from the thick stack of paper in front of her.
“And what do you mean by technically?”
“I mean…” I pause to search for the right words. “The home run wasn’t achieved until this week.”
“There was a home run?” Keith shrieks. “And you’re only telling me now?”
The drama with this one. “It was last night. You’re the first to know. Does that make it better?”
“Only if you give details, stat. Is he as big as I fantasize he is? His big-dick energy is palpable, but—”
“I’m not talking about the size of Asher’s cock with you,” I say flatly.
“Spoilsport,” Keith mutters.
Delilah finally deigns to look up from her work. “Is he as good as he should be? Did you get what you wanted out of it?”
My cheeks heat. “And then some. Multiple times.”
A sly smile spreads on her lips. “Good.” She returns to her papers.
“Details, Victoria!” Keith screeches.
“He inserted item A into slot B,” I say calmly. “There’s not much else to say.”
“Please,” Keith scoffs. “How is he? Rough? Sweet? Dominant?”
“If you’re getting hard right now, I will literally never speak to you again.” It’s a total bluff. I admire Keith for being open about his sexuality, but I can only take so much.
“Let’s not wander off the subject,” he says serenely.
“Actually, I think we should be wandering anywhere but here,” I volley back.
“You’re the worst,” Keith says, just as Delilah pipes up, “Fair enough. Just give us one word to describe it.”
I don’t even have to think about it. “Revelation.”
There’s a long pause following my statement, during which Keith and Delilah seem to have some sort of unspoken conversation. I frown at their faces on the screen. “What?”
“Yeah,” Keith says with a nod. “She’s totally fucked.”
My head jerks back. “What?”
“You’re fucked,” Keith repeats unhelpfully.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re falling for him,” Delilah postulates. “Falling in love. Terrible condition, from everything I’ve heard. The only cure is death or heartbreak, both of which are undesirable treatment options.”
I’ll return to her regarding love as a disease later. For now, “I don’t know what led you to believe—”
“The fact that you could’ve used a host of adjectives that don’t describe fucking Asher as a religious and enlightening encounter,” Delilah suggests.
“Or perhaps that you have the look in your eyes,” Keith adds on.
“In sum: you’re fucked,” Delilah concludes with a prim nod.
“I don’t have any look, and I’m not fucked.”
“Au contraire, darling. By your own admission, you got your brains fucked out—”
“I never said that!” I screech.
“We heard it anyways. We also hear the sound of you falling head over heels.” Delilah grimaces. “It’s like the screech of a crashing airplane, only more depressing.”
“How do you know what a crashing airplane sounds like?” I squint at her.
She shrugs. “I doom-scroll when I’m bored.”
My eyebrows inch up. Delilah seems too busy for boredom, and far too… her for something as mundane as doomscrolling.
“Let’s shelve your wild conspiracy theories for now and stop talking about my love life while we’re at it. How are you two doing?” I resent that all of our schedules keep us too busy to talk regularly. It doesn’t help that we’re often in wildly different time zones.
“I’m wonderful,” Keith says. “Preparing for my next tour. You two are, of course, always welcome to join me on the road—”
“We’re not your groupies or your cronies.” Delilah yawns. “You already get fawned over too much. I’m not going to help your ego grow to untenable proportions.”
“What about you, Lilah?” I ask her. She’s been a bit… off the last few times we’ve talked. It could just be exhaustion, but my gut tells me it’s something more.
Something flashes through her eyes before she musters her expression. “I’m just like every other twenty-something year old practicing corporate law. Overworked and perpetually exhausted.” She smiles. “Good thing I thrive under crushing pressure.”
“Only difference is most twenty-something year olds aren’t senior associates,” Keith comments.
“Did you ever get that thing with the senior partner figured out?” I ask.
Delilah’s gaze flits sideways. “You could say that. In other news, I’m thinking about coming to one of your races this season. I have some paid time off I can request, and I need a vacation.”
I would never consider being on or near the track a vacation, but that’s because I’m always there in a work capacity. I love the rush, but I acknowledge it’s stressful.
Delilah, on the other hand, probably finds the stress of F1 far more relaxing than her regular day-to-day at work.
“Which race?” I ask.
“Probably Montreal. It’s closer than most of the other destinations, save for Miami, and I can’t make it out in time for that.” Delilah sighs wistfully. “You have no idea how lucky you are to travel for work. I’d love to always be on the go, moving from destination to destination.”
I pause. Look at Keith. This time, it’s him and me having a silent conversation consisting of what the fuck is going on with Delilah?
“Feeling stuck, Lilah?” Keith asks smoothly. “Is all that corporate American money getting to be too tiresome?”
Delilah purses her lips, marking up her papers even more aggressively. “I love law. I love my profession. There are just a couple of things that I don’t like about my firm.”
“Would those things have anything to do with the senior partner who was harassing you?” I ask gently.
Delilah pauses for a long, long time. “Yeah,” she finally says. “That’s part of it.”
“Do you need help?” Keith asks seriously.
She shakes her head. “No, I’ll manage. But I am going to be looking at other options.
” She sighs. “Problem is, the senior partner has a lot of sway in the firm. He could stop me from getting a recommendation letter, which would make a good move more difficult. I just need to think out some strategies and percolate on it. Everything will be fine.”
I know my best friend well enough to know that I shouldn’t interrupt her thinking time with unsolicited advice. She’s the best strategist I know, and got ranked as a chess grandmaster when she was thirteen years old. She’ll find her way through this, and she knows I have her back.
“Back to something more titillating…” Keith smiles. “How good was Asher?”
I grin. “A lady never tells.”
The niggle of doubt from earlier doesn’t disappear, though—and it’s compounded by broad doubt in the male species as a whole.
Delilah is looking at leaving her firm because there’s an asshole senior partner who’s mad at her for not being receptive to his advances.
While I don’t believe Asher would ever behave himself inappropriately or ignore the rules of consent…
he could still tank my career if I don’t help him get to where he wants to go.
Jumping from 22nd to 13th place is a huge and incredibly impressive achievement, and I’m confident he’ll break top 10.
But once he’s in the top 10, getting a podium is another game altogether.
I’m not sure if an upgrade package combined with my program and Asher’s talent will be enough to get him there.
And what destruction will he wreak if I fail?