Chapter 19 Mateo
MATEO
Engines roar, and we’re waiting for the green lights to come after we’ve done the formation lap. The tricky part is coming, trying not to get stuck in traffic, then managing my way through the rain, starting on intermediate tires.
I’m only at around the fifth turn when I see the red lights appear again, my engineer warning me of the safety car. Two drivers crashed at the beginning, but both of them are already out of the car safely. Now we’re protecting the new tires and waiting until we can go with full speed again.
My earpiece is blowing up, my engineer is providing me all the data and info I’ll need later and even now. We go through the plan again in secret codes, informing me that both our cars are safe, we can continue the race, and don’t have to stop for a pit stop now.
The safety car returns to the pit lane, giving Hayes the right to restart the race, as I’m informed he’s in 1st place.
He takes his time, everyone tailing the car in front of them, not wanting to stay behind, as this is the best opportunity to overtake some cars.
He finally steps on the throttle, cars going after cars, trying to overtake while we’re in a long line.
I overtake another car, now in 7th place. I’m behind Aiden, and as I hear the pep talk in my ear, I think about the plan. I ask my engineer if I should fight him or not, and I raise my voice and ask again when I don’t hear a response.
“Wiley? Can I overtake him?” I ask for the third time, now annoyed. Aiden’s set as the first driver, but this year I’m doing better than him so far, and I need as many points as I can.
“Just a sec, Mateo.” I finally heard a response, but not the one I wanted to hear. I need an answer now.
“Hurry up. He’s getting away.” We could just swap places, but the other car’s up my ass, so I need to speed up if they give me the good to go.
“Swap, Mateo. You can go past him. Vamos.” Aiden slows down, and I drive past him, thanking him. Now I can do my job.
The rest of the race went by slowly, but at least it’s finally over.
It was a long and difficult race, the rain making it hard to stay focused and keep going.
I managed to work my way up to 5th place, but Liam in front of me had a five-second penalty, and I sure as hell didn’t let him get away with that.
I finished the race four and a half seconds behind him, securing my 4th place. He almost had me, that little menace.
This way I was promoted to fourth place, meaning it’s two more points for me and the team. Aiden finished sixth, overall a good result given where we started from.
I get out of the car, congratulating some other drivers on the way to my garage. I chug down the bottle of water, peeling off the racing suit, the cold air hitting my chest and back, making me shiver. Ours is the last garage, so I have to walk all the way down to the pit lane to reach it.
I peek inside all other garages as I’m walking with Dodger; some engineers wave as we go by. We reach Atlas’s garage, which is next to ours, and I almost go inside Moscardi when I whip my head to the side and take a couple steps back.
Is that… Is that Rosa I see inside? It’s definitely her. She’s laughing with some other guests, dressed in blue and white, her paddock pass hanging on her neck.
Why is she dressed in our rival’s colors? Where is the sexy red dress she was proudly wearing the other night? And why is she so beautiful?
Her eyes wander to mine, the smile faltering off her face at my expression. It’s not even a VIP pass, but a full-on Atlas Autos pass, and I doubt she’s here to sponsor them, or I would’ve seen it on her social’s already.
My eyebrows shoot up in slight shock, but my features soften a little when I see her walk towards me, excusing herself from the guests.
“Hey.” She stops in front of me, greeting me with her gorgeous smile, but I can’t let it distract me.
“You lied to me.” My tone gets angry, and I feel sorrow about her actions.
“Lied? About what?”
I scoff at her question, like she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.
“You said you don’t know who I am, when you’re here, strolling around our rival’s garage like you own the place.” I point at her as I get more and more angry. I thought I finally found a woman who doesn’t want to be with me for my looks or my money.
“You better stop talking to me like that. And no, I wasn’t lying. I’m Chris’ niece, and I started attending the races this year. I really don’t know you. I’ve heard stuff, but I’m not one to judge beforehand.” She raises her voice, which only fuels me more.
“Did any of us mean anything to you? Or were you with me to get more money? Maybe even some confidential information? Bet your precious uncle would’ve loved that.” Her eyes widen, jaw hitting the floor, before a loud smack lands on my cheek.
“I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but you crossed a line, Mateo.” Her voice cracks, my name slipping off her tongue with disappointment.
“Next time, start with your intentions. No need to lie to my face.” She scoffs, but doesn’t come after me when I turn to walk away to the crowd of journalists that are waiting for me. “Thanks for nothing, Dawson.” I turn back one last time, before I walk away for good.
Mierda. Why the fuck didn’t she tell me? It feels like she just used me. Like she had a master plan and I was her puppet. Every single nice thought I had of her shattered in a few seconds.
She’s working for our rival, and she wants me to believe that she didn’t wrap me around her fingers on purpose. Come on, I’m not that stupid. I knew she was a witch. She cast a love spell on me, distracting me from her real intentions.
Feels like a goddamn betrayal, and we weren’t even a thing. I shouldn’t have gotten involved so deeply. I need to get myself together.
I continue to walk toward the media station, already looking forward to the journalists’ questions. I skipped the interviews on Friday and even yesterday, so I bet they’re not over Thursday’s scandal.
I took a break from social media because of the thousands of messages I get. Some are wholesome, telling me they believe me and wish me the best, and the next is a death threat, full of disgusting words, asking me to go to hell. Such a nice way to start the day.
“Mateo, how was the race?” I’m surprised by the journalist’s first question. I thought they’d dive into the juicy stuff as soon as they could.
“Thank you, it was quite hard, actually. We had the pace, and I did some nice overtakes, but the rain made it a little difficult. I could’ve done better on quali yesterday, but overall, I’m happy with the results.” I barely finish when I hear him talk again.
“Perfect. Any comments about Mona’s evidence? She published a voice note of the night you two spent together.” He extends the mic to me, my eyebrows shooting up.
“Really? Then you must’ve heard how much she enjoyed it.
” I smirk at the journalist’s expression, who’s not appreciating my joke.
Enzo and Vickie are going to kill me, but I couldn’t help it.
“Is there anything else other than moans on it? Because I bet there’s not one word about the confidential stuff I supposedly told her about. ”
“Well, I…haven’t heard it yet, actually. But it proves that you were with her that night.” I laugh at his attempts to embarrass me. God, he’s desperate.
“I never denied that. But I still deny that I gave away any information to her. Thank you.” I give him a small smile, ending the interview early.
I don’t have time for this. I still have more interviews, and I have to fucking get myself together and forget about Rosa. Now that’ll be hard.
I walk to the next interviewer’s stand, but they go over the same questions, asking me about the race and Mona. Seriously, that’s all I am now? Cars and sex? Well, maybe I am.
I’m about to cut the interview short again when I hear a question pierce through the other ten. I whip my head back, asking them to repeat it.
“We have a video of you getting slapped by a woman earlier today. Is that the same woman you went on a date with on Wednesday? Is there a woman who stole your heart? Or did she already break it?” My whole body tenses at the question, the ends of my fingers turning white as I grip the metal fence. So we weren’t so private, after all.
“She slapped me because she knows I like it. And it was just a date. People often go on dates, no?” I smirk at their faces. One more comment and I’m going to get killed by Vickie. Man, I love annoying her.
I once again thank them for hearing me out, walking out of there as soon as I can. I don’t want more questions about any single woman. Not Mona and not even Rosa. I’m done for the day.